While the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts of appeals have in recent years demanded rigorous scrutiny before authorizing certification of class actions, the Supreme Court of Canada has charted a different course. In a trio of recent decisions in antitrust class actions, Canada’s high court rejected key U.S. precedents on the scope and nature of class actions, forcing companies to defend against the same types of allegations under distinctly different legal regimes on each side of the border.

The three cases decided by the Canadian court, which all involved allegations of price-fixing, are:


Continue Reading O Canada: New Ground Rules For Class Certification in Antitrust Cases North Of The Border

When the Comcast Corp. v. Behrend decision came down, my colleagues summarized the Supreme Court’s ruling.  Since then, I’ve put together an analysis of the decision and its potential implications.  Lexis has now published the piece as a part of its ongoing Emerging Issues Analysis series.  It is available here:  2013 Emerging Issues 6992 ($).  Enjoy.
Continue Reading What Does Comcast Corp. v. Behrend Mean For Class Action Defendants?

It’s rare for a court to appoint its own expert in a class action. But Judge Gleeson of the Eastern District of New York is poised to do precisely that in order to help him decide whether to grant final approval to the $7.25 billion proposed class settlement of antitrust claims by retailers challenging Visa’s and MasterCard’s interchange fees. Some observers say that the proposed class settlement in the case—In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, No. 1:05-md-01720—would be the largest class settlement of private antitrust claims in U.S. history.

In November,
Continue Reading Judge Mulls Appointment of Own Expert to Evaluate What Could Be the Largest-Ever Class Settlement of Private Antitrust Claims

An important and recurring issue in class actions is whether a district court must consider particular merits issues when deciding whether to certify a class under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23. Today, in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend (pdf), No. 11-864, the Supreme Court reversed the certification of an antitrust class action because the district court failed to conduct a “rigorous analysis” of whether the testimony of the plaintiffs’ damages expert satisfies Rule 23(b)(3)’s requirement that “questions of law or fact common to class members predominate” over individualized questions. The lower courts had concluded that they were unable to
Continue Reading Supreme Court Reverses Certification of Antitrust Class Action Where Class Failed To Prove That Damages Could Be Determined On A Classwide Basis

A number of courts recently have weighed in on a question we’ve blogged before—whether lawsuits by state attorneys general seeking restitution on behalf of private citizens are subject to removal under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (pdf) (“CAFA”). These rulings have broad implications for the litigation of these quasi-class actions.  They also are of substantial importance to determining whether securities fraud actions filed by state attorneys general are precluded by the federal Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998 (pdf) (“SLUSA”).
Continue Reading Are Quasi-Class Action Suits By State AGs Removable Under CAFA (Or, For Securities Fraud Cases, Barred By SLUSA)?