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Mandatory Disclosure of Third-Party Funding Agreements for Proposed Class Action Lawsuits

By Melonia A. Bennett on Posted in Uncategorized
For years, certain lenders have agreed to fund all or part of a party’s litigation costs, usually in exchange for an agreed share of any recovered proceeds, as part of a practice called “third-party litigation funding.”  This has spawned widespread debate over the propriety of such funding and the degree of transparency parties and courts … Continue Reading

Court Refuses to Certify Class Due to Lack of Adequacy of Class Counsel

Photo of BakerHostetlerBy BakerHostetler on Posted in Uncategorized
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(4) requires that the representative parties – the class representatives and their counsel – will adequately protect the interest of the class.  Relatively few class-action decisions turn on the adequacy of class counsel, but in a post on BakerHostetler’s Employment Class Action Blog, Greg Mersol highlights a recent decision in which … Continue Reading

BakerHostetler Class Action Webinar – February 10th at Noon (ET)

Photo of BakerHostetlerBy BakerHostetler on Posted in Uncategorized
Please join BakerHostetler’s Class Action Defense and Financial Services Teams on February 10, 2016 from 12:00 to 1:15pm EST for an informative webinar entitled “The New Class Action Risks for 2016 in Consumer Financial Services.” Webinar speakers will discuss: • How CFPB rulemaking may affect the class action landscape. • Are you compromise ready? Tips … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Disconnects Plaintiffs’ Attempt to Avoid Class Arbitration Waiver

Photo of Patrick T. LewisBy Patrick T. Lewis on Posted in Uncategorized
In a 6-3 decision yesterday, the Supreme Court in DirecTV, Inc. v. Imburgia, 577 U.S. ___, S. Ct. (2015) reversed a decision of the California Court of Appeals that refused to enforce a class action arbitration waiver on unconscionability grounds. At issue in that case was a class action arbitration waiver that contained a provision … Continue Reading

Paul Karlsgodt to Speak on Privacy Breaches at University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Photo of BakerHostetlerBy BakerHostetler on Posted in Uncategorized
Partner Paul Karlsgodt will speak as a panelist during a discussion on privacy breaches at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law on November 6 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. The program is presented by The Privacy Foundation at the Sturm College of Law and the International Association of Privacy Professionals. Other panelists include Alexis … Continue Reading

Coming in June: ABA’s 2nd Annual Western Regional CLE Program on Class Actions & Mass Torts

Photo of BakerHostetlerBy BakerHostetler on Posted in Uncategorized
We are pleased to announce that Paul Karlsgodt will be chairing the ABA’s 2nd Annual Western Regional CLE Program on Class Actions and Mass Torts. The event is co-sponsored by the ABA Section of Litigation’s Class Actions and Derivative Suits, Mass Torts, and Securities Litigation Committees, and by the San Francisco Bar Association, which will … Continue Reading

Craig Hoffman Named Law360 Rising Star for Privacy

Photo of BakerHostetlerBy BakerHostetler on Posted in Uncategorized
Recently, Law360 published its list of Top Attorneys Under 40—a list of 145 attorneys spanning 29 practice areas “whose legal accomplishments belie their age.” We were pleased to see that BakerHostetler Partner Craig Hoffman, a member of our Privacy and Data Protection team and editor of the Data Privacy Monitor blog has been recognized as a 2015 … Continue Reading

NPR Cites BakerHostetler Analysis of Tea Party Class Action Claims v. IRS

By Jennifer Benda on Posted in Uncategorized
In an article discussing social media and the law, NPR refers to a recent Law360 Article written by Casie Collignon and Jennifer Benda of BakerHostetler discussing Tea Party Group’s lawsuit against the IRS, claiming that the IRS committed Privacy Act and constitutional rights violations by unfairly delaying and scrutinizing their and similar organizations’ filing for tax-exempt status pursuant to Section … Continue Reading

Collignon & Benda On the Tea Party vs. IRS

Photo of Patrick T. LewisBy Patrick T. Lewis on Posted in Uncategorized
On March 19th, Law360 published an article by our colleagues Casie Collignon and Jennifer Benda titled “Tea Party v. IRS: Tax Trouble or Class Action Nightmare?” The article addresses growing litigation by tea party groups arising out of the alleged additional scrutiny the IRS applied to the groups’ petitions for tax-exempt status as 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations. While the press has covered these stories as being … Continue Reading

Objectors Seek Writ of Certiorari to SCOTUS Over Monsanto Agent Orange Settlement

Photo of Justin WinquistBy Justin Winquist on Posted in Class Certification, Settlements, Uncategorized
On January 21, 2014, objectors to a class action settlement over contamination from Monsanto Agent Orange herbicide filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the Unites States Supreme Court.  The Petition asked the Court to entertain the objectors’ request to reverse the West Virginia Supreme Court’s November 22, 2013 decision, which affirmed the trial … Continue Reading

Back to Google’s Backyard: Forum and Venue Clause Enforced to Dismiss Putative Class Action

By Julian Darwall on Posted in Class Action Trends, Class Actions Privacy, Uncategorized
For most corporations, standard forum and venue “home court advantage” clauses are par for the course.  For companies with an expansive reach like Google’s, they are essential. Google has long included these clauses in its standard terms of use, and courts have enforced them to dismiss potentially expensive cases at the earliest stage of litigation. The … Continue Reading

Hannaford vs. comScore – Up and Down Results for Privacy Class Action Defendants

By Judy Selby on Posted in Class Actions Privacy, Uncategorized
Editor’s Note: This is a cross-blog post with BakerHostetler’s Data Privacy Monitor blog.  For the latest news and updates regarding privacy and data protection, visit www.DataPrivacyMonitor.com. Sighs of relief by class actions defendants following the denial of class certification in Hannaford may give way to renewed uncertainty now that a massive class, estimated by the plaintiffs’ lawyer to be more than … Continue Reading

Seventh Circuit Certifies Washing Machine Class Action on Efficiency Grounds

By Matthew J. Moody on Posted in Class Action Trends, Class Certification, Consumer Fraud, Issue Certification, Uncategorized
In Butler v. Sears, Roebuck and Co., No. 11-8029 (7th Cir. Nov. 13, 2012), a decision authored by Judge Richard Posner, the Seventh Circuit ruled that the question of predominance in class actions “is a question of efficiency,” whether it’s more efficient to litigate issues on a class-wide basis or all issues in separate trials.  While … Continue Reading

Ninth Circuit Affirms Default Judgment as Discovery Sanction in Certified Class Action

Photo of Rodger EckelberryBy Rodger Eckelberry on Posted in Discovery, Uncategorized
The entry of default judgment as a discovery sanction is severe, and rare.  But the Ninth Circuit recently affirmed a district court’s order striking a defendant’s answer and proceeding to trial on damages only in a certified class as a sanction for repeated discovery violations. The jury returned a damages verdict of $4,509,268, which, after … Continue Reading
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