Tag Archives: class action

Supreme Court Nixes Defendants’ Attempts to Get Rid of Class Actions by Making “Pickoff” Offers to Settle Named Plaintiffs’ Individual Claims

Photo of Jacqueline MatthewsBy Jacqueline Matthews on Posted in TCPA
Editor’s Note: Originally published by the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, this article appeared on their website March 10 2016. It is republished to BakerHostetler’s Class Action Lawsuit Defense blog with their permission. The Supreme Court recently held that a defendant cannot get rid of a class action by merely offering to settle with the named plaintiff on … Continue Reading

Sixth Circuit Reverses Dismissal, Under First-to-File Rule, of Action Brought by Putative Class Members of Earlier-Filed Class Action

Photo of Parker JordanBy Parker Jordan on Posted in Ohio
Last week, in Baatz v. Columbia Gas Transmission LLC, No. 15-3208, 2016 WL 731900 (6th Cir. 2016), a panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by a group of landowners in Medina, Ohio against Columbia Gas Transmission for allegedly storing natural gas under their property without compensation. … Continue Reading

California Court Rejects Tuna Settlement Over Scope of Release

Photo of Kristen HawesBy Kristen Hawes on Posted in Settlements
In recent years, courts have been more carefully scrutinizing class action settlements. A recent example is Hendricks v. Starkist Co., Case No. 3:13-cv-00729 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 19, 2016), where the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California denied final approval of a $12 million settlement of a class action filed against StarKist. The lawsuit … 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

2015-16 Supreme Court Term – Is it Finally the End for Class Actions as We Know Them?

Photo of Paul KarlsgodtBy Paul Karlsgodt on Posted in Class Action Trends
Editor’s Note: The following blog post was originally published by ClassActionBlawg.com. It is republished with permission. The October 2015 United States Supreme Court Term is already well underway, and there are several cases on the docket that could have a significant impact on class action practice.  Here is a summary of the three cases this … Continue Reading

District Court Follows Supreme Court’s Lead in Halliburton, Allows Class Action to Proceed with Narrowed Factual Scope

Photo of Jessie M. GabrielBy Deborah Renner, Jessie M. Gabriel and David M. McMillan on Posted in Class Certification, Securities
Applying the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Halliburton Co. v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc., 134 S. Ct. 2398 (2014) (“Halliburton II”), which allowed companies facing securities fraud class actions to defeat certification by presenting evidence that their alleged false statements did not impact the company’s stock price, the district court on remand held that … Continue Reading

Supreme Court to decide if a TCPA class action can be mooted by a pre-certification offer of judgment

Photo of Patrick T. LewisBy Patrick T. Lewis on Posted in TCPA
Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court accepted certiorari to review the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Campbell-Eward Co. v. Gomez, 768 F.3d 871 (9th Cir. 2014), which involved a TCPA class action brought by the recipient of a text message that a contractor, defendant Campbell-Eward, sent on behalf of the U.S. Navy in May 2006. The … Continue Reading

Third Circuit Clarifies Standard for Ascertainability

Photo of Jacqueline MatthewsBy Jacqueline Matthews on Posted in Class Certification
In a recent ruling vacating denial of class certification, the Third Circuit provided guidance on the scope of the implied “ascertainability” requirement under Rule 23. Byrd v. Aaron’s, Inc., 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 6190 (3d Cir. April 16, 2015) involved a putative class action against Aaron’s, which leases, among other things, laptop computers to consumers. … Continue Reading

Unprofessional Marketing: Illinois Appellate Court Denies Professional Liability Coverage for TCPA Violation

By C. Zachary Rosenberg on Posted in Consumer Class Action, Insurance, TCPA
On November 26, 2014, an Illinois appellate court held that a professional liability insurer had no duty to defend or indemnify its insured for a class action brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) because the insured’s robocalls did not constitute conduct of the insured’s business “in rendering services for others,” as required by … Continue Reading

Ohio Appellate Court Rejects Mortgage Servicing Class Action, Finds Foreclosure Actions Are Not “Consumer Transactions” Under The Consumer Sales Practices Act

By Jonathon Korinko on Posted in Class Action Trends, Ohio
Yesterday, the Eighth District Ohio Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a putative class action raising claims against a noteholder, mortgage servicer, and law firm under Ohio’s Consumer Sales Practices Act (“CSPA”).  In Glazer v. Chase Home Finance L.L.C., 2013-Ohio-5589 (Ohio App. 2013), the Eighth District held that servicing defaulted mortgage loans is not … Continue Reading

Judge Slashes Attorneys’ Fees and Incentive Awards in Defective Laptop Class Action

By Stephanie Osterman on Posted in Consumer Class Action, Settlements
In a consumer class action settlement involving allegedly sluggish Acer notebook computers, a Northern California federal judge sua sponte slashed the attorneys’ fees award sought by plaintiffs’ lawyers from the requested $2,542,246 to $943,217.  Wolph v. Acer Am. Corp., Case No. 3:09-cv-0-1314-JSW (N.D. Cal. Oct. 21, 2013). The named plaintiffs accused Acer of selling notebook … Continue Reading

Will Moldy Washing Machines Save the Consumer Class Action from Extinction?

Photo of Paul KarlsgodtBy Paul Karlsgodt on Posted in Consumer Class Action
Editor’s Note: This blog post was originally published on ClassActionBlawg.com and is reprinted with permission. One of the key questions in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend is the extent to which damages must be susceptible to classwide calculation in order to justify class certification.  In particular, the question is … Continue Reading

Another Blow to Data Breach Class Actions: Bell, et al. v. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.

Photo of Carrie Dettmer SlyeBy Carrie Dettmer Slye on Posted in Data Breach
Editor’s Note: This post is a joint submission with BakerHostetler’s Data Privacy Monitor blog. On July 11, 2013, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California dismissed a majority of the claims brought against Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. after a data breach suffered by Blizzard in 2012. In granting the motion for judgment on the pleadings, … Continue Reading

After Standard Fire Uncertainty Continues About the Legal Certainty Standard for CAFA Removal in California District Courts

Photo of Dustin DowBy Dustin Dow on Posted in Class Action Fairness Act
Of all the recent landscape-shifting opinions the Supreme Court has issued in the class-action arena, perhaps none appear as straightforward as Standard Fire Insurance Co. v. Knowles, 133 S.Ct. 1345 (2013). Recall that in Standard Fire the Court laid down an explicit rule that a putative class-action plaintiff’s stipulation to seek damages of less than … Continue Reading

All of These Things Are Not Like the Others; Class Certification Denied in YouTube Case

By Judy Selby on Posted in Class Certification
When the judge deciding a motion for class certification begins his Opinion by describing the proposed class as a “Frankenstein monster,” you don’t need to be very prescient to predict the outcome of the motion. In The Football Association Premier League Limited v. YouTube, Inc., Judge Louis Stanton refused to certify a class of plaintiffs pursuing … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Denies Cert on Preclusion Issue Post Decertification in Florida Tobacco Case…And Once Again, Decertification Proves to Be a Hollow Victory

Photo of Casie CollignonBy Casie Collignon on Posted in Class Certification
Last week, on November 26, 2012, the United States Supreme Court denied cert in one of the thousands of individual cases pending in the aftermath of Engle v. Liggett Group, Inc., 945 So. 2d 1246 (Fla. 2006), where the State of Florida took on the tobacco industry.  In R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Clay, Case … Continue Reading

Abrams, Commins and Foix Publish “‘Rigorous Analysis’: Recent Developments in Antitrust Class Action Litigation in the United States” in 2013 Antitrust Review of the Americas

Photo of Paul KarlsgodtBy Paul Karlsgodt on Posted in Antitrust
The 2013 Antitrust Review of the Americas features an article by Baker Hostetler Antitrust Group Chair Robert G. Abrams, Partner Gregory J. Commins Jr. and Counsel Danyll W. Foix. “‘Rigorous Analysis’: Recent Developments in Antitrust Class Action Litigation in the United States” examines recent developments in antitrust class action case law over the past two years … Continue Reading

Call Centers Increasingly Targeted in Class Action Lawsuits for Statutory Penalties Under Decades-Old California Law

Photo of Paul KarlsgodtBy Paul Karlsgodt on Posted in Data Breach
Editor’s Note – This article is a joint submission to the Baker Hostetler Class Action Lawsuit Defense Blog and Data Privacy Monitor. Be sure to check out the Data Privacy Monitor for the latest news, trends, and analysis on data privacy issues.  Companies that provide call center services to consumers are increasingly being targeted in class action … Continue Reading

Ohio Reduces Statute of Limitations

Photo of Paul KarlsgodtBy Paul Karlsgodt on Posted in Ohio, State Class Action Law
Editor’s Note: The following is a reprint of a BakerHostetler Class Action Defense Team Executive Alert released earlier today.  Due in part to efforts of the BakerHostetler Columbus office Class Action Defense Team, Ohio has adopted a new statute of limitations for breach of written contract that, effective September 28, 2012, reduces the limitations period from 15 … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Declines to Take on the Issue of Issue Certification

Photo of Paul KarlsgodtBy Paul Karlsgodt on Posted in Issue Certification
A definitive ruling on whether courts may certify class actions to decide discrete issues, as opposed to cases or claims, will have to wait.  Last Monday, the United States Supreme Court denied a writ of certiorari to review the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling in McReynolds v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., 672 F.3d 482 … Continue Reading

Future of International Class Actions in the U.S. Courts May Be at Stake in Upcoming Supreme Court Case

Photo of Paul KarlsgodtBy Paul Karlsgodt on Posted in International Class Action Law
Editor’s Note – This article was co-authored by Tina Amin and Paul Karlsgodt in the firm’s Denver office Today is Talk Like a Pirate Day, which is always a reminder of the Alien Tort statute (“ATS”), an arcane law that was originally enacted in 1789 in part to combat piracy.  In recent years, the ATS … 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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