You will recall that two years ago Volkswagen got in $14.7 billion worth of class action trouble for rigging software in its diesel cars to fake compliance with U.S. emission standards. The
We now learn that Volkswagen didn’t act alone.
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In the last quarter-century and more, no current member of the Supreme Court tried a lawsuit of any kind to a judge or jury. Almost none of the justices has ever tried a civil case to verdict. And before their honors became appellate judges, only one of their number served as a full-time trial judge.
Does the justices’ nearly total lack of trial-lawyer chops matter? Has the almost utter absence of actual trial experience in fact degraded the quality of civil justice? And will confirming the nomination of a former trial lawyer like Neil Gorsuch make a difference?
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A question of numbers
Class actions can save courts and parties a lot of time and money. But what if the class includes just a few members? How much time and money will the class action device save then?
The Third Circuit grappled with that “numerosity” question in In re Modafinil Antitrust Litig., 837 F.3d 238 (3d Cir. 2016).
The answer it gave — that a class with 20+/- mostly big members may not pass the test — could reshape how courts handle antitrust cases worth billions of dollars.
A dilemma
A price-fixer cheats his buyers, but he may also do something worse — frighten them into doing nothing about it.
Last week, the Third Circuit made a ruling that will calm victims’ fears. Instead of bringing a claim they don’t want to prosecute, the court held, they may freely assign it to someone
We left off last Monday in the middle of something — the Seventh Circuit’s latest proof of its leadership in the law of class actions.
My talk of the Seventh Circuit surge followed a segment on The outsize influence of Justice Scalia.
Now let’s finish up with the surge before turning to the third and final reason class actions will rebound: Politics.
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Have class actions — after a steady decline under the Roberts Court — begun a come-back?
I believe they have. And I offer here, and in the next post, three reasons they will continue to rebound.
The outsize influence of Justice Scalia
Justice Antonin Scalia disliked class actions. He advocated putting a spotlight on class
Scary case
After a trip to the Supreme Court and back, a massive case against 16 of the world’s largest banks for rigging the London inter-bank offer rate (LIBOR) — “the world’s most important number” — will return to the district court in Manhattan scarier than ever for the defendants. Gelboim v. Bank of Am.
How will lower federal courts react to the loss of a 5-4 pro-business majority on the U.S. Supreme Court?
In this post, I will tell you my Antonin Scalia story — and about his role in limiting class actions.
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12+ years
In its more than 12 years of life, the case of Comcast Corp. v. Behrend has offered dozens of chances for the lawyers to persuade — or not.
Although class counsel suffered a tough 5-4 defeat in the U.S. Supreme Court, we convinced judges often enough to eke out $35 million in cash, bill credits, and services for the Philadelphia-area class.
Class plaintiffs prevailed mostly because we had the better side of the issues. But we also did a better job of earning the trust of the decision-makers we appeared before — the district judges in Boston and Philadelphia, appellate judges on the First and Third Circuits, and even justices of the Supreme Court.
Let me give you a few reasons for my view.
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