A federal judge asked Blawgletter a few years ago what we thought about "cy pres" (sounds like "sigh pray") payments in class actions. The judge had in mind a method of dealing with money that a class settlement or judgment produces but that for one reason or another doesn't find its way into
Class Actions
Sex Bias Class Fails in Supreme Court; “Central” Question Flunks “Common to the Class” Test
By Barry Barnett on
The Supreme Court today struck down a class action for 1.5 million women who claimed that Walmart Stores based employment decisions on gender. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, No. 10-277 (U.S. June 20, 2011).
The Court ruled 5-4 that no "common" questions existed under Rule 23(a)(2) because the plaintiffs didn't offer proof of a discriminatory company-wide policy.
Federal Court Can’t Stop State Class Action, Supreme Court Holds
By Barry Barnett on
The Supreme Court today halted an effort by a federal court to stop a class action in a state court.
The case involved claims against drug-maker Bayer over Baycol, which Bayer sold as a way to lower cholesterol. The plaintiffs alleged that Baycol killed and injured people.
The district court in Minneapolis ruled against…
You Can’t “Make” a False Statement Unless You Have “Ultimate Authority”, 5-4 Supreme Court Rules
By Barry Barnett on
Say you write a press release. It says your firm just won a beauty contest. It claims you expect the contract to increase the firm's net income by X percent.
But your note to the fourth estate doesn't mention that the deal will raise firm costs by an Awful Lot. So much in fact that…
Concord Boat Sinks Antitrust Case; Pop! Goes the Catheter
By Barry Barnett on
If you work much on antitrust lawsuits, you learn the names of cases that inspire strong feelings on both sides of the "v." Concord Boat lives in that realm.
The Eighth Circuit ruled after a jury trial in Concord Boat Corp. v. Brunswick Corp., 207 F.3d 1039 (8th Cir. 2000), that 24 boat-makers had no antitrust…
Supreme Court Slams Fifth Circuit Test for Securities Class Actions
By Barry Barnett on
The U.S. Supreme Court today reversed a Fifth Circuit decision that required plaintiffs in federal securities cases to prove "loss causation" at the class certification stage. Erica P. John Fund v. Halliburton, Inc., No. 09-1403 (U.S. June 6, 2011).
As Blawgletter noted a couple months ago, the Fifth and Seventh Circuit had…
Antitrust Laws Don’t Aim to Protect Consumers, Ninth Circuit Points Out in TV Bundling Case
By Barry Barnett on
Why do we have antitrust laws?
The Supreme Court has called them "the Magna Carta of free enterprise", United States v. Topco Assocs., Inc., 405 U.S. 596, 610 (1972), and the Sherman Act "a comprehensive charter of economic liberty", Northern Pac. R.R. Co. v. United States, 356 U.S. 1, 4 (1958).
Sounds great. But…
Class Certification in Antitrust Cases: A Brave New World
By Barry Barnett on
Blawgletter wrote a paper class cert in antitrust cases for a Practising Law Institute program that went webinar last month. Read it here if you dare:
Where to file. From a plaintiff's perspective do you have favorite courts to file antitrust class actions. What are the undesirable courts from a defense perspective. Are there…
Google Loses Cover of Books Class
By Barry Barnett on
Awhile back, Blawgletter inquired if Google would, in asking for a federal court okay to a copyright pact in a massive class action, reveal itself at long last as not the Don't Be Evil people but instead as the Big Bad Wolf. See "Who's Afraid of Google Books? Tra La La La La".…
The Antitrust Lawyer’s Guide to the Supreme Court’s No-Antitrust Term
By Barry Barnett on
Blawgletter just wrote a paper for an American Bar Association newsletter. It starts thus:
You know that the Supreme Court took no antitrust cases in its (current) October 2010 Term, right? You feel either sad (defense lawyer) or happy (plaintiff side), yes? We’ll have no Twombly,[1] no Leegin,[2] no Weyerhaeuser…