Blawgletter wrote a couple of years ago that the tougher test for pleading securities fraud under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act and Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor & Rights, Ltd., 551 U.S. 308 (2007), "would logically mean that the reasonable person wouldn't conclude he, she, or it had a claim until he-she-it learned facts suggesting
Class Actions
MDL Panel Boots Half of Transfer Requests
By Barry Barnett on
The U.S. Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has already finished its work from the January 21st session in New Orleans.
See the results:
Granting Transfer
S.D. Fla.
In re Enfamil LIPIL Mktg. & Sales Prac. Litig., MDL No. 2222
N.D. Ga.
In re Camp Lejeune, North Carolina Water Contamination Litig., MDL No. 2218…
Giving Papers to Ecuadorian Court Expert Waived any Privilege, Third Circuit Holds
By Barry Barnett on
The strange case started almost two decades ago in New York. On the motion of Texaco — later Chevron — it wound up in Lago Agrio, Ecuador.
In it, a group of Ecuadorians claimed that Texaco/Chevron's oil and gas operations in their home land caused bad problems. The court in Lago Agrio named an expert to help figure…
Webinar on Class Certification in Antitrust Cases: A Brave New World
By Barry Barnett on
A couple weeks ago, if you found yourself in downtown Philadelphia, you could've stopped in the U.S. courthouse there and seen Blawgletter argue a Rule 23(f) appeal to an impressive panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeal challenges an order certifying a class of Philadelphia-area cable subscribers. Behrend v. Comcast Corp., No.
Rate Hike Didn’t Change Credit Terms, Supreme Court Holds
By Barry Barnett on
Your credit card comes with Terms and Conditions. You've never read them. But they include, somewhere around page 18, a warning that if you make any payment late, the card issuer has the right, if it wants, to increase the interest rate that applies to your Outstanding Balance. And it may do so retroactively. Without…
D.C. Circuit Tries to Save Big Verdict from Jurisdictional Oblivion
By Barry Barnett on
Remember Capron v. Van Noordan, 6 U.S. (2 Cranch) 126 (1804)?
How about Strawbridge v. Curtiss, 7 U.S. (3 Cranch) 267 (1806)?
From your civil procedure class? In law school? Nothin'?
Well, even if you don't, we may all take comfort in the fact that the D.C. Circuit does. Indeed, the holdings in…
Class Fee Fight Nets Bigger Pay for Renegade
By Barry Barnett on
The Seventh Circuit last week settled a battle over a fee award to class counsel by lifting a cap that, the court held, the district court set for no good reason. But only one lawyer got the benefit of the rising tide. In re Trans Union Corp. Privacy Litig., No. 10-1154 (7th Cir. Jan.
Playing Twom-bal: Seventh Circuit Upholds Price-Fixing Complaint
By Barry Barnett on
Do you text? You know — that typey thing you do with your mobile phone. Choose the number, key in the words, hit send and — presto — the text goes over the wireless network to your best friend's Storm/iPhone/Android/Pixon/i8510/Touch HD/n85/Renoir.
Easy, right? But not cheap.
Which fact seems to have prompted the filing of…
Quote of the Day: John T. Noonan
By Barry Barnett on
By a chance of litigation, the documents have been moved from outside the grasp of the grand jury to within its grasp. No authority forbids the government from closing its grip on what lies within the jurisdiction of the grand jury.
In re Grand Jury Subpoenas, No. 10-15758, slip op. at 19638 (9th Cir.
Supremes May Kill Class Action Species in Walmart Appeal
By Barry Barnett on
The U.S. Supreme Court today granted review of a Ninth Circuit ruling that allowed a class of California women to pursue sex discrimination claims against Walmart. Order List, Dec. 6, 2010, at 2.
The Ninth Circuit held en banc that the case could move ahead as a class action under Rule 23(b)(2) on the women's claims…