Another Term, another chance to gut class actions
If you've watched the Supreme Court over the last several years, you may have marveled at how earnestly some of the justices have worked to render Rule 23 a dead letter. Behold:
In Roach v. T.L. Cannon Corp., No. 13-3070-cv (2d Cir. Feb. 10, 2015), the Second Circuit gave a narrow reading of the Supreme Court's ruling on class certification in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, 133 S. Ct. 1426 (2013).*
The outcome does not surprise Blawgletter, who had the honor of arguing Comcast Corp.
Unanimous Court orders review of key district court ruling
The Second Circuit made a mistake when it refused to hear an appeal, the Supreme Court held 9-0 today in Gelboim v. Bank of Am. Corp., No. 13-1174 (U.S. Jan. 21, 2015); see Supreme Court Takes LIBOR Case, Blawgletter®, July 1, 2014.
The Court's ruling will
Big damages . . . and a big win for class actions
A Tenth Circuit panel of judges has upheld a $1.2 billion verdict and judgment against Dow Chemical for its role in a price-fixing conspiracy that involved urethane chemical products. Dow Chemical Co. v. Seegott Holdings, Inc., No. 13-3215 (10th Cir. Sept. 29, 2014)
A way out of arbitration?
A new Ninth Circuit decision points to a possible way to avoid arbitration clauses in the take-it-or-leave-it "adhesion" contracts that electronic retailers post on their websites.
Online vendors want you to accept their terms of service. That way, you will bind yourself to a form contract that mainly favors the
If you’ve thought about filing a business lawsuit in federal court or you have one underway already, you’ll probably want to read about two still-in-process studies by Columbia University and Harvard University law school professors on how the U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts (2005-present) has treated business lawsuits, and how that treatment
Basic survives — barely
The Supreme Court held today that plaintiffs in securities fraud cases may continue to use a 26-year-old presumption that "the price of stock traded in an efficient market reflects all public, material information — including material misstatements." Halliburton Co. v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc., No. 13-317, slip op. at
Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner savaged a district court for approving a class action settlement that paid lead class counsel an $11 million fee while providing class members with benefits worth, in Judge Posner's reckoning, no more than $8.5 million. Eubank v. Pella Corp., No. 13-2091 (7th Cir. June 2, 2014).
The fact that
A 9-0 Supreme Court today ordered a federal district court to remand a case seeking restitution for all Missippians who overpaid for liquid crystal displays (LCDs) back to state court.
The lawsuit, by the Attorney General of Mississippi, accused LCD makers of conspiring to fix prices, in violation of Mississippi antitrust and consumer protection statutes.
The manufacturers removed
The Fourth Circuit ruled that Rent-a-Center (RAC) won't have to answer in court for leasing a trundle bed full of bedbugs to Christine and Antwan Seney.
The vermin had bitten the Seneys' son, for whom they'd gotten the trundle, and when RAC retrieved the rental its movers dragged the bed through the Seneys' home, spreading
