In this post, I will tell you my Antonin Scalia story — and about his role in limiting class actions.
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The Next Death Threat to Class Actions
Class action skeptics
Since 2011, a 5-4 majority of the Supreme Court has made class actions harder to bring and tougher to sustain.
In the current term, the Court’s quintet of class action skeptics — Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Alito, Kennedy, Scalia, and Thomas — may use a pair of cases in which it has heard arguments to all but doom wide swaths of class cases altogether.
I write not to address those cases but to explain why even if the threats they pose prove non-fatal, the reprieve may not last. Two other petitions for review on the Court’s docket pose existential threats almost as potent.
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Chief Justice Questions Cy Pres Relief in Class Actions
On Nov. 4, Chief Justice John Roberts attached a "statement" to the Court's long list of orders in which it mainly denied review with respect to dozens and dozens of cases.
The statement related to something the Court hasn't addressed before — a challenge to a class action settlement that featured "cy pres" relief.
Cy
Snappy and Bitey Review High Court’s 2012-13 Commercial Cases; “Now Is the Time, Cato!”
Snappy reclines. The Empire State Building looms in the mid-distance. Bitey consults his notes. He clears his throat.
Bitey: The U.S. Supreme Court's summer break started last week, Snaps, and the time has come for us to look at the . . . uh . . . results of the 2012-13 Term for those commercial cases
Texas Supreme Court Rules Class Claims “Justiciable”; A Turn?
The Supreme Court of the Lone Star State doesn't often make rulings that favor class action treatment of claims. But last week it did.
The case arose in Williamson County — home of a District Attorney who fought DNA testing for an innocent man who spent 25 years in prison for killing his wife. The
Class Certification in Antitrust Cases: A Brave New World
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
Webinar on Class Certification in Antitrust Cases: A Brave New World
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.
Supremes Allow Class That New York Would Ban
The U.S. Supreme Court today reversed a Second Circuit ruling that upheld the right of New York to bar class actions seeking penalties under Empire State law. The decision failed to net a majority, and as a result you'll need to study closely the concurrence and dissent to see what the Court actually said.
Texas Supremes Deem Assignee Inadequate Class Representative
The Supreme Court of Texas voted 5-3 today to decertify a class action. The class representative, a company that audits telephone bills and seeks refunds for customers, alleged on behalf of a Texas class that Southwestern Bell overcharged by collecting municipal fees it did not have to pay. The majority held that the assignee couldn't adequately represent the