These days it seems like nearly every data breach results in a multitude of class action filings. Some of these cases settle quickly with minimal litigation. In such a case, the Eighth Circuit recently reversed an attorneys’ fees award of $78.75 million, finding it excessive.
In re T-Mobile Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, Nos.…
A recent Texas Supreme Court decision in a class action caught my eye because it addressed several significant class certification issues, including one that I’ve seen regularly and another that the court analyzed in a new and different way. First, the court held that a named plaintiff does not have standing to seek injunctive relief…
Suppose that the central issue in a putative class action is a legal issue pending before the Supreme Court. Depending on how the Supreme Court rules, the plaintiffs will recover either nothing or up to $600 million. But rather than rolling the dice and waiting for that decision, the parties agree to a class action…
When a class certification decision overlaps with merits issues, can a court of appeals deciding an interlocutory appeal from a class certification order also review an earlier decision on a motion to dismiss if it was integral to the class certification order? Yes, according to a new Fourth Circuit decision.
Think twice about whether the Class Action Fairness Act’s “local controversy” exception applies to your case. Even if more than two-thirds of the proposed class members are citizens of the forum state, there is a significant in-state defendant and the claims asserted arise from conduct in that state, that is not necessarily enough for the…
In today’s world nearly everyone’s name, address and various other pieces of arguably personal information reside on many companies’ computer servers. Sharing of such information between companies has resulted in countless class action suits, in many of which the alleged harm is negligible at best. The Supreme Court’s decision on Article III standing in TransUnion…
When class certification is denied because the named plaintiff’s claim fails for some reason, sometimes an absent class member will try to intervene rather than filing their own separate suit. Their goal is usually to attempt to certify a class for a longer time period than would otherwise be possible. If the new plaintiff files…
In analyzing class certification issues, courts have said that common issues may predominate in some cases even though damages would have to be determined individually for each class member. But what about where some class members have no damages? Recent federal appellate decisions have said that situation presents an issue of liability, not damages. A…
A recent Ninth Circuit decision highlights the importance of the defendant clearly pleading the basis for alleging the amount in controversy in a notice of removal under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA). In this case, after the defendant prevailed on a summary judgment motion and the plaintiff appealed, the Ninth Circuit vacated and remanded…
A recent Ninth Circuit decision clarified that the benefit to the class is the “touchstone for determining the reasonableness of attorneys’ fees in a class action.” Under this decision, the fee should not be based on the maximum potential class recovery (as some courts have held for many years), or a lodestar amount that bears…
