Two years ago, in Johnson v. NPAS Solutions, LLC, the Eleventh Circuit upended decades’ worth of precedent by categorically forbidding incentive payments to class representatives in class action settlements. In the past month, however, the Second and Ninth Circuits have rejected the Eleventh Circuit’s NPAS decision, concluding that there is no automatic bar of incentive
Biometric class actions have proliferated in recent years — and with more states eyeing comprehensive data privacy legislation, companies that use biometric data should plan for the surge to grow.
With rare exceptions, these cases end either in settlement or via a successful dispositive motion. In this post, we will discuss some of the trends
In Gloria Baker, et al. v. Raymond James & Associates Inc., et al., the Mississippi Supreme Court on March 4 reinstated a trial court ruling that Mississippi’s latent-injury discovery-rule exception to the catch-all, three-year limitations period did not apply where the lay plaintiffs, though inexperienced and unsophisticated investors, received monthly account statements showing “substantial
In a decision that narrows the path to class certification in federal court, the Fifth Circuit has held that a plaintiff must clear the Daubert hurdle when expert evidence is relevant to the decision of a federal court to certify a class. The decision in Prantil v. Arkema Inc. cements the Fifth Circuit’s viewpoint that
Can a plaintiff represent a class without showing that there’s a feasible way to identify the absent class members? In its recent decision in Cherry v. Dometic Corp., the Eleventh Circuit has become the latest circuit to answer that question with a “maybe.” Although the court noted that the “feasibility” of identifying absent class
The Ninth Circuit recently determined that the mere presence of artificial trans fats in popcorn (i.e., the “butter” in butter flavored popcorn) does not create an injury that confers Article III standing.
In McGee v. S-L Snacks National, a consumer brought a putative class action alleging economic and physical injuries caused by the inclusion of
The 11th Circuit recently addressed the issue of competing or overlapping class actions, which often create problems for both the plaintiffs’ counsel and the defense. In Medical and Chiropractic Clinic, Inc. v. Oppenheim, the 11th Circuit clarified what duties class counsel owes to class representatives and the correct forum for asserting challenges by competing
In a decision that narrows the path to federal court for plaintiffs seeking statutory damages with no actual harm, the full 11th Circuit has held that a plaintiff must plead a concrete injury to bring a claim based on an increased risk of identity theft. The en banc decision in Muransky v. Godiva Chocolatier, Inc.
The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), which was expanded by the Paycheck Protection & Health Care Enhancement Act, provides more than $650 billion in loans for small businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic. It includes fees for banks that make PPP loans to borrowers.
You need to read Johnson v. NPAS Solutions, LLC. This recent decision from the 11th Circuit fundamentally changes the rules of obtaining approval for class action settlements.
Johnson’s introduction emphasizes that the 11th Circuit is shaking up the way class actions are settled and that the court knows it: “The class-action settlement that underlies this
