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Does Bristol-Myers Squibb Apply to Class Actions? D.C. and Seventh Circuit Issue New Decisions

March 12, 2020

This week the D.C. Circuit and Seventh Circuit issued decisions addressing a question that has been hotly debated by class action lawyers on the plaintiffs’ and defense sides: whether the Supreme Court’s decision on personal jurisdiction in Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of California, 137 S. Ct. 1773 (2017) (blog post) applies to class actions, and if so, how. Bristol-Myers held that in a mass action, a California state court lacked…

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Supreme Court Decision on ERISA Statute of Limitations May Help Defendants Defeat Class Certification

By Wystan Ackerman

February 28, 2020

Believe it or not, the Supreme Court of the United States just decided whether “to have ‘actual knowledge’ of a piece of information, one must in fact be aware of it.” The Court said “yes,” and it was unanimous. Most non-lawyers (and even some lawyers) would probably be surprised that this issue was even being debated. But it was a question that had divided the lower courts, with the Sixth Circuit ruling that “actual knowledge”…

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Tendering Full Relief to Moot a Class Action: It’s Still Possible in Illinois

By Wystan Ackerman

February 24, 2020

When a business is sued in a proposed class action and there is only a small amount at stake on the named plaintiff’s claim, often one of the first thoughts that comes to mind is: can’t we just pay the full value of the named plaintiff’s claim and make the case go away? As you might imagine, this is a tactic that has been attempted for decades, since the advent of modern class actions. It’s…

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Superiority and Mootness of Injunctive Relief Claim Addressed in Recent Denial of Class Certification

By Wystan Ackerman

February 11, 2020

A recent decision by a Washington federal district court caught my eye because it involved a circumstance I often see—a new development in the law results in a class action lawsuit being filed before the defendant has an opportunity to change its practices in response to the change (or clarification) in the law. This decision highlights several arguments that defendants can make in defending against class certification in this type of case. Morrison v. Esurance …

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Ninth Circuit Reverses Class Action Settlement Based on Notice Concerns and Insufficient Scrutiny

By Wystan Ackerman

December 13, 2019

Class action settlements are complicated. They often take months to negotiate. The last thing the lawyers or their clients on either side want to happen is for the trial court to deny approval or, even worse, for an appellate court to overturn a decision approving the settlement when an objector appeals. That happened earlier this week in the Ninth Circuit. Its decision provides some guidance on how counsel can help the trial court through the…

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Sixth Circuit Reminds District Courts and Defendants That Notice Must Be Given Before Binding Class Members

By Wystan Ackerman

December 9, 2019

A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit provides an important reminder that if defendants want absent class members to be bound by a summary judgment ruling in their favor, generally they must insist that notice be given to the class before that ruling is made. In Faber v. Ciox Health, LLC, No. 18-5896, 2019 WL 6596501 (6th Cir. Dec. 5, 2019), the plaintiffs sued a medical-records provider, alleging that…

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Supreme Court Rules That Third-Party Counterclaim Defendants Cannot Remove Class Actions Under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA)

By Wystan Ackerman

May 28, 2019

The U.S. Supreme Court held today that a third-party defendant could not remove a class action to federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) because the term “defendant” as used in CAFA refers only to the party or parties sued by the original plaintiff. The Court’s opinion also has implications beyond the class action context because it addresses the scope of removal jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a). The key implication of this…

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Nutraceutical Corp. v. Lambert: Rule 23(f) Deadline Cannot Be Equitably Tolled

By Wystan Ackerman

February 27, 2019

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday, in Nutraceutical Corp. v. Lambert, that the 14-day deadline under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(f) for petitioning a court of appeals to hear a discretionary appeal from a class certification order cannot be equitably tolled. The district court had decertified the class. The plaintiff’s counsel expressed an intent to file a motion for reconsideration of that decision, and a deadline was set for filing that motion. The motion…

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Class Certification Improper Where 10% of Class Members Uninjured, Explains the First Circuit

By Wystan Ackerman

October 22, 2018

The First Circuit recently addressed an issue of broad significance in class action law. It explained how a class cannot be certified when there are more than a small number of uninjured class members, and how a defendant must be allowed to demonstrate on an individual basis that class members were not injured. United Food & Commer. Workers Unions & Emplrs. Midwest Health Bens. Fund v. Warner Chilcott Ltd. (In re Asacol Antitrust Litig.), No.…

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SCOTUS to Decide Whether Class Action Counterclaims Can Be Removed Under Class Action Fairness Act

By Wystan Ackerman

October 3, 2018

The U.S. Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. v. Jackson, No. 17-1471 to decide whether a defendant to a class-action counterclaim can remove the case to federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) where the jurisdictional requirements under CAFA are otherwise satisfied. At one level, the dispute involves the meaning of “any” versus “the,” an esoteric battle that only a lexicographer or civil procedure nerd would find interesting. At…

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Blog Authors

Does Bristol-Myers Squibb Apply to Class Actions? D.C. and Seventh Circuit Issue New Decisions

Supreme Court Decision on ERISA Statute of Limitations May Help Defendants Defeat Class Certification

Tendering Full Relief to Moot a Class Action: It’s Still Possible in Illinois

Superiority and Mootness of Injunctive Relief Claim Addressed in Recent Denial of Class Certification

Ninth Circuit Reverses Class Action Settlement Based on Notice Concerns and Insufficient Scrutiny

Sixth Circuit Reminds District Courts and Defendants That Notice Must Be Given Before Binding Class Members

Supreme Court Rules That Third-Party Counterclaim Defendants Cannot Remove Class Actions Under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA)

Nutraceutical Corp. v. Lambert: Rule 23(f) Deadline Cannot Be Equitably Tolled

Class Certification Improper Where 10% of Class Members Uninjured, Explains the First Circuit

SCOTUS to Decide Whether Class Action Counterclaims Can Be Removed Under Class Action Fairness Act

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