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
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Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) Local Controversy Exception Is Narrower Than You Might Think, According to the Fifth Circuit
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…
What is Required to Allege Standing in Cases Alleging Invasion of Privacy? Third Circuit Weighs In.
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…
Can a Class Member Intervene After Class Certification Is Denied? Sixth Circuit Says No.
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…
Liability vs. Damages in Class Certification Analysis Addressed by Fifth Circuit
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…
Class Action Fairness Act Pleading Requirements for Removal Addressed by Ninth Circuit
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…
Ninth Circuit Limits Attorneys’ Fees in Class Action Settlements
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…
Juridical Link Doctrine Rejected By Sixth Circuit
Federal courts of appeals have disagreed on whether a named plaintiff in a proposed class action can sue defendants who have not injured that plaintiff but allegedly have injured putative class members. This is not an uncommon scenario. Plaintiffs often…
Second Circuit Casts Doubt on Named Plaintiff Service Awards And Leaves Enforceability of Future Release For Another Day
Last week the Second Circuit issued a new decision affirming, with one exception, the approval of a $5.6 billion revised class action settlement in the long-running Visa/Mastercard antitrust litigation. (See my blog post on the Second Circuit’s reversal of a…
Ninth Circuit Reiterates That Individualized Defenses Matter When Deciding Class Certification
A recent Ninth Circuit decision illustrates how defendants can use evidence on an individualized defense to potentially defeat class certification.
In Van v. LLR, Inc., — F.4th –, 2023 WL 2469909 (9th Cir. Mar. 13, 2023), the defendant allegedly…