Cases filed as class actions are most often resolved by settlement. The 2019 Carlton Fields Class Action Survey reports that settlement rates for class actions continue to rise, up to 73.1% in 2018 from 70.8% the previous year. More than half of settlements typically occur before a class certification. Thirty-nine percent of matters filed as class actions are settled on an individual basis. Only 2% of cases filed as class actions go to trial. ... Keep Reading »
Class Action Survey: True or False? The Amount of Time In-House Attorneys Spent Managing Class Actions Has Increased.
False! In-house attorneys spent approximately 20 hours per week dedicated to the defense of class actions. This is a decrease of approximately two hours per week from 2017, but remains high considering companies reported that their in-house lawyers spent only 13 hours per week on class action matters just two years ago. However, the decrease in hours is offset by an increase of in-house staffing for class actions — the first increase in headcount in five years. The ... Keep Reading »
No Speaking? No Standing!
On November 15, the Eleventh Circuit decided Cordoba v. DirecTV, LLC, further exploring the issue of when class actions achieve Article III standing. The plaintiffs alleged that DirecTV and the company with which it contracted for telemarketing services, Telecel Marketing Solutions Inc., violated the FCC regulation that requires telemarketers to maintain an internal do not call list. The class consisted of people who allegedly were repeatedly contacted despite informing ... Keep Reading »
Should I Stay or Should I Go? Bankruptcy Preemption May Bar FDCPA and FCCPA Claims Either Way
After receiving a bankruptcy discharge, a borrower whose home is pending foreclosure has two options: stay in the home and, perhaps, make voluntary payments on the mortgage, or leave the home and start fresh. When a debt collector thereafter attempts to collect mortgage payments from that borrower, there may be grounds for a claim under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) or one its state law variants, such as the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act ... Keep Reading »
Two Days in October Result in Two Different Rulings by District Court Judges in the Southern District of Florida Regarding Standing to Seek Injunctive Relief on Behalf of a Class
Federal district courts in Florida continue to be at odds over whether a class plaintiff who claims to have suffered a past injury based on a defendant’s violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA) can pursue a claim for injunctive and declaratory relief in the absence of an allegation that the particular plaintiff is likely to suffer future injury or had suffered a past injury that is not redressable by a monetary award. Two decisions ... Keep Reading »
A Dart Across the Bow
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently underscored that removal practice under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) differs in some important respects from traditional removal practice in non-CAFA cases. It did so because, “[i]n some of our early cases interpreting CAFA, we adopted legal standards that were influenced by a general ‘presumption against federal jurisdiction.’” Now, of course, the Supreme Court in Dart Cherokee Basin Operating Co. v. Owens, 574 U.S. 81 ... Keep Reading »
Seventh Circuit Snapshots Hole in Groupon’s Notice of Removal of Instagram User Suit
The Seventh Circuit remanded an Instagram user's appeal after the court found that Groupon's notice of removal did not allege the citizenship of any diverse member of the putative class. The decision highlights the importance of actually alleging the minimal diversity requirement for removal under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA). The plaintiff, Christine Dancel, obtained permission under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(f) to appeal the lower court's denial of ... Keep Reading »
Life May Not Be Fair, But Arizona Cannot Find Out Without Standing
The Sixth Circuit recently held that Arizona lacked standing to intervene in, and object to, a nationwide class settlement at the settlement fairness hearing. The underlying case involved Tristar Products' defective pressure cookers. The district court had certified three state classes for trial - Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Colorado - but after the first day of trial, the parties entered into a nationwide class settlement. The settlement allowed class members to receive a ... Keep Reading »
Report on Current Class Action Issues Plaguing Life Insurers
As Justice Hugo Black said in 1944, “Perhaps no modern commercial enterprise directly affects so many persons in all walks of life as does the insurance business.” Even so, the evolving threat of class action lawsuits brings heightened concerns for the life insurance industry. And as shown by the prevalence of life insurance class actions over the past years, class actions against life insurers come in all shapes and sizes. In “Class Action Roundup,” Carlton Fields ... Keep Reading »
Through the Looking Glass: Damages “Warts” Wreck Injunction Class
Mirror, mirror on the class, are damages what you really asked? The Eleventh Circuit reversed an interlocutory order certifying an injunction class, rejecting the plaintiffs' ploy "to lop off all the damages-based warts and recast their claim as one for injunctive relief under Rule 23(b)(2)" after their attempt to certify a damages class was denied. The decision underscores the importance of looking beyond face value to determine whether the relief requested is truly ... Keep Reading »
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