On September 4, Judge Rogers of the Northern District of California granted defendants’ motion to strike plaintiffs’ second renewed motion for class certification. The motion was filed by indirect purchaser plaintiffs in this lithium ion batteries antitrust litigation. The “second renewed motion,” which was in fact a third motion for class certification, cited Rule 23(c)(1)(C) as authority. Plaintiffs did not seek leave to file this third motion. In striking the ... Keep Reading »
Archives for September 2018
Class Certification Denied in ‘Junk Fax’ Case in Electronic Age
On September 5, Judge Dlott (Southern District of Ohio) denied plaintiff’s motion for class certification in a case involving the “junk fax” provision of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991. Perhaps perplexed that such cases still arise, the district court explained that, “[a]lthough it seems odd that the problem persists in the electronic age, the ‘junk fax’ provision attempts to curb the inundation of unwanted faxes.” In this case, there was no dispute that ... Keep Reading »
The Eleventh Circuit Weighs in on the Intersection of Arbitration and Class Action Jurisprudence
On September 19th, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals resolved a question of first impression in the circuit: whether the availability of the class action mechanism is a question of arbitrability that presumptively should be decided by the court. The Court ruled that the availability of class arbitration presumptively should be decided by the court. But, in a second ruling that could overshadow the first for many existing arbitration agreements, the Court proceeded to ... Keep Reading »
Volkswagen Passes Fairness Test for Class Settlement in Dispute Over “Defeat Devices” to Bypass Emission Tests
Last month the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court decision approving a class settlement regarding Volkwagen’s marketing of clean diesel vehicles that used so-called “defeat devices” to circumvent emissions tests. Hundreds of “defeat device” lawsuits against Volkswagen were consolidated in the Northern District of California for pretrial proceedings. The proposed settlement provided over $10 billion in potential damages and class members’ recovery depended on whether ... Keep Reading »
Defense Victories in Genetic and Biometric Privacy Class Actions
In what may be a glimpse into the next frontier in class action litigation, two federal courts recently disposed of putative class actions alleging violations of state privacy laws involving genetic and biometric data. In a rare defense victory in a circuit favored by the plaintiff’s bar, a Ninth Circuit panel affirmed a decision by the United States District Court for the District of Alaska denying plaintiff’s motion for certification of claims under Alaska’s ... Keep Reading »