The Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued a decision regarding the fee award in the National Football League concussion injury litigation. The decision is non-precedential but still instructive. One takeaway is that appellate courts will show “considerable deference” to district court fee awards. The other takeaway, however, is that district courts still must provide enough of an explanation for appellate courts to meaningfully review the award. When they do ... Keep Reading »
Ninth Circuit Affirms Certification of Class Alleging Biometric Privacy Violations
The Ninth Circuit has issued its much-anticipated decision in a class action against Facebook involving alleged biometric privacy violations, affirming certification of a class. In Patel v. Facebook, the Northern District of California certified a class of Facebook users residing in Illinois who alleged that the social media giant violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by using facial-recognition technology "without obtaining a written release and ... Keep Reading »
Hearsay What? EDNY Finds That Class Certification Evidence Must Be Admissible
Lin v. Everyday Beauty is an Eastern District of New York decision addressing an issue that has divided district courts in the Second Circuit and elsewhere: Whether a federal court may consider inadmissible evidence when deciding a class certification motion. This district court found that it could not do so. The plaintiffs, former retail sales employees of the defendants, moved to certify a class of essentially everyone employed by the defendants, beauty supply ... Keep Reading »
A Unicorn Sighting? Fourth Circuit Affirms Certification of Defendant Class
Bell v. Brockett is an unusual case in several respects. Most notably, the Fourth Circuit affirmed certification of a defendant class, despite acknowledging that defendant class actions are "so rare they have been compared to unicorns." The court not only acknowledged the rarity of defendant class actions but also commented on their "inherent risks." Indeed, in a delightful footnote the court explained that although both unicorns and defendant class actions are rare, the ... Keep Reading »
Split Over Impact of Bristol-Myers Squibb on Class Actions Deepens
Bakov v. Consolidated World Travel, Inc. is the latest salvo in the conflict over whether the Supreme Court’s personal jurisdiction decision in Bristol-Myers Squibb applies in the class action context. As we have blogged in the past, Bristol-Myers concerned claims in California state court made by non-California residents, claims that were not sufficiently connected to California to qualify for specific personal jurisdiction on their own. The Court held that California ... Keep Reading »