Will a Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) notice of settlement bind a state as an absent class member? A Pennsylvania federal district court recently offered guidance on this issue. The case involved allegations that the defendant pharmaceutical company illegally delayed the introduction of a cheaper, generic version of its nasal inflammation drug Flonase by filing a sham citizen petition with the Food and Drug Administration. In June 2013, the court approved a ... Keep Reading »
Class Action Settlement Articles
The latest class action settlement developments and trends, including news, key cases, and strategies.
Data Breach Class Actions: 2015 Year in Review and 2016 Preview
As 2015 draws to a close, questions over standing in data breach class actions remain. Earlier this year, the Seventh Circuit denied retailer Neiman Marcus’s petition for rehearing en banc of a panel opinion holding that plaintiffs whose credit card information was stolen in a data breach had standing to sue under Article III of the United States Constitution based on alleged fear of future identity theft; in so doing, the Seventh Circuit confirmed that the circuit split ... Keep Reading »
Missouri District Court Joins the List: Unaccepted Rule 68 Offer Does Not Moot Claims
Yet another court has found that an unaccepted Rule 68 Offer of Judgment will not moot a putative class action, even where the offer purports to satisfy all of plaintiff’s demands. Plaintiffs sued in the Eastern District of Missouri and proposed to represent a class of at least 60 former joint venture general managers of Panera Bread Company whose buyout payments from Panera were allegedly capped at an amount lower than that to which they contractually agreed. Plaintiffs ... Keep Reading »
First Circuit Holds an Unaccepted Rule 68 Offer Made Prior to Class Certification Won’t Moot Plaintiff’s Claims. Will Supreme Court Agree?
The First Circuit recently joined the Second, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits in holding that a Rule 68 offer made prior to class certification and rejected by plaintiff does not moot the plaintiff’s claim. The plaintiff, a private high school, brought the action against the corporate developer of a college-entrance exam, alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and an analogous state statute related to unsolicited faxes it received. ... Keep Reading »
Fifth Circuit Holds Unaccepted Rule 68 Offer of Judgment Cannot Moot a Named Plaintiff’s Claim in a Putative Class Action
The defendant in a putative class action brought pursuant to the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA), 15 U.S.C. § 1693, et seq., tendered a Rule 68 offer of judgment to the named plaintiff before class certification briefing occurred. The defendant proposed to settle with the named plaintiff for the maximum allowable statutory damages for his individual claim, and to pay costs accrued and reasonable and necessary attorney fees, through the date of acceptance of the ... Keep Reading »
Seventh Circuit Cleans Up the Law; Holds Rule 68 Offer of Complete Relief Does Not Render Litigation Moot
In a case that began as a putative class action, the Seventh Circuit held that a Rule 68 offer of complete relief does not render litigation moot. Plaintiff in Chapman v. First Index filed a "junk-fax" suit pursuant to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), 47 U.S.C. § 227 et seq., after allegedly receiving two unsolicited and unauthorized faxes from First Index. He demanded $3,000 plus an injunction under § 227(b)(3)(A). Plaintiff proposed to represent a class ... Keep Reading »
Does Rule 23(e) Require that Settlement Class Members Receive Notice of Modification to Cy Pres Remedy?
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia recently held that a modification to a settlement agreement was not subject to the procedural protections of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(e) because it would not "materially hinder" the legal rights of class members. The settlement agreement at issue, entered into between Native American ranchers and farmers and the United States Department of Agriculture, required that the money remaining after the ... Keep Reading »
Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad: Kansas District Court Certifies Settlement Class and Grants Preliminary Approval but Rejects Notice by Publication
A boy fell through the vinyl guardrail his father installed on the second story deck of their home. After settling his son's personal injury claims, the father sued Home Depot and the guardrail manufacturer on behalf of himself and other Kansas purchasers for breach of warranty and violations of the Kansas Consumer Protection Act alleging that the guardrail brackets were defective. The district court certified a class, and the Tenth Circuit granted the parties' Rule ... Keep Reading »
GCs facing more bet-the-company and higher exposure class actions
Across industries, companies spent $2 billion on class action lawsuits in 2014, slightly less than the $2.1 billion they spent in 2013. This year, spending is expected to return to 2013 levels. Companies’ class action dockets increased on average by one new case in 2014, bringing the average number of class actions managed to five. This total is expected to remain constant in 2015, as the number of new matters is likely to be offset by those resolved. As before, ... Keep Reading »
Sweet Ending for Plaintiffs in Food Labeling Class Action Against Ghirardelli
A California district court certified a Rule 23(b)(3) food labeling class action against chocolatier Ghirardelli and approved a proposed settlement. The genesis of plaintiffs' claim is that defendant mislabeled its "White Chips" and other products in a way that would mislead consumers into believing that the products contained white chocolate. Plaintiffs also asserted a claim that the "all natural" label was improper because the products contained "genetically modified, ... Keep Reading »
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- Next Page »