Patrick T. Lewis

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Supreme Court Disconnects Plaintiffs’ Attempt to Avoid Class Arbitration Waiver

By Patrick T. Lewis on December 16, 2015 Posted in Uncategorized

In a 6-3 decision yesterday, the Supreme Court in DirecTV, Inc. v. Imburgia, 577 U.S. ___, S. Ct. (2015) reversed a decision of the California Court of Appeals that refused to enforce a class action arbitration waiver on unconscionability grounds. At issue in that case was a class action arbitration waiver that contained a provision … Continue Reading

Judge Easterbrook Holds Unaccepted Offer of Judgment Does Not Moot an Individual TCPA Claim

By Patrick T. Lewis on August 20, 2015 Posted in Class Certification, TCPA

As we covered here, the U.S. Supreme Court accepted certiorari in Campbell-Eward Co. v. Gomez, 768 F.3d 871 (9th Cir. 2014), to decide the question of whether a full-relief offer of judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68, made prior to the plaintiff’s moving for class certification, would moot a TCPA class action. The … Continue Reading

Supreme Court to decide if a TCPA class action can be mooted by a pre-certification offer of judgment

By Patrick T. Lewis on May 19, 2015 Posted in TCPA

Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court accepted certiorari to review the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Campbell-Eward Co. v. Gomez, 768 F.3d 871 (9th Cir. 2014), which involved a TCPA class action brought by the recipient of a text message that a contractor, defendant Campbell-Eward, sent on behalf of the U.S. Navy in May 2006. The … Continue Reading

In “Zombie” Class Action, Seventh Circuit Requires Plaintiffs to Present Evidence to Prove Home-State Exception to CAFA Jurisdiction

By Patrick T. Lewis on August 22, 2014 Posted in Class Action Fairness Act, Class Certification

On Tuesday, the Seventh Circuit decided Myrick v. Wellpoint, Inc., Nos. 12-3882, 13-2230, 2014 WL 4073065 (Aug. 19, 2014), which held that plaintiffs were required to produce evidence—and not merely assumptions—about the citizenship of class members to establish the “home-state exception” to CAFA jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(4). The case arose when a health insurer … Continue Reading

ABA Regional CLE Conference on Class Actions – June 19, 2014 in San Francisco

By Patrick T. Lewis on May 28, 2014 Posted in Class Action Trends

In case you missed it, the ABA’s Class Actions and Derivatives Suits, Consumer Litigation, and Mass Torts Committees are hosting a Regional CLE conference on June 19th at the University of San Francisco Law School in San Francisco entitled “Who’s in Charge Here?: The Role of Lawyers, Clients, Insurers, and Judges in Class Actions and Mass Tort … Continue Reading

Data Breach Class Action Standing Post-Clapper

By Patrick T. Lewis on April 24, 2014 Posted in Class Action Trends, Class Actions Privacy, Data Breach

Our own Judy Selby has a new piece out on Law360 analyzing standing for data breach class cases after the Supreme Court’s decision in Clapper: “No Data Misuse? No Standing For Data Breach Plaintiffs.” Judy’s piece highlights the challenges that face data breach plaintiffs post-Clapper, but also points out that: The continued proliferation of data … Continue Reading

Supreme Court To Decide CAFA Pleading Standard

By Patrick T. Lewis on April 8, 2014 Posted in Class Action Fairness Act, Standing

On April 7th, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Dart Cherokee Basin Operating Company, LLC v. Owens, a case originating from the Tenth Circuit. In that case, the Court will resolve a circuit split over the pleading standard applicable to determining CAFA removal jurisdiction. The question presented is: Whether a defendant seeking removal to federal court … Continue Reading

Collignon & Benda On the Tea Party vs. IRS

By Patrick T. Lewis on March 24, 2014 Posted in Uncategorized

On March 19th, Law360 published an article by our colleagues Casie Collignon and Jennifer Benda titled “Tea Party v. IRS: Tax Trouble or Class Action Nightmare?” The article addresses growing litigation by tea party groups arising out of the alleged additional scrutiny the IRS applied to the groups’ petitions for tax-exempt status as 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations. While the press has covered these stories as being … Continue Reading

BakerHostetler 2013 Year-End Review of Class Actions Is Up

By Patrick T. Lewis on January 28, 2014 Posted in Year-end Review of Class Actions

We are pleased to announce that BakerHostetler’s 2013 Year-End Review of Class Actions (…and what to expect in 2014) has been posted. The Year-End Review offers a summary of the major developments in class action law from 2013 and key insights into the cases and trends that are likely to shape class action practice in 2014. … Continue Reading

TCPA Class Actions are Back in the Big Apple

By Patrick T. Lewis on January 6, 2014 Posted in Erie Doctrine, Rule 12 Motions to Dismiss, TCPA

In December, the Second Circuit cleared the way for plaintiffs to bring TCPA class actions in New York federal courts by holding that a New York state law prohibition on class actions for recovery of statutory damages was no obstacle to federal jurisdiction. The case, Bank v. Independence Energy Group, LLC, No. 13-1746 (2d Cir. … Continue Reading

Supreme Court to Review Sixth Circuit’s Reinstatement of ERISA “Stock-Drop” Class Action

By Elliot Morrison and Patrick T. Lewis on December 30, 2013 Posted in Class Action Trends, ERISA, Rule 12 Motions to Dismiss, Securities

The Supreme Court recently agreed to resolve a circuit split on the pleading requirements for claims that ERISA fiduciaries imprudently invested employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) assets in the stock of the employer—so-called “stock-drop” cases. Under the “Moench presumption,” named after Moench v. Robertson, 62 F.3d 553 (3d Cir. 1995), courts presume that investments of … Continue Reading

The Ascertainability Requirement Claims Another Class. A Growing Trend?

By Patrick T. Lewis and Jonathon Korinko on December 27, 2013 Posted in Advertising Class Action, Class Certification, Class Definition

A new case, Hernandez v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., No. CV 12-5543 DSF JCX, 2013 WL 6332002 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 2, 2013), highlights challenges plaintiffs face in certifying classes where membership in the class is difficult or impossible to ascertain based on the defendant’s records. In Hernandez, the plaintiff sought to certify a class of … Continue Reading

Australian Thalidomide class action settled

By Darren Crook and Patrick T. Lewis on December 5, 2013 Posted in Consumer Class Action, Settlements

More than 50 years after the morning sickness drug Thalidomide was first released to the market, the drug’s British distributor announced on Monday, December 2nd that it has agreed to settle an Australian class action in the Victorian Supreme Court over birth defects linked to the drug. The legal team representing the class claimed that Australia … Continue Reading

Casie Collignon to Present Program On Class Settlement Objections

By Patrick T. Lewis on November 25, 2013 Posted in Class Action Trends, Settlements

Addressing class action settlement objections–including those made by so-called “professional” objectors, government agencies, and public interest groups–has become an increasingly important part of any class action litigator’s job. On January 9th, our co-editor, Casie Collignon, and Bruce D. Greenburg of Lite DePalma Greenberg in Newark, N.J., will teach a CLE program that will review the trends in this area and outline strategies that counsel … Continue Reading

Comcast v. Behrend: Supreme Court Tightens Certification Requirements, But Leaves Standard For Expert Evidence Uncertain

By Patrick T. Lewis on March 29, 2013 Posted in Antitrust, Class Certification, Predominance, Rule 23 Requirements

On March 27, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, Case No. 11-864, which tightened class certification requirements in two respects. First, Behrend requires plaintiffs to show a method by which class-wide damages can be commonly calculated in Rule 23(b)(3) antitrust class actions. Second, the decision confirmed that the Court’s “rigorous analysis” … Continue Reading

Is “Materiality” a Class Certification or Merits Issue?

By Patrick T. Lewis on July 12, 2012 Posted in Class Action Trends, Class Certification, Securities

Contributing Author: Taylor Jackson The Supreme Court agreed last month to hear an appeal from a Ninth Circuit case, Conn. Retirement Plans & Trust Funds v. Amgen, Inc., 660 F.3d 1170 (9th Cir. 2011), that affirmed an order certifying a securities fraud class based on the fraud-on-the-market theory. Plaintiffs alleged Amgen misrepresented the safety of … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Dismisses Statutory Standing Case

By Patrick T. Lewis on July 11, 2012 Posted in Civil Procedure, Class Action Trends, Insurance, Standing

Contributing Author: Christina Marino On the last day of the 2011 Term, the Supreme Court dismissed First American Financial Corp. v. Edwards, No. 10-708, 2012 WL 2427807 (June 28, 2012), a case that raised the issue of whether plaintiffs have standing to sue for violations of federal statutes, even when the plaintiffs have suffered no … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Allows Arbitration Despite Non-Disclosure of a Customer’s Right to Sue

By Patrick T. Lewis on February 2, 2012 Posted in Arbitration

The Supreme Court’s recent decision in CompuCredit Corp. v. Greenwood, 565 U.S. __, 132 S.Ct. 665, 181 L.Ed.2d 586 (2012), found that despite an act requiring a disclosure of a consumer’s “right to sue,” claims under the act would still be arbitrable absent clear congressional intent to the contrary. Plaintiffs held credit cards marketed and … Continue Reading