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Amanda Bronstad is the ALM staff reporter covering class actions and mass torts nationwide. She writes the email dispatch Critical Mass. She is based in Los Angeles.
April 20, 2018
A plaintiffs team suing a pipeline operator over a 2015 oil spill off the coast of California scored a rare win when a federal judge granted certification of thousands of property owners. Of course, that success came on the third try.
April 18, 2018
A federal judge has rejected approval of a class action settlement that drew an unusual objection from the U.S. Justice Department, but one that it withdrew.
April 17, 2018
A federal judge has dismissed cases brought by two counties in Utah and Florida alleging Volkswagen’s emissions fraud violated their state environmental laws.
April 17, 2018
Wells Fargo could be on the hook for $1 billion in regulatory fines tied to allegedly overcharging its consumers for mortgage and insurance products, but lawyers said the full amount was far from certain.
April 13, 2018
Lawyers have asked a federal judge to halt consumer class actions against sports betting sites DraftKings Inc. and FanDuel Inc. while they hash out a possible settlement.
April 13, 2018
Ohio federal District Judge Dan Polster--who is overseeing multidistrict litigation over the opioid crisis--has put the first trial on a fast track, choosing to pursue an ambitious discovery schedule.
April 12, 2018
With lawyers at an impasse over settling the national opioid litigation, a federal judge in Cleveland has set an aggressive discovery schedule that includes going to trial on March 18 of next year.
April 10, 2018
A lawyer accused of unethical conduct in the Flint water case called an attempt to oust him from his leadership appointment “nothing but a retaliatory smear campaign” and a “blatant money grab.”
April 10, 2018
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg came to Capitol Hill this week to deliver an apology for the social media site's role in the Cambridge Analytica debacle, but his tone did not quite match up with the aggressive stance taken by Facebook's lawyers, who argued forcefully in court papers that there was effectively no data breach.
April 09, 2018
As Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has prepared to apologize this week on Capitol Hill over security issues, the social media giant's lawyers struck a…
April 09, 2018
In the runup to Mark Zuckerberg's Congressional testimony, Facebook's lawyers at Gibson Dunn claimed that the company "broke no laws and violated no legal duties" in a filing before the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.
April 06, 2018
The federal judge overseeing the $1 billion concussion settlement with the NFL awarded $112.5 million in attorney fees—but it might be another year before she decides how to divide the global amount.
April 05, 2018
A federal judicial panel has ordered dozens of lawsuits against Intel, Apple and Uber into multidistrict litigation—but only one docket went to California’s increasingly congested district in the Bay Area.
April 03, 2018
A class action over gender pay equity at Google has cleared a hurdle, and the ruling could reverberate throughout Silicon Valley and the tech world as a road map for suits targeting pay inequality in major companies.
March 29, 2018
Theodore Leopold and Michael Pitt, lead counsel in a consolidated class action in Michigan federal court, say Hunter Shkolnik has been swiping their clients by forcing them to sign unlawful retainer agreements with excessive fees.
March 28, 2018
The Fourth Circuit cited a 2017 U.S. Supreme Court decision from last year that struck down a procedural tactic used by plaintiffs to get their appeals heard.
March 27, 2018
Remington Outdoor's Chapter 11 bankruptcy could hold up a case brought by 10 families of victims of the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, even if the Connecticut Supreme Court rules in their favor.
March 26, 2018
A federal jury in Illinois awarded an Oregon man $3.2 million in a retrial of a “low testosterone” case that originally netted $150 million.
March 26, 2018
Asbestos filings fell in 2017, and it didn't matter whether they were brought over mesothelioma, lung cancer or other forms of cancer, according to consulting firm KCIC.
March 23, 2018
Lawyers filed the first consumer class action against Facebook and Cambridge Analytica in the wake of reports that a research firm with ties to President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign mined data about Facebook users through an app. Other lawsuits--a securities class action and a derivative shareholder suit--followed soon after.
March 22, 2018
Uniloc USA Inc. brought the motion last month to coordinate 25 patent infringement lawsuits against companies such as Apple and Motorola over seven patents it acquired from Hewlett Packard Enterprise in 2017.
March 20, 2018
The groups said Ninth Circuit ruling conflicts with its own precedent and decisions in the Third and Seventh circuits, parroting the arguments of plaintiffs and defendants Hyundai Motor America and Kia Motors America Inc. in dual petitions for en banc review filed earlier this month.
March 20, 2018
The U.S. Supreme Court handed down its opinion in a securities case that has been closely watched by the tech community, ruling unanimously that certain securities class actions may be litigated in state courts despite a recent federal statute that defense counsel said was intended to curb those suits.
March 19, 2018
Plaintiffs suing Chrysler over its “clean diesel” engines may pursue racketeering claims, according to a federal judge’s ruling.
March 16, 2018
The appellate court on Thursday found that a defendant's due process rights weren't violated when a district attorney in California hired three outside law firms on a contingency basis to pursue a civil lawsuit.
March 16, 2018
The settlement in a sex discrimination case against Chadbourne & Parke is set to go to three lead plaintiffs who ended up securing a total of $2 million in back pay for their Equal Pay Act claims, and a motion seeking court approval for the accord said “there are no other opt-in plaintiffs.”
March 15, 2018
None of the companies have revealed how much the settlements were worth.
March 14, 2018
Laura Simmons, senior adviser at Cornerstone and co-author of the report, said the cases last year were just smaller.
March 14, 2018
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has found the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' management of the Missouri River caused regular flooding, a liability finding that sets the stage for a trial over what plaintiffs' counsel estimated as $300 million in damages.
March 13, 2018
Yahoo now faces the possibility of punitive damages over recent data breaches, which have impacted a total more than 3 billion user accounts, after Judge Lucy Koh refused to dismiss the case.
March 12, 2018
Yahoo Inc. will face punitive damages over data breaches that affected more than 3 billion email user accounts after a federal judge refused to dismiss most of the claims.
March 09, 2018
Lawyers on both sides of a high-profile case against Hyundai, citing a circuit split, have asked an en banc appeals panel to upend a ruling that they say threatens the future of nationwide class action settlements.
March 07, 2018
U.S. District Judge Dan Polster in Cleveland told lawyers in the multidistrict litigation to come up with a plan by March 16 over the scope and timing of a “litigation track.”
National Law Journal |Expert Opinion |Investigation |News
March 06, 2018
A special master looking into potential overbilling in a $75 million attorney fee request has delayed the findings of a report he said could have “serious and far-reaching adverse ramifications” for plaintiffs firms in the case and “for the practice of the plaintiffs’ class action bar.”
March 06, 2018
All eyes were on Florida this week, where the state’s highest court is reviewing evidence standards, weighing whether it should shift from Frye to Daubert in evaluating expert testimony.
March 05, 2018
Before U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced last week that the federal government might bring legal actions against opioid companies, Department of Justice lawyers were in court fighting over a drug distribution database that could aid ongoing settlement talks.
March 02, 2018
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ announcement this week that he had commissioned a team to eye direct involvement in the opioid litigation was made just as the DOJ was ordered to turn over Drug Enforcement Agency data to plaintiffs' lawyers.
March 01, 2018
Plaintiffs firm Edelson PC has asked a federal judicial panel to consolidate class actions brought over the 2014 collapse of the bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox after a federal judge last year dismantled its case under the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bristol-Myers Squibb v. Superior Court of California.
February 27, 2018
At issue is whether the St. Louis judge overseeing the case, abused his discretion in allowing a plaintiff who originally sued in St. Louis County Circuit Court, located in Clayton, Missouri, to go to trial in the city of St. Louis.
February 27, 2018
Attorneys are left to mull what comes next after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case that promised to offer a chance to make a definitive statement on plaintiff standing in data breach lawsuits.
February 26, 2018
Plaintiff’s lawyers who allege that baby powder caused a woman’s mesothelioma have voluntarily dismissed their case against Johnson & Johnson less than a month before a scheduled trial.
February 23, 2018
After Rachel Brand said in a speech that the U.S. Justice Department would use the Class Action Fairness Act to review settlements, it didn;t take long for a case to be brought under the microscope.
February 22, 2018
A man whose parking receipt exposed the full expiration date of his credit card lacked standing to sue over the data leak, the court ruled this week.
February 21, 2018
A federal judge has refused to dismiss racketeering claims in a case over GM’s diesel trucks, potentially bolstering cases against other automakers that, like Volkswagen, have been accused of cheating emissions tests.
February 20, 2018
Attorneys general from 16 states have filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to take up the debate over the cy pres doctrine, which directs undistributed class action proceeds.
February 16, 2018
Lawyers are closely watching whether the high court takes up a petition to review a case from the D.C. Circuit that may provide the opportunity to provide an answer on when data breach victims have standing to sue in federal court.
February 15, 2018
That’s how plaintiffs lawyers characterized a settlement reached this week in the Takata bankruptcy that could provide up to $130 million in compensation to victims of exploding air bags.
February 14, 2018
A federal appeals panel appeared unlikely to unravel a controversial class action settlement over defects in Remington rifles, raising doubts that…
February 13, 2018
When U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash appointed lawyers to lead the class actions against Equifax and that roster includes a lot of familiar faces from the Home Depot data breach litigation, which he also oversaw.
February 12, 2018
The Ninth Circuit’s Jan. 23 opinion in In re Hyundai and Kia Fuel Economy Litigation imposed a strict set of requirements that alarmed lawyers on both sides—but mostly those in the plaintiffs bar.
February 09, 2018
A RICO case aimed at 'professional objectors' fails despite a judge’s harsh critique of their standards.
February 08, 2018
A lawyer who has sued Thomas Girardi several times for allegedly misappropriating millions of dollars in class action settlement funds is set to go before a federal appeals court on Friday as part of a federal racketeering case against the high-profile attorney.
February 06, 2018
A federal appeals court has approved the $25 million Trump University settlement, striking down the claims of a high-profile objector who had threatened…
February 06, 2018
A scramble to lead Equifax plaintiffs' class. Plus: a legendary and controversial lawyer dies
February 05, 2018
At least six teams of lawyers are competing for the top leadership posts in the lawsuits brought over Equifax Inc.’s massive data breach.
February 02, 2018
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh blasts attorney fee bid in data breach case. Plus: is the opioid MDL tilted toward rural, white victims?
February 01, 2018
"I'm deeply disappointed," U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh told lead plaintiffs attorney Eve Cervantez at a hearing on Thursday in San Jose.
January 30, 2018
Securities class action filings hit record levels in 2017, driven primarily by lawsuits challenging mergers and acquisitions, according to two prominent studies that came out this week.
January 29, 2018
The California Supreme Court ruled on Monday that objectors in class actions must intervene before filing an appeal of a settlement or decision, raising the burden on objectors and setting the state apart from more lenient federal rules.
January 26, 2018
The Ninth Circuit's 'Hyundai' ruling is sure to shake up multi-state class actions. Plus, Adam Moskowitz explains why he's leaving Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton.
January 25, 2018
The Michigan Court of Appeals has refused to dismiss a class action brought over the Flint water contamination crisis, opening the door for hundreds of residents bringing claims against the state, according to a lawyer in the case.
January 24, 2018
The court's parsing of a lower court's “choice-of-law” analysis in a multistate class action settlement could cause hurdles for future nationwide classes.
January 24, 2018
Class action plaintiffs ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to revive their case. Plus, the Aren't Fox lawyer who wants to tank a huge banking settlement.
January 23, 2018
Plaintiffs lawyers are fighting accusations by an objector that their $38 million fee request in the Anthem data breach settlement was “outrageous on its face” and required a special master to investigate potential over-billing.
January 22, 2018
Plaintiffs lawyers have asked an appeals court to revive the only class action in federal court brought over an alleged link between Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder and ovarian cancer.
January 19, 2018
A federal judge in Cleveland has appointed three special masters to help craft a settlement in the massive opioid litigation. One of them, Cathy Yanni, spoke to law.com about the complex case, which involves hundreds of cities, counties, states, Native American tribes and others that have sued manufacturers and distributors of the prescription painkillers.
January 19, 2018
An aggressive push to settle opioid litigation. Plus, will tech MDLs throttle Northern California federal court?
January 18, 2018
The district, home to Silicon Valley, faces the prospect of having recent lawsuits brought against Apple, Intel and Uber transferred to its federal courts in multidistrict litigation, possibly all at the same time.
January 16, 2018
The first lawsuit has been filed over California’s deadly mudslides this month, naming as a defendant local utilities company Southern California Edison.
January 16, 2018
Critical Mass: Ogletree Faces Class Action for Gender Bias. Plus: Federal Judge Lays Down Ground Rules in Equifax Data Breach Litigation
January 12, 2018
An Ohio federal judge told lawyers in the opioid MDL that he wants a settlement plan – and fast. Meanwhile, a $28 million verdict over Xarelto was thrown out less than a month after it was entered.
January 10, 2018
A federal judge in Michigan plans on Thursday to appoint former U.S. Sen. Carl Levin as a mediator in lawsuits over the Flint water contamination crisis.
January 09, 2018
The federal judge overseeing about 200 opioid lawsuits ordered lawyers into private talks on Tuesday with one goal in mind: find a way to settle the cases, and quickly.
January 09, 2018
A decade after two of its former partners landed in jail, securities class action firm Milberg has made the move to merge, joining forces with Sanders Phillips Grossman, a products liability firm. The new firm, Milberg Tadler Phillips Grossman, will offer more diversified services, and puts distance between Milberg and its ex-partners' "unhappy legacy," as one law professor put it.
January 08, 2018
Lawyers who scored verdicts of $140 million and $150 million last year in the first trials over low testosterone medications have switched lead counsel for a trial that begins on Monday.
January 04, 2018
A federal judge has approved a plaintiffs leadership team in the opioid litigation that’s expected to get bigger—much bigger.
January 03, 2018
An objection says the fee request, which is 33 percent of the $115 million settlement, was “outrageous on its face” and should be closer to $13.8 million.
January 02, 2018
Three companies have agreed to pay $125 million to settle claims that they conspired to raise prices on drywall.
January 02, 2018
More than a dozens lawsuit have already been filed in the wake of early reports that Apple throttled the processor speeds of aging iPhones.
December 22, 2017
A proposed plaintiffs attorney team that looks like a “Who’s Who” of the mass torts bar has moved to spearhead the federal multidistrict litigation targeting the makers of opioid drugs in an effort to claw back public money spent to combat the opioid addiction crisis – but there has been some pushback from other plaintiffs' lawyers.
December 21, 2017
Greenberg Traurig’s products group is small but mighty.
National Law Journal |Analysis
December 21, 2017
Opioids and data breaches are expected to be the hot mass torts in 2018, with tort reform expected to resurface on Capitol Hill.
December 20, 2017
A group of more than 20 lawyers who would be on many observers' list of the “best and the brightest” of the mass torts bar filed a motion on Wednesday to be appointed lead counsel in the national opioid multidistrict litigation.
December 20, 2017
“So far, the story of the talc litigation has mostly been about two things—the science and the choice of forum,” said Howard Erichson, a professor at Fordham University School of Law.
December 19, 2017
A series of wrongful death actions--stemming from the 2014 disappearance of Malaysian Air Flight 370--filed in D.C. federal district court were the subject of a hearing Tuesday on motions aimed at sweeping them out of court. Malaysian Airlines and Boeing, maker of the 777 aircraft, have raised a host of defenses, but what’s most interesting is the differences of opinion going on among the plaintiffs firms.
December 18, 2017
A federal judge in the District of Columbia is set to hear arguments Tuesday over whether to dismiss lawsuits brought on behalf of passengers of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared over the Indian Ocean in 2014.
December 15, 2017
Harvard Law School professor William Rubenstein has recommended a 15% cap on contingency fees for plaintiffs lawyers representing individual players in the $1 billion NFL concussion settlement.
December 13, 2017
Tangle Over Science: New Jersey is set to become a battleground over the quality of scientific evidence to be presented to juries in a Big Pharma case--this one over Accutane, the anti-acne drug which plaintiffs have linked to Crohn's disease. But the appeal isn’t just about Accutane. There are amicus briefs calling on the New Jersey Supreme Court to adopt the Daubert standard, which is often seen as more defense-friendly.
December 12, 2017
The ruling upheld a decision routing a case into arbitration that brought false advertising claims against AT&T over its “unlimited” service plans.
December 11, 2017
A federal appeals court has revived more than 750 lawsuits filed over four diabetes drugs after finding that a San Diego judge misapplied a 2011 U.S. Supreme Court opinion relating to federal pre-emption.
December 11, 2017
Bristol-Myers Blues: There is one place where the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Bristol-Myers has not been a game-changer for the defense bar: Philadelphia--a hub for mass torts, particularly in pharmaceuticals and medical devices--where a judge has refused to dismiss all but one of about 120 pelvic mesh lawsuits filed against Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon unit based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s Bristol-Myers Squibb v. Superior Court decision.
December 08, 2017
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire — and lawyers across Southern California know that all too well this week. As of Friday, there were six…
December 07, 2017
In a case stemming from Heller Ehrman’s bankruptcy a decade ago, the California Supreme Court grappled with a matter of California law that could…
December 07, 2017
A tort reform group whose signature move is labeling purportedly pro-plaintiff judicial vicinages "hellholes" each year has given New Jersey a good roasting, though some heavenly praise was sprinkled in.
December 06, 2017
The Center for Auto Safety is looking to shed light on whether there’s a defect, and whether Goodyear was aware of it.
December 05, 2017
A bevy of medical malpractice decisions helped propel Florida to the No. 1 spot in the annual Judicial Hellholes report this year for the first time.
December 05, 2017
In a statement accompanying the annual report's release, ATRA's president called California a "perennial hellhole ... where lawmakers, prosecutors and plaintiff-friendly judges inexorably expand civil liability.”
December 05, 2017
The American Tort Reform Foundation placed the Georgia Supreme Court on a "Watch List" in its annual "Judicial Hellhole" report on jurisdictions "where judges in civil cases systematically apply laws and court procedures in an unfair and unbalanced manner, generally to the disadvantage of defendants."
December 05, 2017
The American Tort Reform Association has once again christened Philadelphia's Court of Common Pleas a "Judicial Hellhole" after a six-year reprieve. And, following two key developments in Philadelphia's mass torts program Tuesday, it's probably safe to say ATRA has no regrets about its decision.
December 05, 2017
A federal judicial panel has ordered nearly 180 government lawsuits filed against opioid manufacturers and distributors to be transferred to a judge in Ohio.
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