The U.S. Supreme Court has recently issued several important decisions that will affect the future of class actions. Although these opinions involve different industries and subject areas, they send a clear message to the plaintiffs bar that it is going to get increasingly difficult to get class actions certified. If current trends continue, it looks like mostly good news for in-house counsel faced with defending their companies in class actions.
Much of the court's recent attention has focused on the viability of so-called class action waivers, which are found in the arbitration provisions of many standard-form customer agreements. A watershed decision on this issue was AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion (2011), in which the court upheld the enforceability of the waivers, ruling that the Federal Arbitration Act preempts any state law that would invalidate as unconscionable all class waivers in the consumer context.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
