The Defense Research Institute is planning a class action seminar for July 21-22, 2011 in Washington, DC. That will come shortly after the Supreme Court issues its opinions in Smith v. Bayer (involving federal injunctions against state court class actions after a denial of certification in federal court) and Wal-mart v. Dukes (involving the commonality prong of Rule 23(a) and the scope of classes seeking injunctive or declaratory relief under Rule 23(b)(2)). See my prior posts on the Bayer and Wal-mart cases, as well as on the Supreme Court decision in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, which already came down. The DRI program will include panel discussions of the implications of these three new decisions for future class actions. The presenters include counsel of record in each of the three Supreme Court cases, as well as judges from the Fifth and Seventh Circuits, and in-house counsel at leading companies. Other topics include Rule 23(f) and CAFA appeals (with Judge Southwick of the Fifth Circuit presenting), federal constitutional issues in state court litigation (with former Solicitor General Paul Clement presenting), class action settlements (with leading mediator Eric Green presenting), and responding to class actions in the media (with presenters including New York Times reporter Adam Litpak). Shaping up to be an all-star program in this area.
I plan to attend and hope to see some of you there.