I’ve had the pleasure of serving on a committee of the Defense Research Institute (DRI) that has put together another blockbuster national class action seminar, being held on July 25, 2013 at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel in Washington, D.C (see the seminar website for details and the brochure). I attended DRI’s last class action seminar in July of 2011, which was excellent.  As some of you may recall, I did several blog posts about that one (see Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).  This year’s program will be even better, with a star-studded lineup focusing on the major developments in class action law this year, including the numerous Supreme Court decisions.

Miguel Estrada, who argued for Comcast in Comcast v. Behrend, will discuss the Supreme Court’s key ruling this year in that case involving Rule 23(b)(3)’s predominance requirement (see my blog post on Comcast).  Ted Boutrous, who argued Standard Fire Ins. Co. v. Knowles (I had the pleasure of being his co-counsel in that case), will discuss the Supreme Court’s key ruling on the Class Action Fairness Act in that case (see my blog post on Knowles).  Noah Levine, who represented the defendant in Amgen Inc. v. Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds, will discuss the Supreme Court’s new decision in that case, which held that a plaintiff in a Rule 10b-5 case need not prove materiality at class certification.  The Court’s decision also has significant potential implications beyond the securities context with respect to merits inquiries at the class certification stage (see my blog post on Amgen).  Michael Kellogg, who represents AmEx in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant, will discuss the Supreme Court’s forthcoming decision in that case on arbitration clauses with class action waivers (see my blog post about the AmEx oral argument).

And there will be much more.  The seminar also features a panel of in-house counsel from Coca-Cola, Pfizer and LP Building Products addressing class actions from the client’s perspective; and programs on trials of class actions; lessons learned from the Toyota MDL; international class actions; and more.

I will be there, plan to blog about it, and hope to see you there.  The attendance roster is looking strong and space may be limited, so sign up soon.  If you plan to attend, please let me know so I can be sure to look for you there.

Print:
Email this postTweet this postLike this postShare this post on LinkedIn
Photo of Wystan Ackerman Wystan Ackerman

I am a partner at the law firm of Robinson+Cole in Hartford, Connecticut, USA.  My contact information is on the contact page of my blog.  I really enjoy receiving questions, comments, suggestions and even criticism from readers.  So please e-mail me if you…

I am a partner at the law firm of Robinson+Cole in Hartford, Connecticut, USA.  My contact information is on the contact page of my blog.  I really enjoy receiving questions, comments, suggestions and even criticism from readers.  So please e-mail me if you have something to say.  For those looking for my detailed law firm bio, click here.  If you want a more light-hearted and hopefully more interesting summary, read on:

People often ask about my unusual first name, Wystan.  It’s pronounced WISS-ten.  It’s not Winston.  There is no “n” in the middle.  It comes from my father’s favorite poet, W.H. (Wystan Hugh) Auden.  I’ve grown to like the fact that because my name is unusual people tend to remember it better, even if they don’t pronounce it right (and there is no need for anyone to use my last name because I’m always the only Wystan).

I grew up in Deep River, Connecticut, a small town on the west side of the Connecticut River in the south central part of the state.  I’ve always had strong interests in history, politics and baseball.  My heroes growing up were Abraham Lincoln and Wade Boggs (at that time the third baseman for the Boston Red Sox).  I think it was my early fascination with Lincoln that drove me to practice law.  I went to high school at The Williams School in New London, Connecticut, where I edited the school newspaper, played baseball, and was primarily responsible for the installation of a flag pole near the school entrance (it seemed like every other school had one but until my class raised the money and bought one at my urging, Williams had no flag pole).  As a high school senior, my interest in history and politics led me to score high enough on a test of those subjects to be chosen as one of Connecticut’s two delegates to the U.S. Senate Youth Program, which further solidified my interest in law and government.  One of my mentors at Williams was of the view that there were far too many lawyers and I should find something more useful to do, but if I really had to be a lawyer there was always room for one more.  I eventually decided to be that “one more.”  I went on to Bowdoin College, where I wrote for the Bowdoin Orient and majored in government, but took a lot of math classes because I found college math interesting and challenging.  I then went to Columbia Law School, where I was lucky enough to be selected as one of the minions who spent their time fastidiously cite-checking and Blue booking hundred-plus-page articles in the Columbia Law Review.  I also interned in the chambers of then-Judge Sonia Sotomayor when she was a relatively new judge on the Second Circuit, my only connection to someone who now has one-ninth of the last word on what constitutes the law of our land.  I graduated from Columbia in 2001, then worked at Skadden Arps in Boston before returning to Connecticut and joining Robinson+Cole, one of the largest Connecticut-based law firms.  At the end of 2008, I was elected a partner at Robinson+Cole.

I’ve worked on class actions since the start of my career.  Being in the insurance capital of Hartford, we have a national insurance litigation practice and most of the class actions I’ve defended have been brought against insurance companies. I’ve also handled some involving products liability, managed care, health care, utilities, financial services, higher education and environmental issues.

My insurance class action practice usually takes me outside of Connecticut.  I’ve had the pleasure of working on cases in various federal and state courts and collaborating with great lawyers across the country.  While class actions are an increasingly large part of my practice, I don’t do exclusively class action work.  The rest of my practice involves litigating insurance coverage cases, often at the appellate level.  That also frequently takes me outside of Connecticut.  A highlight of my career thus far was working on Standard Fire Ins. Co. v. Knowles, the U.S. Supreme Court’s first Class Action Fairness Act case.  I was Counsel of Record for Standard Fire on the cert petition, and had the pleasure of working with Ted Boutrous on the merits briefing and oral argument.

I started this blog because writing is one of my favorite things to do and I enjoy following developments in class action law, writing about them and engaging in discussion with others who have an in interest in this area.  It’s a welcome break from day-to-day practice, keeps me current, broadens my network and results in some new business.

When I’m not at work, you might find me running lines or watching a musical with my teenage daughter who hopes to be a Broadway star (or taking her to voice or dance lessons) or reading a good book.