This week the Eighth Circuit issued its long-awaited decision in a class action against State Farm involving the “labor depreciation” issue that I have covered extensively on this blog (see my August 14 post and others). State Farm prevailed on both the merits of whether its approach to determination of the actual cash value of … Continue Reading
Over the last several years, federal courts of appeals have been closely scrutinizing cy pres distributions to charitable organizations in class action settlements. This includes opinions by the First Circuit, Third Circuit and Ninth Circuit. The general thrust of these decisions is that cy pres should be used sparingly, and the charitable organization should be … Continue Reading
The Eighth Circuit recently addressed class certification in an insurance class action involving medpay and personal injury protection (PIP) coverage. The case involved the use of third-party bill reviewers and the application of a guideline comparing charges for medical services to the 80th percentile of such charges in the geographic area. The court applied the … Continue Reading
A February 2, 2012 decision by the Eighth Circuit upheld the use of stipulations by the named plaintiff and plaintiff’s counsel attempting to limit the amount in controversy to below the $5 million threshold for federal jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA). This is the first court of appeals opinion squarely addressing this … Continue Reading
