This week the D.C. Circuit and Seventh Circuit issued decisions addressing a question that has been hotly debated by class action lawyers on the plaintiffs’ and defense sides: whether the Supreme Court’s decision on personal jurisdiction in Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of California, 137 S. Ct. 1773 (2017) (blog post)
Seventh Circuit
Offers of Judgment in Class Actions: Fifth and Seventh Circuits Weigh In
By Wystan Ackerman on
Posted in Defense Strategy
As highlighted in my June 16 blog post, the Supreme Court has granted certiorari, in Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, No. 14-857 (SCOTUSblog page), to decide whether an offer of complete relief to a named plaintiff renders a putative class action moot. Notwithstanding that the Supreme Court is about to decide this…
Can an Insurer Intervene in a Class Action to Protect Against a Collusive Settlement?
By Wystan Ackerman on
Posted in Defense Strategy
Liability insurers are sometimes faced with a difficult scenario: Their insured has been sued in a class action with potentially large stakes. The insurer believes they have no duty to defend and a denial of coverage is appropriate. But the result of declining to defend the insured is likely to be a “collusive” class action…
Injunction in Aid of Class Action Settlement Addressed by Seventh Circuit
By Wystan Ackerman on
Posted in Class Action Settlements
Defendants who are defending multiple class actions involving the same issue in different jurisdictions can sometimes be faced with a quandary when they want to settle. They might reach a settlement agreement with plaintiffs’ counsel in one of the cases, but until that settlement is final, which typically takes months, they may have to continue…
Class Action Settlement: Judge Posner Strikes Again At Excessive Plaintiffs’ Attorneys’ Fees
By Wystan Ackerman on
Posted in Class Action Settlements
Judge Posner of the Seventh Circuit continues to be prolific in authoring class action-related opinions. I enjoy blogging about these decisions because they are entertaining to read and usually relatively short and to the point, making them easy to get through and summarize here. This opinion, once again, concluded that an award of attorneys’ fees …
Attorneys’ Fees In Class Action Settlements Addressed By Judge Posner
By Wystan Ackerman on
Posted in Class Action Settlements
Judge Posner of the Seventh Circuit is a frequent author of class action-related opinions. His most recent one reversed an order approving a class action settlement because the attorneys’ fee award was too high. The case involved claims that RadioShack violated the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act by putting expiration dates for credit card …
Class Action Settlement in Pella Windows Case Overturned By Seventh Circuit
By Wystan Ackerman on
Posted in Class Action Settlements
One of the prominent cases in which a products liability class action has been certified in recent years is Pella Corp. v. Saltzman, 606 F.3d 391 (7th Cir. 2010), involving windows that allegedly contained a design defect that allowed water infiltration. After the class was certified, a settlement was reached and approved by the …
Class Action on Use of Staff Counsel: Dismissal Affirmed By Seventh Circuit
By Wystan Ackerman on
Posted in Auto Insurance
A while back I wrote a blog post on a district court ruling that an insurer did not have an obligation to disclose in its insurance policy that it would use staff counsel to defend the insured. The Seventh Circuit recently affirmed the district court’s decision granting the insurer’s motion to dismiss.
In Golden v. …
Use of a Settlement Offer or Offer of Judgment on the Named Plaintiff’s Claim to Defeat a Class Action: New Seventh Circuit Decision
By Wystan Ackerman on
Posted in Defense Strategy
Commentators have questioned whether, after the Supreme Court’s decision last year in Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk, 133 S. Ct. 1523 (2013), a defendant could, by making a settlement offer or offer of judgment on a named plaintiff’s claim, render the case moot and prevent the certification of a class. The Seventh Circuit has …
Class Action With Small Stakes And Potential Cy Pres Remedy Addressed By Seventh Circuit
By Wystan Ackerman on
Posted in Class Certification Standards
Judge Posner of the Seventh Circuit, a prolific writer of class action opinions in recent years, recently wrote a new decision addressing whether a class action with small stakes could properly be decertified. The decision includes some extensive commentary on how such a case might be resolved. Notably, this was a case where the defendant…