A recent decision by a Washington federal district court caught my eye because it involved a circumstance I often see—a new development in the law results in a class action lawsuit being filed before the defendant has an opportunity to change its practices in response to the change (or clarification) in the law. This decision
Superiority
Further Thoughts on Voluntary Relief Programs Defeating Superiority in Class Actions
By Wystan Ackerman on
Posted in Class Certification Standards
In response to my recent post about the Seventh Circuit’s decision in the Aqua Dots litigation, law professor Eric Voigt of Faulkner University alerted me to a draft article he’s written entitled “A Company’s Voluntary Refund Program for Consumers Can Be a Fair and Efficient Alternative to a Class Action to Warrant the…
Class Actions Seeking Automatic Statutory Penalties: Recent New Jersey Appellate Decision Finds Superiority Not Satisfied
By Wystan Ackerman on
Posted in Class Certification Standards
A common tactic by plaintiffs’ lawyers in filing class actions against insurance companies is to attempt to recover automatic statutory penalties which are small on each individual claim but, when aggregated, potentially impose a very large liability on the insurer. An example of this type of suit is Shady Grove Orthopedic Associates, P.A. v. Allstate …
Superiority Requirement for Class Certification: New Sixth Circuit Decision Makes Interesting Points
By Wystan Ackerman on
Posted in Class Certification Standards, Health Insurance
The recent Sixth Circuit decision in Pipefitters Local 636 Insurance Fund v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 16624 (6th Cir. Aug. 12, 2011) makes some interesting points about superiority that I think are particularly significant, and have not seen in other class action decisions.
The case involved whether certain…