Third Circuit

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In today’s world nearly everyone’s name, address and various other pieces of arguably personal information reside on many companies’ computer servers. Sharing of such information between companies has resulted in countless class action suits, in many of which the alleged harm is negligible at best. The Supreme Court’s decision on Article III standing in TransUnion …

I used to say that denials of class certification on numerosity grounds were rare and that usually it was futile to oppose class certification on that ground. That’s becoming less true as some circuits, including the Third Circuit, have adopted a stricter approach to how plaintiffs must establish numerosity. If Plaintiffs are using an estimate…

The Third Circuit’s new opinion on class certification issues in Mielo v. Steak ‘N Shake Operations, Inc., No. 17-2678 (3d Cir. July 26, 2018) provides helpful guidance for district courts and class action lawyers on both sides. The case alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) at the defendant’s restaurants. In brief,…

The Third Circuit recently joined the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Circuits in holding that, where a Daubert challenge is made to the use of expert testimony in support of class certification, the Daubert challenge must be resolved at that stage. The Third Circuit explained that “[e]xpert testimony that is insufficiently reliable to satisfy the Daubert…

Ascertainability is an implied requirement for class certification, not expressly addressed in Fed. R. Civ. P. 23. While there are different formulations of the requirement, in essence it requires that there be an adequate method for ascertaining who the class members (as defined by the class definition) are, without conducting trials for that purpose. Ascertainability…

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, No. 11-864 (docket), to address the question of “[w]hether a district court may certify a class action without resolving whether the plaintiff class has introduced admissible evidence, including expert testimony, to show that the case is susceptible to awarding damages…

The filed rate doctrine is a general principle that a suit cannot be brought against an insurance company, or other company that is subject to rate regulation (such as a utility) challenging the appropriateness of rates that were filed with a regulatory agency.  The rationale for this doctrine is essentially that ratemaking is properly within…