California’s Court of Appeal continues to articulate a measured, well-reasoned class action jurisprudence, most recently by taking a second look at its own order affirming a trial court’s denial of class certification. See…

For some companies, apparently even the famously liberal policy favoring arbitration isn’t enough of an assurance that they can avoid defending a consumer class action in court. Or so the plaintiffs in an antitrust bench trial pending…

In a win for employees seeking to remedy broad, systematic employer violations of workplace protections, California’s intermediate appellate court has reversed a trial court judge’s denial of class certification. Bluford v.…

By Christopher DeGroff, Reema Kapur, and Gerald L. Maatman, Jr. We previously reported that the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) secured a verdict of $240 million in its lawsuit against Hill Country Farms last…

By Rebecca Bjork and Gerald L. Maatman, Jr. Employers who face Title VII discrimination lawsuits in the Second Circuit now have some pretty explicit guidance on how to rebut a plaintiff’s attempt to state a prima facie case of pattern…

By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr. and Jennifer A. Riley On April 18, 2013, Judge George H. Wu of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California dismissed potentially costly class action claims against the Los Angeles Lakers in Emanuel…

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…

I’ve covered before on this blog a series of class actions brought against life insurers involving the use of retained asset accounts, in which checkbooks are provided to beneficiaries of life insurance policies, from which any or all…

In August of 2012, I reported on a newly-filed class action in Arkansas federal court alleging that, in estimates on property insurance claims, application of depreciation to labor costs is improper (see my August 7, 2012 blog post).  As…

Congress does not have the reputation lately of working for the people. Stalemates between Republicans and Democrats continue to halt progress in both bodies of Congress. However, amidst their inability to seemingly get anything done, 37…

In the last few months, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has issued three opinions on the topic of how trial courts should decide motions for class certification when some questions will require individualized proof. Judge…

In the weeks leading up to his State of the Union address tonight, President Obama was surely inundated with reports, requests, and letters from various advocacy groups urging him to not only adopt their platform, but to make it a

So we’ve been hearing a lot from class members about Sallie Mae efforts at collection of debts arising from loans for those who attended Western Culinary Institute and Le Cordon Bleu Portland who are part of the class action against those…

For those interested, I’m posting our recent motion to dismiss and motion for reconsideration in Surrett v. Career Education Corp., our consumer fraud class against Career Education Corp for Western Culinary Institute/Le Cordon Bleu…

Today, Judge Papak issued another summary judgment opinion denying KBR’s motions for summary judgment on fraud and negligence. Here is a PDF copy: 512 – opinion & order – fraud and neglig It’s a long opinion, but it provides a really…

There are a number of cases pending before the California Supreme Court that should be on everyone’s watch list this year. This article summarizes the top seven.

The California Supreme Court issued an important decision today clarifying the test to determine whether employees should be treated as exempt from overtime requirements, in Harris v. Superior Court (Liberty Mutual Insurance Company). The…

Women suing for injuries arising from implantation of surgical mesh used for pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence received validation from an FDA advisory panel in September 2011.  After two days of hearings,