Class Action Litigation Class Actions Class Certifications Legislation Litigation Massachusetts Decisions US District Court - Mass
February 13, 2024 / February 13, 2024 by Sarah Remes
We recently highlighted two Boston-based COVID-19 tuition refund class action suits, against Brandeis University and Boston College, and the impact of a provision in the Commonwealth’s Fiscal Year 2024 Budget that grants retroactive immunity from claims arising out of tuition or fees paid for the Spring 2020 term. In both cases, with orders issued just […]
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Class Action Litigation Class Actions Current Affairs First Circuit Decisions Litigation Massachusetts Decisions US District Court - Mass
February 1, 2024 by Sarah Remes
In Part 2 of our series on our Massachusetts and Boston-based COVID-19 tuition refund class action suits, we reviewed the legal backdrop of this wave of class action litigation and explored some common pitfalls in education-based claims, noting that even where cases are able to proceed based on adequate framing of the claims and underlying […]
Class Action Litigation Class Actions Class Certifications First Circuit Decisions Litigation Massachusetts Decisions US District Court - Mass
May 23, 2023 by Sarah Remes
Part 2: The Legal Backdrop In Part 1 of this series, we provided a brief overview and introduction of the Boston-based COVID-19 tuition refund class action cases, noting generally that most similar suits haven’t made it very far, as courts tend to rule early and often for the educational institution. Below is a brief discussion […]
Class Action Litigation Class Actions First Circuit Decisions Litigation Massachusetts Decisions US District Court - Mass
April 28, 2023 / May 1, 2023 by Sarah Remes
Part 1: Introduction and Overview Earlier this month, Boston University prevailed in one of the few surviving Boston-based COVID-19 tuition refund class action suits. The U.S. District Court in Boston granted BU’s Motion for Summary Judgment finding that BU “did not make an open-ended promise to provide an ‘on-campus experience’ in exchange for a ‘semester […]
Class Actions Class Arbitration Employment Class Actions Massachusetts Decisions
August 9, 2022 by Melanie Conroy
On July 27, 2022, in Archer v. Grubhub, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court considered whether Grubhub delivery drivers within the Commonwealth are exempt from arbitration under Section 1 of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). FAA Section 1 exempts “seamen, railroad employees, or any other class of workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce.” The SJC […]
Class Actions Jurisdiction Massachusetts Decisions
May 6, 2022 / January 3, 2023 by Don Frederico
Over the past 25 years, I have had the good fortune of getting to know and working with both plaintiff and defendant class action lawyers from many states, and to teach class action practice in dozens of local and national CLE programs and at a great law school. I also have represented clients in class […]
Class Actions Class Notice Massachusetts Decisions
April 19, 2022 / January 12, 2023 by Don Frederico
The Backdrop Class actions are like butterflies; they must undergo a metamorphosis before they fly. The transformation occurs when a court grants class certification. At that instant, what had started out as an individual lawsuit emerges as its own entity, with a number of legal consequences flowing from the change. Among them, plaintiff’s counsel becomes […]
Class Certifications Employment Class Actions Massachusetts Decisions
April 15, 2019 / January 12, 2023 by Don Frederico
Every now and then a case comes along that rewards us class action nerds with an embarrassment of riches. Gammella v. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Inc., decided last week by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, is one such case. In it, the Court addressed a number of important class certification issues, some unique to Massachusetts […]
Consumer Class Actions Jurisdiction Massachusetts Decisions
March 30, 2018 / January 12, 2023 by Don Frederico
On March 6th, in Silva v. Todisco Services, Inc., Judge Kenneth Salinger, sitting in the Business Litigation Session of the Massachusetts Superior Court, held that a defendant’s tendering of the maximum amount of damages a plaintiff might recover in a putative class action did not moot either the plaintiff’s individual claims or the claims of […]
Consumer Class Actions Massachusetts Decisions
August 1, 2016 / January 11, 2023 by Don Frederico
In 2014, we posted about the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s decision in Bellermann v. Fitchburg Gas & Electric Light Co. In that case, plaintiffs sought relief under the Massachusetts consumer protection statute, G.L. c. 93A, because of the defendant utility’s alleged failure properly to prepare and plan for a major winter storm, and its allegedly […]
