First Class Defense – Page 2 – Pierce Atwood Blogs

First Class Defense

September 08, 2023

New England Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Class Action Filings Soar in 2023

Class Action Litigation, Class Actions, Privacy Class Actions, Standing

Authors:

Melanie A. Conroy

Practice area:

Class Action Defense

Earlier in 2023, we launched our New England and First Circuit Class Action Tracker, as a tool to analyze class action litigation trends in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. In July, we updated our tracker to include data through the second quarter of 2023. A review of new filings submitted during that latest […]

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August 14, 2023

SJC Amends Notice Requirements Under Mass. R. Civ. P. 23

Class Action Litigation, Class Actions, Litigation

Authors:

Nicholas L. Anastasi

Practice area:

Class Action Defense

Earlier this year, the SJC approved several amendments to the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure, which are to take effect on September 1, 2023. One such amendment applies to Mass. R. Civ. P. 23, and specifically to the section concerning notice to the Massachusetts IOLTA Committee prior to the disposition of residual or “cy pres” […]

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July 27, 2023

First Circuit Revives Data Breach Class Action Claims in Webb v. Injured Workers Pharmacy, LLC

Appeals, Class Actions, First Circuit Decisions, Litigation, Privacy Class Actions, Standing, US District Court - Mass

Authors:

Melanie A. Conroy

Practice area:

Class Action Defense

Courts and class action counsel have been considering what kinds of injuries can confer standing to pursue federal claims following the Supreme Court’s 2021 decision in TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, which held that the defendants’ alleged actions that “deprived [plaintiffs] of their right to receive information in the format required by statute” was not sufficient […]

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June 29, 2023

Staying Put: Supreme Court Holds that District Courts Must Stay Proceedings Pending Arbitration Appeals

Appeals, Arbitration, Class Action Litigation, Class Actions, Class Arbitration, Litigation, Supreme Court

Authors:

Melanie A. Conroy

Practice area:

Class Action Defense

On June 23, 2023, in Coinbase, Inc. v. Bielski, the Supreme Court resolved a deeply divided circuit court split and ruled that a district court must stay its proceedings while an interlocutory appeal on the question of arbitrability is ongoing. Justice Kavanaugh delivered the opinion of the Court, with Justices Roberts, Alito, Gorsuch, and Barrett […]

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May 23, 2023

Part 2 – Slowing the Spread of Litigation: An Update on First Circuit COVID-19 Tuition Refund Class Actions

Class Action Litigation, Class Actions, Class Certifications, First Circuit Decisions, Litigation, Massachusetts Decisions, US District Court - Mass

Authors:

Practice area:

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 […]

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May 18, 2023

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Appeal from First Circuit of Website Accessibility Tester Case

Appeals, Class Action Litigation, Class Actions, Consumer Class Actions, First Circuit Decisions, Litigation, Standing, Supreme Court, US District Court - Maine

Authors:

Melanie A. Conroy

Practice area:

Class Action Defense

On March 27, 2023, the Supreme Court granted a petition for a writ of certiorari by Acheson Hotels in Acheson Hotels, LLC v. Deborah Laufer, Case No. 21-1410. In its petition to appeal from an earlier First Circuit decision analyzed in a prior post, Acheson Hotels asks the Supreme Court to resolve the following question: […]

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April 28, 2023

Slowing the Spread of Litigation: An Update on First Circuit COVID-19 Tuition Refund Class Actions

Class Action Litigation, Class Actions, First Circuit Decisions, Litigation, Massachusetts Decisions, US District Court - Mass

Authors:

Practice area:

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 […]

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April 27, 2023

District of Maine Applies the First Circuit’s Murray Decision to Approve Class Action Settlement

Appeals, Class Action Settlements, Class Actions, Class Certifications, Class Representative, Employment Class Actions, First Circuit Decisions, Lead Plaintiff, Litigation, US District Court - Maine

Authors:

Melanie A. Conroy

Practice area:

Class Action Defense

In early 2023, the District of Maine was the first district court to apply and interpret a recent and notable First Circuit ruling that should be top-of-mind for class action attorneys and litigants seeking approval of settlements for cases brought on behalf of multiple plaintiff classes and including class representative incentive awards. That notable First […]

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November 16, 2022

District of Massachusetts Dismisses Data Breach Class Action for Lack of Injury

Class Actions, Consumer Class Actions, First Circuit Decisions, Litigation, Privacy Class Actions, Standing, US District Court - Mass

Authors:

Melanie A. Conroy

Practice area:

Class Action Defense

On October 18, 2022, in Webb v. Injured Workers Pharmacy, LLC, the District of Massachusetts dismissed a class action complaint brought by former pharmacy patients alleging that their sensitive personal information had been exposed in a data breach affecting more than 75,000 customers. In its analysis, the court determined that the named plaintiffs and putative […]

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October 27, 2022

First Circuit Court of Appeals Rules Website Tester Has Standing for ‘Informational Injury’, Deepens Circuit Divide

Appeals, Class Actions, Consumer Class Actions, Employment Class Actions, Fair Credit Reporting Act, First Circuit Decisions, Jurisdiction, Litigation, Standing, Supreme Court, US District Court - Maine

Authors:

Melanie A. Conroy

On October 5, 2022, in Laufer v. Acheson Hotels LLC, the U.S Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed a lower court’s dismissal of a suit against Acheson Hotels, LLC, which operates an inn on Maine’s southern coast. With this reversal, the First Circuit has addressed a matter of first impression and deepened a […]

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Pierce Atwood is pleased to present this class action blog with a focus on decisions of the state and federal courts within the boundaries of the First Circuit. With decades of national class action experience and offices in every First Circuit state, our goal is to serve as a primary resource for companies that face class litigation in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, as well as to provide timely information about significant class action developments, strategies and trends on a national level.

Pierce Atwood’s Class Action Defense team has also started tracking filings and decisions in state and federal courts within the boundaries of the First Circuit in New England.

View our New England and First Circuit Class Action Tracker on our firm website.