Maine Appeals
First Class Defense
August 09, 2022

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Reverses Denial of Motion to Compel Arbitration, Holds Grubhub Drivers Must Arbitrate Employment Claims
Class Actions, Class Arbitration, Employment Class Actions, Massachusetts Decisions
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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 […]

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May 06, 2022

Is It Time to Update Mass. R. Civ. P. 23?
Class Actions, Jurisdiction, Massachusetts Decisions
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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 […]

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April 19, 2022

Kingara v. Secure Home Health Care Inc. and the Precertification Powers of the Massachusetts Courts
Class Actions, Class Notice, Massachusetts Decisions
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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 […]

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June 28, 2021

Supreme Court Addresses Concrete Harm, Limits Standing in FCRA Class Action
Appeals, Class Actions, Consumer Class Actions, Privacy Class Actions, Standing, Supreme Court
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On June 25, 2021, the Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated 5-4 ruling in TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez. In a 27-page decision by Justice Kavanaugh, the Court reversed the Ninth Circuit’s decision upholding the certification of a class of 8,185 consumers whom the credit reporting agency TransUnion had  mistakenly labeled as potential terrorists and drug traffickers. […]

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July 16, 2020

A Survey and Comparison of Federal and Maine Class Action Law
Class Actions, Maine Decisions
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I’m pleased to say that I recently published an article, Class Actions: A Survey and Comparison of Federal Law and Maine State Law, that considers Maine class action law in light of federal law, particularly case law in the First Circuit.  While class actions are prevalent at the national level, the story thus far has […]

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May 06, 2020

Navigating the Tuition Refund Class Action
Consumer Class Actions, Litigation
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One fallout of the Coronavirus pandemic is a national wave of class action lawsuits against universities, including some schools located in New England. To read more about the cases and our thoughts about the universities’ defenses, please see this client alert we published today.

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April 03, 2020

First Circuit Holds That College Does Not Owe Fiduciary Duties to Students, Rejects Data Privacy Class Action Claims
Class Actions, First Circuit Decisions, Privacy Class Actions
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On March 25, 2020, the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Squeri v. Mount Ida College upheld the lower court’s dismissal of prospective and former Mount Ida College students’ claims against the college and its Board of Trustees arising from the college’s abrupt closure and sale of its campus to UMass Amherst in May 2018. […]

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March 17, 2020

Two Courts of Appeals Issue Decisions Addressing Whether Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Personal Jurisdiction Holding Extends to Class Actions
Appeals, Class Actions, Litigation
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We have previously written about the Supreme Court’s personal jurisdiction decision in Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court, 137 S. Ct. 1773 (2017) and how the federal district courts were applying it.  Now, two Courts of Appeals have finally weighed in, issuing the very first appellate decisions addressing whether Bristol-Myers applies to class actions in […]

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December 11, 2019

District Of Massachusetts Holds That Consumers With No Arbitration Agreement Must Arbitrate Their “Closely Intertwined” Class Action Claims
Arbitration, Consumer Class Actions, US District Court - Mass
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It is a legal maxim that arbitration is a creature of contract. A recent District of Massachusetts decision explores critical questions about when that creature can exist outside of the confines of a binding agreement to arbitrate among the parties. The November 27, 2019 decision by Senior U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole ordered that […]

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November 18, 2019

After-Effects of In re Asacol: Recent District Court Decisions on Certification and Uninjured Class Members
Antitrust Class Actions, Class Certifications, Consumer Class Actions, First Circuit Decisions, US District Court - Mass, US District Court - Rhode Island
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About a year ago, I observed that the First Circuit in In re Asacol Antitrust Litigation had constrained plaintiffs’ ability to rely on affidavits to prove injury-in-fact.  In so doing, the First Circuit substantially curtailed its prior decision in In re Nexium Antitrust Litigation, which certified a class containing uninjured consumers because class members would […]

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