Maine Appeals
First Class Defense
February 27, 2019

Supreme Court Unanimously Rejects Equitable Tolling of Rule 23(f)’s Time Limit to Petition for Interlocutory Appeal
Appeals, Supreme Court
Practice area:

Yesterday, the Supreme Court in Nutraceutical Corp. v. Lambert unanimously held that Rule 23(f) is not subject to equitable tolling. After the District Court for the Central District of California decertified a class of consumers who alleged that Nutraceutical’s marketing of a dietary supplement violated California consumer-protection law, plaintiff Lambert filed a motion for reconsideration, […]

Continue Reading

February 19, 2019

In re Celexa and Lexapro – The First Circuit Weighs in on China Agritech and American Pipe Tolling
Class Certifications, First Circuit Decisions
Authors:
Practice area:

The Supreme Court meant what it said in China Agritech, Inc. v. Resh – that is the primary lesson from the First Circuit’s January 30th decision in In re Celexa and Lexapro Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation.  As my partner, Don Frederico, explained in a blog post last year, the Supreme Court observed in China […]

Continue Reading

February 12, 2019

Amendments to Rule 23 Now in Full Swing
Appeals, Class Action Settlements, Class Notice
Practice area:

On December 1, 2018, the amendments to Fed. R. Civ. P. 23 took effect, principally altering portions of the Rule governing class action notice, settlement, and appeals. Although the amendments were approved earlier in 2018 by the United States Supreme Court, they had been in the works for some time. In 2014, a subcommittee of […]

Continue Reading

November 06, 2018

In re Asacol Antitrust Litigation: Article III Standing in Multi-State Class Actions
Antitrust Class Actions, Class Certifications, First Circuit Decisions, Jurisdiction
Practice area:

In his October 17th post, Josh Dunlap describes in detail the First Circuit’s landmark ruling in In re Asacol Antitrust Litigation concerning classes that include uninjured members. As Josh points out, although the district court had referred to ascertainability in its decision certifying the class, the First Circuit opinion reversing class certification did not, and for good reason. […]

Continue Reading

October 17, 2018

In re Asacol Antitrust Litigation – An Antidote to In re Nexium and “Ascertainability-by-Affidavit”
Antitrust Class Actions, First Circuit Decisions, US District Court - Mass
Authors:
Practice area:

When last I wrote about ascertainability, I noted that a debate over the propriety of “ascertainability-by-affidavit” continued to percolate within the First Circuit even as lower courts relied on In re Nexium Antitrust Litigation to certify classes containing uninjured class members.  Specifically, I noted a couple of developments.  First, in In re Asacol Antitrust Litigation, […]

Continue Reading

June 26, 2018

In Cullinane v. Uber, First Circuit Addresses Arbitration Clauses in Online Contracts
Arbitration, Class Arbitration, Consumer Class Actions, First Circuit Decisions
Authors:
Practice area:

Yesterday the First Circuit weighed in on a hot topic – the enforceability of arbitration provisions in online contracts.  In Cullinane, several plaintiffs brought a putative class action alleging that Uber had violated Massachusetts’ consumer protection statute by assessing certain fees.  Uber filed a motion to compel arbitration under its Terms of Service, which contained […]

Continue Reading

June 11, 2018

SCOTUS Resolves Circuit Split Regarding American Pipe Tolling
Supreme Court
Practice area:

In an opinion authored by Justice Ginsburg and joined by all of the Justices (though with only a concurrence from Justice Sotomayor), the Supreme Court today ruled that its 1974 ruling in American Pipe & Constr. Co. v. Utah does not toll the statute of limitations for successive class actions. Justice Ginsburg summarized the Court’s holding as […]

Continue Reading

May 23, 2018

Supreme Court Affirms Class Action Waivers in Employment Arbitration Agreements
Class Arbitration, Employment Class Actions, Supreme Court
Authors:
Practice area:

Since the Federal Arbitration Act’s (FAA) enactment in 1925, parties have sparred over the enforceability of arbitration agreements in a number of contexts. In recent years, the battle has focused on the enforceability of class or collective action waivers, pursuant to which parties agree to forgo their right to proceed on a class basis and […]

Continue Reading

March 30, 2018

Campbell-Ewald in Massachusetts
Consumer Class Actions, Jurisdiction, Massachusetts Decisions
Practice area:

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 […]

Continue Reading

February 14, 2018

Federal District Courts Tackle Application of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court to Class Actions
Jurisdiction
Practice area:

In June 2017, we wrote about the Supreme Court’s decision in Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court, 137 S. Ct. 1773 (2017) and how it would likely affect attempts by plaintiffs to pursue multi-state or nationwide class actions.  As predicted, the case law is rapidly developing in the district courts, where, in reliance on Bristol-Myers’ […]

Continue Reading

To top