Library Search
-
An Analytical Framework for Opposing Class Certification Motions ( April 2004 )
In any proposed certification, the opponent can analyze the class definition for legal sufficiency. If the class definition is legally sufficient, the opponent can analyze the likely jury issues presented for trial in the cases of the absent class members, to formulate the jury issues that can be submitted in the class representative's case, and to ascertain whether the answers to those jury issues will enable the trial court to enter a final judgment in the cases of the absent class members. -
Recent Developments In Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Litigation: Are Class Actions Still Viable? ( May 2004 )
Attempts to certify classes in pharmaceutical and medical device cases tend to fail more often than they succeed. But new theories of injury and causation have emerged to make class cases appear more manageable. This article briefly considers recent trends in pharmaceutical and medical device class litigation. -
Terazosin Hydrochloride Antitrust Litigation ( March 2004 )
In what has become known as the Hytrin generic drug patent antitrust litigation, the 11th Circuit recently vacated certification of the class because of the potential for significant conflict among class members. Specifically, the court held that wholesaler purchasers of Hytrin who experienced a net benefit from the allegedly illegal conduct could not be joined in a single class with those who had been harmed. -
National Employment Litigation & Policy Trends Continue To Raise Major Challenges For America's Corporate Employers ( November 2003 )
This Year In Review focuses on national employment litigation and policy trends that raise major challenges for America’s corporate employers. An understanding of these national trends will enable corporate counsel to address these developments in an effective manner. -
Complex Litigation: Courts Are Closing The Door to the Expanding Availability of Class Status ( September 2003 )
Recent rulings in New Jersey state and federal courts suggest that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 (b)(2) will not provide an easier route to class action status than Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(3). These courts are enforcing express and implied limits to the availability of (b)(2) certification. -
Class Actions and Collateral Estoppel ( July 2003 )
On June 20, 2003, the Seventh Circuit issued the most comprehensive opinion to date enjoining named and unnamed class members, and their counsel, from pursuing class certification in any other court based on a prior class certification denial. -
The Future of Property Contamination Class Actions ( March 2003 )
While the contours of class action jurisprudence relating to personal injury product liability actions are well known, the record is somewhat less so for property contamination cases. A recent decision from the Southern District of Florida - Jacobs v. Osmose, ___ F. Supp.2d ___, 2003 WL 1060155 (S.D. Fla. February 25, 2003) - is a significant contribution to that record and helps further define the line of demarcation for proposed classes that satisfy Rule 23 and those that do not. -
Defeating Class Certification: Showing How You Will Present Your Defense At Trial Is Crucial ( February 2003 )
The right to present a full defense is crucial in every case, but it takes on special significance in the class action context. The courts have explicitly acknowledged what corporate defendants have long recognized; the decision to certify a class can coerce settlement of non-meritorious claims. -
Representative Actions: Access to Justice? ( February 2003 )
Over the last six years the United States Congress, the U.S. Advisory Committee on the Civil Rules and the U.S. federal courts have tried to rein in some of the worst abuses of American class actions. In 1995, Congress passed the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, which addressed problems with class actions claiming securities violations. -
Effects of Amchem/Ortiz on the Filing of Federal Class Actions: Report to the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules ( September 2002 )
The Class Action Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules asked the Federal Judicial Center to examine the impact, if any, of the Supreme Court decisions in Amchem and Ortiz on the rate at which plaintiffs file class actions in federal courts.