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April 18, 2014
Impax Can't Shake Drug Quality-Control Securities Action
A California federal judge on Friday refused to toss a securities fraud class action against Impax Laboratories Inc. that alleges the pharmaceutical company hid serious quality-control deficiencies while exaggerating its progress toward fixing them.
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April 18, 2014
Judge Consolidates W.Va. Chemical Spill Civil Suits
A West Virginia federal judge ordered a limited consolidation Friday in roughly 60 civil suits against Freedom Industries Inc. and West Virginia-American Water Co. over the massive coal processing chemical spill that contaminated drinking water, finding a common question of law or fact.
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April 18, 2014
Stock Exchanges Hit With High-Frequency Trades Class Action
The city of Providence, R.I., hit the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC and several other registered public stock exchanges, banks and brokerage firms with a proposed securities class action in New York federal court on Friday, accusing the defendants of manipulating the U.S. securities markets.
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April 18, 2014
BP Pounded By Spate Of New Deepwater Investor Suits
BP PLC was hit with at least six securities suits in Texas federal court Friday, with groups of foreign businesses and U.S. retirement funds alleging the oil company’s actions and response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill cost them millions of dollars.
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April 18, 2014
Proview's LCD Antitrust Suit Trimmed Of Federal Claims
A California federal judge on Friday tossed Proview Technology Inc.’s federal claim against Chi Mei Corp. in multidistrict litigation alleging that Chi Mei and others sold price-fixed liquid crystal display panels, ruling that PTI was an indirect purchaser that does not have standing to sue.
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April 18, 2014
Libor Rulings May Not Doom Forex Antitrust Claims
The banks accused of manipulating foreign exchange rates will almost certainly turn to a pair of decisions dismissing similar antitrust claims over the setting of the London interbank offered rate, but key differences in the way the two benchmarks are set mean that the Libor rulings won't necessarily doom the forex antitrust claims, attorneys say.
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April 18, 2014
Nordic Naturals Defeats Stink Over Fish Oil Fraud
A New Jersey federal judge on Friday tossed a putative class action alleging Nordic Naturals Inc. misled consumers about the contents of a fish oil supplement, saying the complaint was short on details about the alleged deceit and the losses it caused.
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April 18, 2014
Perkins Coie Nabs Bingham Privacy, IP Group Head In Calif.
Perkins Coie LLP has bolstered its Internet privacy and class action capabilities by adding to its Palo Alto, Calif., office the former co-chair of Bingham McCutchen LLP's privacy and intellectual property groups, the firm said Wednesday.
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April 18, 2014
Weight Loss Supplement Co. Sued Over Missing Cactus
A Pennsylvania-based manufacturer of weight-loss capsules was hit with a proposed class action in California court Wednesday alleging the pills don’t contain an African cactus plant as advertised and therefore can’t deliver the plant's supposed health benefits.
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April 18, 2014
Sterling Foster Plaintiffs Fight Bear Stearns Win In Fraud Suit
Plaintiffs accusing Bear Stearns & Co. of engaging in a scheme that led to the downfall of now-defunct securities firm Sterling Foster & Co. on Thursday appealed the dismissal the case, taking issue with the court's finding that they failed to show the company knowingly engaged in fraud.
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April 18, 2014
Nielsen To Pay $1.2M To Settle Wage Class Action
Media research company The Nielsen Company (US) LLC has agreed to pay up to $1.2 million to settle a putative class action in which employees claimed they were denied overtime compensation and proper meal breaks and rest periods, in violation of state and federal laws, according to a settlement agreement in California federal court announced Thursday.
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April 18, 2014
NY Times Needn't Cough Up Docs For Hospital Investor Spat
A New York federal judge ruled Thursday that The New York Times Co. doesn't have to produce documents sought by a pension fund for an underlying investor suit accusing a health care operator of performing unnecessary, highly profitable cardiac procedures.
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April 18, 2014
Car Service Agrees To Cough Up $3.5M In Driver Wage Suit
Sunny's Limousine Service Inc. agreed to pay $3.5 million to settle a collective and putative class action brought on behalf of hundreds of drivers who said the car service stiffed them on minimum and overtime wages, the plaintiffs told a New York federal court Friday.
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April 18, 2014
Fed. Law Preempts Class Action Waiver: Calif. Appeals Court
A California appeals court on Thursday reversed a trial court’s denial of an auto dealer’s bid to compel arbitration in a class action dispute with a group of car buyers, saying federal law preempted a state statute prohibiting class action waivers.
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April 18, 2014
Apple Prevails In IPhone Power-Button Defect Action
A proposed class action claiming Apple Inc. installed defective power buttons in its iPhone 4 was dismissed Friday by a California federal judge who said the plaintiff couldn't use Florida law to bring a California fraud claim.
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April 18, 2014
GM Supplier Knew Ignition Defects Affected Airbags, Suit Says
General Motors Co.’s airbag supplier Continental Automotive Systems U.S. Inc. knew its airbags would not deploy in accidents caused by the automaker’s defective ignition switches, a putative class argued in California federal court on Wednesday.
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April 18, 2014
Lululemon Beats Investors' Too-Sheer Yoga Pants Suit
A New York federal judge on Friday granted final dismissal to a consolidated securities class action against Lululemon Athletica Inc. and two principals over the fallout from its costly March 2013 recall of too-sheer yoga pants, finding claims of purportedly false statements by the company to be mere puffery.
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April 18, 2014
JPMorgan To Pay Madoff Victims $218M After Judge's OK
A New York federal judge on Thursday finalized a $218 million settlement between JPMorgan Chase & Co. and victims of Bernard Madoff, ending a class action suit that accused the bank of turning a blind eye to the decadeslong Ponzi scheme.
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April 18, 2014
TGI Fridays 'Side Work' Shafts Tipped Workers, Suit Says
Tipped T.G.I. Fridays workers on Thursday hit the chain restaurant with a class action lawsuit in New York federal court claiming it owes them for overtime, minimum wage violations and misappropriated tips for many hours of nontipped "side work" they are required to perform.
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April 18, 2014
Tech Workers Want Steve Jobs Evidence Kept In Poaching Suit
A class of tech employees urged a California federal court on Thursday to deny a bid by Apple Inc., Google Inc. and other tech companies to limit evidence in an upcoming trial over their alleged conspiracy to suppress wages and not compete for each others' workers, arguing that the tech giants' request to bar statements about Steve Jobs' character was overbroad.
Expert Analysis
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The Evolving New Normal For Data Breach Responses
The Target Corp. and Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey data breaches differed in manner, size and scope, but both reveal the vulnerabilities all companies are facing. A nuanced, more responsive, and more uniform legal and regulatory framework is required. That environment is being shaped by private actions, legislative and administrative responses, and various corporate initiatives, say Mark Salah Morgan and Andres Acebo of Day Pitney LLP.
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POM Finds Class Decertification Ruling Wonderful
A California federal court recently decertified the proposed class in an action against POM Wonderful LLC over health claims about its juice. Plaintiffs failed to certify their class against POM for the same reason certification failed in another recent case against Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc. — ascertainability. Whether this is another nail in California's class action coffin remains to be seen, but plaintiffs should expect stricter scrutiny from courts regarding class claims, says Richard Goldfarb of Stoel Rives LLP.
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The State Of Arbitration Enforcement In Calif.
Even with the judicial impact of several U.S. Supreme Court opinions, beginning with AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, the predicament for the practitioner and client is that any provision that seeks to enforce arbitration of labor and consumer remedy statutes, or that makes the cost of arbitration too one-sided, runs a significant risk of not being enforced in a California state court, say Neil Bardack and Shannon Nessier of Hanson Bridgett LLP.
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The Future Of Law Firm PR: The Good, Bad And Ugly
There has been a dramatic change in how public relations professionals interact with the news media to promote or protect a law firm’s brand and reputation. But content is queen and has a bright future in law firm PR — it all begins with a plan that should include goals, performance indicators and a system of assessment, say Paul Webb, director of marketing at Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP, and Kathy O'Brien, senior vice president at Jaffe PR.
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Good News For South Fla. Ponzi Schemers?
In its effort to protect public companies and legitimate businesses in general, the U.S. Supreme Court appears to be overlooking the effect its rulings are having on those for whom the fraud provisions of the securities laws were designed to protect. Should the court ring the death knell on class action securities cases, the South Florida climate for Ponzi schemers and other fraudsters will become better than ever, says Lawrence Kellogg, a founding partner of Levine Kellogg Lehman Schneider & Grossman LLP.
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Beware 'Jewel' Risks In Lateral Partner Hiring
Jewel litigation has been filed after every major law firm bankruptcy in the past 10 years, including Lyon & Lyon, Brobeck, Coudert, Thelen, Heller and Howrey. These lawsuits have produced years of litigation, with similar suits expected in the Dewey bankruptcy. Despite the legal uncertainties surrounding such claims, hiring firms can take steps now to minimize their Jewel risk for any lateral hire, say attorneys with Arnold & Porter LLP.
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Heartbleed Rains On The Legal Cloud Parade
While the actual breaches are unknown, Heartbleed has the potential to expose all of a lawyer's files stored or transmitted online. The bug raises professional responsibility questions and offers confirmation of the greatest anxieties that the legal industry has about online practice. In fact, the timing is poor for many legal tech providers, following a general industry warming to cloud offerings, says David Houlihan of Blue Hill Research Inc.
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The Lessons And Limitations Of Chadbourne V. Troice
The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Chadbourne & Parke LLP v. Troice is unlikely to have a sweeping effect on securities or class action litigation. However, professions engaged in assisting clients obtain financing will likely change their internal controls to avoid potential problems in the future — we may even see law and accounting firms called into court to justify their actions, says Fred Isquith of Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP.
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Whither Appellate Guidance On Unclaimed Property Audits?
Insurers and regulators remain divided over the application of unclaimed property laws to life insurance, and some have increasingly resorted to litigation over the interpretation and administration of unclaimed property statutes. However, given pending case law, 2014 may be the year judicial guidance brings clarity to unclaimed property and insurance law relevant to pending multistate audits, say attorneys at Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP.
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Some Sanity Amid Skyrocketing TCPA Litigation
Federal courts have recently brought some sanity to Telephone Consumer Protection Act litigation and, specifically, what constitutes an automatic telephone dialing system. Until the Federal Communications Commission weighs in, defendants facing TCPA class actions may cite the Gragg, Hunt and Dominguez decisions for support or seek a stay of proceedings, says John Papianou of Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads LLP.