Practice Areas
Industries
Class Action
-
May 25, 2012
Community Bank's Libor Antitrust Suit Targets BofA, Others
A Wisconsin-based community bank launched a putative class action Friday against Bank of America NA, Citibank NA and JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, alleging that their manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate cost community banks between $300 and $500 million annually.
-
May 25, 2012
Shareholders Drop Suit Against French Utility Giant
Plaintiffs who accused French water utility multinational Veolia Environnement SA in a New York federal court shareholder class action of overstating financial results by using improper accounting practices on Friday agreed to the voluntary dismissal of their case.
-
May 25, 2012
6th Circ. Nixes KeyCorp ERISA Case Over Lack Of Injury
A KeyCorp 401(k) plan participant who sold company stock while its price was allegedly artificially inflated suffered no out-of-pocket loss and has no standing to sue, the Sixth Circuit said Friday, declining to revive a putative class action.
-
May 25, 2012
Class Says JPMorgan Made Them Buy Excessive Flood Coverage
A class of homeowners sued JPMorgan Chase & Co. affiliates JPMorgan Chase Bank NA and Chase Insurance Agency Inc. in New York on Thursday, accusing them of forcing homeowners to buy more flood insurance than they needed.
-
May 25, 2012
E&Y Wants 2nd Circ. To Halt Cert. Bid In Class Waiver Case
Ernst & Young LLP asked the Second Circuit on Wednesday to freeze a pending wage-and-hour class action against it as it appeals a judge's decision denying individual arbitration in the case, arguing that it would face exponentially higher legal costs if class certification were allowed to proceed.
-
May 25, 2012
Benihana Investor Sues To Nix $296M Angelo Gordon Buyout
A Benihana Inc. shareholder on Thursday hit the restaurant chain with a putative class action in Delaware Chancery Court seeking to derail the chain's proposed $296 million sale to New York-based private equity firm Angelo Gordon & Co.
-
May 25, 2012
Freddie Mac Can't Duck Suit Over Subprime Exposure
A federal judge on Friday declined to dismiss a proposed securities class action brought by the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System against Freddie Mac over the housing entity's alleged failure to disclose its true subprime exposure, saying the plaintiffs properly stated their claims.
-
May 25, 2012
P&G Sued Over Olay 'Anti-Aging' Skin Care Claims
The Procter & Gamble Co. was hit with a proposed class action in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday over allegedly false and misleading claims related to its line of so-called anti-aging Olay skin creams.
-
May 25, 2012
DOMA Ruled Unconstitutional In Calif. Same-Sex Benefits Suit
The Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutionally discriminates against same-sex spouses by denying them long-term care insurance through a California public-employee pension program, a federal judge ruled Thursday in a class action challenging the policy.
-
May 25, 2012
Human Genome Denies Hiding Suicide Risks In Lupus Drug Case
Biopharmaceutical firm Human Genome Sciences Inc. on Thursday asked a federal judge to scuttle proposed securities class actions accusing it of concealing suicide risks associated with lupus drug Benlysta, saying that investors cherry-picked the public record in a desperate attempt to build a case.
-
May 25, 2012
Wal-Mart Withholds Background Check Info, Suit Says
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was on Thursday sued in New Jersey federal court by a proposed class of potential workers who allege the retail giant violated consumer protection law by failing to properly disclose information related to the criminal background checks it runs on job applicants.
-
May 25, 2012
Bracewell Gets Litigation Star From Patton Boggs
Bracewell & Giuliani LLP has added former Judge Joseph M. Cox, an ex-Patton Boggs LLP litigation partner whose practice area ranges from class actions to product liability and everything in between, to its office in Dallas, the firm announced Monday.
-
May 25, 2012
Individual Worker Inquiries Doom Joe's Crab Shack Class
A California judge shot down a motion for class certification Wednesday in a overtime and meal break case brought on behalf of Joe's Crab Shack managers, holding that a class action wasn't the best way to resolve the case because of the need for individual inquiries.
-
May 25, 2012
Syngenta To Pay $105M To End Herbicide Pollution Claims
Syngenta Crop Protection Inc. has agreed to pay $105 million to as many as 2,000 municipal water systems to settle class action allegations that its herbicide tainted water supplies, the company said Friday.
-
May 25, 2012
3rd Circ. Snubs Appeal in Arizona 'All Natural' Drink Suit
The Third Circuit on Thursday blocked a move to appeal a New Jersey federal judge's order denying certification to a class of consumers seeking to stop Arizona Beverage Co. and others from touting that nearly 30 Arizona brand beverages are "all natural."
-
May 24, 2012
Judge OKs Lehman Ex-Execs' $90M Payout To Investors
A New York federal judge on Thursday approved a $90 million settlement between Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. executives and a proposed class of Lehman investors, after previously balking at the settlement, which will be paid by insurance policies while letting directors and officers off the hook.
-
May 24, 2012
Investor Suit Over Layton Energy Oil Funds Axed
A Texas federal judge has tossed a putative class action alleging Layton Corp. lied about squandering $13.5 million investors had devoted to two energy and oil funds, saying the suit failed to show standing for any of its claims.
-
May 24, 2012
Judge Tosses Investor Suit Over $1.6B Blackboard Acquisition
A D.C. Superior Court judge on Wednesday dismissed a putative shareholder class action over Providence Equity Partners LLC's $1.64 billion acquisition of Blackboard Inc., ruling that the plaintiffs failed to show the companies breached their duty of loyalty in executing the deal.
-
May 24, 2012
Judge To Deny AT&T Store Managers' PAGA Claim In OT Case
A proposed class of AT&T Mobility Services LLC retail store managers who claim they were denied overtime pay won't be able to seek penalties under the Private Attorney General Act because the plaintiffs failed to exhaust their administrative remedies before filing suit, a California federal judge indicated Thursday.
-
May 24, 2012
EU Antitrust Agencies Vow To Shield Leniency Docs
In the wake of a European Union court decision easing plaintiffs' efforts to access leniency documents, the bloc's national competition regulators decided Wednesday to strive to protect the materials companies turn over in order to foster antitrust enforcement.
Expert Analysis
-
Freeman V. Quicken — A Warning To The CFPB
The U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Freeman v. Quicken Loans Inc. marks a defeat for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the interpretation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, making it clear that the industry can — and should — oppose the CFPB’s efforts to add prohibitions to federal laws that Congress did not provide for in those laws, says Christopher Willis of Ballard Spahr LLP.
-
Insurers: New Tools To Remove CAFA Cases To Fed. Court
No federal court has publicly addressed whether the “legal certainty” test eliminated by the Jurisdiction and Venue Act should survive in Class Action Fairness Act cases — but a reasoned analysis suggests that it should not. Insurers may want to challenge the outmoded “legal certainty” standard in such cases to achieve easier removal from a state to a federal court, says Peter Moores of Choate Hall & Stewart LLP.
-
The Case Against Counterclaim Class Actions
A class action counterclaim changes the entire scope, purpose and center of gravity of a lawsuit. Where allowed, it injects myriad additional facts, claims and persons into a case that were of no relevance to the original action, and it results in an interminable delay in deciding the claims brought by the plaintiff, says Michael Walker of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP.
-
Best Practices For Corporate Social Responsibility
As with many industries, the legal services industry has adapted to the demand for sustainability practices. An effective Corporate Social Responsibility program will manifest itself in all strategic planning, from best firm employee practices and environmental sustainability to providing legal services, recruiting and retention of employees, business development, marketing and philanthropy, says Howard Dakoff of Levenfeld Pearlstein LLC.
-
A Duty To Warn — For The Other Manufacturer's Product?
Although a California appellate court's decision in Shields v. Hennessy Industries Inc. represents the application of a narrow legal exception to a very unique piece of equipment, manufacturers of products should be aware of attempts by plaintiffs to develop novel theories to expand the scope of a manufacturer’s liability for hazards associated with the products of other manufacturers, say Joseph Hovermill and Matthew Schroll of Miles & Stockbridge PC.
-
A New Model For Rejecting Disparate Impact Class Claims
While the district court decision in Pippen v. Iowa, against a class of plaintiffs alleging hiring discrimination, is not binding on other courts, we predict that employers and their defense counsel will cite it repeatedly for its thorough and thoughtful analysis and rejection of class action discrimination theories that have been — and continue to be — raised by plaintiffs’ attorneys across the country, say attorneys with Seyfarth Shaw LLP.
-
Rethinking Common Wisdom Of 'Wage And Hour' Insurance
Although the best strategy to avoid a devastating wage and hour class action is to carefully review your employment practices with a qualified attorney, an often overlooked component of a company’s protection from the financial consequences of such a claim is its insurance policies, say Barry Buchman, Kami Quinn and Jason Rubinstein of Gilbert LLP.
-
Consumer Class Action Waivers Post-Concepcion
Plaintiffs have attempted to argue that certain state laws that prohibit the enforcement of consumer arbitration agreements are different either substantively or procedurally from the California law preempted in Concepcion. The Ninth Circuit recently issued two opinions that shut the door on these arguments and provide businesses with significant guidance on how broadly they can write and enforce consumer arbitration agreements, says Christopher Ruhland of Dechert LLP.
-
Using Federal Antitrust Law To Void Class Action Waivers
Following the Second Circuit's decision in In re American Express Merchants’ Litigation, class action arbitration waivers may be voidable if the plaintiffs can show that the enforcement of those waivers will strip them of their federal statutory rights under the Sherman Act, say Michael Christian and Demetrius Lambrinos of Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason LLP.
-
I Know What You Watched Last Summer
The Video Privacy Protection Act has generated numerous putative class actions of late. While video rental service providers have been successful in defeating claims brought on the basis of retention of consumers' personally identifiable information alone, these cases are a reminder for potential defendants to review their record retention policies, say attorneys with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.