Class Action

Expert Analysis

• The Misconception About SWS Appraisal Decision

  

  The Delaware Chancery Court’s recent decision in SWS Group raises the question whether below-the-merger-price appraisal results will now become more common. A number of commentators have suggested that the answer is yes, but their conclusion follows what we believe to be a misconception, say attorneys with Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP.

• Opinion

  Justice Kennedy's Moderating Influence On The High Court

  

  The guessing game around Justice Anthony Kennedy’s possible retirement is reaching a crescendo. Yet the speculation does more than fuel bookmakers’ odds. It draws attention to his pivotal role as the court’s swing vote, says Nan Aron, president of Alliance for Justice.

• The Shrinking Doctrine Of Specific Personal Jurisdiction

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Bristol-Myers Squibb v. Superior Court of California reaffirmed a causation requirement between a plaintiff’s claims and the defendant’s in-state conduct. After this ruling, the test for specific personal jurisdiction is simple: File suit where the defendant did something significant that caused the claim to arise, say attorneys with Morrison & Foerster LLP.

• Tax Deductibility And Statutory Damages — A Waiting Trap

  

  Statutory damages guarantee a minimum recovery in each individual case where a violation may cause only nominal damage. But aggregated statutory damages in class actions can create a risk of staggeringly large awards, which may not be tax-deductible. Companies must know the law and take steps to minimize tax consequences, says Peter Robbins of Corbett & Robbins LLP.

• Weekly Column

  Innovating For Wise Juries: Juror-Posed Questions

  

  One way to combat juror confusion and boredom is to allow jurors to ask witnesses questions. No federal evidentiary or court rule prohibits it, and every federal circuit court to address the practice has held it permissible, say Stephen Susman, Richard Lorren Jolly and Dr. Roy Futterman of the NYU School of Law Civil Jury Project.

• Tough Times For Forum Shoppers

  

  A trio of rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court has made this a difficult spring for forum-shopping lawyers. TC Heartland, BNSF Railway and now Bristol-Myers Squibb have enforced limits on exercise of personal jurisdiction over corporate defendants, sending an unmistakable message to lower courts, says Lawrence Ebner of Capital Appellate Advocacy PLLC.

• Resh Exposes Defendants To Serial Class Cert. Relitigation

  

  The Ninth Circuit’s decision in Resh v. China Agritech opens the door to the possibility of serial, successive attempts to certify a class in securities and other cases, potentially exposing defendants to an almost never-ending series of class actions, says Peter Hawkes of Lane Powell PC.

• What DOJ Investigation Means For Generic Drug Plaintiffs

  

  Last month, over 80 named plaintiffs whose antitrust claims were consolidated in Philadelphia learned that discovery in their cases will be stayed until August pending a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the generic pharmaceutical industry. Despite the delay, plaintiffs can use the next several months productively to strengthen their cases, say attorneys with Butler Rubin Saltarelli & Boyd and Adams Holcomb LLP.

• How Science Days Are Changing Talc Litigation

  

  Tutorials in the form of “science days” are an increasingly common way for judges to learn more about the science behind litigation over medical and consumer products and chemical exposures. The science day held recently by a California state court judge overseeing talcum powder litigation provides valuable insights into the process, say David Schwartz of Innovative Science Solutions LLC and attorney Nathan Schachtman.

• Tips For Complying With ABA’s New Encryption Guidance

  

  Last month, the American Bar Association published revised guidance regarding an attorney’s duty to protect sensitive client material in light of recent high-profile hacks. The first step in compliance is understanding how your data is being stored and accessed. There are three key questions you should ask your firm’s information technology staff and/or external solution vendors, says Nick Holda of PreVeil.