Class Action

Expert Analysis

• An Unclear Path For Defending Calif. Wage-And-Hour Claims

  

  The California Supreme Court's recent decision in Troester — holding that Starbucks must pay employees for time spent on off-the-clock tasks — is already affecting state wage and hour class actions. One example is a California federal court's recent decision to partially grant class certification in Ser Lao v. H&M, say Brandon Takahashi and Brian Noh of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP.

• 4 Key Components To New Firm Partnership Agreements

  

  A well-drafted partnership agreement protects a law firm's founders, establishes a process for new and outgoing partners, and sets forth guidelines for navigating conflict along the way. Startup firms can begin with something less complex, but there are important elements that every agreement should include, says Russell Shinsky of Anchin Block & Anchin LLP.

• Opinion

  EA Victory Over Ex-NFL Players Should Be Reversed

  

  A California federal judge's recent decision to deny the retired NFL players' motion for class certification in the Electronic Arts right of publicity case not only misconstrues Ninth Circuit law, but also ignores the very nature of a "historic" team, says ​​​​​​​Ronald Katz of GCA Law Partners LLP.

• Opinion

  Open The Federal Courthouses

  

  Forget about cameras, reporters in the Manafort trial were not even permitted in the courtroom with their phones, tablets or computers. That meant no live reporting on Twitter and no emails to the newsrooms with updates. In a world focused on information and news as it happens, this is unacceptable, says trial attorney David Oscar Markus.

• Assessing 'Concreteness' Under Spokeo In Northern Illinois

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's Spokeo decision left lower courts to flesh out history's and Congress' “important roles” when developing a workable legal standard for deciding whether an intangible injury is sufficiently “concrete.” Not surprisingly, the Northern District of Illinois “concreteness” determinations relying on Congress’ role tend to be ad hoc, say Alex Egbert and Tony Hopp of Steptoe & Johnson LLP.

• Opinion

  Incorporating Docs By Reference: New 9th Circ. Law Is Flawed

  

  In Khoja v. Orexigen Therapeutics, the Ninth Circuit recently concluded that it needed to address “overuse” of documents incorporated by reference in securities cases. But the cure may be worse than the disease, say Brian Sutherland and James Martin of Reed Smith LLP.

• China Agritech May Cork Repeat TCPA Class Actions

  

  In Practice Management Support Services v. Cirque du Soleil, an Illinois federal court recently decertified a putative class action alleging Telephone Consumer Protection Act violations. The ruling is an indicator that, following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in China Agritech v. Resh, courts are starting to rein in abuses of equitable tolling to plug up such interminable class action exposure, say attorneys with Blank Rome LLP.

• Series

  Winner's Playbook: Behind The Scenes Of China Ag V. Resh

  

  Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in China Agritech v. Resh that statutes of limitations cannot be tolled for subsequent class actions. Here, members of the O'Melveny & Myers LLP team that defended China Agritech describe how an otherwise routine securities case turned into a far-reaching check on serial class actions.

• Policing Bad Claims In Consolidated Litigation: Part 2

  

  While conducting a pre-suit investigation sufficient to file a lawsuit may seem like a perfunctory enterprise, courts appear increasingly willing to affirm the importance of complying with this requirement — and this issue is particularly ripe in consolidated and multidistrict litigation, say Danielle Bagwell and Anne Gruner of Duane Morris LLP.

• Clarity On Overlapping Background Check Laws In Calif.

  

  On Monday, in Connor v. First Student, the California Supreme Court found the state’s Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act was not unconstitutionally vague as applied to employer background checks, despite overlap with the Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act. As a result, consumer reporting agencies should carefully review their products to assure compliance, say attorneys with Troutman Sanders LLP.