PRACTITIONER BLOG
Read our analyses of developments in Impact Litigation and stay current on class action law
The Seventh Circuit Breaks with Eleventh, Allows Service Awards for Named Plaintiffs
In 2020, a panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals stunned the class action bar when it ruled in Johnson v. NPAS Solutions., LLC, 975 F.3d 1244 (11th Cir. 2020), that service awards for class representatives are categorically unlawful. Service awards are financial payments to class representatives that have long been used to acknowledge their service to the class. In April of 2024, the Seventh Circuit split with the Eleventh Circuit when it allowed service awards.
Answering Question Left Open by SCOTUS, D.C. and Seventh Circuits Side With Plaintiffs on Specific Personal Jurisdiction in Class Actions
In quick succession last week, the D.C. and Seventh Circuits handed down two decisions favorable to class action plaintiffs on specific personal jurisdiction in federal court. So, good news for plaintiffs today, but these cases are not the last we will hear on this subject.