PRACTITIONER BLOG
Read our analyses of developments in Impact Litigation and stay current on class action law
Ninth Circuit Panel Decertifies Class of Janitorial & Maintenance Workers: Impact Fund & Amici Urge Rehearing
A certified class of janitorial and maintenance workers survived two motions for decertification, successfully proved employer wrongdoing at summary judgment, and received significant damages in a jury bellwether trial before seeing their efforts undone by the Ninth Circuit. The recent panel opinion in Bowerman v. Field Asset Services, Inc., 39 F.4th 652, 661-63 (9th Cir. 2022), reversed certification after over seven years of litigation as a certified class. In doing so, the panel blatantly ignored the district judge’s repeated conclusion that the case was best managed as a class action.
Uninjured Class Members - How Many Is Too Many? Ninth Circuit Weighs In On Class Action Article III Standing
So how exactly does Article III work in a class action? It is generally understood that, at the outset of a class action, Article III standing is determined based on the claims of the named plaintiffs. At the tail end, if the case goes to judgment, unnamed class members must prove an Article III injury in order to receive damages. But what about in the middle of the case? What about at class certification?
Class Action Strategy and Practice Guide: A Must-Have For All Class Action Attorneys
Class actions involve decisions on strategy at every turn. The positions of the parties are constantly changing and counsel must always be looking ahead and, at the same time, carefully watching their flank. This book helps all practitioners and parties identify, analyze and answer key strategy questions. Ever evolving class action tactics, case law and rule make this insightful practice guide a must read for lawyers, judges, advocates and decision makers at every level.
SCOTUS Rules on Class Action Tolling in China Agritech, Inc. v. Resh
The Court’s decision, in our opinion, is a grave departure from the goals of efficiency and economy inherent to class actions. Requiring plaintiffs to preemptively file multiple actions unnecessarily burdens the judiciary and clogs the system with duplicative cases. The Court’s decision also is at odds with what we regard as the reality of modern class actions in that many do not have a final decision on class certification within two or four years, for reasons outside the named plaintiff’s control. Necessary discovery, taxed courts, appeals, and recalcitrant defendants all slow the process and often prevent the parties from obtaining a final ruling on class certification within the first few years. In addition, orders denying class certification may identify remediable issues that can be addressed only by filing a new action. This week’s ruling prohibits plaintiffs who initially timely filed their case from filing those new actions if the court’s class certification order arrives outside the original statute of limitations.
Distinguishing Dukes: Another Victory For Employment Discrimination Class Actions
Employers have consistently taken the position that challenges to employment processes that involve some element of subjectivity – and most do – cannot be brought on a class basis after Dukes. According to the logic of this argument, only non-discretionary evaluation measures, such as standardized tests or physical fitness tests, will satisfy commonality under Rule 23(a). Fortunately, a recent opinion from the Southern District of New York joins the growing list of decisions rejecting this extreme position.
An Insider's Guide To The Impact Fund Class Action Training Institute
Last October, shortly after I joined the Impact Fund as its Litigation Fellow, I had the opportunity to attend the Impact Fund’s Training Institute in Chicago. Having had some exposure to class action litigation during my clerkship, but no experience actually litigating a class action, I had a lot to learn and was excited to dive in and learn as much as I could over the course of the training.
The Underground Guide To Class Action Slang (part One)
Over the past half-century, class actions have changed the world for the better: desegregating schools and workplaces, ensuring clean air and water, and exposing unsafe products and corporate fraud. But, have you considered their impact on the English language? Class actions have spawned some inventive slang, which can be bewildering to practitioners new to the field, much less to ordinary folks. We’re here to help with this, the Impact Fund Class Action Dictionary.
Ninth Circuit Win For Transparency
The Ninth Circuit’s decision in The Center for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Group, decided January 11, 2016, adopted a new standard for district courts to use in deciding whether the public has a right to access court records filed by the parties under seal. The decision will go a long way to ensure that corporations cannot hide evidence of misconduct that may threaten public safety. The decision also has important implications for class action litigators.