Last night I attended the celebration of the career of my greatest mentor, Sheila Birnbaum, whom the legal media decades ago aptly dubbed “The Queen of Torts.” It was a fabulous event graciously hosted at the Campbell Bar in NYC’s Grand Central Terminal by her firm, Dechert, with scores of people in attendance—lawyers and
What Rule 23 Requirements Apply To Issues Classes, and How?
Michelle Ligouri and Christopher Flurry over at Best in Class Blog have an interesting post about an issues class certification in the District of Columbia that raises a number of thorny questions: Harris v. Medical Transportation Mgmt., Inc., 77 F.4th 746 (D.C. Cir. 2023). In Harris, the trial court certified an issues class
What I Saw in St. Louis Last . . . Quarter
So I have been deficient. One of my goals is to show you the incredible range of entertainment that is available in St. Louis, and I had promised a periodic post about shows and concerts I have seen here. But my last such post was in October. This is a catch-up post–and for those of
A District Court Sua Sponte Remands a TCPA Class Action for Lack of Standing
Today’s blog post presents the curious case of Thompson v. Genesco, Inc., 2024 WL 81187 (E.D. Mo. Jan. 8, 2024) (Clark, C.J.), in which a federal district court sua sponte remanded a Federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action to a St. Louis City circuit court for lack of standing—but not for the reason
You Can Successfully Challenge Personal Jurisdiction in Class Action Cases, Even Where You Transact Business on the Internet
Too often defendants with a national presence fail to assert a personal jurisdiction defense to class actions. A decision from the Eastern District of Missouri demonstrates why all defendants—even those with a national presence—should take care to consider personal jurisdiction as a first line of defense. See Jones v. Papa John’s Int’l, Inc., 2023
W.D. Mo. Dismisses Putative Insurance Class Action Seeking Sales Tax and Licensing Fees on Replacement Vehicles after Total Loss
Ordinarily I don’t blog about decisions in cases where I or my firm represented a party. But this decision seems to have slipped through West’s fingers, so I’ll include it here with minimal commentary in case it may be of use to someone.
In this federal decision from the Western District of Missouri, the plaintiff
Sixth Circuit Affirms Denial of Intervention by New Plaintiff After Original Plaintiff’s Claims Were Dismissed
Wystan Ackerman has a post about an interesting class action situation: If you succeed in knocking out the named plaintiff in a putative class action because his claim was not timely, can a new plaintiff with a timely claim intervene in that suit to preserve the putative class’s statute of limitations period from the time
Drafting a Product Label’s Environmental Sustainability Claims To Avoid Litigation Risk Is Challenging, To Say The Least
Increasingly companies are investing in environmental sustainability, reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, making their production facilities and distribution systems more energy efficient, and otherwise conserving vital resources like water. Sometimes companies purchase “credits” to offset things like greenhouse gas emissions. And often they work with private organizations that evaluate a company’s efforts and issue a
Be Ready for More State Court Class Actions
Last week I attended the ABA’s National Class Actions Institute in Chicago. If you weren’t there, you really missed out. The annual Institute is one of the few CLE programs with attendance that is evenly divided between the Plaintiff and Defense bars. The presenters are all at the top of their game, and their candor
I’m Still Standing Better Than I Ever Did . . .
I am always reminding my students that there is more than one way to make an argument, and if you are foreclosed from one route, you can always take another. For example, how do you defend against class claims brought by people who have not suffered any real injury? Most people initially would say “challenge