Class Action

Expert Analysis

• A Likely Tipping Point For Nonlawyer Ownership Of Law Firms

  

  The Arizona Supreme Court's recent decision to eliminate prohibitions on nonlawyer ownership of law firms may show that the organized bar's long-standing rhetoric that such rules are essential to protecting the legal profession's core values is overblown, say Anthony Sebok at Cardozo School of Law and Bradley Wendel at Cornell Law School.

• Foreign Securities Class Actions 10 Years After Morrison

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 2010 decision in Morrison v. National Australia Bank has had a sweeping impact on the application of the federal securities laws to transnational securities fraud, but it has not brought the predictability and consistency it promised and has exposed foreign issuers to greater U.S. class action liability, say attorneys at Cleary.

• A Road Map For Drafting Persuasive Discovery Motions

  

  Best practices that can help litigators write convincing discovery motions include thinking about the audience, addressing a few key questions, and leaving out boilerplate from supporting briefs, says Tom Connally at Hogan Lovells.

• Opinion

  9th Circ. Antitrust Ruling Threatens NFL, Free Enterprise

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court should reverse a recent Ninth Circuit decision — holding that the NFL-DirecTV Sunday Ticket joint venture violates antitrust laws — because it jeopardizes a business model driving innovation in this country, says former Sen. Orrin Hatch.

• How Congress Can Depoliticize The Supreme Court

  

  Congress has multiple means to take the politics out of federal judicial nominations and restore the independence of the U.S. Supreme Court — three of which can be implemented without a constitutional amendment, says Franklin Amanat at DiCello Levitt.

• And Now A Word From The Panel: Justifying An MDL

  

  Recent oral arguments before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation in the Ahern Rentals trade secret case demonstrate that justifying centralization of related actions into an MDL hinges on showing similarities between the actions — and especially on whether they will lead to common discovery, says Alan Rothman at Sidley.

• Opinion

  The Case For A Nonpolitical Federal Judiciary

  

  For the last 20 years, at the insistence of both parties, U.S. Supreme Court nominations have been fierce ideological battles — which is bad for the country and bad for the public's perception of the legitimacy of the court, say Judge Eric Moyé, Judge Craig Smith and Winston & Strawn partner Tom Melsheimer.

• Ginsburg's Passing Could Usher In A Narrower TCPA

  

  Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's broad commitment to the class action vehicle is unlikely to be shared by a Trump-appointed U.S. Supreme Court justice, suggesting a continued shift toward a narrower application of consumer protection statutes like the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, says Eric Troutman at Squire Patton.

• The Keys To A Better Privilege Logging Paradigm

  

  Current privilege logging practices to identify what information is being withheld from discovery often lead to costly disputes, so practitioners should adopt a system based on trust and good faith, similar to the presumptions embedded in the business judgment rule for corporate directors and officers, say Kevin Brady at Volkswagen and Charles Ragan and Ted Hiser at Redgrave.

• Class Arbitration May Meet Its Demise At High Court This Term

  

  While the Second Circuit’s 2019 opinion in Jock v. Sterling Jewelers and the Ninth Circuit’s recent decision in Shivkov v. Artex exemplify how two interrelated inquiries have rescued class arbitration, the U.S. Supreme Court will likely address the issues this term and extinguish the practice, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

• White House Due Process Memo Could Reform Enforcement

  

  A little-noticed memo recently issued by the Trump administration in response to the pandemic, directing federal agencies to provide greater due process to individuals and companies under regulatory investigation, represents a long-overdue sea change in the way justice is carried out in enforcement proceedings, say Joan Meyer and Norman Bloch at Thompson Hine.

• Chancery Ruling Offers Takeaways On Conflicts In M&A Sales

  

  The Delaware Court of Chancery's recent decision in Rudd v. Brown — a challenge to Outerwall's $1.6 billion sale to Apollo — provides valuable insight in the context of conflicts of interest and director and officer fiduciary duties during M&A sales processes completed amid threats of activist-driven proxy contests, says Sawyer Duncan at King & Spalding.

• Law Firm Hiring Considerations In A COVID-19 Economy

  

  Financially robust law firms are entering the recruiting market aggressively knowing that dislocations like the COVID-19 crisis present rare competitive opportunities, and firms that remain on the sidelines when it comes to strategic hiring will be especially vulnerable to having their best talent poached, says Brian Burlant at Major Lindsey.

• ERISA Claim Takeaways From 7th Circ. Union Pension Ruling

  

  The Seventh Circuit’s recent decision in Bator v. District Council 4 — dismissing Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims against pension plan trustees and a union for allowing varying member contribution levels — shows key challenges in proving that trustees breached their fiduciary duties, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

• Opinion

  Lawyers Must Act To Preserve Democracy This Election

  

  COVID-19 concerns and glaring gaps in registration threaten to dampen voter turnout in the 2020 election, so attorneys should take on the problem by leveraging their knowledge and resources in seven ways, says Laura Brill at Kendall Brill.