Class Action

Expert Analysis

• Remembering Justice Stevens As A Law Firm Leader

  

  Rothschild Barry's John Coffey, who joined Justice John Paul Stevens' law firm in 1965, shares what it was like to watch Justice Stevens practice law, mentor younger lawyers and land a malfunctioning plane.

• Opinion

  NY Credit Card Securitization Class Action Misuses Madden

  

  In Cohen v. Capital One Funding in New York federal court, the plaintiffs' argument — that special purpose trusts charged and collected interest rates in excess of New York's usury limits — relies on a flawed understanding of the Second Circuit's decision in Madden v. Midland Funding, which was itself erroneous and harmful to credit markets, says Walter Zalenski of Buckley.

• Answers To Key Legal Finance Ethics Questions

  

  While there is discussion in some quarters about new regulations on commercial legal finance, the hands-off approach taken by the majority of courts and legislatures is an implicit recognition that it is already sufficiently regulated, says Danielle Cutrona of Burford Capital.

• NY Laws May Prompt Uptick In Pay Equity Claims

  

  New York recently signed into law a statewide prohibition on salary history inquiries and amended its equal pay law. Attorneys at Morgan Lewis explain the laws’ key provisions and discuss the important takeaways for employers.

• Federal Agencies Need A Uniform Record-Keeping Process

  

  The administrative record is very important to federal agency litigation — as showcased in last month's U.S. Supreme Court decision concerning the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census — yet there is no set of consistent principles to guide agencies in compiling these official records, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

• Verifying Confidence Intervals In The Wage-And-Hour Context

  

  Using the example of a random sample of wage-and-hour class members, Brian Kriegler at Econ One Research explains how to overcome data challenges that seemingly impede the calculation of reliable confidence intervals for identifying data characteristics of a defined population.

• The Role Of Dictionaries In Last Term's High Court Decisions

  

  Since 32 of the 67 decisions issued by the U.S. Supreme Court during its October term cite dictionaries, it’s worth reviewing the opinions to learn which dictionaries the justices consulted and how they used them, say Bruce Wessel and Brian Weissenberg of Irell & Manella.

• How To Evaluate The Rise In Legal Employment

  

  Although the rate of employment for law school graduates — which had been falling steadily — saw a small increase over the last year, other factors, such as fewer graduates overall and potential future job growth stagnation, temper the good news for those pursuing law degrees, say Tiffane Cochran and Tyler Grimm of AccessLex Institute.

• A New Direction For Commission-Only Compensation In Mass.

  

  The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's recent decision in Sullivan v. Sleepy’s changes the way employers can implement commission-only compensation plans and may signal the start of open season for overtime claims by certain commission-based employees, says Emily Crowley at Davis Malm.

• When FCPA Violations Turn Into Private Securities Cases

  

  In recent cases like Doshi v. General Cable Corp., plaintiffs attorneys have tried to use company disclosures of government investigations or settlement agreements with regulators to craft private claims for corporate bribery. There are a few things companies might consider to limit their exposure to such claims, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

• Opinion

  The Business Case For Championing Diverse Legal Teams

  

  Leveraging the collective strengths of a diverse workforce is not only the right thing to do, it’s a strategic imperative for any successful firm or business, says Louise Pentland, executive vice president and chief business affairs and legal officer of PayPal.

• The Art Of The 'Science And Expert Team' In Mass Torts

  

  Science is at the foundation of mass tort lawsuits involving drugs or medical devices. Critical to a virtual law team in these cases, the "science and expert team" does more than get into the weeds of scientific issues and retain experts, say attorneys at FaegreBD, Peabody & Arnold and Shook Hardy.

• A Closer Look At Calif. Privacy Law Bar On 2 Contract Clauses

  

  It seems likely that practitioners will have a strong argument that the California Consumer Privacy Act’s prohibition on arbitration and class action waivers should be preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act, say Alexis Miller Buese and Rachel Goldberg of Sidley Austin.

• The Supreme Court’s Stealth Revolution In Civil Procedure

  Excerpt from Lexis Practice Advisor

  

  Over the last decade, U.S. Supreme Court decisions have created several procedural weapons, including personal jurisdiction, venue forum selection clauses, gatekeeping rules for pleadings, arbitration protections for businesses, and limits on class actions, says Jim Wagstaffe of Wagstaffe von Loewenfeldt.

• Rethinking The Tech-First Approach To Law Firm Solutions

  

  When a lawyer complains about some workflow inefficiency they are having, the knee-jerk reaction of many firms is to look for a technology-based workaround. This overlooks the importance of human psychology and behavior, which may be the root of the problem, says Ryan Steadman of Zero.