Class Action

Expert Analysis

• ABA Rules For Departing Attys Set Unprecedented Limits

  

  Groundbreaking rules from the American Bar Association impose new standards on how law firms can govern departing lawyers’ contact with clients, placing major restrictions on this ubiquitous practice, say Amy Richardson and Hilary Gerzhoy at Harris Wiltshire.

• Opinion

  Flawed Petrobras Settlement Bypasses Many Shareholders

  

  The Petrobras securities litigation settlement has been marred by the failure to notify many thousands of valid shareholder claimants, and by a cy pres award that does not properly apply the basics of cy pres doctrine, says David Taylor of Almeida Advogados.

• Assessing Securities Class Action Risk With Event Analysis

  

  Amid increased scrutiny of corporate fiduciaries, identifying a company's high-risk adverse events from the past two years can help boards of directors quantify their potential securities class action exposure, says Nessim Mezrahi of SAR.

• Nissan Ex-CEO Illustrates Do's And Don'ts Of Image Repair

  

  Lawyers can draw a number of useful lessons about reputation management from the efforts of former Nissan executive Carlos Ghosn — who recently escaped house arrest in Tokyo — to restore his sullied reputation, says Elizabeth Ortega at ECO Strategic Communications.

• 3 Concerns If Your Witness Becomes Flippant At Deposition

  

  In light of a recent Delaware Supreme Court case in which a litigator was rebuked for failing to control his evasive witness during a deposition, attorneys should consider when they may be held responsible for client misconduct and what to do if a client crosses the line, says Philip Sechler of Robbins Russell.

• Justices' IBM Ruling Gives Life To ERISA Disclosure Liability

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in IBM v. Jander leaves unresolved a conflict between disclosure obligations under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and federal securities laws, boosting the so-called inevitable disclosure theory for ERISA liability, say attorneys at Skadden.

• Estimating Antitrust Impact, Damages Via Natural Experiments

  

  Several federal courts have recently accepted the difference-in-differences methodology to estimate antitrust impact and damages via natural experiments, demonstrating the method's validity, says James Nieberding of North Coast Economics.

• 4 Cases That Will Shape Clickwrap Litigation In 2020

  

  Four recent cases involving companies' online user agreements will have major impacts on the ways courts assess evidence in such cases, the types of evidence that companies must bring in order to enforce their terms, and the types of arguments that both defendants and plaintiffs will make, says Brian Powers of PactSafe.

• Key Trends In Energy Antitrust Enforcement And Litigation

  

  Antitrust agencies and private litigants continued to focus on the energy industry in 2019, and new antitrust policy initiatives announced by the U.S. Department of Justice last year will offer energy companies opportunities to avoid prosecution in certain cases, say attorneys at Vinson & Elkins.

• 5 Key Issues Raised In Most CBD Product Class Actions

  

  By becoming familiar with the most common problems raised in class actions against CBD products, cannabis suppliers and manufacturers can reduce risks associated with marketing, labeling and promoting their products, say Mark Goodman and Barry Thompson of Baker McKenzie.

• Top 10 Employment Law Developments Of The Decade: Part 2

  

  In the final part of this article, Barbara Roth and Tyler Hendry at Herbert Smith look back on the most significant labor and employment law updates from the second half of the decade, and reveal their choice for the most important change of the 2010s.

• How Associate Life Has Evolved Over The Past Decade

  

  During the last 10 years, the need to embrace change was fundamental for law firms, and that change affected associates in many ways — most, but not all, for the better, says Brad Kaufman, co-president of Greenberg Traurig.

• The New Class Action Frontier Under Illinois Privacy Law

  

  One year after a pivotal Illinois Supreme Court ruling broadened liability under the Biometric Information Privacy Act, companies in a wide variety of industries need to be vigilant of a rise in potentially financially ruinous class action filings, and there are several steps they can take to protect themselves from BIPA liability, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

• Justices Seem Keen To Solve ERISA Case's Article III Question

  

  Oral arguments in Thole v. U.S. Bank suggested the U.S. Supreme Court is willing to explore whether Employee Retirement Income Security Act plaintiffs have constitutional standing to sue over an adequately funded plan — even though the lower courts sidestepped the issue, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

• Tribune Ruling Charts Course For Bankruptcy Safe Harbor

  

  In upholding the dismissal of fraudulent conveyance claims against former shareholders of the bankrupt Tribune Company, the Second Circuit may have laid out a path for parties looking to stay within a crucial Bankruptcy Code safe harbor provision, say attorneys at Cadwalader.