Class Action

Expert Analysis

• Calif. Ruling Will Help Cos. Fight Fraud-By-Implication Suits

  

  The California Court of Appeal's recent ruling in Shaeffer v. Califia Farms — holding that a company's claims about its product did not imply false claims about other companies' products — provides an important framework that food manufacturers can use to dispose of similar cases at the pleading stage, say attorneys at Covington.

• Opinion

  Time To Consider Percentage Rental Agreements For Lawyers

  

  It has long been the law that attorneys cannot use percentage rental agreements because doing so would constitute an impermissible sharing of fees with nonlawyers, but such arrangements can help lawyers match expenses with revenues in lean times like now, say Peter Jarvis and Trisha Thompson at Holland & Knight.

• Indirect Purchaser Antitrust Standing Heads In New Direction

  

  The applicability of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1983 Associated General Contractors indirect purchaser price-fixing decision to antitrust standing under state law continues to evolve, with some decisions that may portend diminished application, say Chris Micheletti and James Dugan at Zelle.

• Opinion

  Regulatory Estoppel Does Not Invalidate The Virus Exclusion

  

  Some policyholders seeking coverage for losses stemming from COVID-19 are arguing that virus exclusions are invalid due to regulatory estoppel, but this theory lacks substance and threatens to undermine formal clarifications of insurance policy intent, say Jonathan Schwartz and Colin Willmott at Goldberg Segalla.

• 'Settle And Sue' Malpractice Cases Have New Clarity In Calif.

  

  A California state appellate court's recent decision in Masellis v. Law Office of Leslie F. Jensen provides a road map for proving causation and damages in settle-and-sue legal malpractice cases — an important issue of long-standing confusion, says Steven Berenson at Klinedinst.

• What You Say In Online Mediation May Be Discoverable

  

  Mediation conducted online with participants in different states makes it harder to determine where communications were made, increasing the risk that courts will apply laws of a state that does not protect mediation confidentiality, say mediators Jeff Kichaven and Teresa Frisbie and law student Tyler Codina.

• Arbitration Pact Rulings Show Signature Snags For Employers

  

  Two recent appellate opinions highlight the challenges in proving specific employees signed arbitration agreements, but employers can take certain steps to defend such claims and ensure enforcement, say Ryan Glasgow and Tyler Laughinghouse at Hunton.

• 2 Takeaways From Ill. Biometric Class Action Insurance Ruling

  

  An Illinois appellate court's recent decision in West Bend v. Krishna provides clarity into the legal definition of publication in insurance contexts and highlights the importance of policy language in Biometric Information Privacy Act lawsuits, say Deepthika Appuhamy and Brian Scarbrough at Jenner & Block.

• Cert. Denial In Televisa May Embroil 3rd-Party Asset Managers

  

  A New York federal court's recent refusal to grant class certification to investors in Grupo Televisa in a FIFA scandal stock-drop case may lead to additional discovery burdens for asset managers performing third-party management services for pooled investment vehicles, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

• Keeping Data-Breach Reports Confidential After Capital One

  

  Despite a Virginia federal court's recent order that Capital One turn over its digital forensics report in the bank's data breach suit, companies that take certain precautions may nevertheless use their current cybersecurity providers to produce privileged post-breach reports, says cybersecurity consultant John Reed Stark.

• Mass. Court Deadline Tolling Will Cause Problems For Years

  

  While Massachusetts' 106-day tolling period for all civil statutes of limitations ends Tuesday, the pandemic-related pause will complicate calculation of limitations periods and have ripple effects in many jurisdictions for years to come, says Christian Stephens at Eckert Seamans.

• 10 Tips For A Successful Remote Arbitration Hearing

  

  As I learned after completing a recent international arbitration remotely, with advance planning a video hearing can replicate the in-person experience surprisingly well, and may actually be superior in certain respects, says Kate Shih at Quinn Emanuel.

• Opinion

  To Achieve Diversity, Law Firms Must Reinvent Hiring Process

  

  If law firms are truly serious about making meaningful change in terms of diversity, they must adopt a demographically neutral, unbiased hiring equation that looks at personality traits with greater import than grades and class rank, says Thomas Latino at Florida State University College of Law.

• A New Antitrust Approach After Humira 'Patent Thicket' Ruling

  

  In light of an Illinois federal court's recent holding that AbbVie's Humira "patent thicket" did not violate antitrust laws, parties concerned with the potential anti-competitive conduct of a biologic reference product sponsor should focus on conduct and look beyond patent obtainment, says Kevin Nelson at Schiff Hardin.

• 2nd Circ. Affirms High Corporate Scienter Pleading Standards

  

  The Second Circuit’s recent decision in Jackson v. Abernathy provides powerful tools for defendants to argue that a securities fraud plaintiff has not adequately pled corporate scienter in the absence of particularized factual allegations, say attorneys at Cleary.