A recent Ninth Circuit decision on a class action settlement, In re Apple Inc. Device Performance Litigation, 2022 WL 4492078 (9th Cir. Sept. 28, 2022), received significant attention in the legal media. It addressed several issues of significance to lawyers negotiating class settlements: (1) class representative incentive awards; (2) a requirement that class members
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Class Definition in Class Action Settlement Must Be Limited to Class Members That Have Standing According to Eleventh Circuit
Last week the Eleventh Circuit addressed an issue that many class action practitioners probably haven’t thought much about: whether approval of a class action settlement requires that each class member obtaining relief have Article III standing to sue. Defendants typically want a broad class definition because they are focused on finality and buying peace. Plaintiffs…
Ninth Circuit Reverses Class Certification Order Because Liability Issues, Not Merely Damages, Were Individualized
The Ninth Circuit recently addressed an issue that tends to arise frequently in class certification motion practice: how trial courts should apply the predominance requirement where appellate decisions have said that the need to calculate individualized damages generally is not sufficient on its own to defeat class certification, but some putative class members likely have…
Third Circuit Maintains a Strict Approach to Numerosity and Highlights Circuit Split on Application of Evidentiary Rules to Class Certification Decisions
I used to say that denials of class certification on numerosity grounds were rare and that usually it was futile to oppose class certification on that ground. That’s becoming less true as some circuits, including the Third Circuit, have adopted a stricter approach to how plaintiffs must establish numerosity. If Plaintiffs are using an estimate…
Property Valuation Issues Are Ill-Suited for Class Certification According to the Sixth Circuit
A recent Sixth Circuit case addressed an issue that tends to arise frequently in various types of class actions, such as property insurance and environmental cases: whether property valuation issues are appropriate for class treatment. The answer here was “no,” and the opinion could be useful to defendants in other contexts.
CAFA Appeals Cannot Address Other Jurisdictional Issues, According to the Fifth Circuit
The Fifth Circuit recently addressed the scope of appellate jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA). CAFA allows federal courts of appeals to hear, on a discretionary basis, appeals from “an order of a district court granting or denying a motion to remand a class action.” 28 U.S.C. § 1453(c)(1). The Fifth Circuit has…
Class Action Fairness Act Does Not Override the Federal Arbitration Act, According to the Sixth Circuit
A recent Sixth Circuit decision caught my eye because it addressed an important issue on which I have not seen any other appellate decisions (and none were cited in the opinion). The plaintiff argued that the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) should be interpreted as overriding the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), effectively precluding the enforcement…
Some Class Action Fairness Act Remand Decisions Are Appealable as of Right
Federal district court orders remanding cases to state court are generally not appealable, as provided by 28 U.S.C. § 1447(d). One exception to this is that the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) allows a court of appeals, in its discretion, to accept an appeal from an order granting or denying a motion to remand a…
Seventh Circuit: Defendants Need Not Prove Merits of Defenses to Defeat Class Certification
A recent Seventh Circuit decision makes an important point about how the principle that a court generally need not resolve the merits to decide class certification is bilateral – it applies to both affirmative claims and defenses. The plaintiff argued that the district court erred in denying class certification because there was one key defense…
Class Action Fairness Act: Punitive Damages and Local Controversy Exception Addressed in Recent Seventh Circuit Decision
A recent Seventh Circuit decision made two rulings on issues arising under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) that defendants may find useful in other cases. First, potential punitive damages exceeding a single-digit ratio may be considered in determining whether the class claims satisfy the $5 million threshold if compensatory damages are small or where…