Class Action

Slight Decrease In Song-Beverly Class Action Filings But Still Top Labor Law Class Actions Among Weekly Class Action Filings In California State And Federal Courts

By Michael J. Hassen

To assist class action defense attorneys anticipate the types of cases against which they will have to defend in California, we provide weekly, unofficial summaries of the legal categories for new class action lawsuits filed in California state and federal courts in the Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, San Diego, San Mateo, Oakland/Alameda and Orange County areas. We include only those categories that include 10% or more of the class action filings during the relevant time frame. This report covers the time period from February 25 - March 3, 2011, during which time a remarkably high number of class actions (74) were filed in these courts. The California Supreme Court's recent Song-Beverly opinion precipitated the filing of 27 new class actions alleging violations of Song-Beverly, representing 36% of the total number of new class actions filed during this reporting period. The only other categories to break the 10% threshold involved class actions alleging labor law claims with 21 new class actions (28% of the total number of new class actions filed) and violations of California's Unfair Competition Law (UCL), which includes false advertising claims, with 8 new filings (11% of the total number of new class actions filed).

Full post as published by Class Action Defense Blog on March 05, 2011 (boomark / email).