Class Action

Surge In Class Action Filings As Labor Law Class Actions Regain Top Spot Among New Class Action Lawsuits Filed 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 timeframe. This report covers the time period from March 19 - 25, 2010, during which time a surprisingly high number of new class actions -- 73 -- were filed in these California state and federal courts. As a general rule, labor law class actions easily top this list as they usually account for more than 50% of the new class action filed during any particular week. This number has been off during the past few weeks, but rebounded this reporting period. This past week, 36 new labor law class actions were filed, representing a respectable 49% of the total number of new class action filed. Three additional categories also broke the 10% threshold. The second highest number of new class action lawsuits filed alleged violations of California's Unfair Competition Law (UCL), which includes false advertising claims, with 13 new filings (representing 18% of the total number of new class actions filed). Next came the now-familiar claims against Toyota alleging various product liability claims, with 9 new class actions (12% of the total number of new class actions filed), followed by class actions alleging violations of federal securities laws, with 8 new class actions (11% of the total number of new class actions filed).

Full post as published by Class Action Defense Blog on March 27, 2010 (boomark / email).