Class Action

Dramatic Drop In Labor Law Class Action Filings Gives Unfair Competition Law (UCL) Class Actions Top Spot Among Weekly Class Actions 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 October 29 - November 4, 2010, during which time 49 new class actions were filed in these California state and federal courts. As a general rule, labor law class actions top the list of new class action filings, frequently accounting for more than half of all new class actions filed in these California courts. But during this reporting period, the number of new labor law class actions dropped dramatically, with only 13 new cases filed, representing a paltry 27% of the total number of new class actions filed. The top spot this reporting period went to class actions that alleged violations of California's Unfair Competition Law (UCL), which includes false advertising claims, with 17 new filings, representing 35% of the total number of new class actions filed. The only other category to break the 10% threshold involved class actions alleging violations of federal securities laws, with 8 new filings, representing 16% of the total number of new class actions filed.

Full post as published by Class Action Defense Blog on November 06, 2010 (boomark / email).