Class Action

New Labor Law Class Action Filings Fall Below 50% Of New Class Action Lawsuits But Hold Top Spot 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 claims against which they will have to defend in California courts, 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 January 7 - 13, 2011, during which time 52 new class actions were filed in these California state and federal courts. Labor law class actions often account for more than half of the new class actions filed during any particular week; this reporting period, however, only 20 of these new class actions alleged employment-related claims, representing a relatively low 38% of the total number of new class actions filed. The only other categories to break the 10% threshold involved class actions alleging violations of California's Unfair Competition Law (UCL), which includes false advertising claims, with 11 new filings, representing 21% of the total number of new class actions filed, and class actions alleging violations of federal securities laws with 8 new filings, representing 15% of the total number of new class actions filed.

Full post as published by Class Action Defense Blog on January 15, 2011 (boomark / email).