Class Action

Argument transcript available in class action case: Smith v. Bayer Corp.

Posted on January 18, 2011
The transcript of this morning's oral argument in Smith v. Bayer Corp., no. 09-1205 (U.S.), discussed in my post immediately below, is now available at this link.

"Blogging - A Personal Connection to Business"

Posted on January 15, 2011
The Winter 2010 issue of San Francisco Attorney, the magazine of the Bar Association of San Francisco, has this article (subscription) by Leslie Gordon on law blogging. Featured law blogs include Dirtblawg by Julia Wei, Nonprofit Law Blog by Gene...

Vanderbilt Law Review "roundtable" on Dukes v. Wal-Mart

Posted on January 11, 2011
Vanderbilt Law Review has published an online "roundtable" of articles relating to the Dukes v. Wal-Mart case: Elizabeth Chanblee Burch, "Introduction: Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.," 63 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 77 (2010) Robert G. Bone, "Sorting Through the...

Six pending cases to watch in 2011

Posted on January 10, 2011
Here are six important cases to follow in the coming months (listed in no particular order): Kwikset Corp. v. Superior Court (Benson), no. S171845 (Cal.). This UCL case was argued in the California Supreme Court on November 3, 2010, which...

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New unpublished class arbitration decision: Mahmud v. Ralphs Grocery Co.

Posted on January 07, 2011
Many thanks to the reader who brought a new unpublished opinion to my attention: Mahmud v. Ralphs Grocery Co., no. B219688 (Jan. 5, 2011). In Mahmud, the Court of Appeal (Second Appellate District, Division Four) refused to enforce an arbitration...

Yesterday's Supreme Court arguments: Pineda v. Williams-Sonoma and Bruns v. E-Commerce

Posted on January 06, 2011
I attended yesterday morning's arguments, which were the first over which new Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye presided. Associate Justice Kennard, the most senior of the associate justices, delivered a very nice welcoming address, which she said will be reported in...

BREAKING NEWS: Justice Moreno to retire from the Supreme Court

Posted on January 06, 2011
News is breaking that Justice Carlos Moreno tendered his resignation to Governor Jerry Brown yesterday. According to a post by Scott Graham at Legal Pad, Justice Moreno will depart from the Court in late February. Many thanks to the person...

Recent UCL "fraudulent" prong decision: Levine v. Blue Shield of California

Posted on January 05, 2011
We have been having a slow period for new UCL- and class-action-related cases. So here's an older case on which I hadn't previously reported. In Levine v. Blue Shield of California, 189 Cal.App.4th 1117 (Nov. 5, 2010), the Court of...

Two MCLE programs on class action practice in January

Posted on January 04, 2011
Two MCLE programs of interest are coming up in January: Wednesday, January 26, 2011: CAOC College of Trial Arts, SFTLA, and the Bar Association of San Francisco are jointly sponsoring their 5th Annual Class Action Seminar on Wednesday, January 26,...

U.S. Supreme Court sets oral argument in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes

Posted on January 03, 2011
The U.S. Supreme Court wastes no time. Seventeen days after taking up the case, the Court scheduled oral argument in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, no. 10-277. The argument is set for Tuesday, March 29, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. No...

Happy holiday hiatus

Posted on December 24, 2010
Happy holidays to all who may be watching this space. Posting will resume after the first of the year.

Kentucky Supreme Court strikes down "no-class-action" arbitration clause: Schnuerle v. Insight Communications Co.

Posted on December 21, 2010
In Schnuerle v. Insight Communications Co., ___ S.W.3d ___ (Dec. 16, 2010), the Supreme Court of Kentucky struck down a no-class-action arbitration clause as unconscionable under Kentucky law. Among other authorities, the opinion relied on two of our own Supreme...

New Fifth Circuit class action settlement decision: In re: Katrina Canal Breaches Litigation

Posted on December 20, 2010
In In re: Katrina Canal Breaches Litigation, ___ F.3d ___ (5th Cir. Dec. 16, 2010), the Fifth Circuit reversed an order granting final approval of a class action settlement. The opinion discusses the "limited fund mandatory class," and summarizes the...

Supreme Court UCL restitution decision: Pineda v. Bank of America

Posted on December 07, 2010
In Pineda v. Bank of America, N.A., ___ Cal.4th ___ (Nov. 18, 2010), the Supreme Court held that Labor Code section 203 penalties may not be recovered as "restitution" under the UCL. Slip op. at 13-15. The opinion contains an...

BREAKING NEWS: U.S. Supreme Court grants cert. but limits the issues in Dukes v. Wal-Mart

Posted on December 06, 2010
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the cert. petition in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, no. 10-277, but limited the issues. The Order reads: 10-277 WAL-MART STORES, INC. V. DUKES, BETTY, ET AL. The petition for a writ of certiorari...

One more time: U.S. Supreme Court expected to announce vote in Dukes v. Wal-Mart today

Posted on December 06, 2010
Once again, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to announce whether it will be granting cert. in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, no. 10-277. According to the docket, the case was considered in conference last Friday, December 3, which means...

Ninth Circuit enjoins lawyers to take vacations! Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc.

Posted on December 04, 2010
In Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc., ___ F.3d ___ (9th Cir. Nov. 3, 2010), the Ninth Circuit reversed a judgment obtained as a result of opposing counsel's refusal to grant routine professional courtesies, and had this note of warning for...

California Courts to launch redesigned website in January 2011

Posted on December 03, 2010
From an announcement the day before Thanksgiving: "In an effort to improve online access to the California judicial branch, the California Courts website will unveil a new design in January, 2011." The website's URL will be changing from http://www.courtinfo...

Another new Ninth Circuit CAFA opinion: Coleman v. Estes Express Lines, Inc.

Posted on December 01, 2010
In Coleman v. Estes Express Lines, Inc., ___ F.3d ___ (9th Cir. Nov. 30, 2010), the Ninth Circuit addressed the "criteria to determine when it is appropriate to hear discretionary appeals under CAFA." Slip op. at 19022.

New Ninth Circuit CAFA opinion: Lewis v. Verizon Communications, Inc.

Posted on November 30, 2010
In Lewis v. Verizon Communications, Inc., ___ F.3d ___ (9th Cir. Nov. 18, 2010), the Ninth Circuit addressed CAFA's $5 million amount in controversy requirement.

U.S. Supreme Court up or down vote to be announced: Dukes v. Wal-Mart

Posted on November 29, 2010
The Dukes v. Wal-Mart case was on the U.S. Supreme Court's conference schedule last Tuesday, November 23, 2010, which means that the results of the conference can be expected to be announced today at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc....

Supreme Court to hand down opinion tomorrow in Pineda v. Bank of America

Posted on November 17, 2010
Well, I'm interrupting my hiatus already because the Supreme Court just announced that tomorrow (November 18, 2010) it will hand down its opinion in Pineda v. Bank of America, no. S170758, which was argued on October 5, 2010. Pineda is...

Blog hiatus

Posted on November 16, 2010
This post will be the last until after Thanksgiving. Please continue to forward interesting decisions, briefs, news, etc. And, no, I'm not on vacation; I can be reached by email (uclpractitioner@gmail.com) or at the office (415-546-6800). I hope everyone has...

Upcoming appellate-related MCLE programs in San Francisco

Posted on November 15, 2010
The Appellate Practice Section of the Bar Association of San Francisco is sponsoring or co-sponsoring three events in November and December. The following is from the Section's announcement email: On November 17th from 12-1:30, the Section will co-sponsor (along with...

New federal UCL "fraudulent" prong decision: In re Neurotonin Marketing & Sales Practices Litigation

Posted on November 12, 2010
Many thanks to the blog reader who drew my attention to a new federal decision of interest, In re Neurotonin Marketing & Sales Practices Litigation, ___ F.Supp.2d ___, 2010 WL 4325225 (D. Mass. Nov. 3, 2010). In this post-trial decision,...

Third Circuit orders supplemental briefing in class settlement case: Sullivan v. DB Investments, Inc.

Posted on November 11, 2010
Yesterday, the en banc Third Circuit issued an order directing supplemental briefing in the diamonds antitrust case, Sullivan v. DB Investments, Inc. You may recall that en banc rehearing was granted in this case in August. See this blog post...

News reports on oral argument in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion

Posted on November 10, 2010
As you might expect, there has been a lot of press coverage of yesterday's argument in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion. You can read the transcript for yourself here. The California Supreme Court's Discover Bank opinion is a central focus...

Oral argument preview: AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion

Posted on November 09, 2010
Today at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, no. 09-893. AT&T's reply brief (which consists mainly of a frontal attack against the validity of Discover Bank) was only just...

A tenth post-Tobacco II opinion: Sevidal v. Target Corp.

Posted on November 08, 2010
The Court of Appeal (Fourth Appellate District, Division One) has handed down a tenth post-Tobacco II opinion, Sevidal v. Target Corp., ___ Cal.App.4th ___ (Oct. 29, 2010). The opinion affirms an order denying class certification of UCL claims for lack...

Oral argument report: Kwikset Corp. v. Superior Court (Benson)

Posted on November 04, 2010
The Supreme Court heard oral argument on November 3, 2010 in Kwikset Corp. v. Superior Court (Benson), no. S171845. Jonathan W. Cuneo of Cuneo Gilbert & DaLuca, LLP in Washington, D.C. argued for the plaintiffs. Fredrick A. Rafeedie of Jones,...

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