CLASS ACTION DEFENSE BLOG
Welcome to Michael J. Hassen's Blog. Here you will find over 2,000 articles related to class actions.
Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) Grants § 1407 Motion Over Defense Objection Finding Centralization Particularly Helpful With Respect to Class Certification Issues Presented by Numerous Putative Nationwide Class Actions Numerous lawsuits – almost all of them putative nationwide class action cases – were filed against H & R Block, Inc., H & R Block Financial Advisors, Inc. and H & R Block Tax Services, Inc. alleging that the manner in which they marketed and sold defendants’ Express Individual Retirement Account product breached fiduciary duties owed their clients.
Class Action Court Decisions Multidistrict Litigation Uncategorized
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Verizon Defense Persuades MDL Judicial Panel that Class Actions Arising out of Governmental Surveillance of Telecommunication Activity and Verizon’s Participation or Cooperation in such Activity Would Benefit from Transfer to Northern District of California After seventeen (17) class action lawsuits were filed in thirteen (13) federal courts against Verizon Communications, AT&T, BellSouth and certain affiliated companies arising out of the federal government’s telecommunication surveillance activities, and the defendants’ participation in, or cooperation with, that activity, Verizon’s defense attorneys moved the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) to transfer the cases to the District Court for the District of Columbia.
Class Action Court Decisions Multidistrict Litigation Uncategorized
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Federal Court Holds Lawyer’s Failure to Disclose Investigation and Duty Court Owes Transferee Plaintiffs Requires Removal from Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee and Notice to, and Consent of, Lawyer’s Individual Clients
Product liability actions – filed against Medtronic, Inc., concerning its implantable defibrillator – were transferred to a Minnesota federal court by the Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) Panel. Mitchell Breit, a partner in the New York office of Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman, was selected to serve on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee. Following the indictment of Milberg Weiss, the district court judge sua sponte initiated a telephone conference to discuss Breit’s continued involvement on the committee. In re Medtronic, Inc. Implantable Defibrillator Prod. Liab. Litig., 434 F.Supp.2d 729 (D. Minn. 2006). Lead counsel and Breit requested that he be allowed to continue to serve; the court rejected their pleas “finding that it is in the best interest of the transferee plaintiffs that Mr. Breit and the Milberg Weiss firm be severed from the service” on the committee. Id., at 730.
The federal court reasoned a transferee judge “bears a particularly heavy burden to protect the transferee plaintiffs,” in addition to and separate from the duty attorneys owe their clients. Further, in selecting attorneys to serve on the steering committee, the Court directly investigated the ethics of every lawyer who offered to serve on it: “It asked each attorney seeking appointment to the [steering committee] to submit a letter touching his/her own ethics, and the ethical competence of his/her firm or professional association.” Id., at 730. The court noted with dissatisfaction that Briet’s December 2005 submittal failed to disclose the criminal investigation of the Milberg Weiss firm or its partners, and said nothing of the potential criminal charges until the federal criminal indictment issued. Id. Breit’s May 30, 2005 letter to the Court – sent in response to the Court’s sua sponte inquiry – failed to explain why the criminal investigation “was never disclosed to this Court until the indictment was handed up.” Id., at 731. The district court found this unacceptable, explaining at page 731:
Class Action Court Decisions Class Actions In The News Multidistrict Litigation Uncategorized
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Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) Grants Defense Motion To Eliminate Duplicative Discovery, Prevent Inconsistent Rulings, and Conserve Resources of Parties and Court in Pretrial Proceedings of Class Action Cases Three class action lawsuits were filed against H & R Block Mortgage Corp. alleging violations of the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681 et seq.) in that defendants purportedly “us[ed] consumer reports for purposes of mailing prescreened offers of credit for home loans to plaintiffs and potential class members.
Class Action Court Decisions FCRA Class Actions Multidistrict Litigation Uncategorized
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MDL Judicial Panel Grants Defense Motion To Eliminate Duplicative Discovery, Prevent Inconsistent Rulings, and Conserve Resources of Parties and Court in Pretrial Proceedings of Class Action Cases Three class action lawsuits were filed against Ocean Financial Corp. and its subsidiary Ocean Bank, F.S.B. alleging violations under the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.) in that defendants purportedly used consumer reports “for purposes of mailing prescreened offers of credit for home equity loans to plaintiffs and potential class members.
Class Action Court Decisions Multidistrict Litigation Uncategorized
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Class Action Settlement Approval of Nationwide Class Action Reversed and Remanded for District Court Failure to Analyze Value of Class Claims Under the State Laws of Each Applicable Jurisdiction Seventh Circuit Holds
On June 19, 2006, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals considered for the second time a proposed class action settlement of a nationwide class action against Fleet Mortgage brought under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and various state laws. Mirfasihi v. Fleet Mortgage Corp., ___ F.3d ___, 2006 WL 1667802 (7th Cir. 2006) (“_Fleet II_”). As explained below, the class action involved two classes: a “telemarketing class,” and an “information-sharing class.” The Seventh Circuit previously reversed district court approval of a proposed settlement of the class action claims because “the district court failed to consider adequately the value of the claims of the so-called ‘information-sharing class’ (a class of consumers whose privacy interests were purportedly intruded upon, but who did not suffer any out-of-pocket damages).” Slip Opn., at 1-2 (citing _Mirfasihi v. Fleet Mortgage Corp._, 356 F.3d 781 (7th Cir. 2004) (“_Fleet I_”).
The class action involved claims that Fleet sold mortgage information to third-party telemarketers, and that Fleet “was an active collaborator in drafting the script that the telemarketers used and allowed direct billing of the fees for the telemarketers’ products onto the mortgage bill of its customers, without obtaining pre-approval from customers.” Slip Opn., at 2. The “telemarketing class” consisted of 190,000 people who purchased financial products from the telemarketers; the “information-sharing class” consisted of 1.4 million Fleet borrowers whose information had been sent to telemarketers but who had not purchased any services from them. Id., at 2-3.
The class action settlement approved by the district court in Fleet I provided for payments to the telemarketing class, but the information-sharing class “was left out in the cold and received nothing.” Slip Opn., at 3. (The terms of the class action settlement are detailed in Fleet I and Fleet II; we focus here only on the monetary recovery for each class.) Fleet I reversed the district court’s approval of the class action settlement because “the district court failed to consider with adequate specificity the reasonableness of an entire class receiving a ‘big fat zero’ in the settlement.” Slip Opn., at 4 (citing Fleet I, at 785). “Specifically, the district court did not canvass all potential avenues of recovery to determine whether the information-sharing class’s claims were indeed essentially hopeless (and thus worthless) under the pertinent controlling law.” Slip Opn., at 4.
Class Action Court Decisions Class Actions In The News FCRA Class Actions Multidistrict Litigation RESPA/TILA Class Actions Uncategorized
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Multidistrict litigation (MDL) arises when multiple actions, class action or otherwise, involving the same facts are pending in different federal district courts. Under such circumstances, 28 U.S.C. § 1407 sets forth the procedure for the transfer of the actions to a single federal court for coordination or consolidation. This is known as “multi-district litigation” (MDL). The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation affects the transfer of cases under Section 1407(a).
A request to coordinate or consolidate is made by motion by any party in any of the various federal court actions. “A copy of such motion shall be filed in the district court in which the moving party’s action is pending. The panel shall give notice to the parties in all actions in which transfers for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings are contemplated, and such notice shall specify the time and place of any hearing to determine whether such transfer shall be made.” 28 U.S.C. § 1407(c)(ii). The Judicial Panel may also initiate the transfer of the cases on its own motion. 28 U.S.C. §1407(c)(i).
The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation reviews the request under the guidelines of Section 1407 to determine whether the cases are appropriately coordinated or consolidated for pretrial purposes. See e.g., In re Agent Orange Product Liability Litigation, 818 F.2d 216 (2d Cir. 1987) (use of MDL procedure in connection with Agent Orange class action cases). The Judicial Panel may consider any evidence introduced by any party to any of the various federal court actions in determining whether to coordinate or consolidate the cases. 28 U.S.C. § 1407(c)(ii).
Class actions may be consolidated under the MDL procedure. The Judicial Panel applies the same guidelines in class action cases as in requests made in single plaintiff cases. MDL treatment does not alter the applicability of Rule 23 to class actions, and class certification may follow consolidation under MDL. See e.g., Hilao v. Estate of Marcos, 393 F.3d 987 (9th Cir. 2004).
Multidistrict Litigation Uncategorized
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District Court Denial of Motion to Remand MDL Actions Involving Opt-Out Class Members Following Class Action Settlement Agreement Does Not Warrant Writ of Mandamus (Mandate) Because Appellate Review Will Provide Adequate Relief, and District Court Ruling on Fraudulent Joinder Upheld Because Statute of Limitations Had Run on Non-diverse Defendants, Third Circuit Holds
Fraudulent joinder is discussed in separate articles which explain a plaintiff may not join a party-defendant for purposes of defeating federal court jurisdiction. MDL (Multidistrict Litigation) topics also are discussed in separate articles which explain that the Judicial Panel for Multidistrict Litigation may transfer litigation pending in multiple courts to a single district court for pretrial proceedings. The MDL cases must be remanded prior to trial, and it is incumbent upon a party to the MDL litigation to file a motion for such remand. On May 15, 2006, in a case brought by individuals who had opted out of a class action settlement agreement, the Third Circuit refused to grant a petition for writ of mandamus to review a district court order denying remand on the grounds that appellate review would be adequate, and the Third Circuit affirmed the district court’s ruling that non-diverse parties had been fraudulently joined to defeat federal court jurisdiction. In re Briscoe, 448 F.3d 201 (3d Cir. 2006).
The underlying has a tortured background. In 1997, Wyeth withdrew two diet drugs from the market – and 18,000 lawsuits followed. The Judicial Panel for Multidistrict Litigation consolidated the actions and transferred them to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (MDL-1203). After four separate trips to the Third Circuit that “set forth various facets of the background to MDL-1203 and its class action settlement agreement,” the class action settlement was consummated. Briscoe, at 206. More than 14,000 additional lawsuits followed, brought by 30,000-35,000 individuals who had opted out of the class action settlement. The group of 127 lawsuits at issue in Briscoe had been filed in Texas state court between November 2002 and August 2003, had included as named defendants the individual doctors that had prescribed the diet drugs, and had not alleged any federal law claims. Id., at 208-09. Wyeth removed the cases to federal court and the MDL Judicial Panel transferred the cases to the docket of MDL-1203. Id., at 209.
Class Action Court Decisions Class Actions In The News Multidistrict Litigation Removal & Remand Uncategorized
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Amendment of MDL (Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation) Panel Rules of Procedure Prior articles have discussed class actions and MDL (multidistrict litigation), and have provided the statutory and procedural rules governing MDL. On April 19, 2005, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation published an order partially suspending Panel Rule 5.12(a), concerning the manner of filing papers, “insofar as papers submitted for filing requiring an original and eleven copies shall be reduced to four copies along with an original.
Multidistrict Litigation Statutes & Rules Uncategorized
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MDL (Multidistrict Litigation) Judicial Panel Rules of Procedure When multiple actions, class action or otherwise, involving the same facts are pending in different federal district courts, 28 U.S.C. § 1407 sets forth the procedure for the transfer of the actions to a single federal court for coordination or consolidation. This is known as “multi-district litigation” (MDL), and is discussed in a separate article. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation oversees MDL cases, and has published Rules of Procedure governing MDL cases.
Multidistrict Litigation Statutes & Rules Uncategorized
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