Class actions

One Win for Plaintiffs and One for Defendants in Companion Class Certification Cases Today

Dugan v. TGI Friday’s, Inc., 231 N.J. 24 (2017). In these two closely-watched consumer class action decisions, each of which involved claims regarding defendants’ alleged failure to disclose the price of drinks at their restaurants, plaintiffs and defendants each got ...

A Retreat From the Third Circuit’s Misguided Class Action Ascertainability Doctrine, and a Wise Concurrence by Judge Fuentes

City Select Auto Sales, Inc. v. BMW Bank of North America Inc., 867 F.3d 434 (3d Cir. 2017). Judge Scirica, who wrote the Hayes and Carrera opinions that form the backbone of the Third Circuit’s ascertainability doctrine in class action ...

Pharmaceutical Patent Antitrust Class Action Complaints Stated Plausible Claims for Relief, so the Third Circuit Reverses the Dismissal of Those Cases

In re Lipitor Antitrust Litig., 868 F.3d 231 (3d Cir. 2017). It is evident that an appeal is a big one when, as here, the caption and counsel list consume the first seventeen pages of the Third Circuit’s opinion. In ...

Spokeo Again Fails Defendants at the Third Circuit

Susinno v. Work Out World, Inc., 862 F.3d 346 (3d Cir. 2017). Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 136 S.Ct. 1540 (2016), discussed here, was a case in which class action defendants put great stock. They hoped to use it to defeat ...

Despite Girsh v. Jepson, A District Court Need Not Always Determine the Best Potential Recovery in Order to Approve a Class Action Settlement

Halley v. Honeywell International, Inc., 861 F.3d 481 (3d Cir. 2017). This was an environmental contamination class action involving lands in Jersey City, New Jersey. After “five years of extensive fact discovery produced little evidence that liability could be established,” ...

“Learned Professional” Exception to Consumer Fraud Act Exempts Providers of Ambulance Services

Atlantic Ambulance Corp. v. Cullum, 451 N.J. Super. 247 (App. Div. 2017). In her first published opinion for the Appellate Division since her elevation, Judge Mayer today addressed consolidated putative class action cases asserting Consumer Fraud Act (“CFA”) and other ...

Terms of Use Not to Disclosed to Consumers, on a Website That They Never Visited, Do Not Require Them to Take Grievances to Arbitration

James v. Global Tellink Corp., 852 F.3d 262 (3d Cir. 2017). In this putative class action, plaintiffs were inmates at New Jersey correctional facilities. They signed up with defendants for a service that would allow plaintiffs to telephone loved ones, ...

Mass Action Plaintiffs Must be Careful in Pleading, or Their Case Will be Removable to Federal Court Under CAFA

Ramirez v. Vintage Pharmaceuticals, LLC, 852 F.3d 324 (3d Cir. 2017). The so-called Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (“CAFA”) extended federal jurisdiction not only to class actions over which federal courts previously did not have power, but also to ...

Failure to Pay Arbitration Fees Breaches Agreement That Requires Arbitration

Roach v. BM Motoring, LLC, 228 N.J. 163 (2017). Plaintiffs bought used cars from defendants. In connection with those purchases, plaintiffs signed Dispute Resolution Agreements (“DRA’s”) that required any disputes to be arbitrated “in accordance with the rules” of the ...

Plaintiffs Have Standing to Sue for Data Breaches That Violate the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Even Without More “Concrete” Injury

In re Horizon Healthcare Services Inc. Data Breach Litig., 846 F.3d 625 (3d Cir. 2017). [Dislcosure: My firm, Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC, is co-lead counsel for the successful plaintiffs in this appeal]. Horizon Healthcare Services, Inc. (“Horizon”) provides health care ...