Class Action Defense Blog

As a resource to California class action defense attorneys, 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 preceding week. This report covers June 27 - July 2, 2008, during which time 39 new class action lawsuits were filed. Class action lawsuits alleging employment-related claims generally top the list, and this was once again teh case. This past week, 21 new labor law class actions lawsuits were filed, representing 54% of the total number of new class action lawsuits. The only other categories that met the 10% threshold involved federal antitrust class actions and class action lawsuits alleging unfair business practice claims, which include false advertising claims, each with four (4) new filings (10%).

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To assist class action defense attorneys anticipate the types of class actions 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 preceding week. This report covers June 20 - 26, 2008, during which time 47 new class action lawsuits were filed. With rare exception, labor law class action lawsuits generally top the list of new class action cases by a wide margin. This past week was no exception, as employment-related class actions lawsuits accounted for fully 28 of the new class actions filed during this reporting period (60% of the total number of new class action lawsuits during the past week). Only one other category met the 10% threshold -- class action lawsuits alleging unfair business practice claims, which include false advertising claims, with five (5) new class actions (11%).

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United States Supreme Court Sets 1:1 Ratio for Punitive Damage Awards under Federal Maritime Law and Reduces $2.5 Billion Award in Exxon Valdez Class Action to $500 Million, Ending 20-year Class Action Fight

The United States Supreme Court issued a stunning ruling yesterday, holding that a punitive damage to compensatory damage ratio of 1:1 is a "fair upper limit" in federal maritime cases. The opinion brings an end to the class action lawsuit filed in the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska nearly 20 years ago. That class action eventually resulted in a $5 billion punitive damage award, which the Ninth Circuit reduced to $2.5 billion. The Supreme Court reduced that award further, setting it at $500 million in light of the $507 million compensatory damage award. The Class Action Defense Blog will post a summary of the Supreme Court opinion on Monday, June 30. The opinion may be downloaded below.

Posted In: Class Actions In The News

As a resource to California class action defense attorneys, 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 preceding week. This report covers June 13 - 19, 2008, during which time 38 new class action lawsuits were filed. Employment related class action lawsuits generally top the list of new class action cases, often by a wide margin. Last week, however, unfair business practice class actions topped the list. But this variance was short-lived: employment-related class actions lawsuits regained the top spot this week. During the time period covered by this post, 17 new class actions were filed alleging various labor law violations (45% of the total number of new class action lawsuits during the past week). Only one other category met the 10% threshold -- class action lawsuits alleging unfair business practice claims, which include false advertising claims, with five (5) new class actions (13%).

Posted In: Class Actions In The News

The author of the Class Action Defense Blog extends best wishes for a happy Father's Day. A new class action article will be published tomorrow.

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As a resource to California class action defense attorneys, 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 preceding week. This report covers June 6 – 12, 2008, during which time 51 new class action lawsuits were filed. Employment related class action lawsuits generally top the list of new class action cases by a wide margin. Indeed, the author cannot recall the last time any category toppedDuring the time period covered by this post, however, class action complaints alleging unfair business practices, including false advertising claims, actually topped the list. Twenty (20) new class actions were filed this reporting period, accounting for 39% of the total number of new class actions filed during the period. The only category of class actions to break the 10% threshold alleged, of course, employment-related claims; 19 new labor law class action cases were filed, representing 37% of the total number of new class actions filed.

Posted In: Class Actions In The News

In order to assist class action defense attorneys anticipate the types of class actions 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 preceding week. This report covers May 30 – June 5, 2008, during which time 47 new class action lawsuits were filed. Employment related class action lawsuits generally top the list of new class action cases by a wide margin. During the time period covered by this post, 19 new class actions were filed alleging various labor law violations (40% of the total number of new class action lawsuits during the past week). Only two other categories of class action lawsuits passed the 10% threshold -- class action lawsuits alleging violations of California's unfair business practice claims, which include false advertising claims, with six (6) new class actions (13%), and class actions alleging violations of California's Song-Beverly Act (which, in broad terms, prohibits retailers from requesting that customer provide certain personal information at point of sale in connection with credit card purchases), with five (5) new filings (11%).

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Shareholder Class Action Against Brocade Communications Systems Arising out of Options Backdating Settled for $160 Million

Mark Maremont and John Hechinger of the Wall Street Journal report today that Brocade Communications Systems has agreed to pay $160 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed by shareholders. The class action sought damages allegedly caused by the backdating of stock options. The settlement followed the San Francisco federal court’s ruling last month that Brocade was liable for the conduct of its former Chief Executive Officer, Gregory Reyes, who was sentenced last January to 21 months in federal prison for his role in the scandal. This ruling, coupled with the district court earlier order granting summary judgment in favor of the class action plaintiffs on Mr. Reyes’s fault in the matters placed at issue by the class action complaint, left Brocade with two choices: settle, or proceed to trial with the only issue being the amount of damages to be awarded.

The article, entitled “Brocade Settles Suit for $160 Million,” may be found on page B4 of the June 3, 2008 edition of The Wall Street Journal.

Posted In: Class Actions In The News

Melvyn Weiss, Noted Class Action Plaintiff Focusing on Securities Class Actions, Sentenced to 30 Months and Ordered to Pay $10 Million

We have written several articles covering the criminal charges against Melvyn Weiss and his former law partners, David Bershad and Steven Schulman, as well as another former Weiss law partner, William Lerach. The final chapter in the criminal charges against Mr. Weiss came to a close on June 2, 2008, when the federal court sentenced the 72-year-old Mr. Weiss to 30 months in federal prison. Rhonda Rundle and Nathan Koppel report on this event in today’s Wall Street Journal, writing that while the federal court referred to the 275 letters in support of Mr. Weiss as “a showing that I don’t think I’ve ever seen,” he nonetheless handed down a prison sentence very near to the 33-month prison term requested by prosecutors. Government filings reportedly place Mr. Weiss’s share of his law firm’s profits at more than $200 million.

The article, entitled “Weiss Gets 30-Month Sentence: Law Firms Ability To Be Lead Counsel Allowed for Big Fees,” may be found on page B4 of the June 3, 2008 edition of The Wall Street Journal.

Posted In: Class Actions In The News

As a resource for California class action defense attorneys, 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 preceding week. This report covers May 23 – 29, 2008, during which time 48 new class action lawsuits were filed. Typically, labor law class action lawsuits top the list of new class action filings by a wide margin. This past week, the number of new employment-related class action lawsuits filed in California dropped, from 30 during the prior reporting period to 23, but this still represented 48% of the total number of new class actions filed this past week...more than enough to retain the top spot. Like last week, the only other class action category to meet the 10% threshold alleged violations of California Unfair Competition Law (UCL), which includes false advertising claims, with 9 new filings (19%).

Posted In: Class Actions In The News

In May 2007, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed a lawsuit against Dell and Dell Financial Services (collectively “Dell”) on behalf of New York residents alleging that it advertised “attractively priced computer packages, promotional financing that typically features a no interest and/or no payment period, large rebates, and free or upgraded accessories,” but that “many of the benefits and inducements featured in Dell's advertisements are illusory.” A copy of the lawsuit may be found here. New York’s Attorney General today announced that it won this lawsuit, obtaining a court finding that “Dell has engaged in repeated misleading, deceptive and unlawful business conduct, including false and deceptive advertising of financing promotions and the terms of warranties, fraudulent, misleading and deceptive practices in credit financing and failure to provide warranty service and rebates.” A copy of the trial court’s order and decision may be found here.

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The author of the Class Action Defense Blog wishes all of you a very happy Memorial Day. A new class action article, summarizing the recent California Court of Appeal opinion discussing California's Song-Beverly Act, will be published tomorrow.

Posted In: Class Actions In The News

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 preceding week. This report covers May 16 – 22, 2008, during which time 47 new class action lawsuits were filed. Once again class actions asserting employment-related claims topped the list of new class action filings by a wide margin. During the time period covered by this post, 30 new class actions were filed alleging employment-related claims (64% of the total number of new class action lawsuits). The only other category of class action lawsuits to break the 10% threshold alleged violations of California Unfair Competition Law (UCL), which includes false advertising claims, with 5 new filings (11%).

Posted In: Class Actions In The News

As a resource to California class action defense attorneys, 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 preceding week. This report covers May 9 – 15, 2008, during which time 54 new class action lawsuits were filed. Employment related class action lawsuits generally top the list of new class action cases by a wide margin. During the time period covered by this post, 28 new class actions were filed alleging various labor law violations (52% of the total number of new class action lawsuits during the past week). Only two other categories of class action lawsuits passed the 10% threshold -- class action lawsuits alleging violations of California's unfair business practice claims, which include false advertising claims, with seven (7) new class actions (13%), and class actions alleging antitrust violations, with six (6) new filings (11%).

Posted In: Class Actions In The News

The author of the Class Action Defense Blog extends best wishes for a happy Mother's Day. A new class action article will be published tomorrow.

Posted In: Class Actions In The News