UNITED STATES – A telemarketing campaign can be an effective means to reach out to a large number of potential or existing customers quickly, efficiently, and in a cost-effective manner. However, not strictly following federal guidelines can quickly turn such a campaign into a huge legal liability that can cost a company a significant amount of time and resources. And with newer, stricter guidelines in force, it is important to once again make certain that…
UNITED STATES – Ascertainability of the class membership at the certification stage is a growing issue in U.S. class action litigation. A class definition satisfies Rule 23’s implied ascertainability requirement if the class is defined by objective factors and it is administratively feasible to determine whether a particular individual belongs to the class. Although this factor is not explicitly required by the terms of Rule 23 for certification of a class, it is increasingly becoming…
UNITED STATES — On December 15, 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decision in Dart Cherokee Basin Operating Co., LLC v. Owens, 2014 U.S. Lexis 8435, 37 (U.S. Dec. 15, 2014) that will be helpful to putative class action defendants seeking to remove their cases from state court to federal court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1446(a). The court held that § 1446(a) means exactly what is says – that is, defendants…
UNITED STATES — On October 2, 2014, the Fifth Circuit published its opinion in Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi, Puerto Rico Teachers’ Retirement System v. Amedisys, Inc., et al., No. 13-30580 (5th Cir. 2014), holding that multiple partial corrective disclosures “collectively constitute and culminate in a corrective disclosure that adequately pleads loss causation for purposes of a Rule 12(b)(6) analysis.” The three-judge panel, composed of Chief Judge Stewart, Circuit Judge Dennis, and District Judge…
By reversing a previously approved class action settlement, the Seventh Circuit’s holding in the recent case of Eubank v. Pella Corp., 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 10332 (7th Cir. Ill. June 2, 2014) illustrates the potential ethical and practical dangers of negotiating class action settlements with overly self interested class counsel. Calling the settlement “inequitable—even scandalous,” (Id. at 9) Judge Richard Posner roundly criticized the purported $90 million settlement agreed to by Pella, a window manufacturer,…