Jessica Karmasek News
Tenth Circuit: Class action doesn’t require remand under CAFA’s ‘local controversy’ exception
The federal appeals court last month affirmed an Oklahoma district court’s ruling in favor of the defendant companies, who were sued over the disposal of fracking waste.
Calif. federal judge agrees to stay class action over FCRA violations, pending U.S. SC ruling
The defendants in the case -- including Hertz Corporation -- argued that the Supreme Court’s decision in Spokeo Inc. v. Robins has the potential to deprive the plaintiffs of standing. The judge agreed a stay was appropriate and wouldn’t harm the plaintiffs’ case.
Asbestos firm says it has settled with Garlock in RICO suit
Simon Greenstone Panatier Bartlett PC, one of five plaintiffs firms facing racketeering lawsuits from Garlock Sealing Technologies, said in a filing in a North Carolina federal court last week that it has settled with the gasket-maker. In its motion, granted Monday, it argues a motion to intervene filed by John Crane Inc. in January is now moot due to the pending settlement.
Public-interest law firm wants Calif. SC to take up, reverse appeals court’s decision in asbestos case
The Washington Legal Foundation filed a brief with the state’s high court this week, contesting the First Appellate District’s January decision upholding a nearly $4 million punitive-damage award against Kaiser Gypsum. WLF argues that lower courts need guidance regarding how they can conduct punitive-damages-only retrials, and that the trial judge in this case denied the defendant a fair trial.
U.S. SC ruling a narrow victory for employee class in Tyson Foods case
The court majority rejected the company’s argument that class certification was improper, but left the issue of whether the $2.9 million verdict can stand to be resolved by the lower courts.
Company looking to build wireless tower sues Ga. county over ‘impossible’ permit condition
Municipal Communications LLC, in its lawsuit filed in a Georgia federal court last week, argues that a condition imposed by Cobb County and its Board of Commissioners, requiring the tower to be moved 300 feet to the east of its original, proposed location, is “unjustified” and doesn’t make sense. The company wants an injunction directing the county to remove the condition.
New York attorney sues state, city election boards over allegedly unconstitutional election law
Evan A. Davis, senior counsel at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP and a recognized authority on New York law, takes issue with the law’s “bizarre” requirement that an independent candidate, such as himself, must include the name and emblem of a nominating body, or given fictitious ones by the State.
N.Y. personal injury law firm being sued for legal malpractice
A Florida man and his wife filed a lawsuit in federal court earlier this month against Goidel & Siegel LLP, alleging the firm and its attorneys failed to properly represent them in a lawsuit against the owners of two Mississippi hotels.
Nev. woman files lawsuit against asbestos firm over ‘deceitful’ agreement in breast implant case
New York City law firm Weitz & Luxenberg PC and Bristol-Myers Squibb and Medical Engineering Corporation -- the makers of the implants at issue -- allegedly entered into a stipulated agreement, dismissing the woman’s case with prejudice. The woman claims the agreement was entered into without her knowledge and in direct contradiction to an agreed upon tolling agreement.
Attorneys try to predict U.S. SC decision on standing in class actions following Scalia’s death
Many legal observers expect the nation’s highest court to issue a 4-4 ruling in the Spokeo v. Robins case. Plaintiffs attorneys say such a ruling likely would preserve the status quo; others argue doing so would allow such no-harm lawsuits to continue, benefiting only class counsel.
U.S. SC set to consider public interest firm’s petition for review of Duracell settlement
The Center for Class Action Fairness, now a subunit of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, filed its petition for a writ of certiorari with the court in December. It argues plaintiffs lawyers received the largest share of the settlement’s benefits and used cy pres awards to help exaggerate the class relief and thus inflate their fees.
U.S. SC declines to wade into dispute over heightened standard in federal class actions
The nation’s high court recently denied Direct Digital’s petition for a writ of certiorari in a class action lawsuit filed against the company over its joint pain relief product.
N.H. judge rules fee agreement between AG, Cohen Milstein is invalid
Under the retainer agreement signed in September, the plaintiffs law firm known for its class action lawsuits -- and that has been hired by a growing number of state attorneys general in recent years -- could have earned 27 percent of the State’s net recovery if an investigation into a group of opioid makers proceeds.
Groups argue FCC’s order interpreting TCPA goes too far
Petitioners, intervenors recently filed final reply briefs in their case against the Federal Communications Commission in a federal appeals court. They argue in their filings that the commission’s July omnibus ruling interpreting the Telephone Consumer Protection Act expanded the law beyond its intended meaning.
Third Circuit puts a stop to no-injury class action lawsuit over diabetes drug
The federal appeals court upheld a decision by a Pennsylvania federal court to grant GlaxoSmithKline LLC’s motion to dismiss the case. The plaintiff, the courts agreed, suffered no ascertainable loss.
U.S. SC to hear arguments in case over evaluating patent challenges
The nation’s highest court must decide, after hearing oral arguments in Cuozzo v. Lee next month, whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit should handle claims in patent cases arising from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, or PTAB, the same as claims in cases arising from district courts.
Head of legal reform group says Calif. appeals court decision in asbestos case just adds to ‘hellhole’ reputation
The state’s First Appellate District, Division Four, recently upheld a judgment of nearly $4 million in punitive damages alone against Kaiser Gypsum Company Inc. The company, a former manufacturer of building products, including drywall, joint compounds and cements, was sued over a product that allegedly contained asbestos.
U.S. SC ruling in favor of Tyson Foods could narrow class action certification
The company argues that a federal appeals court’s ruling, upholding $2.8 million in money damages awarded to a class of current and formerly hourly workers at an Iowa plant, sanctioned the use of “seriously flawed” procedures many district courts have used to permit certification and adjudication of class actions.
Calif. plaintiffs attorney who frequently files TCPA lawsuits files own class action over unwanted text messages
Todd M. Friedman, a Beverly Hills-based consumer protection attorney, alleges in a complaint filed in a California federal court last month that he received text messages with spam advertisements and promotional offers on his cell phone. Friedman says the messages are an invasion of his privacy and potentially “tens of thousands” of others.
Dow settles billion-dollar class action in light of changing U.S. SC
The chemical company reached an agreement in a class action lawsuit filed against it over polyurethane pricing just weeks after Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead of natural causes at a luxury hunting resort in Texas.