When a group of people has suffered harm due to a business's negligence, they can file a class action lawsuit to seek compensation and help keep it from happening again. But in Indiana, this is not possible when the negligent party is a university or college and the...
Class Actions
Third Circuit Joins Second, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits on Complicated Issue of American Pipe Tolling in Class Actions
We have twice addressed the issue of American Pipe tolling, whereby the claims of absent class members are tolled during the pendency of a timely filed putative class action. In our most recent examination, we noted an issue that was tangential to our primary focus on cross-jurisdictional tolling—i.e. whether a putative class action pending in one jurisdiction triggers tolling for…
7th Cir. (Posner) Examines Interlocutory Appeals of Class Certification Decisions Under 23(f)
After a week off, we return with a short, yet informative, discussion of a recent decision from the Seventh Circuit. If you are a regular reader of the Hoosier Litigation Blog, then you know that I am an ardent fan of dedicating my posts to class action decisions...
Seventh Circuit (Posner) Examines Role of Class Action Representative
For those who are not regular readers of the Hoosier Litigation Blog: (i) become a regular reader; and (ii) welcome to my little secret, there is, perhaps, only one thing I enjoy writing about more than a good Seventh Circuit class action decision and that is a good...
Seventh Circuit Examines Boundaries of Class Action Fairness Act
After a couple weeks of near silence, the Seventh Circuit returned in force issuing eight opinions. However, the court seemed to be suffering from a tad bit of a hangover from its lull, resulting in two of the decisions requiring an order correcting errors. That said,...
Seventh Circuit: Posner Explains Notice Requirements & Utility of Cy Pres Decrees in Small Class Actions
After a double dose two weeks ago and last week off, the Hoosier Litigation Blog returns this week with a case that your author has called the perfect Hoosier Litigation Blog post case. It is a case authored by influential Seventh Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner that...
7th Circuit Again Certifies Butler v. Sears, Roebuck, & Co. Class
On Thursday, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals handed down its decision in Butler v. Sears, Roebuck, & Co. (Butler II). The court once more certified the two classes despite remand from the Supreme Court of the United States after a grant, vacate, and remand...
Seventh Circuit Explains Rationale of Class Action Attorneys’ Fees
This week, Seventh Circuit Chief Judge Frank H. Easterbrook addressed the objections of a member of a settlement class who objected to the attorneys’ fee award. In rejecting the objector’s position and affirming the class action settlement, Chief Judge Easterbrook...
Seventh Circuit Certifies ERISA Breach of Fiduciary Duty Class in Defined-Contribution Plan
This week the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit handed down a decision reversing a trial court’s denial of class certification for breach of fiduciary duty under Sections 409 and 502 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in the...
6th Circuit Reaffirms Class Certification in Whirlpool II
For those who are regular readers of the Hoosier Litigation Blog, you are likely familiar with my prior post Is the Supreme Court Needlessly Using Comcast Corp. v. Behrend to Vacate Certified Classes? In that post I discussed the Supreme Court of the United States’...