Charles Casper
Visit Attorney ProfileOn Novel Grounds, Philadelphia Judge Rejects Uber’s Bid to Arbitrate Passenger’s Personal Injury Claim
By Charles B. Casper and Robert E. Day If your company uses an online agreement and sells to Philadelphia residents, you will want to know about a January 3, 2020 Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas ruling in Kemenosh v. Uber Technologies, Inc. The court refused to… Read More
Ninth Circuit Rejects “Administratively Feasible” Requirement in Ascertainability Dispute
As expected, the Ninth Circuit has joined the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Circuits in rejecting the Third Circuit’s “administratively feasible” prong of the ascertainability requirement for class certification. Briseno v. ConAgra Foods, Inc., — F.3d —, 2017 WL 24618 (9th Cir. Jan. 3, 2017). But… Read More
The Second Circuit Blesses Post-Jury Verdict, Pre-Judgment Decertification
This post was co-authored by Carla Graff, a summer associate with Montgomery McCracken and Charles B. Casper, a partner and chair of Montgomery McCracken’s Class Action Defense Practice Group. How long does the judicial obligation to ensure proper class certification last? According to the Second Circuit, it… Read More
U.S. Supreme Court Rules Concrete Harm Is Required to Sue for Statutory Damages
For the second time in four years, the U.S. Supreme Court passed up an opportunity to decide what constitutes the concrete injury needed for standing when Congress authorizes individuals to sue for statutory damages for violation of a federal statute. In Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins,… Read More
Third Circuit Holds Courts, Not Arbitrators, Decide if Class-Wide Arbitration is Authorized, Even if Arbitration Agreement Invokes AAA Rules
The Third Circuit began the New Year by ruling that courts, not arbitrators, decide whether an arbitration agreement authorizes class-wide arbitration, even if the agreement invokes American Arbitration Association rules. Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC v. Scout Petroleum, LLC, — F.3d —, 2016 WL 53860 (3d Cir.… Read More
Microsoft Wins Supreme Court Review of Class Certification Appeal Issue
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court granted Microsoft’s petition for a writ of certiorari and agreed to decide whether class action plaintiffs can dismiss their individual cases with prejudice after class certification is denied and nonetheless appeal the class certification ruling without first going to… Read More
Ascertainability Sinks Comcast Class Settlement
While ascertainability is often hard-fought in class certification motions, it’s unusual for a class action settlement to crater on ascertainability. But that’s exactly what happened to a Comcast settlement in federal court in Philadelphia earlier this month. When Judge Anita Brody learned that Comcast had… Read More
Ascertainability in Flux: Who’s in and who’s out
A recent decision by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals signals a growing divide among the circuits over the “ascertainability” question in class actions. In Mullins v. Direct Digital, LLC, No. 15-1776, — F.3d —, 2015 WL 4546159, at *1 (7th Cir. July 28, 2015),… Read More
Did The Ninth Circuit Just Give Plaintiffs—But Not Defendants—An Automatic Appeal From Class Certification Orders?
Don’t miss Microsoft’s in-house counsel Tim Fielden’s post on two important new Ninth Circuit decisions that permitted class action plaintiffs to dismiss their cases voluntarily and then appeal adverse class certification orders without first taking their individual cases to trial and securing a final judgment.… Read More
Canada Allows Antitrust Indirect-Purchaser Suits and Loosens Class Certification Tests
Canada’s Supreme Court, in three decisions announced on October 31, parted ways with the U.S. Supreme Court on antitrust indirect-purchaser suits and the standards for class certification. Under these decisions, Canadian consumers who buy from a store or dealer can sue an upstream manufacturer for… Read More