A federal district court recently dismissed with prejudice a putative class action against the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, where the plaintiffs sought to hold the exchange liable for the sale of unregistered securities on behalf a nationwide class. The court held that Coinbase neither directly sold the accused tokens to plaintiffs nor actively solicited their sale,
Inside Class Actions
The latest developments and trends affecting class actions
Latest from Inside Class Actions - Page 2
California Urges Ninth Circuit to Clamp Down on Dismissals for Insufficient Pleading Under “Reasonable Consumer” Test
The California Attorney General has joined the fray in Souter v. Edgewell, an otherwise little‑watched putative class action pending in the Ninth Circuit over allegedly misleading label claims about the efficacy and safety of the defendant’s hand wipes. The Attorney General is urging the Ninth Circuit to make it far more difficult for defendants to…
Illinois Supreme Court Holds Five-Year Statute of Limitations Applies to All Claims under BIPA
The Illinois Supreme Court recently held that all claims brought under the Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”) are subject to a five-year statute of limitations, partly overturning a lower court decision that had applied a one-year limitations period to some claims brought under the law. See Tims v. Black Horse Carriers, Inc., 2023 IL 127801…
New York Court Denies Class Certification in Copyright Infringement Action
A group of musicians has lost its bid in Waite v. UMG Recordings, No. 1:19-cv-01091-LAK (S.D.N.Y. 2019), to assert copyright infringement claims on a classwide basis against the record labels holding copyrights in the musicians’ sound recordings.
Seeking to reclaim the copyrights, the plaintiffs had issued notices of termination pursuant to Section 203 of the…
Fifth Circuit Upholds Early Dismissal of Class Allegations at Pleading Stage
Defendants often consider whether weak class allegations can be stricken at the pleading stage, leaving just a low-exposure individual claim to defend. That tactic may have a great chance of success—especially when a complaint asserts state-law claims on behalf of a nationwide class or challenges multiple misrepresentations—in light of a recent Fifth Circuit decision approving…
SCOTUS Dismisses Case on the Scope of the Attorney-Client Privilege
In a one-line order issued last week, the Supreme Court dismissed In Re Grand Jury, No. 21-1397, one of the most significant cases about the attorney-client privilege in decades. The dismissal came just two weeks after oral argument. The Court explained that the writ of certiorari had been “improvidently granted,” meaning the Court should not…
Class Action Suit Brought Under CIPA Section 637.7 for Alleged Location-Based Tracking of Vehicles Is Dismissed
A U.S. District Court Judge in California dismissed a putative class action asserting claims under section 637.7 of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) in a case that could have useful implications for automotive and other device manufacturers whose products have the ability to track location. Plaintiff claimed that a third-party company, Otonomo Inc.,…
Two Federal Courts Arrive at Opposite Conclusions in Suits Claiming “Natural Flavor with Other Natural Flavors” Is Misleading
A court in the Northern District of Illinois and a court in the Middle District of Florida recently arrived at opposite conclusions in two very similar putative class actions, both of which alleged that the claim “natural flavor with other natural flavors” on drink labels was misleading because synthetic malic acid was present in the…
Ninth Circuit Holds COPPA Does Not Preempt Consistent State Law Claims Premised on COPPA Violations
The Ninth Circuit recently held that the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which gives the Federal Trade Commission authority to regulate the online collection of personal information from children under the age of 13, does not preempt consistent state law, potentially increasing the risk of class action litigation based on alleged COPPA violations. See Jones…
A Closer Look: The Rise of Class Actions in the UK and the EU
From the implementation of the EU Representative Actions Directive to an explosion of claims in the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal, coupled with an ever-increasing role for litigation funders, class actions in both the UK and the EU are now taking off. We take a look at some of the key developments below.…