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Welcome to Michael J. Hassen's Blog. Here you will find over 2,000 articles related to class actions.

Class Action Defense Cases—Class Action Counsel Seek Relief From Key Provision Of Proposed Settlement Agreement In Vioxx Class Action Litigation

Dec 23, 2007 | By: Michael J. Hassen

Key Provision that Class Action Counsel Recommend Proposed Settlement of Class Action to All Clients Challenged by Certain Plaintiff Lawyers As the hearing date on approval of the proposed Vioxx class action settlement nears, some of the lawyers for class action plaintiffs are seeking out of a key part of the settlement agreement. Specifically, the proposed settlement requires plaintiff counsel recommend the settlement to all of their clients; now, however, lawyers representing thousands of class action plaintiffs want permission to advise their clients to reject the deal.

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FedEx Class Action Defense In Labor Law Class Action Lawsuits Braces For Impact Of IRS Ruling That FedEx Ground-Delivery Personnel Are Employees Rather Than Independent Contractors

Dec 22, 2007 | By: Michael J. Hassen

Corey Dade of The Wall Street Journal reports today that the Internal Revenue Service has dealt a blow to FedEx in connection with labor law class action claims. Dade reports that the IRS “has determined that the roughly 13,000 independent contractors for Fed Corp.’s U.S. ground-delivery business in 2002 were, in fact, employees and assessed the company $319 million in back taxes and fines.” The article, based on information disclosed by FedEx in a filing with the Securities and Commission, characterizes the IRS ruling as “the most significant blow to an embattled model whose low operating costs have been critical to [its] rapid growth.

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Class Action Lawsuits Increase Dramatically Led By Substantial Rise In Securities Class Action Filings And Class Action Cases Arising Out Of Subprime Meltdown

Dec 22, 2007 | By: Michael J. Hassen

The New York Times reported yesterday that class action lawsuits are on the rise because “[l]itigation stemming from the housing crisis is driving an increase in class-action filings.” The article, by Karen Donovan, states that class action filings in 2007 are up 58% from class action cases in 2006; while not explicitly stated in the article, it is clear that Ms. Donovan is referring to securities class actions only. The Wall Street Journal reports slightly different figures today, with an article by Nathan Koppel putting the increase in securities class action lawsuits at 43%.

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New Labor Law Class Action Lawsuits Continue To Lead Weekly Class Action Filings In California State And Federal Courts

Dec 22, 2007 | By: Michael J. Hassen

In order to assist class action defense attorneys anticipate the type of cases against which they will have to defend, we provide weekly, unofficial summaries of the legal categories for new class action lawsuits filed in California state and federal courts in the Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, San Diego, San Mateo, Oakland/Alameda and Orange County areas. We include only those categories that include 10% or more of the class action filings during the preceding week.

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Criminal Trial of Plaintiff Class Action Lawyer Melvyn Weiss To Remain In Los Angeles Federal Court Rules

Dec 21, 2007 | By: Michael J. Hassen

Federal Court Rejects Bid By Defense Attorneys to Move Criminal Trial of Class Action Lawyer Melvyn Weiss to New York We have previously discussed the criminal indictment of noted class action plaintiff lawyer Melvyn Weiss, co-founder of the securities fraud class action firm formerly known as Milberg Weiss . The Los Angeles Times reports today that Judge John Walter of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Calfornia denied a motion by Weiss’s defense attorneys to move the case from Los Angeles to New York.

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Merrill Lynch Class Action Defense Cases—Federal Court Approves $15 Million Settlement Of Class Action Against Merrill Lynch

Dec 20, 2007 | By: Michael J. Hassen

A class action against Merrill Lynch & Co. alleging that the company provided false research reports on Internet companies ended yesterday when a federal court gave final approval to a settlement of the class action. The class action settlement requires Merrill Lynch to pay $15 million; this is in addition to the $100 million Merrill Lynch agreed to pay to settle a separate action filed by the Attorney General of the State of New York.

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Further Drop In Employment Class Action Lawsuits Among Weekly Class Actions Filed In California State And Federal Courts But Labor Law Class Action Cases Continue To Lead List Of New California Class Action Filings

Dec 15, 2007 | By: Michael J. Hassen

To assist California class action defense attorneys predict the cases against which they will have to defend, we provide weekly, unofficial summaries of the legal categories for new class action lawsuits filed in California state and federal courts in the Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, San Diego, San Mateo, Oakland/Alameda and Orange County areas. We include only those categories that include 10% or more of the class action filings during the preceding week.

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Sprint Nextel Class Action Defense Cases—State Court Approves $57.5 Million Class Action Settlement Resolving Class Action Arising Out Of Recombination Of Its Tracking Stocks In 2004

Dec 12, 2007 | By: Michael J. Hassen

The Kansas City Star reports that a state court judge granted final approval today to a class action settlement that “resolves a class-action lawsuit against Sprint Nextel Corp. over the recombination of its tracking stocks in 2004.” Johnson County District Judge Kevin Moriarty gave final approval to the settlement, which requires Sprint Nextel pay $57.5 million. The court also awarded class action counsel about $18 million in attorney fees and costs, but ordered further that about $1.

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New Labor Law Class Action Lawsuits Drop In Weekly List Of Class Actions Filed In California State And Federal Courts But Still Top Categories Of New Class Action Cases

Dec 8, 2007 | By: Michael J. Hassen

As a resource to California class action defense attorneys, we provide weekly, unofficial summaries of the legal categories for new class action lawsuits filed in California state and federal courts in the Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, San Diego, San Mateo, Oakland/Alameda and Orange County areas. We include only those categories that include 10% or more of the class action filings during the preceding week. This report covers the time period of November 30 – December 6, 2007, during which time 52 new class action lawsuits were filed.

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Employment Law Class Action Lawsuits Continue To Dominate Categories Of Class Action Cases Filed In California State And Federal Courts

Dec 1, 2007 | By: Michael J. Hassen

To aid class action defense attorneys anticipate the types of class actions against which they will have to defend in California, we provide weekly, unofficial summaries of the legal categories for new class action lawsuits filed in California state and federal courts in the Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, San Diego, San Mateo, Oakland/Alameda and Orange County areas. We include only those categories that include 10% or more of the class action filings during the preceding week.

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