FLSA Class Action Defense Cases—In re Wayne Farms: Judicial Panel On Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) Grants Defense Motion To Centralize Class Action Litigation In Southern District of Mississippi

Unopposed Defense Request for Pretrial Coordination of Class Action Lawsuits Alleging Violations of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407 Granted by Judicial Panel A dozen class action lawsuits were filed against Wayne Farms LLC alleging violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA); specifically, the various class action complaints claimed that defendant failed to pay employees compensation due under the FLSA. In re Wayne Farms LLC Fair Labor Standards Act Litig.

Class Action Court Decisions Employment Law Class Actions Multidistrict Litigation Uncategorized

Class Action Defense Cases-In re Allianz Life: Judicial Panel On Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) Denies Plaintiff’s Motion To Centralize Class Action Litigation Agreeing With Defense That Class Actions Need Not Be Coordinated

Judicial Panel Denies Request for Pretrial Coordination of Class Action Lawsuits Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407 Because Class Action Certification Motions had been Granted in Four of the Five Cases and Fact Discovery Completed in Three of the Class Actions Five class action lawsuits were filed against Allianz Life Insurance of North America challenging its deferred annuity marketing and sales practices. In re Allianz Life Ins. Co. of N. Am.

Class Action Court Decisions Multidistrict Litigation Uncategorized

Class Action Defense Cases-In re Vioxx: Louisiana Federal Court Examines E-Discovery Attorney-Client Privilege Issues Arising In Class Action And Other Complex Case Litigation

Class Action Discovery Disputes Require Creative Approaches to Resolve and Use of Special Master to Resolve Class Action Discovery Issues for Louisiana Federal Court

Numerous class action and individual lawsuits have been filed against Merck arising out of its manufacture and sale of Vioxx, and the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation coordinated the federal cases for pretrial purposes under 28 U.S.C. § 1407 in the Eastern District of Louisiana. In re Vioxx Products Liab. Litig., 501 F.Supp.2d 789, 790 (E.D. La. 2007). The district court “appointed committees of counsel to represent the parties” and discovery proceeded “on two parallel tracks” – one by the plaintiff and defense Steering Committees, “charged with initiating, conducting, and coordinating all non-case-specific discovery,” and one that focused on the on “case-specific discovery in thousands of individual cases” in which “every plaintiff who alleges a cardiovascular injury” must provide Merck with certain information, following which Merck is required to disclose case-specific information concerning contacts it had with plaintiffs’ doctors “and any other relevant information Merck may have about individual plaintiffs.” Id., at 790-91. Defense attorneys refused to produce certain information based on the attorney-client privilege, leading to the court’s in camera review of 81 boxes containing 30,000 documents totaling 500,000 pages. Id., at 791. The court opinion we summarize in this article involves a discovery dispute over those documents. In the words of the district court, “This discovery dispute has dragged on for over a year and at times has seemed hopelessly endless. Although Merck has produced over two million documents in this MDL, the company has also asserted attorney-client privilege as to approximately 30,000 documents which it contends need not be produced. ” Id., at 789.

We do not here summarize the extensive details of the discovery process, see In re Vioxx, at 790 et seq., or the district court’s extensive discussion of the attorney-client privilege, id., at 795 et seq. We summarize the following. “The majority of the withheld documents are print-outs of electronic communications, primarily internal company e-mails and attachments.” Id., at 789. Merck sought appellate review of a discovery order, and while the Fifth Circuit denied review it instructed the district court to devise a better way of dealing with discovery disputes, id., at 791. In an effort to implement the Fifth Circuit’s recommendation, Merck gave the court 10 boxes containing roughly 2,000 documents that were “representative of all the documents in question.” Id. In response, the court appointed a special master/expert to review the sampling of the documents in question and provide a recommendation as to the privilege asserted by defense counsel.

Class Action Court Decisions Multidistrict Litigation Uncategorized

Class Action Defense Cases-In re Schering-Plough: Judicial Panel On Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) Grants Plaintiff’s Unopposed Motion To Centralize Class Action Litigation And Selects District of New Jersey As Transferee Court

Judicial Panel Grants Request, Unopposed by Defense, for Pretrial Coordination of Class Action Lawsuits Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407 but Rejects Plaintiff’s Request to Transfer Class Actions to District of Delaware Five class action lawsuits were filed in three federal district courts (two in Massachusetts and New Jersey, and one in Florida) against Schering-Plough alleging that it “improperly engaged in the promotion of certain prescription medications for off-label purposes.” In re Schering Marketing & Sales Prac.

Class Action Court Decisions Multidistrict Litigation Uncategorized

Class Action Defense Cases-In re TJX: Judicial Panel On Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) Grants Defense Motion To Centralize Class Action Litigation In District of Kansas

Judicial Panel Grants Defense Request for Pretrial Coordination of Class Action Lawsuits Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407 and Rejects Plaintiffs’ Requests to Transfer Class Actions to California, Illinois, Massachusetts or Nevada Six class action lawsuits were filed against The TJX Companies alleging violations of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA). In re The TJX Cos., Inc., Fair & Acc. Credit Trans. Act (FACTA) Litig., ___ F.Supp.2d ___, 2007 WL 2602045, *1 (Jud.

Class Action Court Decisions Multidistrict Litigation Uncategorized

Class Action Defense Cases-In re Depo-Provera: Judicial Panel On Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) Denies Plaintiff’s Motion To Centralize Class Action Litigation

Judicial Panel Agrees with Defense that Pretrial Coordination of Individual Lawsuits with Class Action not Warranted Three lawsuits – two by individuals filed in California and one putative class action filed in New Jersey – were brought against Pfizer advancing products liability claims. In re Depo-Provera Products Liab. Litig., 499 F.Supp.2d 1348, 1348-49 (Jud.Pan.Mult.Lit. 2007). Plaintiffs’ lawyers in the two California actions filed a motion with the Judicial Panel for Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) requesting centralization with the class action pursuant to 28 U.

Class Action Court Decisions Multidistrict Litigation Uncategorized

Class Action Defense Cases-In re Pet Food: Judicial Panel On Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) Grants Motions To Centralize Class Action Litigation And Selects New Jersey As Transferee Court

Judicial Panel Grants Request, Unopposed by Defense, for Pretrial Coordination of Class Action Lawsuits Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407 and Transfers Class Actions to District of New Jersey Thirteen (13) lawsuits putative class actions were filed against Menu Foods asserting products liability claims arising out of the sale of allegedly tainted pet food products. In re Pet Food Products Liab. Litig., 499 F.Supp.2d 1346, 1346-47 (Jud.Pan.Mult.Lit. 2007). Three motions were filed with the Judicial Panel for Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) requesting centralization with the class action lawsuits pursuant to 28 U.

Class Action Court Decisions Multidistrict Litigation Uncategorized

Class Action Defense Cases-In re Wellnx: Judicial Panel On Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) Grants Defense Motion To Centralize Class Action Lawsuits But Selects District of Massachusetts As Transferee Court

Judicial Panel Grants Defense Request for Pretrial Coordination of Class Action Lawsuits Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407 but Rejects Defense Request to Centralize Class Actions in Maryland or New Jersey, Instead Transferring the Class Actions to the District of Massachusetts Nine class action lawsuits were filed against Wellnx Life Sciences and others seeking damages for strict liability, fraud and unjust enrichment arising from the manufacture, marketing and sale of Wellnx Slimquick and/or NV products, and several class actions alleged that the marketing and sale of the products violated various state consumer protection laws.

Class Action Court Decisions Multidistrict Litigation Uncategorized

FACTA Class Action Defense Cases-In re TJX: Judicial Panel On Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) Grants Defense Motion To Centralize Class Action Litigation In The District Of Kansas

Judicial Panel Grants Defense Request for Pretrial Coordination of Class Action Lawsuits Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407 and Rejects Transferee Court Recommendations of Various Plaintiffs Opting Instead to Transfer Class Actions to District of Kansas as Requested by Defense Six class action lawsuits (followed by “tag-along” class actions) were filed against The TJX Companies for violations of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) because TJX allegedly included certain information on customer credit card receipts.

Class Action Court Decisions FCRA Class Actions Multidistrict Litigation Uncategorized

GM-OnStar Class Action Defense Case-In re General Motors OnStar: Judicial Panel On Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) Grants Defense Motion To Centralize Class Action Litigation In Eastern District of Michigan

Judicial Panel Grants Defense Request, Opposed by Certain Plaintiffs, for Pretrial Coordination of Class Action Lawsuits Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407 and Concurs with Defense Recommendation to Transfer Class Actions to Eastern District of Michigan Four putative class action lawsuits (three in Michigan and one in California) were filed against General Motors “relating to (1) the impact of the conversion of the cellular network from an analog/digital network to a digital-only network on December 31, 2007, and (2) the availability of OnStar service in certain vehicles thereafter.

Class Action Court Decisions Multidistrict Litigation Uncategorized