After the all the activity in the Supreme Court during the October 2010 term, why would anyone want to talk about a decision from the October 2009 term? Isn’t that kind of like showing off your new Blackberry Curve the day after they unveil the iPhone 4? I prefer to think about it this way–it’s like what they say about the NFL draft. Sure, it’s fun to read all of Mel Kiper’s draft grades the next day, but you won’t really know how your team did until you have time to see the players perform on the field.
All these obscure metaphors are my way of introducing an upcoming live phone/web seminar in which I’ll be presenting entitled “Filing Class Actions in Federal Court After Shady Grove” scheduled for Thursday, July 14, 1:00pm-2:30pm EDT. Here’s a synopsis of the program:
The Supreme Court’s Shady Grove ruling held that Rule 23 preempts state laws that otherwise bar statutory claims from being brought as class actions. Many believed an increase in class actions filed in federal court, particularly in the consumer protection and antitrust arenas would result.
One year later, the impact of Shady Grove on federal court filings remains unclear, mostly due to ambiguities in the Court’s decision and the differing plurality and concurring opinions regarding the standard for deciding which state-law restrictions do not apply in federal court actions.
The lower courts’ struggles to apply these different tests have resulted in divergent applications of Shady Grove. Nonetheless, plaintiffs and defendants can glean guidance from these rulings for arguing their positions regarding the applicability of a state-law restriction in federal court.
My fellow panelists and I developed this program to analyze the U.S. Supreme Court’s Shady Grove decision and discuss how lower courts have applied the ruling. We will offer guidance for practitioners to argue their positions on whether particular state-law prohibitions on class action claims should apply in federal diversity cases.
We will offer our perspectives and guidance on these and other critical questions:
- Has the Shady Grove decision provided plaintiffs with additional opportunities for class action litigation?
- How have lower courts applied Shady Groves‘ divergent tests for deciding which state laws restrictions will not apply in federal court actions?
- Have there been any rulings since Shady Grove which dispensed with the state law restriction on class action claims?
After our presentations, we will engage in a live question and answer session with participants — so we can answer your questions about these important issues directly.
I hope you’ll join us.
For more information or to register >
