Blog

Registration Open–ABA 21st Annual National Institute on Class Actions

Register here for this fall’s ABA Annual National Institute on Class Actions, to be held October 26-27 (Thursday-Friday) in Washington, D.C. The draft program agenda is here. I’ll be teaching Class Actions 101 again this year, and a newly-formulated Class Actions 201, where we apply some of the principles of 101 to various case scenarios. […]

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Federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issues final arbitration rule.

On July 10, 2017, the CFPB issued its final consumer finance contract arbitration rule, which does not prohibit arbitration clauses in consumer financial contracts for credit cards, bank accounts, and other financial products and services–but prohibits clauses that ban class actions. This rule issued under specific authority from Congress after the 2008-09 “great recession,” and […]

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How class actions help . . . gun owners!

highlights the benefits of maintaining the viability of class actions. Unfortunately, some in Congress are seeking to dramatically limit them.

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ABA Regional Class Action Seminar in San Francisco June 16, 2017

There is still  time to register for this regional class action and mass tort seminar, which I am pleased to be helping once again to organize (for the fourth year!).  This is a great chance to network and bone up on hot class action and mass tort topics. The brochure is here.  Registration link is […]

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2017 ABA National Institute on Class Actions taking form.

We have completed our initial planning meeting in Cleveland this week for this Fall’s National Institute on Class Actions.  The program will be held October 26-27 at the Palomar Hotel in Washington, D.C. The program will include panels on: developments in the law regarding the enforceability of arbitration clauses containing class action waivers; the practice […]

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Baker & Hostetler 2016 Class Action Litigation Review

My friend and colleague Paul Karlsgodt, Chair of defense firm Baker & Hostetler’s class action group, has recently published his firm’s 2016 class litigation roundup here.  Its quite comprehensive, and may be of interest to class litigators. I found the updates on consumer class litigation, toward the end of the brochure (pp. 54 et seq.), […]

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Example of importance of class actions . . .

Further to my last post, this article describes a class action on behalf of hemophiliacs who where negligently given HIV-tainted blood, demonstrating the importance of class actions. Click . Each class member received $100,000; the payment to the attorneys representing them amounted to only 6% of the total benefit to the class. Even with the […]

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New House Bill Threatens Future of Class Actions

If you feel that class actions, which have been a feature of federal court practice in their modern form for  the past 50 years, are an important tool for civil justice in our country, then please call or write your representative in the United States House of Representatives and urge her or him to vote […]

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McGuinness To Present Re: Trial Plans at Impact Fund Class Action Conference, San Francisco Feb. 23-24, 2017

I’m delighted to be presenting for the second time at one of the country’s premier social justice advocacy forums this year–the 15th Annual Impact Fund Class Action Conference. See here for more information.  The topic this time is trial plans, which are becoming a more important element of class action litigation, at both the certification […]

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To “drain the swamp” support the CFPB!

CFPB stands for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  It is an agency created by the Dodd-Frank legislation passed after the 2008-09 financial crisis, as a way to help hold banks who contributed significantly to the crisis accountable. Its sole mission is to be an advocate for consumers, and you can check out their informative website […]

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