Last month in New Orleans the ABA hosted its 19th Annual National Institute on Class Actions. I sit on the Institute’s Planning Committee and–false modesty aside–feel that this was one of our best Institute’s ever. The quality of the programming and faculty were outstanding. Panel topics included exploration of whether and to what extent consumer […]
The Rule 23 Subcommittee of the Judicial Conference’s Advisory Committee on Civil Rules has recently announced that it is narrowing the scope of its focus regarding possible changes to Rule 23 (the federal class action rule). The Subcommittee is no longer pursuing possible rules changes regarding ascertainability, issue classes, cy pres awards, and Rule 68 […]
On October 7, 2015, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau announced that based on its March 15, 2015, study of arbitration agreements in credit card, checking account, and other consumer finance agreements, it is developing a rule barring banks and other covered businesses from including class action bans in their arbitration agreements. The rule is still […]
On August 11, 2015, Andrew J. McGuinness filed a class action against Trott Law PC (also known as Trott & Trott) and its former CEO, David Trott, under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practice Act and parallel Michigan debt collection practices laws. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of named representatives Brian Martin and Yahmi Nundley, […]
The ABA has announced the second installment of its Western Regional CLE Program on Class Actions and Mass Torts, to be held June 19, 2015, at the San Francisco Bar Association: 301 Battery Street, Third Floor. The program will begin with lunch and end with a cocktail reception at 5:20 p.m. I helped create and […]
On March 1, 2015, CBS’s 60 Minutes program aired a story on levels of formaldehyde in certain Lumber Liquidators laminate flooring products manufactured in China. See: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/lumber-liquidators-linked-to-health-and-safety-violations/ . The story reported that certified independent laboratories analyzed many samples of such products–inside and outside of California–and found them to exceed (in some cases by many time) the […]
On March 2, 2015, a Washtenaw County Business Court jury returned a verdict in favor of Andrew J. McGuinness, Esq., clients in a dispute over the sale of a travel business specializing in international religious pilgrimages. Drew was brought in last fall to replace their prior counsel and to try the dispute. The case proceeded […]
Drew McGuinness–along with Fred Alvarez of the Jones, Day office in Palo Alto, California–spoke at the Impact Fund’s annual class action conference in Berkeley, California, on February 27. Drew and Fred, along with Impact Fund Executive Director Jocelyn Larkin who served as moderator, gave a presentation on common mistakes made by attorneys in class actions. […]
The Class Actions and Derivative Suits Committee of the ABA Section of Litigation has just published in its Fall 2014 Newsletter my article on the Supreme Court’s recent decision to dismiss a securities class action appeal that had been scheduled for oral argument on the opening day of its current term. The issue involves tolling […]
This year’s ABA 18th Annual Institute on Class Actions delivered a first to a capacity crowd of over 200 attorneys, judges and academics on October 23-24 at Chicago’s Wit Hotel: a town hall session with the Rule 23 Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules. Subcommittee Chair Hon. Robert M. Dow Jr. presided over […]
