(California Lawyer) California Lawyer met with Joseph Saveri of the Joseph Saveri Law Firm, Steven A. Ellis of Goodwin Procter, Michael L. Mallow of Loeb & Loeb LLP, Layne H. Melzer of Rutan & Tucker, and Brad W. Seiling of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLC. The roundtable was moderated by California Lawyer and reported by Laurie Schmidt of Barkley Court Reporters.
Class actions are evolving and, in the process, have kicked off heated policy debates. The panel discussed how, as companies become more complex, the courts are examining jurisdiction in national class actions, as the U.S. Supreme Court just did in Daimler AG v. Bauman (134 S.Ct. 746 (2014). The panelists also considered recent cases that have looked at certification—with statistical sampling getting more rigorous review—and considered the trend in class action waivers and arbitration clauses, issues that took center stage in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant (133 S.Ct. 2304 (2013)) and Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter (133 S.Ct. 2064 (2013)). Finally, it considered remedial market actions taken by corporate defendants.