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Consumer Brings Class-Action Suit Against EGS Financial for Phone Harassment

A Ridgecrest man has filed a class-action lawsuit against EGS Financial Care Inc., a debt collector, and a number of its employees, citing alleged violation of telephone harassment statutes. Laurence Clayton, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, filed a complaint on April 3 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana alleging that the …


Hertz Schram Obtains $39 Million Settlement on Behalf of Disabled Retirees in Class Action Lawsuit

The Plan, a multiemployer pension plan subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), dramatically reduced the class members’ Disability Retirement Benefits (DRB) by an average of more than 61 percent and threatened total elimination of their DRB. The 324 plaintiffs, most of whom reside in the Detroit area, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District …


Florida Justice Reform Institute Applauds Legal Reform Bill

The U.S. House of Representatives addressed necessary changes when it passed the Fairness in Class Action Litigation and the Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency Act of 2017, Florida Justice Reform Institute President William Large said. “This legislation is a welcomed step for much-needed civil justice reform,” Large told the Florida Record. The House of Representatives passed …


House Poised to Pass Bills Overhauling Civil Litigation

Bruce Kaufman, Bloomberg BNA The House is poised to pass three bills this week championed by industry that may tilt the civil litigation process in favor of business in thousands of cases each year. Business groups are encouraged about the measures’ chances of eventual enactment. That’s because the House is not only taking up the far-reaching bills addressing class actions, asbestos cases and …


Unfairness in Class Action: A New Attack on Civil Rights – Center for American Progress

President Donald Trump’s budget proposal may eliminate the single greatest funder of civil legal aid in the United States, the Legal Services Corporation—a long-standing goal of Vice President Mike Pence. At the same time, Congress is working to block Americans from seeking justice on their own with the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017. This bill was drafted to address an …


Week Ahead: Senate Takes Aim at Obama-Era ‘Blacklisting’ Rule

Senate Republicans plan to deliver a final blow Monday to the Labor Department’s so-called blacklisting rule. The Senate will vote on whether to overturn the controversial Obama-era regulation through the Congressional Review Act, which empowers Republicans to roll back recently published rules without Democratic support. The House has already voted to strike down the rule.


As Many as 60,000 Detained Immigrants May Have Engaged in Forced Labor for Private Prison Companies

Photo Credit: palidachan / Shutterstock.com As many as 60,000 immigrants detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could play a role in a class-action lawsuit accusing a private prison company of violating federal anti-slavery laws. The lawsuit alleges that detained immigrants awaiting court dates were forced to work for $1 per day or for free, on threat of solitary confinement. The …


Class Action Suit: Immigrants Held in Aurora Required to Work for $1 a Day, Threatened With Solitary if Refused

About 62,000 people who were held in an Aurora immigration detention center and required to work, sometimes for $1 a day, while they awaited possible deportation have been certified as a class in a lawsuit alleging violations of the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Senior Judge John Kane’s ruling could have far-reaching implications, potentially boosting the cost of holding …


[Opinion] Another Free Speech Win in Libel Lawsuit Disguised as a Trademark Complaint

Unless the Supreme Court decides to weigh in on this long-running SLAPP lawsuit (highly unlikely — and unlikely to be appealed to that level), it looks like it’s finally the end of the line for Dr. Edward Tobinick and his quest to silence a critic of his questionable medical practices. Quick recap: Dr. Tobinick claimed he could treat Alzheimer’s, strokes, and other neurological maladies by …


New Bill Could Be a Game-Changer for Mulit District Litigations and Class Actions

The Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017, introduced in the U.S. House and approved by the Judiciary Committee last week, proposes far-reaching changes to the rules governing multidistrict litigations (MDLs), removals and class actions. Sponsored by the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va), the bill’s stated purpose is to …