A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit accusing BlackBerry Ltd of fraudulently inflating its stock price by painting an upbeat picture of the prospects for its BlackBerry Z10 smartphone line that was misleading. While the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said the lawsuit failed to state a plausible claim, it ordered a lower-court judge to reconsider …
AUSTIN – The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California has rejected a proposed settlement of a class action lawsuit filed against Similasan Corp. that alleges false and deceptive labeling of Similasan’s homeopathic products. Under the proposed settlement in Allen v. Similasan Corp., class attorneys and two plaintiffs would have been paid, but affected consumers would not have …
Calif. Supreme Court rubber stamps excessive class action attorneys’ fees By Lawrence W. Schonbrun Class actions are a judicially created mechanism to protect the “little guys” from abuse by powerful institutions, corporations, and governments. In a regrettable decision, however, the California Supreme Court has refused to protect the rights and interests of class members by allowing the very …
Did you look at Peter Thiel’s systematic destruction of Gawker via the American legal system and think “Wow, it’s too difficult to extract money from corporations and people using the courts?” Did you think, “Why don’t I try that?” If you answered yes to either question, there’s a startup you should meet. Legalist is a Silicon Valley startup that was developed in the Y Combinator incubator offering …
Governments, investors and car owners around the world are gaining ground in efforts to pressure Volkswagen AGVLKAY -0.82 % for settlements over its emissions-cheating scandal, aiming for terms similar to a $15 billion U.S. agreement. From Australia to South Korea to Ireland, governments and consumers are ratcheting up legal and regulatory demands in part because such moves in the U.S. yielded …
The vast majority of consumers want to know they can seek their day in court if they get in a beef with a bank. That’s the main takeaway of a report last week from the Pew Charitable Trusts, which examined so-called mandatory arbitration clauses in bank contracts. These are the provisions that say you can’t sue or join a class-action lawsuit, and if you want to settle a dispute, you have to …
On Thursday, a U.S. District Court in San Francisco rejected a settlement Uber Technologies has reached with thousands of its drivers following a couple of class-action lawsuits as being unfair and unreasonable for drivers. Both sides were ordered to discuss the issue again in private and show up in court Sept. 15. Uber agreed to review its stance, but said that the April …
Now, the delaying has been put to a halt, and the plaintiffs are finally about to have their true day in court. On Tuesday, a Superior Court judge will begin hearing arguments in what is known as a summary judgment proceeding. The plaintiffs will attempt to prove that they have enough evidence to forego a trial and prove that Canada had an obligation in law to ensure that indigenous children …
A key U.S. Supreme Court decision has derailed a scheme that netted one so-called “professional plaintiff” more than $230,000 in individual settlements. The plaintiff, Cory Groshek of Green Bay, Wisc., applied for more than 500 jobs over the course of a year and a half, hoping to catch potential employers violating a disclosure requirement of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) …
Javon Marshall — a former college athlete spearheading a putative class action against several broadcasters for uncompensated use of his likeness — has just seen the Sixth Circuit Appeals Court send him (and everyone “similarly situated”) back home without a parting gift. Marshall — like many others who believe the mere existence of intellectual property protections entitles them to a …