Tony Lathrop

SCOTUS Squashes Class Action Plaintiff Attempt to Obtain Review of Class Certification

The reality of class action litigation is that what is supposed to be the court’s preliminary decision of whether to certify a case as a class action is often the end of the litigation. In many cases, plaintiffs will not proceed if the court denies class certification for reasons including that their individual claims are … Continue reading →

Companies Defending Class Actions in NC Have New Right to Appeal Class Certification

COMPANIES DEFENDING CLASS ACTIONS IN NC HAVE NEW RIGHT TO APPEAL CLASS CERTIFICATION (June 4, 2017): The North Carolina legislature recently passed H.B. 239, over Gubernatorial veto, which gives company defendants the right to appeal trial court decisions allowing class certification directly to the North Carolina Supreme Court, securing a guaranteed avenue for early review … Continue reading →

Defendant Companies Now Have the Right to Appeal North Carolina Class Certification Decisions Directly to NC Supreme Court

A Window View into the CLTUDO — The Vision & Anticipated Timeline

A WINDOW VIEW INTO THE CLTUDO — THE VISION & ANTICIPATED TIMELINE (May 22, 2017): The restructuring of Charlotte’s land use policies and zoning ordinance are among the most significant planning-related projects the City has undertaken. The impact of the CLTUDO will be long-lasting and will define in many ways the future of the City. The … Continue reading →

Congressional Overhaul of Class Action Procedure Pending Senate Consideration

As class action litigation has continued to proliferate, we have seen efforts to rein in the perceived abuses of the system on multiple fronts. Over a decade ago, Congress passed the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA) to provide an avenue for defendants to remove class actions filed in state courts to the more … Continue reading →

NC Disclosure-Only Class Action Settlements & Attorneys’ Fees May Face Increased Scrutiny

NC DISCLOSURE-ONLY CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENTS & ATTORNEYS’ FEES MAY FACE INCREASED SCRUTINY (Feb. 2, 2017): Rolling into the new year, North Carolina attorneys are on notice that the ability to gain approval of class action settlements and related attorneys’ fees may become more difficult in some cases. Read More

NC Bar on Notice: Business Court May Increase Scrutiny for Approval of Disclosure-Only Class Action Settlements & Attorneys’ Fees

Rolling into the new year, North Carolina attorneys are on notice that the ability to gain approval of class action settlements and related attorneys’ fees may become more difficult in some cases. In recent years, we have seen more class actions challenging corporate merger transactions and settlements in which the only remedy obtained by the … Continue reading →

Broadening Split on Viability of Class Waivers in Employment Arbitration Agreements Invites SCOTUS

In the years following the U.S. Supreme Court’s AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion decision, more and more courts enforced class waivers in arbitration agreements based on the commands of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) parted with the post-Concepcion trend to enforce class waivers in D. R. Horton, Inc. and Michael … Continue reading →

Class Action Settlements at the Heart of Proposed Amendments to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23

Federal class action jurisprudence has been evolving rapidly over the course of the last 5-6 years, with several major U.S. Supreme Court decisions defining and redefining many aspects of class litigation. With the first round of proposed amendments in over a decade, the civil rule governing federal class litigation is set to follow suit. On … Continue reading →

Defeated NC Class Action Ultimately Results in Victory in Map Act Fight Against NCDOT

DEFEATED NC CLASS ACTION ULTIMATELY RESULTS IN VICTORY IN MAP ACT FIGHT AGAINST NCDOT (June 16, 2016): What began several years ago as a defeated attempt at a class action against the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) ultimately resulted in a win plaintiff landowners in Kirby v. NCDOT (No. 56PA14-2). On June 10, 2016, the … Continue reading →