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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

  • work Practice Area

    Class Action and Other Litigation

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Tuesday, July 28, 2020

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

$297.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE course will offer counsel new arguments for challenging class actions at the pleadings and the pre-certification and certification stages on jurisdictional grounds, as well as guidance in applying a landmark Supreme Court decision to class actions.

Faculty

Jennifer Riley
Partner, Vice Chair Workplace Class Action Group
Duane Morris LLP.

Ms. Riley has defended companies faced with significant complex litigation matters for more than two decades. She regularly defends companies facing class actions, collective actions, pattern or practice lawsuits, and other types of representative proceedings, ranging in size from dozens to tens of thousands of claims. Ms. Riley has represented clients facing bet-the-company cases in a wide range of complex civil litigation matters in federal and state courts across the country. She also provides counsel to employers seeking to navigate thorny issues, including investigations, compliance, and terminations. Ms. Riley is a regular speaker, author, and presenter regarding class action issues, legal developments, and challenges that companies may face in the future. 

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Aaron S. Weiss
Shareholder
Carlton Fields Jorden Burt LLP

Mr. Weiss maintains a national litigation practice focused on telecommunications law, class actions and consumer claims. He also frequently counsels insurance companies on complex coverage issues relating to class actions and other aggregated litigation. Mr. Weiss has particularly extensive experience in litigating matters under the TCPA. He has litigated dozens of TCPA cases on both a single plaintiff and class basis. His experience includes cases relating to conduct that occurred as early as 2005, and he has been involved in many precedent-setting Florida TCPA decisions.

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Kevin P. Daly
Counsel
Robinson & Cole LLP

Mr. Daly focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation and trade compliance issues. He is a member of Robinson+Cole's Business Litigation Group and Manufacturing Industry Team.

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Description

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of Cal., 137 S. Ct. 1773 (2017), held that a state lacks personal jurisdiction over a defendant unless a connection exists between the defendant's activity in the forum state and the claims against it. Bristol-Myers concerned a mass action and the Supreme Court did not address, as Justice Sotomayor's dissent noted, how this holding would apply to a class action in which a plaintiff injured in the forum state seeks to represent a nationwide class of plaintiffs, not all of whom were injured there.

In three published decisions issued over a several week period earlier this year, the first three circuits to weigh in took different views. The Seventh Circuit court has held that Bristol-Myers was a mass tort case and, thus, did not apply to whether the court had personal jurisdiction over the defendant in a class action. The Fifth Circuit concluded that the issue of personal jurisdiction is not ripe until after class certification, apparently ignoring that personal jurisdiction over the defendant is a matter of due process. The D.C. Circuit reasoned that until a nonresident attempts to assert jurisdiction, Rule 12 motions cannot be made, but are not waived. And while there is at least some clarity on these issues in those three circuits, district courts in the other nine circuits have taken different approaches without guiding circuit precedent.

With conflicting judicial guidance on this issue, and because personal jurisdiction is fact intensive, counsel will want to be prepared to address and take advantage of all these arguments.

Listen as this distinguished panel discusses how to attempt to leverage these holdings to seek early dismissal, avoid "fishing expeditions" for qualified plaintiffs, and to then ensure that defendants' due process rights are protected.

Outline

  1. Overview of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of Cal., 137 S. Ct. 1773 (2017)
  2. Discussions of recent circuit court opinions and select district court opinions construing Bristol-Myers
  3. Using Rule 12 at the pleadings stage and at least preserving personal jurisdiction arguments
  4. Challenging personal jurisdiction at the class certification stage
  5. Prohibitions against using discovery to find a plaintiff

Benefits

The panel will review these and other critical issues:

  • Transfer motions under 28 U.S.C. § 1404, 1406, and 1631 and Bristol-Myers.
  • Overview of recent Supreme Court cases on general jurisdiction: BNSF Railway Co. v. Tyrrell, 136 S. Ct. 1549 (2017).
  • Registration and Tag Jurisdiction: What is the state of play on using these bases to establish general jurisdiction over a class defendant.