Articles

Article III of the Constitution allows federal courts to judge only those lawsuits brought by plaintiffs who have actually suffered some injury at the hands of a defendant, a concept called “standing.”  How does this work with a class action, where a named plaintiff may represent thousands of other “similarly situated” unna ...

Generally, efficiency is a good thing. We don’t see a lot of it in government, so we usually applaud when government officials deliberately choose to act efficiently rather than in the plodding, duplicative way we’ve come to expect. But can efficiency override constitutional protection of individual rights? The Seventh Circuit Court of ...

Surprise, Surprise.  According to the Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform, the United States has the world’s most costly litigation system.  As the report notes, litigation costs affect international competitiveness and productivity—not only by influencing the direct costs of doing business, but by inspiring or upsettin ...

Today, in Sears Roebuck v. Butler, the United States Supreme Court vacated the Seventh Circuit’s decision that permitted a class action against Sears, over alleged moldy smells emanating from certain washing machines and sent the case back to that court for reconsideration in light of a recent Supreme Court decision (Comcast v. Behrend) that ...

Last year, the Sixth and Seventh Circuit Courts of Appeals both certified massive classes of consumers in a lawsuit claiming that washing machines sold by Sears and Whirlpool were defectively designed such that some of them developed a “biofilm” that resulted in musty odors.  Sears and Whirlpool filed petitions for writs of certiorari ...

The Sixth and Seventh Circuit Courts of Appeals twice certified massive classes of consumers in lawsuits claiming that front-loading washing machines sold by Sears and Whirlpool were defectively designed such that some of them developed a “biofilm” that resulted in musty odors.  After the first certification, Sears and Whirlpool filed ...

Spokeo Inc., runs a website that collects and publishes consumer “credit estimates.”  Thomas Robins, an unemployed man, sued Spokeo for willful violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), alleging that Spokeo published false information, such as Robins was married, had a graduate degree, and was wealthy.  The trial court held ...

Thomas Robins, an unemployed man, sued Spokeo Inc., which runs a website that collects and publishes consumer “credit estimates,” for willful violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), because it published false information, such as Robins was married, had a graduate degree, and was wealthy.  Publication of any false informati ...

Article III of the United States Constitution allows federal courts to hear only “cases or controversies,” defined as cases brought by plaintiffs who have suffered actual (not speculative) harm that can be redressed by court action. What if a plaintiff’s asserted injury, however, is nothing more than that the defendant violated a ...