Articles
Court denies Dukes plaintiffs class certification, again
Last week, district court judge Charles Breyer may have written the last chapter of Wal-Mart v. Dukes, when he denied the plaintiffs’ renewed attempt to bring a massive class-action lawsuit against Wal-Mart for sex discrimination. Remarking on the path of the infamous lawsuit, the brother of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer wrote, ̶ ...
Articles
California's ever-expanding Unfair Competition Law
In two decisions issued last week, the California Supreme Court permitted private plaintiffs to sue under the Unfair Competition Law (UCL) based on the defendants’ violations of separate statutes—even where those statutes themselves forbid private rights of action for such violations. In the first case, Zhang v. California Capital Insuranc ...
Articles
Lobster fisherman held hostage by Endangered Species Act litigation
Author: Brandon Middleton Daniel Holmes is a commercial lobster fisherman who fishes in Cape Cod Bay and other waters off the coast of Massachusetts. Holmes’ fishing gear complies with state and federal regulations, and his equipment is known within the fishing industry to be “whale safe.” In the summer of 2006, Holmes set out h ...