The Ghost in the Darkness—Advanced Techniques for Defending Against Class Action Litigation

March 13, 2015 3:45pm

Trenton H. Norris
Partner & Head, Consumer Protection Practice
Arnold & Porter LLP (San Francisco, CA)

Neal H. Klausner
Partner
Davis & Gilbert LLP

Francis A. Citera
Shareholder; Co-Chair, Products Liability & Mass Torts Litigation Group
Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Lawrence I. Weinstein
Partner
Proskauer Rose LLP

  • Dissecting the scope of deceptive advertising claims
    • Identifying common issues ripe for litigation
    • Evaluating the efficacy of claims based on the medium of advertising (label, tv/radio/print commercial, website, video on social media, etc.)
  • Are there lessons to be learned and applied from the “all natural” litigation against the food industry?
  • Exploring the issue of class certification
    • Analyzing the effects of the recent Supreme Court decisions of Dukes v. Wal-Mart and Comcast Corp. v. Behrend
    • Evaluating the impact of Carrera v. Bayer Corp. (3d Cir.)
    • Debating the issues of standing (e.g., purchaser of single product suing on behalf of purchasers of “substantially similar” products)
  • Observing performance levels of challenges to class certification—embracing effective arguments and discarding antiquated positions
  • Conducting cost effective and strategic discovery
    • Negotiating e-discovery schedules—the advantages of agreeing to search terms and limiting custodians
    • Safeguarding trade secrets
    • Being vigilant of privacy issues (e.g., where survey data from Lanham Act litigation is demanded)
    • Knowing when to request court intervention
    • Analyzing the efficacy of bifurcating discovery, and identifying jurisdictions where bifurcation is preferred
  • Considering settlement related issues
    • Noticing the class
    • Anticipating the number of claims
    • Identifying techniques for reducing fraudulent claims