Over the past year, the Fourth Circuit has issued three decisions on class certification—all of which either affirmed certification or reversed and remanded to the district court to rule on certification. The opinions show the Fourth Circuit applying key principles in class-action practice, including mootness and the relation-back exception, standing […]
In Prantil v. Arkema, the Fifth Circuit joined three other Circuits in holding that scientific evidence offered in relation to certification of a class must meet the Daubert standard of reliability.[1] While the court became the fourth federal Court of Appeals to endorse such an approach, a circuit split on […]
In Lyngaas v. Ag, 992 F.3d 412 (6th Cir. 2021), the Sixth Circuit held that evidence supporting class certification need not be admissible at the class certification stage, widening the circuit split on this issue. Notably, the Sixth Circuit did not expressly address whether its ruling applied to expert testimony—the […]
In the past five years, approximately two-thirds of companies faced at least one labor and employment class action, and within this category, companies overwhelmingly reported that wage and hour matters were of top concern. To defeat class certification by employees, companies commonly utilize two strategies. The first is showing that […]
