BarbriSFCourseDetails
  1. keyboard_arrow_leftBack

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

    Thursday, October 28, 2021

  • 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 webinar will guide class action defense lawyers in exposing the lawyer-driven features of the case and how the defense can leverage those at each stage of the litigation. The program will also explore how recent cases regarding standing in federal court may support defeating class actions based on standing and causation.

Faculty

Mitchell K. Morris
Partner
Butler Snow

Mr. Morris is a member of Butler Snow’s litigation department and practices within the Product Liability, Toxic Tort and Environmental and Commercial Litigation groups. He regularly represents clients in high-exposure traumatic injury, wrongful death, intentional tort, environmental, pharmaceutical and complex commercial matters, and has served as national punitive damages counsel to a Fortune 250 transportation company. Mr. Morris also devotes a significant part of his practice to combatting fraud and abuse in mass and class actions. He represents clients nationally, and has appeared in state or federal courts in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky, Georgia, Florida, Missouri, New York, and California.      ​

expand_circle_down Expand to View Full Bio expand_circle_up Collapse Bio

Description

The bain of class action defendants is the alleged mass harvesting of plaintiffs with little or no vetting to verify an actual cognizable injury and the use of hired experts. Some plaintiff counsel are said to enlist plaintiffs to purchase allegedly mislabeled products to establish standing or induce violations.

By recognizing and exposing the manufactured or "entrepreneurial" aspects of class actions, defense counsel can create significant tools for dismissing the case early, preventing certification, and prevailing on the merits. Counsel must know what to look for and how to identify manufactured class actions to initiate narrow discovery and overcome objections to inquiries about the origins of plaintiffs' claims.

Recent cases limiting standing to actual injury may also be leveraged to expose attorney-driven cases. Direct actions against plaintiffs' lawyers may be justified amid additional clarity in the law and who can be a legitimate plaintiff.

Listen as this experienced panel reviews how to use the plaintiffs' client-locating techniques for the defense.

Outline

  1. Characteristics of lawyer-manufactured class actions
  2. Getting the evidence of lawyer activity
  3. Attacking standing
  4. Attacking certification
  5. Possible claims against counsel

Benefits

The panel will review these and other pivotal issues:

  • What is an entrepreneurial lawyer-created class action?
  • What facts need to be ascertained to support allegations of lawyer-driven actions?
  • What documents should be requested and reviewed?
  • How can this information be leveraged to prevent certification?