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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

    Intermediate

  • work Practice Area

    Class Action and Other Litigation

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Thursday, January 9, 2025

  • 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 course will guide counsel for putative class members on what factors to consider when advising clients on whether to opt out of a putative class. The program will assist counsel for the defense on best strategies for keeping the class together. The webinar will discuss not only the opt out decision but also recent case law on the mechanics of opting.

Faculty

Jennifer Duncan Hackett
Partner
Zelle LLP

Ms.  Hackett has experience in all aspects of complex antitrust, commercial, and financial services litigation, and has been instrumental in trials, international arbitrations, settlement negotiations, and federal appeals. She also has provided antitrust compliance counseling in a variety of scenarios and advises clients on all aspects of premerger notification, including Hart-Scott-Rodino filings and gun-jumping issues.

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Brendan J. Rudolph
Principal
Cornerstone, Inc

Mr. Rudolph consults to attorneys and helps prepare expert testimony in all phases of complex commercial litigation, including class certification and other motion practice, merits, arbitration, and trial. He also leads Cornerstone Research’s real estate group.

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Scott N. Wagner
Partner
Bilzin Sumberg, LLP

Mr. Wagner is a partner in the firm’s Trial & Litigation Group, where he represents companies and individuals in antitrust and other complex litigation. As part of his practice, he conducts internal investigations and guides clients through regulatory investigations conducted by the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general. Mr. Wagner led Bilzin Sumberg’s Antitrust Team in achieving tremendous results for major opt-out plaintiffs in the precedent-setting LCD and CRT price-fixing litigations, some of the largest antitrust litigations in recent history. He currently represents major opt-out plaintiffs in the Capacitors and Broiler Chickens price-fixing litigations. In addition to his antitrust and litigation work, Mr. Wagner serves as trusted counsel to public and private companies, entrepreneurs and developers. He renders high-level legal and business advice on a wide variety of issues. 

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Description

Whether to opt out of a putative class action is incredibly complicated and requires a different analysis than whether to pursue a stand-alone claim. Though staying in the class may seem simpler, it is not always in a party's best interests. Recent studies and reports show that more and more plaintiffs, both individuals and entities, are opting out of securities, antitrust, and other business practices class actions.

The most compelling reason for opting out is the chance to recover a significantly larger amount than if remaining in the class. Opt-out plaintiffs also hope to resolve the matter more quickly than remaining in the class, but the decision must often be made years before a settlement is proposed or approved. The threat of opting out can also be a powerful tool for plaintiffs in getting a larger recovery, whether through litigation or a separate settlement.

But a prospective larger recovery must be weighed against the defendants' incentive to litigate long and hard against opt-outs, the need to file a separate case, the facts of the case, and whether other aggregate proceedings such as MDL cases are pending. Opting out does not prevent a plaintiff from being dragged into discovery in the class action.

Listen as our experienced panel discusses the key considerations in deciding whether a plaintiff should remain part of a class or bring its own claims, how to use the threat of opting out as leverage in settlement, and recent decisions about the procedural pitfalls of not properly opting out.

Outline

  1. Significance of opt-out rights
  2. Contrasting opt-in classes
  3. Timing and adequacy of opting out
  4. Factors to consider
    1. Value
    2. Time to resolution
    3. Risks
    4. Venue
    5. Claims

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key issues:

  • How critical are opt-outs and objections in class action litigation?
  • How frequently do class members opt out of class actions in particular cases?
  • What is the relationship between opt-out plaintiffs and objections?
  • What other considerations exist besides the amount of recovery?