Class Action Defense Blog provides good "unofficial" filing data

/

If statistics and trends interest you, then click, don't walk, over to the Class Action Defense Blog.  As a regular feature, Class Action Defense Blog summarizes (with self-described "unofficial" data) the number and type of class action filings in the major metropolitan centers of California.  Their April 19, 2008 post is good example of the type of summary you will find on the site.  In reviewing the numbers for at least 2008, it should come as little surprise to most class action practitioners that wage & hour class actions habitually hold sway with the largest percentage of filings by claim type.

Class Action Defense Blog is unashamedly and openly a firm-sponsored blog of Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro, LLP, so it understandably tends towards a staid tone in its posts (I, on the other hand, having no restraining guidance behind me, am a loose cannon that could go off at any time).  That blog is, nevertheless, dense with information about results and transactions in class actions around the country.

Read More

Thank you for making the first month a good start

/

The Complex Litigator has received over 1,500 visits in less than a month since its inception.  Thank you for visiting.  As this blog moves forward, I hope to keep you informed and entertained with a variety of features that are in the development pipeline.  Please stay tuned and thanks again for stopping by.

Read More

That would be "Plaintiffs: 2, Defendants: 0"

/

Earlier today I ran across a post at The Witness Box, a blog by the law firm Jackson Lewis.  Their post, entitled "Wage and hour developments: 1 for the plaintiff - 1 for the defense," presented two wage & hour developments, one apparently "pro-plaintiff" and one apparently "pro-defense."  The "pro-plaintiff" development concerns Massachusetts law; it is thus of little interest to me, particularly for this presumably California-centric blog.  The "pro-defense" development is another matter.

Wage & hour practitioners will recall Murphy v. Kenneth Cole Prods. (2007) 40 Cal.4th 1094, in which the California Supreme Court determined that the one hour of pay owed to an employee that misses a meal break is a wage and not a penalty (with a 1-year Statute of Limitation).  When coupled with Unfair Competition Law claims, this ruling effectively provided a 4-year Statute of Limitation to claims for missed meal breaks.

Not excited yet, Non-Wage & Hour Practitioner?  Then let me try to expand the relevance a little.  Murphy resulted in a predictable upswing in meal break claim class actions.  Earlier this year, Senator Margett introduced SB 1192, which would have re-classified the "pay" owed to an employee for a missed meal break as a penalty, thereby truncating the claim period to one year.  Which brings me to my observation about the post on the Witness Box.  According to The Witness Box article, SB 1192 represents the legislature's effort to ease penalties for missed meal breaks.

Not so fast.  According to the California Sentate, the first hearing on SB 1192 was "canceled at the request of author."   Couple that with reporting by Storm's California Employment Law blog that "SB 1192 appears dead," and things aren't looking good for SB 1192.  Or for that premature call of "1 for the plaintiff - 1 for the defense."  The moral of the story is that it is good to know about proposed legislation, but don't place any weight on a bill that hasn't even managed to have its scheduled hearing in committee.

Read More

Recapitulation of greetings from the Blogospere

/

I remain grateful for the several posts recognizing this new effort in the Blawgosphere.  (Side Note:  I'm still on the fence regarding the use of terms like "Blogosphere" or the even more particularized "Blawgosphere.")  Irrespective of my stylistic misgivings, I want to thank several established blogs (aren't they all established when you are three weeks old) for taking the time to note a new contributor to the online discussion:

  • The UCL Practitioner:  Already thanked, but given the size of her following, a nod from Kimberly carries weight
  • Wage Law:  I handle quite a bit of wage & hour class action litigation, and I was reading this blog by Walsh & Walsh for some time
  • The California Blog of Appeal:  I learned of this blog through the UCL Practitioner just this past week, and I'm quite entertained
  • ClassActionBlawg.com:  Authored by Paul Karlsgodt, a partner in the Denver office of Baker & Hostetler LLP, this relatively new blog covers class actions from a broader, national perspective

Thank you for the kind words.

UPDATE:  Other words of support have filtered in from the blogosphere:

  • California Punitive Damages:  A blog maintained by attorneys at Horvitz & Levy, I have been a fan of this firm for years.  Short personal anecdote:  I've had aspirations to attain an appellate specialist certification for many years.  I cold-called Ellis Horvitz one day to ask him if he had any suggestions about how to move in the direction of appellate law as a career.  Mr. Horvitz didn't just give me a few minutes on the phone.  Instead, he returned my call, invited me to lunch, and shared his insights over excellent Italian food that is sadly no longer available (so long, Il Balcone).  Any firm with leadership like that is built upon bedrock.  Back at you, California Punitive Damages.
Read More

Gracious greetings from a leading voice in California's blogosphere

/

Kimberly Kralowec, author of The UCL Practitioner blog, graciously noted the birth of this new blog today.  I have appreciated and benefitted from her efforts for several years.  Thus, it is with humble gratitude that I say "thank you" for the example that you have set for other would-be bloggers, "thank you" for your hard work that benefits many, and "thank you" for taking the time out to mention this little start-up.

In the coming weeks, if all goes as planned, I will modify the blog template to make reading and accessing content easier.  In the coming months and years, I will strive to provide a resource that others find both entertaining and useful.  But irrespective of whether my blog stikes a chord or strikes out, I will keep reading The UCL Practitioner.

Thank you, UCL Practitioner.

Read More