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ARTICLE · 06 MARCH 2023

Fifth Circuit Affirms Striking Class Allegations At The Pleadings Stage

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Win or lose, class actions that make it past the pleadings threaten businesses with enormous defense costs, especially the costs associated with class-wide discovery.

United StatesLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Daniel E. Jones
Daniel E. Jones
Kevin Ranlett
Kevin Ranlett
Archis Parasharami
Archis Parasharami
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Win or lose, class actions that make it past the pleadings threaten businesses with enormous defense costs, especially the costs associated with class-wide discovery. As we've discussed before on this blog, one powerful tool for defendants to avoid these costs is to file an early motion to strike class allegations, taking a shot at nipping the class action in the bud when it is apparent from the pleadings that a class cannot be certified.

We were therefore pleased to see the Fifth Circuit recently join the growing ranks of courts that have endorsed pre-discovery motions to strike class allegations. In Elson v. Black, 56 F.4th 1002 (5th Cir. 2023), the court affirmed the district court's order striking plaintiffs' class allegations in their entirety. (The court also affirmed in large part the dismissal of the individual plaintiffs' claims.)

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