First Quarter 2019 Update On Class Actions

This update provides an overview and summary of key class action developments during the first quarter of 2019 (January through March), as well as an important decision concerning class arbitration that the Supreme Court issued in April.

• Part I summarizes the Supreme Court's three recent opinions concerning the Federal Arbitration Act, Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer & White Sales, Inc., 139 S. Ct. 524 (2019), New Prime, Inc. v. Oliveira, 139 S. Ct. 532 (2019), and Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela, No. 17-988, 2019 WL 1780275 (U.S. Apr. 24, 2019).
• Part II covers the Supreme Court's decision in Frank v. Gaos, 139 S. Ct. 1041 (2019), which remanded the closely watched case and directed the lower courts to assess whether the plaintiffs have Article III standing, rather than providing the much-anticipated guidance on the propriety of cy pres-only class action settlements.