By Eileen Penner, Miriam R. Nemetz and Andrew H. Schapiro
The Supreme Court granted certiorari in two cases of potential interest to the business community. Amicus briefs in support of the petitioners are due on Thursday, December 19, 2002, and amicus briefs in support of the respondents are due on Monday, January 20, 2003.
1. Class Action Settlements - Collateral Attack on Adequacy of Representation.
In 1984, Judge Jack Weinstein of the Eastern District of New York approved, and the Second Circuit upheld, a settlement in a class action brought on behalf of Vietnam veterans against manufacturers of Agent Orange, an herbicide used by the military as a defoliant and alleged to have caused a variety of illnesses. Under that settlement, modest payments were made to sick or deceased veterans, including those whose symptoms developed after the time of the judgment, provided their illnesses manifested no later than 1994. Today, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in In re Agent Orange
