Supreme Court Takes On Class Actions, Again

Over recent years the United States Supreme Court has waded deep into the waters of class certification, significantly altering the playing field for class action claims.  As the Supreme Court continues its 2015 session, it takes on issues that may continue to alter the landscape, including (i) whether settlement with a class representative can be used to effectively terminate class claims, (ii) whether a class action can proceed even though the plaintiff representative has incurred no concrete, actual damage, and (iii) the validity of statistical modeling to substantiate alleged class-wide damages claims. 

First, on October 14, the Court heard argument in Campbell-Ewald Company v. Gomez, an appeal from the Ninth Circuit.  In Campbell-Ewald, Plaintiff Gomez sued under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act after receiving unwanted text message advertisements.  Defendant Campbell-Ewald offered to settle Gomez's claims by providing all of the relief Gomez could expect