Now more than ever, it is important for organizations to review and update their basic information security protocols (their incident response, business continuity and crisis communications plans), and to ensure they’re keeping apprised 
of potential and developing security threats that may imperil their organizations (like a catastrophic ransomware attack). Nation state attacks and cyber criminal
U. S. Supreme Court to Consider Article III Standing for Absent Class Members in Review of Ninth Circuit Decision
The United States Supreme Court has again granted a petition to examine standing in the context of 
class actions, specifically whether Article III of the Constitution permits members of a certified class to recover money damages when members of the certified class suffered no actual injury. This issue was presented to the Supreme Court after
Fourth Circuit Says Inability to Get Information from Website, Without More, is Not Enough to Establish Standing to Sue
Cross-Posted from ADA Title III Blog
Seyfarth Synopsis: Courts in the Fourth Circuit are taking a hard look at a plaintiffs’ standing in website accessibility cases.
In a small but potentially important victory for defendants facing website accessibility lawsuits, the Fourth Circuit has issued two decisions upholding dismissal of lawsuits for lack of standing with a well-reasoned analysis that can be applied to the defense of other lawsuits.
The blind plaintiff in Griffin v. Dept. of Labor Credit Union sued the credit union under Title III of the ADA alleging its website was not accessible to him through his screen reader software. Reviewing the district court’s dismissal of the case for lack of standing, the Fourth Circuit held that the plaintiff did not have standing to bring his claim because he had not suffered an injury in fact and was not facing an imminent injury in the future. The Court cited to the fact that the plaintiff could never become a member of the defendant credit union whose membership was limited to current and former employees of the Department of Labor and their immediate families and households. This position contradicts a few decisions from judges in other jurisdictions who concluded that the inability obtain information about a business that a plaintiff could never actually patronize is an injury in fact sufficient to establish standing. Although the Fourth Circuit said its holding was intended to apply narrowly to the scenario before it, its thoughtful elaboration of the standing requirements still provides support for defendants seeking to dismiss cases where the complaint fails to plead a credible desire or need to obtain goods or services from the defendant’s website.
Continue Reading Fourth Circuit Says Inability to Get Information from Website, Without More, is Not Enough to Establish Standing to Sue
SCOTUS Opines on Article III Standing — More than a Statutory Violation is Needed
Seyfarth Synopsis: On March 20, 2019, in Frank, et al. v. Gaos, No. 17-961, 2019 WL 1264582 (U.S. Mar. 20, 2019), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Article III standing preconditions to federal court litigation, as described in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 136 S.Ct. 1540 (2016), will not be undermined. The ruling is important
Eighth Circuit Alert: District Courts Must Determine Article III Standing Before Approving Class Settlements
On January 8, 2019, Judge Grasz, writing for an Eighth Circuit panel, reiterated the need for district courts to determine Article III standing before approving class settlements. The appeal stemmed from a putative class action wherein U.S. District Court Judge Nanette Laughrey decided to enforce the parties’ tentative settlement agreement without first deciding the standing
Branch v. GEICO: The Convergence of Class Certification and Article III Standing
On January 10, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia denied Plaintiff Tiffanie Branch’s renewed motion for class certification in Branch v. Government Employees Insurance Company, No. 3:16-cv-1010, 2018 WL 358504 (E.D. Va. Jan. 10, 2018). In particular, the Court found that the facts underlying her allegations were too individualized
Robins v. Spokeo, Inc.: Ninth Circuit Holds That A Materially Inaccurate Report Is A Concrete Injury Even If The Inaccuracy Did Not Adversely Affect The Consumer
Seyfarth Synopsis: In Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a plaintiff must have a concrete injury to sue for FCRA violations. Following Spokeo’s remand, courts have held that consumers have standing to sue if their reports are inaccurate even if an inaccuracy did not adversely affect them.
In Spokeo,
Recent Seventh Circuit Data Breach Ruling Could be Big Win for Plaintiffs and Big Headache for Retailers
For lawyers who frequently litigate class action lawsuits, whether or not the named plaintiffs have standing to bring a claim is one of the first issues that is analyzed and considered. Plaintiffs’ lawyers often look for named plaintiffs that have suffered easily identifiable damages, while defense lawyers often rely on standing defenses to ward off
Supreme Court to Weigh in on Trial By Formula
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal challenging an almost $6 million judgment awarded in a class action case against Tyson Foods, Inc. See Bouaphakeo, et al. v. Tyson Foods, Inc., No, 12-3753 (8th Cir. 2014).
The Court will decide (1) whether, in a class or collective action, liability and damages may
Two Separate Opportunities for the United States Supreme Court to Corral Telephone Consumer Protection Act Litigation: Uesco Industries Inc. et al. v. Poolman of Wisconsin Inc and Turza v. Holtzman
First off, Happy New Year to our Blog Readers. Thank you for your patronage last year and we look forward to another year rolling over the legal class action landscape together.
As you may have recognized, either in reading our blog or simply reading the paper, a vast majority of the consumer class docket last