The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented disruption and challenges for businesses 
navigating California’s consumer protection laws. California was already an attractive forum for expensive consumer class action lawsuits, where it can be easier to obtain class certification, conduct onerous discovery, obtain lucrative class action settlement approval, and recover higher attorneys’ fee awards compared to other
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses around the world had been bracing for the financial and operational impact of the new California Consumers Privacy Act (“CCPA”), which took effect January 1, 2020. Despite existing and ongoing uncertainty around how to comply and interpret the law, the courts had already began seeing private class actions brought
We are pleased to announce the webinar “Hot Topics and Trends in California Consumer Class Actions” is now available as a webinar recording.
On Wednesday, August 7, 2019, Seyfarth partners Robert Milligan and Joseph Escarez reviewed the latest consumer class action law developments affecting companies that do business in California. It is no secret
On Wednesday, August 7, 2019, at 12 p.m. CT, Seyfarth attorneys will review the latest consumer class action law developments affecting companies that do business in California. It is no secret that resourceful plaintiff’s attorneys target companies conducting business in California with expensive and time-consuming putative class actions alleging violations of federal or state consumer
Seyfarth Synopsis: On June 5, 2019, the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion in NEI Contr. & Eng’g, Inc. v. Hanson Aggregates Pac. Sw., Inc., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 16885 (9th Cir. June 5, 2019), upholding the district court’s decertification of a class whose class representative lacked standing on its individual claims.
NEI Contracting and Engineering, Inc. (“NEI”) sought to bring a class action based on allegations that Hanson Aggregates, Inc. (“Hanson”) violated California Civil Code section 632.7 for recording phone calls without the consent of the individuals placing the calls. The district court, after initial certification, decertified the class, observing that the individualized inquiries required to determine if each class member consented to the recording would predominate over questions of fact common to all class members. The court also found that NEI did not have standing to bring its individual claims.
Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Upholds Decertification of Class in Unauthorized Customer Call Recording Suit Where the Class Representative Did Not Have Standing
On September 20, 2018, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law AB 1884 and SB 1192, which prohibit certain restaurants from offering plastic straws and restrict the default beverage in kid’s meals to water or milk. These restrictions go into effect on January 1, 2019. Restaurants that fall within the scope of these laws are
On September 19, 2017, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law AB 2632, which amends California’s slack fill law, and provides manufacturers, retailers, and consumers with greater clarity regarding the requirements for packaging.
Slack fill is the empty space between the actual container capacity and the volume of the product in the container (i.e., the air in a bag of potato chips). Manufacturers and retailers may include slack fill in their products, but the question of whether slack fill is permissible turns on whether the empty space is deemed “non-functional.” “Non-functional” slack fill is impermissible because it can mislead consumers into believing they are getting more product than the package actually contains.
Continue Reading CHIP CHIP HOORAY! California Adds Exemptions to Slack Fill Law
One of the latest efforts by a municipality to address public health concerns by requiring warnings on certain products may be revived depending on the outcome of a recent rehearing before an 11-judge en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit. The en banc panel is reconsidering its 2017 decision blocking on First Amendment grounds a San Francisco ordinance that would require soda and other sugary drink sellers to provide a prominent health warning on billboard and other outdoor advertising.
Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Reconsidering San Francisco Soda Health Warning
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its highly-anticipated opinion in DirecTV, Inc. v. Imburgia et al., 577 U.S. ___ (2015), which reaffirmed its ruling in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 56 U.S. 333 (2011), dealing yet another blow to California Courts’ attempts to invalidate class action waivers.
Background
The plaintiffs in Imburgia
We are pleased to let you know that the webinar “Avoiding Liability and Limiting Exposure Under California’s Call Recording and Monitoring Privacy Laws” is now available as a podcast and webinar recording.
In Seyfarth’s first installment of its 2014 Class Action Webinar series, attorneys discussed how plaintiffs’ attorneys are increasingly filing class actions in