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Full-Text Articles in Civil Procedure
Sonner V. Premier Nutrition Corp., Ruth Dapper, Bryce Young
Sonner V. Premier Nutrition Corp., Ruth Dapper, Bryce Young
Notre Dame Law Review Reflection
When sitting in diversity jurisdiction, must a federal court apply federal equitable principles when deciding state law claims, even if state law may provide a different outcome? That was the question before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the case of Sonner v. Premier Nutrition Corp. Although the Ninth Circuit’s published opinion relies on “seventy-five years” of unchanged law, the opinion joins a long list of cases that continue to help clarify the tenets from Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins and inform the courts and practitioners on the relationship between state and federal authority …
Aggregation As Disempowerment: Red Flags In Class Action Settlements, Howard M. Erichson
Aggregation As Disempowerment: Red Flags In Class Action Settlements, Howard M. Erichson
Notre Dame Law Review
Class action critics and proponents cling to the conventional wisdom that class actions empower claimants. Critics complain that class actions over-empower claimants and put defendants at a disadvantage, while proponents defend class actions as essential to consumer protection and rights enforcement. This Article explores how class action settlements sometimes do the opposite. Aggregation empowers claimants’ lawyers by consolidating power in the lawyers’ hands. Consolidation of power allows defendants to strike deals that benefit themselves and claimants’ lawyers while disadvantaging claimants. This Article considers the phenomenon of aggregation as disempowerment by looking at specific settlement features that benefit plaintiffs’ counsel and …