The Eleventh Circuit has affirmed the dismissal with prejudice of a putative class action brought by auto body collision repair shops against dozens of insurers and alleging RICO violations, fraud, and unjust enrichment. Crawford’s Auto Center, Inc. v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 2019 WL 6974428 (Dec. 20, 2019). The plaintiffs alleged that the…
Author: Wendy Spiro
Robert Luck and Barbara Lagoa Sworn In as Eleventh Circuit Judges
Two Miami-born, Florida Supreme Court justices have been sworn in to the Eleventh Circuit. Both judges served on Florida’s high court for less than a year before being nominated to the Eleventh Circuit by President Trump in September. Judge Luck, 40, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 64 to 31 in…
Courts Must Evaluate Unnamed Class Members‘ Standing before Class Certification
Courts coping with overbroad class definitions that include uninjured class members have produced a cacophony of opinions. A first question often addressed in these opinions is whether the problem is one of Article III standing or of meeting Rule 23’s class certification requirements, or both. Senior Judge Stanley Marcus’ opinion for the Eleventh Circuit in…
Alleged Economic Loss from Purchasing Illegal Dietary Supplements Is Sufficient to Establish Standing
Allegations that plaintiffs suffered an economic loss when they bought dietary supplements prohibited by a federal statute are sufficient to establish standing to bring a class action against the supplement manufacturer and distributor, according to the Eleventh Circuit. In Debernardis v. IQ Formulations, LLC, 2019 WL 5996589 (11th Cir. Nov. 14, 2019), two individual plaintiffs…
Bankruptcy Preemption/Preclusion Defense Does Not Preclude Class Certification in FDCPA/FCCPA Case
In an opinion vacating a district court order denying class certification, the Eleventh Circuit held that whether the Bankruptcy Code precludes and/or preempts the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1962 et seq., and the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (“FCCPA”), Fla. Stat. § 559.55 et seq., raised issues common to all…
Legal Challenge by Frustrated Supporters of 2016 Bernie Sanders Campaign Rejected
As the country approaches the next presidential election in 2020, the Eleventh Circuit closed the book on a putative class action filed by supporters of Bernie Sanders during his last bid for the Democratic Party’s nomination in 2016. Wilding v. DNC Services Corp., 2019 WL 5539021 (11th Cir. Oct. 28, 2019), “pit[ted] a political party…
FACTA Injury/Standing Case to Be Reheard En Banc
The Eleventh Circuit has vacated the panel opinion in Muransky v. Godiva Chocolatier, Inc., 2018 WL 4762434 (11th Cir. Oct. 3, 2018), which held that a merchant’s disclosure of too many digits of a credit card number was sufficient to confer Article III standing even without subsequent misuse of the credit card, and has ordered…
Lending Agreements’ Out-of-State Forum Selection Clauses and Class Action Waivers Violate Georgia Public Policy
Lenders were barred from enforcing out-of-state forum selection clauses and class action waivers in loan agreements because such provisions violate Georgia’s public policy, the Eleventh Circuit held in Davis v. Oasis Legal Finance Operating Co., 2019 WL 4051592 (11th Cir. Aug. 28, 2019). A class of borrowers who entered into identical loan agreements sued their…
Judge Stanley Marcus to Take Senior Status
After more than 20 years serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, Judge Stanley Marcus has announced his intention to retire in senior status. Judge Marcus is currently among the most senior active judges on the court, second only to Judge Gerald Tjoflat, who recently announced his own intention to take…
Eleventh Circuit Weighs in on Circuit Split as to Whether Guarantors are “Applicants” under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act
The Eleventh Circuit in Regions Bank v. Legal Outsource PA, 2019 WL 4051703 (11th Cir. Aug. 28, 2019), was tasked with answering a question that has divided the circuits: whether a guarantor constitutes an “applicant” under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. And the question divided the panel as well, with Judges William Pryor and visiting…