"The Supreme Court and the Class Action: Where We Are and Where We Might Be Going"

Professor Richard D. Freer of Emory University School of Law has a new article posted on SSRN entitled "The Supreme Court and the Class Action: Where We Are and Where We Might Be Going." [via]

The article is quite interesting. It discusses the five class-action-related opinions handed down last Term (Shady Grove Orthopedic Associates, P.A. v. Allstate Insurance Co., 130 S.Ct. 1431 (2010); AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 131 S.Ct. 1740 (2011); Erica P. John Fund v. Halliburton Co., 131 S.Ct. 2179 (2011); Smith v. Bayer Corp., 131 S.Ct. 2368 (2011); and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 131 S.Ct. 2541 (2011)), and relates those opinions to four class-action cases on the Court's docket this Term:

• Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, No. 11-864 (argued Nov. 5, 2012)
• Amgen Inc. v. Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds, no.11-1085 (argued Nov. 5, 2012)
• The Standard Fire Ins. Co. v. Knowles, No. 11-1450. (set for argument Jan. 7, 2013)
• American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant, No. 12-133 (set for argument Feb. 27, 2013)

Two more pending cases are also worth following this Term:

• Genesis HealthCare Corp. v. Symczyk, No. 11-1059 (argued Dec. 3, 2012)
• Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter, No. 12-135 (cert. granted Dec. 10, 2012; argument date not set)

Additional discussion of these cases can be found on this blog's "Class actions - Supreme Court" category page.