"No Injury" and "Overbroad" Consumer Class Actions: Strategies to Pursue or Defend Class Certification

Description

Plaintiff attorneys are increasingly pursuing class claims against product manufacturers that allege misrepresentations of product features or performance. Many of these cases are defended with challenges to class member standing based upon the contention that few, if any, class members have suffered an actual injury from the alleged defective product.

The U.S. Supreme Court made it harder for plaintiffs to obtain class certification in “no injury” and “overbroad” class actions in its Comcast v. Behrend decision. Since Comcast, several circuit court decisions have addressed “no injury” and “overbroad” consumer class claims, including Glazer v. Whirlpool Corp. and Butler v. Sears Roebuck & Co. & Neale v. Volvo Cars of North America.

In Oct. 2015, the Supreme Court will hear Robins v. Spokeo Inc., which will address whether consumers can establish Article III standing without actual harm or injury, based on a bare violation of a federal statute. The court’s decision will have a significant impact on consumer class actions going forward.

Listen as our authoritative panel of class litigators analyzes the impact of the most recent court rulings on class certification in “no injury” and “overbroad” consumer cases.