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• Class Action Fairness Act Tabled for 2004 ( July 2004 )
  

  A bill that everyone thought would pass has been rejected by the Senate. The Class Action Fairness Act was aimed at the abuse of class action lawsuits but did not receive the majority votes that it needed to pass. The vote was 44-43. Therefore, it is a dead issue for this election year.

• Settlement Classes As Precedent In Litigation Classes ( September 2003 )
  

  Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires judicial approval of class action settlements. Under <i>Amchem Products v. Windsor</i>, 521 U.S. 591 (1997), class action settlements must meet all of Rule 23's requirements except manageability. Thus judicial approval of a settlement class can place defendants at risk of later having the settlement class cited as "precedent" for certifying litigation classes in other actions.

• Settlement Reached On PG&E Bankruptcy Reorganization ( June 2003 )
  

  On June 19, 2003, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&amp;E), its parent PG&amp;E Corporation, and the staff of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) announced that they have reached a settlement of PG&amp;E's Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization case. A majority of the CPUC's commissioners must ratify the settlement by Dec. 31, 2003. Prospects for ratification are not clear at this time.

• Recent Settlements for Enormous Monetary Sums Highlight the Risks for Employers in Employment Cases ( March 2001 )
  

  Two recent settlements, one by the Coca-Cola Company and another by Microsoft Corp., both for enormous sums of money, highlight the ever-present risks faced by defendant employers in employment cases.

• Court Rejects Proposed Class Action Settlement ( September 1999 )
  

  This article examines Polar International Brokerage Corp. v. Reeve, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7223, 1999 WL 311817 (S.D.N.Y. May 17, 1999).

• Chrysler ABS Brake Recall and Payback ( September 1999 )
  

  This article examines Chrysler Corp.'s recall of 346,000 vehicles with faulty Bendix ABS brakes.

• General Motors Pickup Trucks Settlement Update June 21, 1999 ( June 1999 )
  

  This article provides further information on the class action settlement in favor of truck owners against General Motors.

• Recent Asbestos Litigation ( July 1999 )
  

  The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Fifth Circuit's affirmation of the certification of a mandatory settlement clas…

• ISNI to Oppose GE/Innoserve Settlement ( November 1998 )
  

  If I recall my American history correctly, one of our founding fathers said of the colonies before the revolution something to the effect that we should all hang together or else we will surely hang separately. Unwittingly that founding father was also stating the basis for modern-day trade associations, which provide the strength in numbers to accomplish things that individual members either cannot or do not want to do.