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Thomas Richie has defended dozens of class actions involving federal statutory claims, breach-of-contract, negligence, products liability, warranty, data breach, tax and financial services issues. He represents clients across industries, including insurance, retail, construction, defense, pharmaceutical, energy, environmental, finance, wireless communication, and manufacturing.

Two years ago, in Johnson v. NPAS Solutions, LLC, the Eleventh Circuit upended decades’ worth of precedent by categorically forbidding incentive payments to class representatives in class action settlements. In the past month, however, the Second and Ninth Circuits have rejected the Eleventh Circuit’s NPAS decision, concluding that there is no automatic bar of

Biometric class actions have proliferated in recent years — and with more states eyeing comprehensive data privacy legislation, companies that use biometric data should plan for the surge to grow.

With rare exceptions, these cases end either in settlement or via a successful dispositive motion. In this post, we will discuss some of the trends

Setting Boundaries for the Field of Discretion: Fifth Circuit Clarifies that Daubert Standard Applies to Expert Opinions at Class CertificationIn a decision that narrows the path to class certification in federal court, the Fifth Circuit has held that a plaintiff must clear the Daubert hurdle when expert evidence is relevant to the decision of a federal court to certify a class. The decision in Prantil v. Arkema Inc. cements the Fifth Circuit’s viewpoint that