Class Actions Brief Blog

This post is contributed by R. Steven DeGeorge, an attorney at Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson, whose practice focuses on insurance coverage, product liability, toxic tort and environmental disputes.

We don’t often report on insurance coverage issues in this space, but the importance of possible coverage for expensive class action litigation should not be overlooked. On May 13, Judge Voorhees issued a decision addressing how an insurer’s duty to defend class action litigation is affected by the definition of a putative class. The policyholder was sued in multiple putative class ...

The Fourth Circuit today handed down its second decision in Brown v. Nucor, a split decision from 2009. In the initial decision, over Judge Agee’s dissent, the panel majority had reversed the district court’s denial of class certification. On remand, the district court decided to revisit the certification decision in light of Wal-Mart v. Dukes, and decertified a class consisting of individuals who had not been promoted to supervisory positions. In a 154-page opinion, a split panel again reversed. Judge Gregory again wrote the majority decision, joined by Judge Keenan. Judge ...