Morrison Foerster’s Class Dismissed blog provides insights, recommendations, and timely reports on the latest defense news, developments, and trends in the most current class actions lawsuits and product liability issues that affect consumer-facing companies. Through Class Dismissed, attorneys from our nationally recognized Consumer Class Action and Products Liability practices offer a real-time assessment of the developments in matters that are shaping the industry. This blog examines the full spectrum of consumer-related class action and product liability lawsuits ranging from false advertising, privacy, consumer product safety, ADA, food misbranding, TCPA, environment, retail, and government actions as well as nationwide and multidistrict litigation class actions.<h2>ABOUT MORRISON FOERSTER</h2>Morrison Foerster is a leading global law firm that transforms complexity into advantage for its clients. Our clients include some of the largest financial institutions, banks, consulting and accounting firms, and Fortune 100, technology, and life sciences companies. Highlighting the firm’s commitment to client service, leadership in market-changing deals and impact litigation, and values-based culture, Morrison Foerster has been repeatedly recognized as one of the top 10 firms on The American Lawyer’s A-List. Year after year, the firm receives significant recognition from Chambers and The Legal 500 across their various guides, including Global, USA, Asia‑Pacific, Europe, UK, Latin America, and FinTech Legal. Our lawyers passionately care about delivering legal excellence while living our values. Morrison Foerster has a long-standing commitment to creating a culture that respects and celebrates differences, while providing an inclusive environment. The firm has achieved Mansfield Certification Plus since 2018 as a result of successfully reaching at least 30 percent women, communities of color, and LGBTQ+ lawyer representation in a notable number of current leadership roles and committees. The firm also has a long history of commitment to the community and society through providing pro bono legal services, including litigating for civil rights and civil liberties, improving public education and fostering the wellbeing of children, advocating for veterans, promoting international human rights, enforcing the right to asylum, and safeguarding the environment.

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Julie Park protects her clients’ products no matter what kind of product issue they face—whether it is planning for new product development, recalling an existing product, or defending clients against product liability or consumer class actions. Drawing on her deep technical and legal expertise, Julie counsels clients on consumer product safety regulation and pharmaceutical and medical device preemption while also managing complex and multijurisdictional litigation both in state and federal court.

Julie Y. Park

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe frameborder="0" class="sticky-video" allowfullscreen="1" title="Meet Penny Preovolos, Litigation Partner" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/hv7hYn-Bl7c?rel=0&showinfo=0;vq=hd1080" title="iframe"></iframe></div>Penelope has served as lead counsel in major consumer class actions and antitrust cases for more than 35 years, successfully representing high-profile defendants in antitrust, consumer fraud, and product defect matters. Her clients span a range of industries, including consumer electronics, technology, retail, publishing, food and beverage, cosmetics, and household products. According to Chambers USA, Penelope has a “great reputation for antitrust and product liability work” and is a “superb all-around antitrust lawyer.”Penelope was named the 2019 Antitrust Lawyer of the Year by the Antitrust, UCL, and Privacy Section of the California Lawyers Association. She was co-chair of MoFo’s antitrust practice for 14 years. She has served as chair of the Antitrust and Trade Regulation Section of the State Bar of California and as a member of the Ninth Circuit Advisory Committee on Local Rules and Operations. She is an editor of and frequent contributor to Morrison & Foerster’s <a href="https://classdismissed.mofo.com/">Class Dismissed blog</a>, as well as a frequent speaker about class action and antitrust issues.More About PenelopePenelope clerked for the Honorable Charles M. Merrill, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she was executive editor of the Harvard Civil Rights – Civil Liberties Law Review. Penelope was a member of Phi Beta Kappa at the University of California, Berkeley. She was awarded the University Medal, the highest undergraduate honor at the university, as well as the English Departmental Citation (awarded to the outstanding graduate in that department).

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Senior Counsel

Penelope has served as lead counsel in major consumer class actions and antitrust cases for more than 35 years, successfully representing high-profile defendants in antitrust, consumer fraud, and product defect matters. Her clients span a range of industries, including consumer electronics, technology, retail, publishing, food and beverage, cosmetics, and household products.

Penelope A. Preovolos

Claudia focuses her practice on the defense of consumer class actions and on complex commercial litigation, including unfair business competition, false advertising, product liability, and privacy matters. She is currently representing numerous consumer goods manufacturers and retailers in false advertising and mislabeling class action lawsuits. Claudia also regularly counsels clients in the food, cosmetics, retail, and technology industries. She represents companies in false advertising disputes before the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc.<h5>More about Claudia</h5>Claudia is active in MoFo’s pro bono efforts, and recently traveled to El Paso, Texas, to work with families separated and detained at the border. She is also supervising a pro bono collaboration with Equal Rights Advocates, a nonprofit fighting for gender justice in work places and schools across the country. The initiative will help students who have been victims of sexual assault, attempted assault, or harassment find support and seek justice. Claudia is also a board member of Bay Area Legal Aid and a former board member of Equal Rights Advocates. Claudia is an editor and frequent contributor to MoFo’s <a href="https://classdismissed.mofo.com/">Class Dismissed</a> blog, which provides reports about the latest defense news, developments, and trends in class action lawsuits and product liability issues that affect consumer-facing companies. Her perspectives are also respected in the larger legal community: Claudia has published articles about class action and false advertising issues, and is a co-author of Chapter 7 — “Unfair Competition in California Business Litigation 2016” — of The Recorder. She also regularly speaks at conferences on class action and advertising trends. Claudia is currently serving as a Lawyer Representative for the Northern District of California. She received her J.D. degree in 2004 from Berkeley Law (Boalt Hall School of Law), where she was an associate editor of the Berkeley Technology Law Journal.

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Claudia focuses her practice on the defense of consumer class actions and on complex commercial litigation, including unfair business competition, false advertising, product liability, and privacy matters. She is currently representing numerous consumer goods manufacturers and retailers in false advertising and mislabeling class actions.

Claudia M. Vetesi

Alexandra Barlow is a partner in the Litigation Department of Morrison Foerster’s San Diego office.Alexandra litigates product liability matters involving medical devices, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, automobiles, and AI. Alexandra's litigation expertise spans the entire case life cycle in both state and federal courts. She handles all phases of discovery, including fact investigation and expert discovery. Alexandra has taken over twenty-five depositions, including experts, plaintiffs, treating physicians, and third-party witnesses. She drafts and argues motions of all types, including motions for summary judgment, motions to quash, and motions for preliminary injunction.Alexandra has significant trial experience. She has first-chaired a one-week jury trial and second-chaired a five‑week jury trial, both involving multiple claims and witnesses. She also has extensive experience in alternative dispute resolution, representing clients at mediations, mandatory settlement conferences, and early neutral evaluations.Alexandra enjoys tracking developments and keeping her clients updated on product liability and personal injury claims, frequently writing or presenting on emerging areas such as autonomous vehicles and smart devices. Alexandra’s experience also extends to professional liability, warranty claims, eminent domain, and construction law.Alexandra earned her J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law. While in law school, the San Diego Law Review published her comment on the recovery of damages by plaintiffs in a persistent vegetative state, and she also served as a comment editor. She received her B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she majored in Political Science and minored in Spanish. A San Diego native, she attended a Spanish immersion school through the eighth grade. Alexandra is active in the San Diego community, advising students at a local college. She is also a member of several legal organizations in San Diego, including Lawyer’s Club, the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, and Wallace Inn of Court.

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Alexandra Barlow is a partner in the Litigation Department of Morrison Foerster’s San Diego office. Alexandra litigates product liability matters involving medical devices, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, automobiles, and AI. Alexandra’s litigation expertise spans the entire case life cycle in both state and federal courts. She handles all phases of discovery, including fact investigation and expert discovery. Alexandra has taken over twenty-five depositions, including experts, plaintiffs, treating physicians, and third-party witnesses. She drafts and argues motions of all types, including motions for summary judgment, motions to quash, and motions for preliminary injunction.

Alexandra Barlow is a partner in the Litigation Department of Morrison Foerster’s San Diego office. Alexandra litigates product liability matters involving medical devices, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, AI, and robotics. Alexandra's litigation expertise spans the entire case life cycle in both state and federal courts. She handles all phases of discovery, including fact investigation and expert discovery. Alexandra has taken over twenty-five depositions, including experts, plaintiffs, treating physicians, and third-party witnesses. She drafts and argues motions of all types, including motions for summary judgment, motions to quash, and motions for preliminary injunction.

Alexandra Barlow

Adam J. Hunt is a partner in the Litigation Department of Morrison Foerster’s New York office. His practice focuses on complex litigation, with an emphasis on class action and commercial litigation.Mr. Hunt has extensive experience representing consumer products companies, financial institutions, and technology firms in class action cases and complex commercial disputes before state and federal trial courts, as well as in arbitrations. Clients seek Mr. Hunt’s counsel for his creative, strategic thinking in high-stakes, high-profile matters. He has represented clients facing claims under false advertising, antitrust, and privacy laws throughout the country, securing wins at the pleading stage, summary judgment, and trial, in addition to negotiating favorable settlements, often early in the case. Representative experience includes successfully securing rulings dismissing two putative false advertising class action cases against one of the best-known consumer electronics companies in the world; obtaining a complete win on summary judgment for a major shipping and logistics company in a multimillion-dollar commercial dispute; appearing as counsel at trial for a leading financial institution in a $100 million commercial dispute, winning a bench trial verdict; and prevailing on motions to dismiss false advertising class actions against a leading Greek yogurt company.Mr. Hunt is also an editor of the firm’s <a href="https://classdismissed.mofo.com/" target="_self">Class Dismissed blog</a>, which provides insights, recommendations, and timely reports on the latest defense news, developments, and trends in the most current class action lawsuits that affect consumer-facing companies.Mr. Hunt maintains an active pro bono practice and is the recipient of the New York State Bar Association’s 2017 President’s Pro Bono Service Award for the First Judicial Department, the 2018 Public Service Award from New York University School of Law, and Morrison Foerster’s Kathi Pugh Award for Pro Bono Services.Mr. Hunt received his B.A. with honors from Swarthmore College and his J.D. cum laude from New York University.

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Adam Hunt is a partner in the Litigation Department of Morrison Foerster’s New York office. His practice focuses on complex litigation, with an emphasis on class action and commercial litigation.

Adam Hunt

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On June 7, 2019, an en banc Ninth Circuit panel affirmed certification of a nationwide settlement class and held, 8-3, that class certification criteria are app

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Ninth Circuit’s En Banc Hyundai Decision: Less Strict Standard For Settlement Classes

Ninth Circuit’s En Banc Hyundai Decision: Less Strict Standard For Settlement Classes | Class Dismissed

On June 7, 2019, an en banc Ninth Circuit panel affirmed certification of a nationwide settlement class and held, 8-3, that class certification criteria are applied less strictly in a settlement context.[1]  Hyundai II preserves the ability to certify nationwide settlement classes while maintaining more demanding requirements for litigation classes.  As noted in our earlier post, the prior panel decision,[2] which denied certification, sent class action lawyers into a tizzy, creating concerns about the viability of nationwide class settlements.  Hyundai II reversed course, holding that the predominance requirement differs in a settlement context because there is no need to consider the manageability of individual issues at trial.Case BackgroundAs we discussed in our previous post, a flurry of class actions were filed nationwide after the EPA launched an investigation regarding complaints that Hyundai and Kia had overstated the fuel efficiency of some of their vehicles.  The MDL panel consolidated the cases before Judge Wu in the Central District of California, and Judge Wu granted plaintiffs’ motion for certification of the settlement class.  The three-judge panel in Hyundai I vacated the trial court’s decision, holding that the Rule 23(b)(3) predominance inquiry required a choice-of-law analysis, as well as proof of classwide deception, essentially identical to what is required for certification of a litigation class.On July 27, 2018, the Ninth Circuit granted en banc review of the panel decision.Predominance Analysis  Hyundai II held that Rule 23(b)(3) predominance factors must be considered in light of the reason for which certification is sought—litigation or settlement.  Citing the Supreme Court’s decision in Amchem,[3] the Ninth Circuit held that in the settlement context, manageability problems created by the need to resolve individual issues at trial are not a concern because no trial will occur.  Instead, the focus is on the Rule 23 provisions intended to protect absent class members by blocking “unwarranted or overbroad class definitions.”Individual Issues Regarding Exposure and Reliance Did Not Defeat Predominance for a Settlement ClassIn Hyundai II, the Ninth Circuit concluded that common issues predominated regarding exposure and reliance, because so-called “Monroney stickers” containing the alleged fuel efficiency misrepresentations were present on every new car.  The Objectors-Appellants argued that the class of used-car purchasers may not have seen the “Monroney stickers” because they were not required to be displayed on used cars.  The trial court had rejected this argument on the basis that the alleged misrepresentations were part of a nationwide, concerted marketing effort.  The Hyundai II panel, however, did not decide whether Hyundai’s and Kia’s advertising was substantial enough to support an inference of reliance under the Tobacco II standard in a litigation context.<a name="_ftnref4" href="#4033971-v3-Hyundai_-_Ninth_Circuit_Article.docx">[4]</a>  Rather, the court limited its decision to the settlement context and concluded that the potential individual issues would apply only to a subset of the class and thus did not defeat predominance for the settlement class overall.  Moreover, the potential individual issues would “primarily implicate trial management issues, which we do not consider when conducting a predominance analysis for a settlement class.”Variations in State Law Did Not Defeat Predominance for a Settlement ClassHyundai II rejected the objectors’ argument that, in the settlement context presented, Mazza v. American Honda Motor Co., 666 F.3d 581 (9th Cir. 2012), required the district court to address variations in state law affecting claims by used car purchasers.  While a party litigant could “timely invoke the law of a foreign state,” here, no objector had presented an adequate choice-of-law analysis, or argued that differences between the consumer protection laws of all fifty states precluded certification of a settlement class.  As such, the district court was not obligated to address choice-of-law issues, and the Ninth Circuit would not decertify the class for lack of such an analysis.Moreover, the Ninth Circuit held that Mazza was “readily distinguishable.”  There, unlike in the case before the court, the foreign law proponent had “exhaustively detailed the ways in which California law differs from the laws of the 43 other jurisdictions,” and showed how applying the facts to those disparate state laws made “a difference in this litigation.”  The en banc panel emphasized that:  “Importantly, the Mazza class was certified for litigation purposes.  The prospect of having to apply the separate laws of dozens of jurisdictions presented a significant issue for trial manageability, weighing against a predominance finding.”Finally, Hyundai II concluded that application of California law did not violate due process notwithstanding that, under Virginia law, Virginia residents’ claims might be time-barred if they opted out.  Significantly, the Ninth Circuit held that the Virginia objector was free to opt out, but “could not opt out on behalf of anyone else.”  The decision thus eliminates the threat sometimes made by objectors to opt out an entire subclass.Settlement Approval Was Otherwise ProperUnlike a number of recent Ninth Circuit decisions that have been notably critical of the details of class settlements, the en banc panel in Hyundai II rejected a variety of challenges to the settlement and settlement procedures.  It held that both the long form and short form notices were proper.  The long form notice adequately described the terms of the settlement and informed settlement class members that additional compensation could be received.  The short form notice “was designed to be, as the name suggests, short.”  It satisfied its “primary purpose” of alerting class members to the settlement; it provided a high-level overview of the process (including critical dates), and explained where class members could obtain additional information and claim forms.Hyundai II also rejected the argument that claim forms were not necessary and that the claim forms were overly burdensome.  Although the participation rate of lump sum claimants was only 23 percent, the Ninth Circuit noted that it had approved class action settlements “where less than five percent of class members filed claims.”  Finally, the Ninth Circuit found no evidence of collusion between class counsel and the automakers, noting that there was no “clear sailing” provision, no reversion of unclaimed funds to the defendants, and no disproportionate distribution of settlement funds to class counsel.DissentIn her dissent, Judge Ikuta, who authored the original panel decision, largely adopted the analysis contained in that decision.  The dissent argues that settlement classes are not different, and that the trial court should have done a full choice-of-law analysis, as would have been required for a litigation class.TakeawaysHyundai II reaffirms that, in appropriate cases, nationwide settlement classes can be certified under a less stringent standard than litigation classes.  At the same time, the decision is cabined to the settlement context and preserves intact the far more demanding predominance analysis required for certification of a litigation class.________________________________________________________________[1] In re Hyundai and Kia Fuel Economy Litig., 2019 WL 2376831 (June 6, 2019) (“Hyundai II”).[2] In re Hyundai and Kia Fuel Economy Litig., 897 F.3d 1003 (9th Cir. 2018) (“Hyundai I”).[3] Amchem Products Inc. v. Windsor, 521 U.S. 591 (1997).[4] In re Tobacco II Cases. 46 Cal. 4th 298 (2009).