Critical Mass Law.com Amanda Bronstad 7th Circuit Ted Frank “objector blackmail.” litigation finance firm Chamber 20 years of legal reform A quick note to my readers: July 11. Happy Independence Day! [email protected] @abronstadlaw. ➤ Would you like to receive Critical Mass as a weekly email? Sign up here. |

Objecting to the Objectors

Ted Frank here 7th Circuit Center for Class Action Fairness three other objectors secret side payments drop their appeals Pearson v. NBTY But here's why it's a big deal U.S. Judicial Conference's Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure It's also noteworthy Richard Posner “selfish deal." Jay Edelson Edelson PC Jay Edelson Retweeted (((tedfrank))) @tedfrank #classactions Edelson, by the way, brought his own RICO case against three objectors. dismissed cited that decision “Disgorgement has the additional benefit that, unlike the attempted RICO action by plaintiffs in Edelson, it can be used only against bad-faith objectors without risk to good-faith objectors,” he wrote, in a notice before the 7th Circuit. |

Mass Torts, Class Actions? Not for this Lit Financier

litigation finance Validity Capital TowerBrook Capital Partners Law.com Roy Strom here Ralph Sutton IMF Bentham Ltd Kirkland & Ellis Boies Schiller Flexner Shipley Snell Montgomery It's yet another example of the growing field of litigation finance, this report The New York Times personal injury lawsuits. But don't expect those cases in Validity's portfolio. I had to ask Sutton Fair enough tort reform disclosures class actions fee-splitting “Class actions are frequently brought in circumstances that are not always clear what the benefit is to the class. And that's why they're the subject of so much criticism. They can be meritorious and useful as a form of enforcement of the law, but they can also be abused. That's not the case for commercial litigation.” |

Chamber Group Turns 20

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform Lisa Rickard Corporate Counsel Sue Reisinger Here So what's changed in 20 years defense bar shouldn't sit back and relax

J&J Appeals Law.com Max Mitchell two big mass tort verdicts Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Paula Patrick Risperdal $70 million here Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Pharmaceuticals pelvic mesh $12.8 million here Johnson & Johnson's Ethicon Inc. U.S. Supreme Court Bristol-Myers Squibb v. Superior Court of California. Take It to the Bank sperm bank wrongful birth claims Here Law.com Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Robert McBurney Xytex donor Chris Aggeles Missing Talc? Johnson & Johnson ovarian cancer talc samples here Imerys Talc America Kiss and Tell: waitress forcibly kissed $3 million verdict Here Law.com Dion Rassias The Beasley Firm