For the second year in a row, Manatt's Brad Seiling, a partner in the firm's Litigation division, participated in California Lawyer's annual class action roundtable. Published in the magazine's July 2014 issue, the discussion focused on how the courts are examining jurisdiction in national class actions as companies become more complex.
The panelists reviewed cases such as Daimler AG v. Bauman, American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant, Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter, and others. When discussing Duran v. U.S. Bank Nat'l Assoc., California Lawyer's moderator said the case put statistical sampling under the microscope and then asked the group how this case will impact class certification. Seiling responded:
"Duran is hugely important. For many years, when the defense would oppose certification and raise issues about how you're going to try this case, the response from the plaintiffs, and often from the courts was, 'Well, that's a merits issue, and class certification is just procedure.' And then you'd get stuck. You'd get a class certified, and you wouldn't ever get to resolve those issues on the merits, because the pressures to settle rise when you have a certified class."