Fraud-based consumer class actions continue to be pursued with occasional success. The case of McLaughlin v. American Tobacco Co. presents a different story, however; the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a particularly notable attempt to obtain certification of fraud-based claims on behalf of a putative consumer class.
In examining the opinion, Dorsey attorneys Richard H. Silberberg, Christopher G. Karagheuzoff, and Robert G. Manson authored an article for the Andrews Litigation Reporter "Class Action" publication. "McLaughlin is a significant barrier to plaintiffs' efforts to circumvent the need for individualized proof of reliance in consumer fraud class actions," writes the three attorneys.
The article, "McLaughlin v. American Tobacco Co.: Raising the Bar Even Higher for Fraud-Based Consumer Class Actions," examines the implications for certification of fraud-based consumer class actions and outlines the most promising avenues of certification that remain available to plaintiffs pursuing such claims.
Click on the above PDF link to read the full article.
Used with permission: "McLaughlin v. American Tobacco Co.: Raising the Bar Even Higher for Fraud-Based Consumer Class Actions," Class Action, an Andrews Litigation Reporter publication of Thomson Reuters/West, appearing in Volume 15, Issue 7, August 2008.