Lathrop Offers Insight on Litigation Landscape

Litigation Member Tony Lathrop was quoted in the August 2013 InsideCounsel magazine article titled “The changing class action litigation landscape.”  The article discusses the rapid development of class action law that has been driven largely by recent U.S. Supreme Court cases, many of which have restricted plaintiffs’ access to class actions.  Lathrop specifically addressed the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence regarding the use of arbitration agreements to limit companies’ exposure to class actions and class arbitrations:

"The lower courts are going to have a harder time invalidating arbitration agreements," says Tony Lathrop, a member of Moore & Van Allen. "The theme throughout these cases is the Supreme Court's desire to emphasize the Federal Arbitration Act. Arbitration agreements, where clearly spelled out, should be upheld."

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"While cost alone isn't a valid ground to overcome a class arbitration waiver, many corporations that want to avoid class actions are adopting the cost-sharing model from Concepcion," Lathrop says. "There the defendant made it less difficult for plaintiffs to bring individual claims by providing some cost assistance. If a plaintiff won his case and obtained more than AT&T had offered in settlement, the company agreed to pay $7,500 and double attorneys' fees. The court cited that in upholding the agreement."

The article can be read in its entirety here.