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Second Circuit Review: Predominance Requirement for Class Certification
April 23, 2008 Full PDF
Litigation partners Marty Flumenbaum and Brad Karp's "Second Circuit Review" column appeared in the April 23 issue of the New York Law Journal. The article discusses the case of McLaughlin v. Tobacco Co., in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed the District Court's certification of a class action by smokers alleging they were deceived by the defendant tobacco companies' marketing of so-called light cigarettes as a healthier alternative to regular, or "full-flavored," cigarettes. The court ruled that class certification was inappropriate because "numerous issues" in the case, including issues of reliance, causation, and injury, were "not susceptible to generalized proof." The court's decision makes clear that plaintiffs cannot merely allege that defendants made "uniform misstatements" through branding and marketing, but rather must show that elements of their fraud claim are "susceptible to generalized proof." Litigation associate Jonathan Bolton assisted in the preparation of this column.