The Hard Stop On 'Adventurous Innovation' In Class Action Litigation: The United States Supreme Court's Decision In Comcast v. Behrend, Remand Of Whirlpool v. Glazer And The Probable Return Of Defect Manifestation To Class Certification Determinations In

By Michael Mallow and Livia Kiser I. Comcast v. Behrend: The Class Action Mechanism Under Scrutiny Comcast v. Behrend is the latest opinion issued by the U.S. Supreme Court interpreting and applying the procedural rules governing class actions set out in Federal Rule Civil Procedure 23. Writing for a 5-4 majority, Justice Antonin Scalia tags the class action mechanism as an "exception to the usual rule that litigation is conducted by and on behalf of the individual named parties," which...(read more)