Sweetnam LLC Blog

Old National Bank Loses Bid to Appeal from Order Certifying Debit Card Overdraft Fee Class Action

Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The Indiana Court of Appeals has denied a motion by Old National Bank seeking leave to appeal from a trial court's order granting class certification in a case challenging the Bank's debit card overdraft fee practices. The trial court had previously certified a class of Old National Bank customers who were charged overdraft fees when they used their debit cards to make purchases or ATM withdrawals before August 15, 2010. The complaint alleges the bank reordered its customers' debit card transactions to increase the bank’s revenue from such fees. Sweetnam LLC is lead counsel for the Class.

Junk Text Class Action Filed Against Facebook

Wed, 08 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Sweetnam LLC has filed a class action against Facebook, Inc., and its affiated company, Facebook Ireland Limited allgeing violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. Section 227, et seq, for sending text messages to its users who did provide their consent to receive such messages.

Unwanted "junk" text messages are a growing problem that has caught the attention of consumers and regulators alike. Under the TCPA, recipients of such messages are entitled to statutory damages of $500 or $1,500 per message. For further information about this case, or if you believe you have received commercial text messages that you did not request, please contact our office at 847-559-9040 or by email at info@sweetnamllc.com.

Read MediaPost's coverage of this case here.

Third Circuit Approves Limited Use of Cy Pres Distributions in Class Action Settlements

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The Third Circuit recently approved the limited use of cy pres distributions in class action settlements. In re Baby Prods. Antitrust Litig., 708 F.3d 163 (3d Cir. 2013) (No. 12-1165). Cy pres distributions can be proper where direct distributions are infeasible. In evaluating class settlements with cy pres awards, district courts should analyze the degree of direct benefit to the class. In this settlement, defendants paid over $35 million to a settlement fund. Over one-third went to class counsel. Of the remainder, only a small portion would go to class members. The rest was to be distributed to cy pres recipients. Because the district court was unaware of the amount of the fund that would be distributed to the cy pres recipients when it approved the settlement, the Third Circuit reversed the approval of the settlement and remanded the case to the district court to consider whether the settlement provided sufficient direct benefit to the class. The court also addressed whether a cy pres award can justify class counsel’s fee, or whether the benefit of that payment must be discounted. The court concluded it was unwise to require a discount of attorneys’ fees where a portion of the settlement is used to fund a cy pres distribution. The court noted that cy pres distributions present potential conflict between class counsel and their clients because the inclusion of a cy pres distribution may increase the fund, and thereby attorneys’ fees, without increasing benefit to the class. It directed the district court to consider whether counsel had met its responsibility to obtain a result that “adequately prioritizes direct benefit to the class.” That approach must be conducted on a case by case basis.

Class Certified in Old National Bank Overdraft Fee Class Action

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

An Indiana judge has certified a class of Old National Bank customers who were charged overdraft fees when they used their debit cards to make purchases or ATM withdrawals before August 15, 2010. The complaint alleges the bank reordered its customers' debit card transactions to increase the bank’s revenue from such fees. “We believe that this practice is deceptive, grossly unfair to consumers and violates the trust they place in their bank,” said William M. Sweetnam, managing partner of Sweetnam LLC in Lake Forest, Illinois, who represents the plaintiffs and the certified class. The Old National Bank plaintiffs and the class allege that they were charged multiple $35 overdraft fees on everyday debit card purchases as a result of the bank’s practice of posting such transactions in order of high to low and the use of a shadow line of credit that exacerbated the problem. Other banks facing similar litigation have recently agreed to refund hundreds of millions of dollars in overdraft fees and to discontinue or modify their handling of debit card transactions. The case is scheduled for trial in October.

Old National Bank, headquartered Evansville, Indiana, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Old National Bancorp, the largest financial holding company in that state and one of the 100 largest in the United States.

Judge Denies Motion to Dismiss in Vibram "FiveFingers" Shoes Litigation

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has issued a memorandum decision and order denying the motion to dismiss of Vibram USA, Inc., in a class action alleging that the company made false and misleading representations regarding the health benefits of its FiveFingers "barefoot" running shoes in violation of Section 2 of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Trade Practices Act, 815 ILCS 505/2. The case has been transferred to the District of Massachusetts for coordination with similar litigation pending there. The case is captioned De Falco v. Vibram USA, Inc., No. 12-C-7238. Sweetnam LLC is counsel for the plaintiff and the class.

Sweetnam LLC Relocates Its Offices to Lake Forest, Illinois

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Sweetnam LLC has relocated its offices to Lake Forest, Illinois. The offices include more technologically advanced and collaborative space, enabling the firm to further enhance its ability to provide clients with the highest quality services. Located on Chicago's North Shore, Lake Forest is home to Fortune 500 companies Grainger, Tenneco, Brunswick and Hospira as well as the NFL's Chicago Bears.

Seventh Circuit Holds Rule 23(b)(2) Class May Be Certified Where Monetary Damages Are Incidental

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that, consistent with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 131 S. Ct. 2541 (2011), a class in which monetary as well as declaratory or injunctive relief is sought may be certified under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(2) as long as the monetary relief is incidental. Johnson v. Meriter Health Servs. Employee Retirement Plan, No. 12-2216 (7th Cir., decided December 4, 2012). The issue arose in a case involving a challenge to an employer’s pension plan under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Seventh Circuit Clarifies Predominance Requirement in Class Action Litigation

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Seventh Circuit has breathed new life into consumer class actions in that circuit with its decision in Butler v. Sears, in which Judge Posner set out to “clarify the concept of "predominance" in class action litigation,” the criterion that often determines whether or not a class certification motion will be granted. See Butler v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., Nos. 11-8029, 12-8030, slip op. (7th Cir. Nov. 13, 2012). In clarifying the predominance standard, Judge Posner stated, “[p]redominance is a question of efficiency.” Judge Posner treated the predominance inquiry as a simple cost-benefit analysis, stating, “A class action is the more efficient procedure for determining liability and damages in a case such as this involving a defect that may have imposed costs on tens of thousands of consumers, yet not a cost to any one of them large enough to justify the expense of an individual suit.” This test will benefit consumer class actions in the face of claims by defendants that the predominance requirement is not met.

Supreme Court to Decide Whether Plaintiffs May Plead Under CAFA's $5 Million Amount in Controversy Requirement to Avoid Removal

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMT

On August 31, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court accepted its first Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) case. In Standard Fire Insurance Co. v. Knowles, U.S., No. 11-1450, the Court will consider whether a class representative may stipulate to limit his damages to be less than the $5 million CAFA jurisdictional threshold in order to avoid removal to federal court. Read the Petition for Writ of Certiorari.

Sweetnam LLC Defeats Comcast Efforts to Enforce Ban on Consumer Class Actions

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The United States District Court for the District of Connecticut refused to enforce Comcast's arbitration clause and its purported ban on consumer class actions in an antitrust unlawful tying case brought by Sweetnam LLC. The case, alleging that Comcast required consumers to rent modems manufactured by a third party supplier for an additional fee in order to subscribe to Comcast's digital voice service, can now proceed in court on a classwide basis, as opposed to going to arbitration where consumers would be precluded from pursuing their claims collectively. According to the Court, the cost of proceeding on an individual basis in arbitration would so outweigh the potential for any recovery that no rational consumer would proceed, a result that Plaintiff believes was intended by Comcast to thwart claims by consumers who have been harmed by Comcast's alleged unlawful business practices. Read media coverage of this important development in consumer class action litigation.