In Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, 133 S. Ct. 1426 (2013), and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 133 S. Ct. 2541 (2011), the United States Supreme Court issued two opinions that instructed federal trial courts to rigorously apply the standards for deciding whether or not to certify a class action. In Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products, L.P. v. Ratner, Case No. S13G1723 (decided July 11, 2014), the Georgia Supreme Court cited Comcast and Dukes in issuing its own call for the rigorous application of the standards for certifying a class action. The plaintiffs in Ratner had sought the certification of a class of… Read more
Tag: Georgia-Pacific v. Ratner
A Fresh Look At Class Actions in Georgia
In two recent cases, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 131 S. Ct. 2541 (2011), and Comcast v. Behrend, 133 S. Ct. 1426 (2013), the United States Supreme Court established precedents that require federal district courts to rigorously examine proposed class actions to determine whether the standards for certifying class actions have been met. Those precedents are now having an impact on Georgia state courts. In MCG Health, Inc. v. Perry, Case No. A13A1996 (decided March 20, 2014), the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed the certification of a class. The plaintiffs in the case were patients who had received treatment at… Read more
THE APRIL TERM OF COURT ENDS AT THE GEORGIA COURT OF APPEALS
On July 16, the April term of court ended at the Georgia Court of Appeals. As is typical, the last few days of the Court’s term brought the most interesting decisions. This blog will be writing about some of them over the next few days. In Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products, LP v. Ratner, Case No. A13A0455 (decided July 16, 2013), a divided court affirmed the certification of a class action brought on behalf of a collection of property owners who claimed that the emission of hydrogen sulfide gas from a Georgia Pacific mill had damaged their properties and interfered with their use… Read more