Cruz-Alvarez and Stamps Explain Ninth Circuit Decision on Class Actions

For the Washington Legal Foundation’s Legal Pulse, Shook Partner Frank Cruz-Alvarez and Associate Britta Stamps have written “If the Lead Plaintiff Settles, Does a Class Action Become Moot?—Ninth Circuit Offers Clarification.”

“In Brady v. AutoZone Stores, the Ninth Circuit succinctly affirmed that class claims are rendered moot when the class representative voluntarily settles his individual claims, absent a clear indication of the class representative’s continued financial interest in the unresolved class claims,” Cruz-Alvarez and Stamps explain. “The mere resolution of the class representative’s individual claims does not automatically moot the class claims.  Rather, the court must look to the terms of the settlement agreement between the class representative and the defendant to determine whether any ongoing financial interest on behalf of the class representative remains.”