Howard Erichson was quoted in a Bloomberg Law article about Logitech Inc.’s class action lawsuit.
Logitech Inc. will have to live with a federal judge’s standing order that prevents it from settling a consumer class action over the quality of its computer speakers, the judge said Jan. 18.
Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California defended his general rule prohibiting parties from engaging in class settlement negotiations until the court rules on class certification.
Alsup provides the same class action guidance at the start of every proposed class action assigned to him. “No one has ever complained about it—until now,” he said.
The decision sets up Ninth Circuit review of whether his rule is constitutional. The appeals court denied Logitech’s petition for mandamus review of the order in December, saying the parties must first raise constitutional concerns with the district court.
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Howard M. Erichson, who studies the ethics of complex litigation at Fordham University School of Law in New York, called Alsup’s willingness to stand up to the parties “fantastic.”
Alsup “is taking seriously his job as a judge to ensure that any resolution is fair to class members,” Erichson said.
It makes “perfect sense” to hold off on settlement until the court rules on certification, he said.
“If the class action cannot be certified because it lacks sufficient cohesiveness, then it shouldn’t be settled on a classwide basis,” he said. “And if the class action is certified—as seems likely for consumer claims like these—then the parties will be in a better position to negotiate a settlement that actually reflects the merits of the claims.”