2012CAR_small.jpgBy Lorie Almon, Gerald L. Maatman, Jr., and Ian Morrison

Back by popular demand, our Annual Workplace Class Action Report Webinar is scheduled for February 16, 2012 – click here to register and attend.

By all accounts, 2011 was a transformative year for employment-related class actions, and the aftershocks will be felt through 2012 and beyond. Our webinar will focus on these developments and analyze the likely twists and turns of complex workplace litigation in 2012.

Our readers have given us enormous feedback over the last three weeks since the launch of the 8th Annual Report in the first week of January. Over 5,500 copies were requested by – and mailed out to – clients and the readers of our blog, and over 450 media mentions have cited to the Report on workplace class action trends (a few are included here and here).

Based on the trends identified in our 8th Annual Workplace Class Action Report, partners Gerald L. Maatman, Jr., the Report’s author, and Lorie Almon and Ian Morrison, the chairs of our wage & hour and ERISA practice groups, we will lead attendees through a changed national landscape of “bet the company” employment disputes fueled by an aggressive plaintiffs’ bar and invigorated federal and state enforcement regimes. We will also provide insights on the new parameters for Rule 23 standards and workplace class arbitration defenses created by Dukes and Concepcion, and how employers can continue to prepare themselves for litigation in light of those decisions. Other significant developments to be addressed include: 

  • The trend toward bigger and more complex cases, the higher settlement figures they are driving, and judicial acceptance of defense tactics to allow early case assessments of the validity of class theories.
     
  • The EEOC’s shifting focus from one-off cases toward the initiation and litigation of nationwide pattern or practice cases.
     
  • Expanding and intensified level of DOL enforcement, as well as likely impact of the upcoming Supreme Court decision in Christopher, et al v. SmithKlineBeecham.
     
  • The evolving class certification theories being pursued by the plaintiffs’ class action bar, and how corporations can assess their vulnerability and mitigate those potential exposures.

The date and time of the webinar is – – Thursday, February 16, 2012

1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time
12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Central Time
11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Mountain Time
10:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Pacific Time

Speakers: Lorie Almon, Gerald L. Maatman, Jr., and Ian Morrison

We hope to see you there!