Eversheds Sutherland 11th Circuit Business Blog
content top

SLUSA CLASS ACTION BAR IS BROAD ENOUGH TO COVER EVEN SOME BREACH OF FIDUCIARY DUTY CLAIMS

In Cochran v. Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co., 35 F.4th 1310 (11th Cir. May 31, 2022), the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of a claim for breach of fiduciary duty as barred by the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act (SLUSA). After Jeffrey Cochran’s 401(k) retirement plan was terminated by his employer, he transferred his funds into a rollover individual...

Paradise Found: Consumer Not Damaged by Purchasing (and Consuming) Gin Containing Prohibited “Grains of Paradise”

The Eleventh Circuit again had the opportunity to interpret the scope of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA), this time applying the Act’s safe-harbor provision for actions otherwise permitted by law. In Marrache v. Bacardi U.S.A., Inc., 17 F.4th 1084 (11th Cir. Nov. 8, 2021), the court affirmed dismissal of a putative class action that had attempted to hold a...

Eleventh Circuit Emphasizes Importance of Striking Shotgun Pleadings

In a consolidated appeal of two cases filed against banking institutions, the Eleventh Circuit expressed frustration over being “forced to review a judgment that should never have been entered.”  Estate of Bass v. Regions Bank, Inc., 2020 WL 284094 (11th Cir. Jan. 21, 2020).  Rather than striking the complaints as impermissible shotgun pleadings and allowing the plaintiff an...

Rule 41 Not Proper Method to Dismiss Particular Claims

What is the proper procedure for voluntarily dismissing a count in a civil action? This question is not explicitly answered by the text of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Eleventh Circuit offered a tutorial in Perry v. Schumacher Group of Louisiana, 2018 WL 2473721 (11th Cir. June 4, 2018), making clear that Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A) is not an available mechanism for...