Eversheds Sutherland 11th Circuit Business Blog
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Supreme Court Denies Certiorari in Eleventh Circuit Case Banning Class-Action Incentive Payments for Plaintiffs

The Supreme Court today denied certiorari in Johnson v. Dickenson, No. 22-389, 2023 WL 2959369 (U.S. Apr. 17, 2023), declining to review the Eleventh Circuit’s decision that incentive awards in class actions are impermissible under federal law. Johnson v. NPAS Sols., LLC, 975 F.3d 1244 (11th Cir. 2020), denial of rehearing en banc, 43 F.4th 1138 (11th Cir. 2022). Posted by Tom...

En Banc Court Stands by Ban on Class-Action Incentive Payments for Plaintiffs

Nearly two years after a divided three-three judge panel held that federal law prohibits “incentive payments” to named class representatives (see our previous blog post here), the Eleventh Circuit denied a petition to rehear that case en banc. Johnson v. NPAS Solutions, LLC, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 21455 (11th Cir. Aug. 3, 2022). The denial effectively upholds that prohibition across...

General Statistical Evidence of “Local Controversy” Held Insufficient for Jurisdiction Under Class Action Fairness Act

Can class-action plaintiffs avoid federal court by relying on general economic studies and  population statistics to prove that their case should be in state court? Not in the Eleventh Circuit. In Smith v. Marcus & Millichap, Inc., 2021 WL 939184 (11th Cir. Mar. 12, 2021), the court held that “studies, surveys, and census data—which do not directly involve the plaintiffs”—are...

Eleventh Circuit Bans Incentive Payments to Lead Plaintiffs in Class Actions

In what appears to be a first, the Eleventh Circuit recently held that federal law prohibits so-called “incentive payments” to class representatives, even as part of an agreed settlement. The court acknowledged that it was forging a new path in Johnson v. NPAS Solutions, LLC, 975 F.3d 1244, 1248–49 (11th Cir. 2020)—identifying errors that it said had “become commonplace in everyday...

Bankruptcy Preemption/Preclusion Defense Does Not Preclude Class Certification in FDCPA/FCCPA Case

In an opinion vacating a district court order denying class certification, the Eleventh Circuit held that whether the Bankruptcy Code precludes and/or preempts the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1962 et seq., and the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (“FCCPA”), Fla. Stat. § 559.55 et seq., raised issues common to all class members.  Sellers v....

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