Judge Ambro has announced that he will take senior status, effective upon the confirmation of his successor. He is the third judge to do so during the term of President Biden (the others are Chief Judge Smith and former Chief Judge McKee), which enables the President to nominate a new judge to fill Judge Ambro’s seat. President Biden has not yet nominated anyone to fill the seats of Judges McKee and Smith, so there are three slots to be filled. Judge Ambro is from Delaware. So it is to be expected that his successor will also be from the First State, which is also President...

As of October 1, Judge Smith has succeeded Judge McKee as Chief Judge of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.  Judge McKee has been Chief Judge since 2010, succeeding Judge Scirica in that role.  Judge McKee is thus, to date, the only Third Circuit Chief Judge that this blog has ever known. The new Chief Judge, Judge Smith, is very familiar to readers of this blog as a prolific author of opinions, especially in the area of class actions.  A graduate of Franklin and Marshall College and Dickinson School of Law, the predecessor to Penn State Law, Judge Smith began his legal career in private...

Chassen v. Fidelity Nat’l Financial, Inc., 836 F.3d 291 (3d Cir. 2016).  [Disclosure:  I was an expert witness for plaintiffs in this case, but my Declaration and deposition testimony was not the subject of, or referred to in, this opinion].  This was a putative class action involving allegedly improper charges, ranging from $70 to $350, stemming from the recording of deeds and mortgages.  Though there were arbitration clauses in defendants’ contracts with plaintiffs and class members, defendants litigated the case in court for nearly two and one-half years without invoking those...