Hargrove v. Sleepy’s Inc., ___ F.3d ___ (3d Cir. 2020). Readers of this blog know of my distaste (to say the least) for the Third Circuit’s unique interpretation of the idea that a class must be ascertainable in order to be certified. That issue has been discussed, among other places, here, here and here. The Third Circuit has been gradually trimming back its view of ascertainability, and other Circuits, as well as New Jersey’s Appellate Division, have rejected the Third Circuit’s broad view. Yesterday, the Third Circuit took another positive step, holding by a 2-1...

Premier Comp Solutions, LLC v. UPMC, ___ F.3d ___ (3d Cir. 2020). Under Rule 15 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, amendments to pleadings are liberally granted. But when a Scheduling Order sets a deadline for amending pleadings, Rule 16(b)(4) requires “good cause” for an amendment. In this case, plaintiff sought to add a defendant after an amendment deadline had passed (and after that deadline had been extended once). Plaintiff’s motion relied only on Rule 15’s “liberally granted” standard. When the UPMC defendants opposed the motion and called...

Though the Supreme Court of New Jersey and the Appellate Division are only just beginning to ramp up in the new Term, the Third Circuit has been pumping out published opinions in bulk, as it did late in August. Here are summaries of some of the five published opinions that the Third Circuit issued today: Bank of Hope v. Chon, 938 F.3d 389 (3d Cir. 2019). This opinion by Judge Bibas resulted from a suit by plaintiff against a number of defendants. One of those defendants began sending letters to plaintiff’s shareholders, asserting that plaintiff’s claims were groundless and were...