44th Annual Austin W. Scott, Jr., Lecture: Professor Scott Moss

This event has ended.

When Tuesday, December 4, 2018
5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Location Wittemyer Courtroom, Wolf Law Building
For Public; Faculty; Staff; Students; Alumni; CLE Credit
Cost Free

Join Colorado Law for the 44th annual Austin W. Scott, Jr. Lecture "No Longer a Second-Class Class Action? Finding Common Ground in the Debate over Wage Collective Actions with Best Practices for Litigation and Adjudication" on Tuesday, December 4 at 5:30 p.m., featuring Professor Scott Moss .

Registration for this event is now closed, but walk-in guests are welcome.

This talk offers a response to Professor Moss's 2012 article, "The Second-Class Class Action: How Courts Thwart Wage Rights by Misapplying Class Action Rules," and provides a comprehensive set of proposals for best practices for litigation and adjudication.

Rule 23 class actions cover all potential members, but for wage claims, 29 U.S.C. § 216(b) allows only collective actions, covering only those opting in. In both, "certification" motions are denied if members lack enough commonality. The 2012 article argued against existing § 216(b) practice: that Rule 23 certification is for only class actions - not collective actions, which require no certification; that § 216(b) aimed to create not stricter opt-in class actions, but liberalized party joinder; that defendants can challenge collective actions not under Rule 23(b)(3) strict commonality standards, but as Rule 21 "misjoinder" under Rule 20 liberal joinder standards.

Surprising nobody more than the authors, some judges read the article and agreed, citing it to allow no-certification collective actions. Others judges strongly disagreed. Still others agreed that collective actions are party-joinder, not class, cases - yet decided that means each of potentially hundreds or thousands of plaintiffs must provide individualized evidence and settlement consent.

Professor Moss now responds to this split on the 2012 article with a comprehensive set of proposals: the powers judges retain without "certification" scrutiny; how defendants still may challenge collective actions and procure finality through collective settlements; how plaintiffs may rely on representative evidence and collective settlements - if key steps are taken to protect each plaintiff's right to genuine autonomy through informed consent.

Click here to read more about the history of the Austin W. Scott, Jr. lecture and view past lectures.

Approved for one (1) general CLE credit.

More Information

Contact Julie Ann Williams
lawevents@colorado.edu
Moderated By Dean S. James Anaya
Speakers Professor Scott Moss
CLE Credits
General: 1
Ethics: 0