Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Civil Procedure — costs

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//August 21, 2014//

Civil Procedure — costs

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//August 21, 2014//

Listen to this article

U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit

Civil

Civil Procedure — costs

Where class action attorneys, instead of appealing a losing case, filed a new suit with different plaintiffs, they were properly ordered to pay the defendant’s costs.

“Plaintiffs demanded many million dollars; a high-stakes suit does not come cheap to either side. Despite losing Cima, the law firm tried again in the hope that a different forum would produce a different answer. After finding itself back in the original forum and before the judge who had decided Cima, the law firm did not economize. It could have asked the district court to enter the same opinion as in Cima in order to set up an appeal; instead it launched a new round of discovery and proceeded to litigate as if Cima did not exist. No wonder the defendants incurred substantial costs.”

“Law firms representing would-be class representatives have portfolios of suits. Some will be settled for considerable sums; others will fail. Paying the costs of failure is part of being in this business. See Rand v. Monsanto Co., 926 F.2d 596 (7th Cir. 1991) (observing that class counsel properly agree to bear the costs of suit, rather than leaving them with the figurehead representatives); see also White v. Sundstrand Corp., 256 F.3d 580, 586 (7th Cir. 2001). Counsel should thank their lucky stars that the district court did not sanction them under 28 U.S.C. §1927 for filing a second suit rather than pursuing the first through appeal.”

Affirmed.

12-3882 & 13-2230 Myrick v. WellPoint Inc.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, Gilbert, J., Easterbrook, J.

Polls

Should Wisconsin Supreme Court rules be amended so attorneys can't appeal license revocation after 5 years?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Legal News

See All Legal News

WLJ People

Sea all WLJ People

Opinion Digests