This panel will provide great examples of two ends of the spectrum - affirmative litigation and defense of class actions and the lessons you can learn from these cases to take home and apply to evaluating your own cases. The first presentation will provide an overview of the lawsuits cities are bringing against Monsanto related to PCBs. Monsanto manufactured PCB chemicals, which are toxic, cannot be contained, and do not biodegrade. Monsanto had superior knowledge that its PCBs were a “global contaminant,” but Monsanto chose to sell and promote them anyway. Now, major U.S. cities are suing Monsanto to recover cleanup costs spent due to Clean Water Act and regulatory requirements. San Diego, San Jose, Oakland, Berkeley, Portland, Seattle, and Spokane have all filed suit, holding Monsanto accountable. Learn about these lawsuits from the attorneys who are litigating them and what your city can do about the problem. The second presentation will discuss the recent focus of the Supreme Court and lower courts on class action litigation. Municipalities have experienced class actions, like many other employers. This presentation will address the current state of the law on class certification under FRCP 23; strategies to defeat class certification; plaintiffs’ responses to the Wal-Mart v. Dukes decision; and the current status of the use of arbitration agreements to avoid class actions.
