Attorney Authored
The Untolled Tale: American Pipe Tolling in the Wake of Dukes v. Wal-Mart
April 16, 2013
BY GRACE CARTER & KATHERINE MURRAY
Much has been written about the Supreme Court’s June 2011 decision in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 131 S. Ct. 2541, 180 L. Ed. 2d 374 (2011). Lauded by corporations and defense counsel and criticized by the plaintiffs’ bar, the decision offered practitioners ample room for discussion on numerous topics, including the propriety of certifying individualized monetary claims, expert testimony at the class certification stage and whether a class can be too big to certify.
But the Dukes decision also revitalized the debate on the tolling of the statute of limitations for absent class members’ claims. Put simply, the issue is: Can plaintiffs and their counsel file an untimely follow-on class action once their original class certification motion has been denied?