Statistics in Class Certification and at Trial: Leveraging and Attacking Statistical Evidence

Lessons From Recent Cases on the Use of Statistics to Prove Classwide Liability and Damages

Increasingly, statistical evidence is used by both sides to argue the makeup of the class, damages, liability, and certification in every type of case: employment, data breach, ESG, antitrust, consumer product, and commercial class action cases. Economists and practitioners can use statistics to measure the impact on individual members and show where there is no impact.Building on Wal-Mart Stores v. Dukes, Comcast v. Behrend, and Tyson Foods v. Bouaphakeo, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal recently explored the use of statistical expert evidence in satisfying relevant requirements under Rule 23(b)(3) in Olean Wholesale Grocery Co-op Inc. v. Bumble Foods L.L.C. and once again shifted the certification landscape.Class action lawyers must be able to analyze both the methodology and inferential process that produce statistical evidence, and their effect on admissibility, relevance, and strength of the resulting evidence.Listen as our experienced panel of practitioners examines the use of statistics in class litigation and the implications of recent case law for class litigators seeking to use or restrict these kinds of evidence during class certification and trial.

Photo by Colin Lloyd on Unsplash

Speakers

James Finberg
Partner
Altshuler Berzon

Aphrodite Kokolis
Counsel
Schiff Hardin

ON-Demand CLE Webinar

This Strafford production has been specially selected for HB audiences.

Topics

What are the implications of recent case law on using statistical sampling to prove classwide liability and damages?
What types of statistics can be introduced during certification and trial, and what are the proper ways to use them?
What are the most compelling challenges to the use of statistical evidence?

Outline

Overview of statistical concepts and their uses
Notable case law
Strategic considerations