A federal decide overseeing an escalating mass arbitration struggle between Keller Postman and Jenner & Block started a listening to this month by asking: “Who can inform me what the second regulation of thermodynamics is?”
Then, U.S. District Choose Ana Reyes, of the District of Columbia, gave the reply: the regulation of entropy, which states that issues have a tendency towards dysfunction when left to themselves.
It’s her least favourite bodily regulation, she stated.
“This case within the final month has devolved, based on bodily regulation, I assume, entropy, into dysfunction,” Reyes stated, based on a transcript of the Dec. 19 listening to. “I don’t like dysfunction in my instances.”
Reyes is overseeing a lawsuit that streaming service Tubi Inc., Jenner & Block’s shopper, filed in opposition to Keller Postman earlier this 12 months for allegedly bringing hundreds of frivolous arbitration claims after soliciting purchasers via social media, equivalent to Instagram and YouTube. Keller Postman is well-known for pursuing mass arbitration claims however, on this case, Jenner & Block introduced in a former FBI particular agent to analyze a number of dozen of its purchasers who had withdrawn their arbitration claims. Most denied that Keller Postman ever represented them, based on Jenner & Block. Many filed declarations.
Keller Postman, in response, moved to disqualify Jenner & Block from the case. Then, the agency launched a second assault with a Dec. 11 lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court docket in opposition to Jenner & Block.
That transfer “wreaks of dangerous religion,” Reyes stated at this month’s listening to. However she additionally disagreed with Jenner & Block concerning the uncommon nature of Keller Postman’s actions, likening mass arbitration to multidistrict litigation, the place there are millions of particular person plaintiffs.
In keeping with the transcript, Reyes informed the legal professionals to provide you with a plan earlier than the tip of the listening to to resolve their dispute, capturing down a suggestion that they meet and confer as a result of “you guys can barely even agree on what courtroom to be in.”
“As a result of I’m not going to take care of a bunch of individuals taking potshots at one another,” she stated. “Not a kindergarten trainer. Don’t need to be a kindergarten trainer. I’m horrible with youngsters.”
After a one-hour break, the legal professionals got here again with a deal: Keller Postman agreed to drop its Los Angeles Superior Court docket lawsuit, and its disqualification movement, whereas Jenner & Block would choose 10 arbitrators, slightly than only one, to resolve the matter.
A Jenner & Block spokesman confirmed the settlement. The spokesperson additionally confirmed that the events agreed to a course of that can enable the arbitration to maneuver ahead and that Jenner & Block would to have the ability to use the declarations of the withdrawn claimants within the arbitration proceedings.
“The courtroom criticized Tubi for suing Keller Postman for doing the identical factor plaintiffs’ legal professionals do in MDLs daily—submitting numerous particular person claims involving standardized allegations,” Keller Postman accomplice Warren Postman, in Washington D.C., informed Regulation.com in an e-mail. “The courtroom urged the events to resolve their disputes in arbitration and, after Tubi agreed to a course of for choosing a number of arbitrators as an alternative of a single arbitrator to resolve all claims, Keller Postman agreed to withdraw its filings in courtroom. We’re happy that the courtroom acknowledged the impropriety of Tubi suing Keller Postman and sit up for resolving our purchasers’ claims in arbitration.”
‘A Colossal Waste of Time, Vitality, and Cash’
The mass arbitration struggle started earlier this 12 months as Tubi was negotiating a category motion settlement in a 2023 case introduced within the U.S. District Court docket for the Northern District of Illinois, alleging the streaming service bought subscriber knowledge to 3rd events with out the consent of its customers in violation of the Video Privateness Safety Act.
Tubi reached a $19.99 million class motion settlement this 12 months, however Keller Postman filed arbitration claims on behalf of 24,000 class members who opted out of the deal. Their claims alleged that by displaying advertisers consumer knowledge about their intercourse, gender or age, Tubi was violating California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act. Choose Ronald Barch of the seventeenth Judicial Circuit Court docket in Illinois, the place the case was refiled, held a Dec. 4 last approval listening to, which was continued to Jan. 8.
The D.C. swimsuit, filed on Might 31, accuses Keller Postman of violating the District of Columbia’s Guidelines of Skilled Conduct. Keller Postman moved to dismiss the swimsuit, however final month, Tubi sought to amend its criticism after disclosing the findings of the previous FBI particular agent, who had interviewed 19 people. Tubi submitted declarations of a number of of them.
Keller Postman, in courtroom filings, insisted most of the people had been pressured to signal the declarations.
Tubi’s legal professional, Brandon Fox, who’s the Los Angeles managing accomplice for Jenner & Block, defended the previous FBI particular agent’s findings.
However Reyes, whereas agreeing that the arbitration claims beneath California regulation appeared “farfetched,” questioned the relevance of the withdrawn claims, which represented a handful of 24,000 folks.
She additionally known as Tubi’s litigation a “colossally dangerous thought,” and “troubling,” as a result of it’s a case in opposition to legal professionals for folks in arbitration.
“I don’t assume legal professionals ought to begin going after one another,” she wrote. “Now, all of this looks like a colossal waste of time, power, and cash.”
However she additionally had criticisms for Keller Postman, evaluating its California case to Adolf Hitler’s choice to open a brand new entrance in opposition to Russia – a transfer that price him World Battle II.
“Now, not evaluating you to Hitler by any stretch of the creativeness, however opening the second entrance in California was a colossally dangerous thought,” Reyes stated at this month’s listening to.
“I’m going to say that it seems like discussion board buying,” she stated. “So dangerous thought.”
She additionally criticized shifting to disqualify Jenner & Block. Granting that movement, she stated, would lead to “whole open warfare,” with discovery calls for in opposition to Keller Postman, she stated.
“It’s not going to be fairly for both of you,” she stated.
After the legal professionals returned to courtroom with an settlement, Reyes stayed the case pending their arbitration.
“All proper. Terrific,” Reyes stated. “I acquired a case immediately involving Gaza and Israel, so if I can get you guys achieved, that needs to be a no brainer.”
