New Hope For Challenging Putative Consumer Fraud Class Actions At The Pleading Stage

There are many good reasons to move to dismiss a consumer class action. Costs and exposure tend to increase as the case proceeds through discovery and the class certification stage. In some cases, more experienced class action attorneys will associate in as lead class counsel if a complaint survives the pleading stage. In the consumer fraud class action context, the heightened pleading standard applicable to fraud-based claims is another good reason to bring a motion to dismiss. Unfortunately, defendants have had mixed results on such motions.