Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware
In April 2013, the law firm of Giskan Solotaroff Anderston & Stewart filed a lawsuit against Author Solutions Inc. and its parent company, Penguin, alleging fraud, unjust enrichment, and violation of various statutes and consumer protection acts. Penguin was later dismissed from the suit.
In February 2015, having completed discovery, Giskan Solotaroff filed for class certification with a lengthy Memorandum of Law that unpacked a lot of information about ASI's business model and internal operations.
That certification has now been denied, in a decision handed down by Judge Denise Cote on July 1.
From what I can tell on an initial reading, the decision seems to boil down to the fact that in one of the subclasses they were seeking to certify, plaintiffs weren't able to meet certification requirements; and in the other, weren't able to demonstrate a clear pattern of deception on the part of AS that could apply to everyone in the proposed class.
Judge Cote's decision can be read in full here.
I'm guessing that Giskan Solotaroff will appeal. In the meantime, their second lawsuit against AS is ongoing, and has been consolidated with another lawsuit brought by two individual plaintiffs, Everette et al. v. Author Solutions LLC.
UPDATE 10/27/15: The second lawsuit has been settled, according to Giskan Solotaroff:
This post has been updated.
In February 2015, having completed discovery, Giskan Solotaroff filed for class certification with a lengthy Memorandum of Law that unpacked a lot of information about ASI's business model and internal operations.
That certification has now been denied, in a decision handed down by Judge Denise Cote on July 1.
From what I can tell on an initial reading, the decision seems to boil down to the fact that in one of the subclasses they were seeking to certify, plaintiffs weren't able to meet certification requirements; and in the other, weren't able to demonstrate a clear pattern of deception on the part of AS that could apply to everyone in the proposed class.
Judge Cote's decision can be read in full here.
I'm guessing that Giskan Solotaroff will appeal. In the meantime, their second lawsuit against AS is ongoing, and has been consolidated with another lawsuit brought by two individual plaintiffs, Everette et al. v. Author Solutions LLC.
UPDATE 10/27/15: The second lawsuit has been settled, according to Giskan Solotaroff:
Following the July 1, 2015 ruling by Judge Denise Cote denying plaintiffs’ motion for class certification in Simmons v. Author Solutions LLC, the parties have resolved both the New York and Indiana actions without any finding or admission of wrongdoing on the part of Author Solutions or its affiliates. By mutual agreement of the parties, the terms of the settlement are strictly confidential.Giskan Solotaroff is no longer pursuing any claims against Author Solutions on a class-wide basis. However, they still wish to hear from authors with any of the AS imprints who've spent more than $10,000 in marketing services. A contact form is here.
Author Solutions Lawsuit Update: Class Certification Denied
Reviewed by Unknown
on
July 03, 2015
Rating:
Reviewed by Unknown
on
July 03, 2015
Rating:
No comments: