James M. Wilson Jr. on Class Certification Trends: Non-Injury Class Actions and Issue Certification. In September 2006, the federal district court for the Eastern District of New York certified a $200 billion national class action lawsuit made up of tens of millions of smokers of "light" cigarettes, alleging that health-conscious smokers relied on these terms to buy what they thought was a safer product. James Wilson discusses how Schwab v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., 449 F. Supp. 2d 992 (E.D.N.Y. 2006) demonstrates how the class action mechanism is being utilized to seek recovery purely of economic damages and why many expect that the Second Circuit Court of Appeals will reverse certification among other reasons, because the determination of whether a smoker bought "light" cigarettes due to health concerns or due to non-health reasons requires an individualized examination of each class member's decision-making process.
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Wilson, James M.
James M. Wilson Jr. is a partner in Chitwood Harley Harnes LLP, in the firm's Atlanta office. The firm primarily pursues securities class actions brought under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "PSLRA") (his firm represents a shareholder in a case against Merrill Lynch concerning some of the issues raised in this article), but also is a leader in litigating non-PSLRA securities cases, including derivative and corporate governance actions, as well as antitrust and consumer protection class actions. Mr. Wilson previously practiced for many years in New York City working on complex business litigation and securities arbitrations before the New York Stock Exchange and the National Association of Securities Dealers. He received his B.A. from Georgia State University in 1988, his J.D. from the University of Georgia in 1991, and his LL.M. in Tax Law from New York University in 1992. While obtaining his law degree, Mr. Wilson was an editor for the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law, and studied and worked abroad in Brussels, Belgium and Munich, Germany. Mr. Wilson is admitted to practice law in the States of Georgia and New York, before the United States District Courts for the Middle and Northern Districts of Georgia, and before the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.
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