Skip to content

In 2017, the Supreme Court decided Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of California, addressing due process concerns related to personal jurisdiction in the context of an action where the vast majority of plaintiffs were residents of states outside the jurisdiction where the plaintiffs filed the lawsuit. Bristol-Myers involved 678 individual product liability claims joined together in a California-state-court-based mass tort action. Nearly 600 of those claims belonged to nonresidents. To establish personal jurisdiction, the nonresidents relied on the similarity of their claims to the California plaintiffs’ claims.

Continue reading the full GT Alert here. 

Print:
Email this postTweet this postLike this postShare this post on LinkedIn
Photo of Charles O. Thompson Charles O. Thompson

Charles Thompson serves as the Co-Chair of the firm’s Labor & Employment Wage & Hour Class and Collective Action Litigation group. He focuses his practice on employment litigation and counseling representing clients through all phases of Class Actions and Single Plaintiff cases. Charles

Charles Thompson serves as the Co-Chair of the firm’s Labor & Employment Wage & Hour Class and Collective Action Litigation group. He focuses his practice on employment litigation and counseling representing clients through all phases of Class Actions and Single Plaintiff cases. Charles has wide-ranging experience litigating employment-related issues for public and private companies, having handled over 1,000 employment matters for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to Silicon Valley startups. He has tried employment, commercial, and professional liability cases to verdict and directed verdict, has litigated and appealed cases from California State Courts to the United States Supreme Court, and is a Fellow of the prestigious College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.

Charles represents employers in wage and hour cases, as well as EEOC class actions, in state and federal courts across the United States and has broad experience appearing before the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, the Employment Development Department, and the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Labor.

In addition to his trial and counseling work, Charles serves as a private and judicial mediator and arbitrator, and has acted as a pro-tem judge upon request of the court. He has broad experience in binding arbitrations and trial. He has taught trial advocacy, diversity, employment and substance abuse to clients and industry organizations.

Throughout his career, Charles has been a champion for diversity and has served on the Executive Committee of the board of Directors for the Justice & Diversity Center of The Bar Association of San Francisco. He actively supports and promotes diversity efforts and collaborates with clients on diversity issues.

Photo of Ryan P. O'Connor Ryan P. O'Connor

Ryan O’Connor represents employers across multiple industries in connection with a variety of labor and employment law matters, including the defense of discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful termination claims. He also advises clients on internal employment matters, including employment contracts and separation agreements, employer

Ryan O’Connor represents employers across multiple industries in connection with a variety of labor and employment law matters, including the defense of discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful termination claims. He also advises clients on internal employment matters, including employment contracts and separation agreements, employer policies and handbooks, and wage and hour compliance.