Class Action: Venue Victory

In one of the class actions pending against UnumProvident (NYSE:UNM), a Federal Court in Massachusetts rejected a last-minute tactical maneuver by UnumProvident that sought to avoid a class certification hearing in the State’s Superior Court. We convinced the federal court to act on an emergency basis. In an extensive emergency Memorandum Opinion, Judge F. Dennis Saylor agreed with us on the jurisdictional issues and rejected UnumProvident’s attempt to transfer the case out of the State’s Superior Court and into the federal system just 45 minutes before a critical hearing on class certification. See Jewel v. UnumProvident, No. CV 04-40262. UnumProvident also tried to transfer the class action to Tennessee, where other class actions were previously transferred in September 2003.
Plaintiffs and the class members in the case are represented by us and, Mansfield Tanick & Cohen of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Gilman & Pastor of Saugus, Massachusetts, and Sandals & Associates of Philadelphia.

Evan-Schwartz

Evan S. Schwartz
Founder of Schwartz, Conroy & Hack
800-745-1755
ESS@schwartzlawpc.com