OssianBlue

The complaint requests $5 million.

Adam1222

This may come as a surprise to you, but many lawyers file cases based on novel theories that are tossed out at early stages...even ones theyve been working on for a long time. One would imagine that if this was some slam dunk case, they would have been able to file before the expiration of the statute of limitations. And a lot of good lawyers wouldn't touch a case like this for any number of reasons, including the potential unclean hands defense.

As for your theory that not providing someone with the details of why you closed their account constitutes "fraudulent concealment," that's not what that means. There has to be concealment of misconduct with the intent to deceive or defraud. It's not enough that they think AA acted wrongfully, but that AA hid what happened with the intent to deceive them by hiding it. (I bet AA could also use Flyertalk posts to rebut any fraudulent concealment theory!!)

Maybe these are actually genius lawyers who have figured this all out. Maybe they'll get a judge who indulges the creative use of the law. Either way, no one should expect this to be some slam dunk case that's going to inflict massive damage on AA.

(I'm not sure why you think the statute of limitations would be a post discovery summary judgment issue. It would likely be raised in a motion to dismiss, and *maybe* a judge would allow limited discovery on the fraudulent concealment theory if the plaintiffs have a credible basis to believe discovery would allow them to meet the relevant standard.)

chgoeditor

Reading the complaint now -- between the two of them, these plaintiffs had earned less than 21,000 miles actually flying on AA over the four years (him) and two years (her) they were AA members.

Also, just checked the Advantage terms and conditions. No idea when they were last updated, but I'd note that one of the terms is a class action waiver.

Quote:

YOU AGREE THAT THE RESOLUTION OF ANY DISPUTE, CLAIM, OR CONTROVERSY RELATED TO THE PROGRAM SHALL BE CONDUCTED ON AN INDIVIDUAL, NOT A CLASS-WIDE BASIS, AND THAT NO SUCH PROCEEDING MAY BE CONSOLIDATED WITH ANY OTHER LEGAL PROCEEDINGS INVOLVING AMERICAN AIRLINES OR ITS AFFILIATED ENTITIES. YOU FURTHER AGREE THAT YOU, AND ANYONE ASSERTING A CLAIM FOR YOU, WILL NOT BE A CLASS REPRESENTATIVE, CLASS MEMBER, OR OTHERWISE PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS, REPRESENTATIVE, CONSOLIDATED OR PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL PROCEEDING AGAINST AMERICAN AIRLINES.

js1993

If there were so many people wrongly shut down by AA, why did it take the lawyers over four years to find two plaintiffs? When this went down, there were thousands of posts about it here, travel blogs, Reddit, etc.

This lawsuit looks like a Hail Mary, but after the clock already expired.

Beltway2A

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt. I just hope the attorneys are getting a good hourly fee on this.

If anyone has the complaint, who is counsel for the Nachisons?

Adam1222

​​​​​​One of the hardest things about being a good plaintiffs lawyer is explaining to people that even when they are wronged, they may not have a legal remedy. It's possible that the plaintiffs existed, just couldn't find lawyers.

OssianBlue

Sigh. Yes, yes, yes, we went through this all years ago when the ignorant AA apologists were running around crying "Ginsberg!"

This case has nothing to do with AA's role as an airline.

In this situation they were looking for plaintiffs with a specific fact set in one or two specific jurisdictions.

milberg coleman bryson
phillips grossman, pllc

chgoeditor

I've reread the complaint and don't see that figure in there. (It's in the cover sheet.)

I specifically see this, which is fairly boilerplate:

Milberg Coleman. They're not getting an hourly fee (unless the client is successful) -- the clients are almost certainly on contingency.

js1993

Lawyers were fishing around this four years ago, though. Most of those affected apparently weren't as innocent as they claimed.

Adam1222

​​​​​​Yes, hence my earlier reference to the unclean hands doctrine.

Adam1222

I'm a little confused by your posts in this thread, as they suggest you have a lot of information about the attorneys thought process, work product, and selection of class representatives. (I have to assume you are not one of the lawyers on the team, as no lawyer in such a situation would be foolish enough to be posting like that here.). Since I think Flyertalk posts *already* pose a threat to the fraudulent concealment theory, if you *do* have insight into the details of the case formulation, you may want to avoid subjecting yourself to discovery by continuing to share that here.

OssianBlue

I am not in any way affiliated.

Antarius

Beltway2A

Interesting. I'm not familiar with them (but don't really play in those circles), but they seem legitimate and probably have a theory as to why this would survive dismissal. It's just not a bet I would make (the hourly fee bit was a joke about my belief of the likelihood of success).

Adam1222

In that case, your insight into the case selection process and certainty about everything that will unfold in this case is not particularly valuable.