2013 Supreme Court Preview: A Look at Cases That Could Impact ...

Marx v. General Revenue Corporation

Olivea Marx filed a complaint under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act after General Revenue Corporation sought to collect a student loan. Marx said she was subjected to threatening phone calls and a fax sent to her employer seeking information about her employment status. A trial court agreed with GRC that the fax to her employer did not violate the law. Pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 54(d), the court ordered Marx to pay GRC's court costs. AARP's friend-of-the-court brief in this case argues that the FDCPA prevents the costs from being shifted to a losing FDCPA plaintiff unless the lawsuit was filed in bad faith and for the purposes of harassment.

Comcast Corp. v. Behrend

This case will examine whether class action certification can be granted without first proving class damages, as opposed to simply finding that the damages are capable of being awarded on a class-wide basis. The plaintiffs challenged Comcast cable practices, claiming that they are anticompetitive and raise the cost of basic cable for viewers. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit agreed with the district court that the plaintiffs need not prove their damages to have the class certified, because the plaintiffs proved the damages are capable of being proved on a class-wide basis at trial. This case has the potential to severely limit the ability of consumers to enforce their rights, because it could make it too difficult and expensive to bring class action litigation.

FTC v. Phoebe Putney Health Systems

Can a state block federal antitrust laws when a local hospital authority buys the only competing hospital in a rural county? This could affect the cost and delivery of health care because there is extensive evidence that hospital mergers have been shown to increase prices and reduce quality of care.

Source: http://www.aarp.org/politics-society/government-elections/info-12-2012/2013-supreme-court-preview.html

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