In a victory that potentially saved our client NOVA Information Systems over $4.5 million, Judge Newkirk, of the State Court of Fulton County, denied class certification in Hoffman v. NOVA Information Systems and First Union National Bank, after hearing arguments on November 19, 2001.

The plaintiffs sought to certify a class of 134,399 individuals that were charged a $40 fee by NOVA for Year 2000 compliance efforts. In an effort lead by Chris Galanek, ably assisted by Ross Mansbach & Jen Dempsey, NOVA argued that liability could only be determined in this case on a "contract-by-contract basis," and thus, class certification was inappropriate under Georgia law.

A team of paralegals, lead by Cyndy Schroeder and including Joellen Bringardner, Lacy English, and Ava Tuber, spent many tireless hours gathering the information on which Judge Newkirk based his decision. Their efforts showed the court that the contracts on which plaintiffs relied were not form contracts, as the plaintiffs argued, but contracts with varying choice of law, choice of forum, modification, and fee provisions.