{"id":2277,"date":"2025-07-07T09:36:25","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T13:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/?p=2277"},"modified":"2025-07-07T09:36:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T13:36:27","slug":"dmcar-mid-year-review-2025-2026-flsa-conditional-certifications-remain-high-and-so-far-in-2025-courts-are-granting-more-class-certification-motions-overall-compared-to-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/2025\/07\/07\/dmcar-mid-year-review-2025-2026-flsa-conditional-certifications-remain-high-and-so-far-in-2025-courts-are-granting-more-class-certification-motions-overall-compared-to-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"DMCAR Mid-Year Review \u2013 2025\/2026: FLSA Conditional Certifications Remain High, And So Far In 2025 Courts Are Granting More Class Certification Motions Overall Compared To 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr. and Jennifer A. Riley<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duane Morris Takeaway:<\/em><\/strong> In the first half of 2025, across all major types of class actions, courts issued rulings on more than 211 motions to grant or deny class certification, and plaintiffs succeeded in obtaining or maintaining certification in 145 rulings, with an overall success rate of 69%. In contrast, in 2024, the plaintiffs\u2019 class action bar succeeded in certifying class actions 63% of the time. However, plaintiffs have not been as successful so far this year as compared to 2023, when courts granted 72% of class certification motions, or 2022 when courts granted 74% of class certification motions.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across all major types of class actions, courts issued rulings last year on 432 motions to grant or to deny class certification. Of these, plaintiffs succeeded in obtaining or maintaining certification in 272 rulings, for an overall success rate of 63%. In 2023, by comparison, courts issued rulings on 451 motions to grant or to deny class certification, and plaintiffs succeeded in obtaining or maintaining certification in 324 rulings, an overall success rate of nearly 72%. In 2022, courts issued rulings on 335 motions to grant or to deny class certification, and plaintiffs succeeded in obtaining or maintaining certification in 247 rulings, an overall success rate of nearly 74%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2022 \u2013 74%
2023 \u2013 72%
2024 \u2013 63%
2025 \u2013 69%<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2025, the number of motions that courts considered varied significantly by subject matter area, and the number of rulings varied across substantive areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The following list summarizes the results in each of ten key areas of class action litigation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WARN \u2013 100% granted \/ 0% denied (2 of 2 granted \/ 0 of 2 denied)
Antitrust \u2013 92% granted \/ 8% denied (11 of 12 granted \/ 1 of 12 denied)
ERISA \u2013 92% granted \/ 8% denied (11 of 12 granted \/ 1 of 12 denied)
FLSA \/ Wage & Hour (Conditional Certification) \u2013 82% granted \/ 18% denied (58 of 71 granted \/ 13 of 71 denied)
Securities Fraud \u2013 75% granted \/ 25% denied (12 of 16 granted \/ 4 of 16 denied)
TCPA \u2013 67% granted \/ 33% denied (4 of 6 granted \/ 2 of 6 denied)
Consumer Fraud \u2013 58% granted \/ 42% denied (15 of 26 granted \/ 11 of 26 denied)
Civil Rights \u2013 56% granted \/ 44% denied (19 of 34 granted \/ 15 of 34 denied)
Discrimination \u2013 55% granted \/ 45% denied (6 of 11 granted \/ 5 of 11 denied)
Privacy \u2013 43% granted \/ 57% denied (3 of 7 granted \/ 4 of 7 denied)
FCRA \/ FDCPA \u2013 40% granted \/ 60% denied (2 of 5 granted \/ 3 of 5 denied)
FLSA \/ Wage & Hour (Decertification) \u2013 33% granted \/ 67% denied (1 of 3 granted \/ 2 of 3 denied)
Products Liability \/ Mass Torts \u2013 33% granted \/ 67% denied (1 of 3 granted \/ 2 of 3 denied)
RICO \u2013 25% granted \/ 75% denied (1 of 4 granted \/ 3 of 4 denied)
Data Breach \u2013 0% granted \/ 100% denied (0 of 2 granted \/ 2 of 2 denied)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plaintiffs\u2019 class action bar obtained the highest rates of success in WARN, antitrust, ERISA, and wage & hour class actions. There have only been two WARN certification rulings in 2025, which were both granted by the court for a 100% success rate. In cases alleging antitrust violations, plaintiffs succeeded in obtaining orders certifying classes in 11 of 12 rulings, for a success rate of 92%. In cases alleging ERISA violations, plaintiffs managed to obtain class certification rulings in 11 of 12 rulings issued during the first half of 2025, a success rate of 92%. And in wage & hour litigation, plaintiffs succeeded in obtaining orders certifying classes and\/or collective actions in 58 of 71 rulings issued during 2025, a success rate of 82%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Courts Issued More Rulings In FLSA Collective Actions and Wage & Hour Class Actions Than In Any Other Areas Of Law<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first half of calendar year 2025, courts issued more certification rulings in FLSA collective actions and wage & hour class actions than in other types of cases. Plaintiffs historically have been able to obtain conditional certification of FLSA collective actions at a high rate, which surely has contributed to the number of filings in this area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From January 1 to July 1, 2025, courts considered more motions for certification in FLSA matters than in any other substantive area. Overall, courts issued 74 rulings. Of these, 71 addressed first-stage motions for conditional certification of collective actions under 29 U.S.C. \u00a7 216(b), and 3 addressed second-stage motions for decertification of collective actions. Of the 71 rulings that courts issued on motions for conditional certification, 58 rulings favored plaintiffs, for a success rate of 82%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These numbers are higher than the numbers observed in 2024, during which courts issued \u00ad\u00ad171 rulings. Of these, 156 addressed first-stage motions for conditional certification of collective actions under 29 U.S.C. \u00a7 216(b), and 15 addressed second-stage motions for decertification of collective actions. Of the 156 rulings that courts issued on motions for conditional certification, 124 rulings favored plaintiffs, for a success rate of 79.5%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the decertification stage, courts generally have conducted a closer examination of the evidence and, as a result, defendants historically have enjoyed an equal if not higher rate of success on these second-stage motions as compared to plaintiffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The results so far in 2025 have not supported that typical success. There have only been 3 rulings thus far that courts issued on motions for decertification of collective actions, and only 1 ruling favored defendants, for a lower success rate of 33%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An analysis of the rulings demonstrates that a disproportionate number emanated from traditionally pro-plaintiff jurisdictions, including the judicial districts within the Second Circuit (21 decisions) and Third Circuit (12 decisions), which include New York and Pennsylvania, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Takeaways From Certification Statistics Midway Through 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notable thus far at the halfway point of the year, there have been a very small number of rulings emanating from the Fifth and Sixth Circuits (1 and 0 decisions, respectfully), which could account for the high overall conditional certification rate in the wage & hour space, given that these two circuits have imposed new, stricter standards for conditional certification. Plaintiffs likely are shifting their case filings away from these two circuits toward jurisdictions with more lenient, more plaintiff-friendly standards for conditional certification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The numbers no doubt flow from the different standards and approaches that courts in different federal circuits take in evaluating motions for conditional certification and decertification and, in turn, the likelihood of plaintiffs\u2019 success on such motions. If more courts join the Fifth and Sixth Circuits in abandoning the traditional two-step certification process under 29 U.S.C. \u00a7 216(b), and thereby increase the time and expense of gaining a conditional certification order, it may lead to a reshuffling of the deck in terms of where plaintiffs file their cases and the types of claims they pursue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will continue to track class certification trends in 2025 and will report on final numbers in the Duane Morris Class Action Review \u2013 2026<\/em>, which will be published in the first week of January. Stay tuned!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr. and Jennifer A. Riley Duane Morris Takeaway: In the first half of 2025, across all major types of class actions, courts issued rulings on more than 211 motions to grant or deny class certification, and plaintiffs succeeded in obtaining or maintaining certification in 145 rulings, with an overall success rate of … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “DMCAR Mid-Year Review \u2013 2025\/2026: FLSA Conditional Certifications Remain High, And So Far In 2025 Courts Are Granting More Class Certification Motions Overall Compared To 2024”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":575,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[7,9],"class_list":["post-2277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-class-certification-motions"],"authors":[{"term_id":7,"user_id":575,"is_guest":0,"slug":"gmaatman","display_name":"Gerald L. Maatman, Jr.","avatar_url":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/09\/maatmangerald-100x100.jpg","author_category":"","last_name":"Maatman Jr.","first_name":"Gerald L.","job_title":"","user_url":"https:\/\/www.duanemorris.com\/attorneys\/geraldmaatman.html","description":"Read Gerald's bio.<\/a>"},{"term_id":9,"user_id":576,"is_guest":0,"slug":"jariley","display_name":"Jennifer A. Riley","avatar_url":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/08\/rileyjennifer-100x100.jpg","author_category":"","last_name":"Riley","first_name":"Jennifer A.","job_title":"","user_url":"https:\/\/www.duanemorris.com\/attorneys\/jenniferriley.html","description":"Read Jennifer's bio.<\/a>"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/575"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2277\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2277"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=2277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}