We recently noted that the Ninth Circuit had granted a Rule 23(f) petition in Chen v. Allstate Insurance Co.—on the issue whether a named plaintiff can refuse an offer of judgment for full relief and persist in litigating a class action—and was expected to issue a briefing schedule soon. Leaving aside the substance of the case, there is nothing unusual about the practice the Ninth Circuit followed in Chen. That is standard operating procedure virtually everywhere, although in a few rare instances courts of appeals have ordered briefing and argument on both the Rule 23(f) petition and the
Continue Reading The Seventh Circuit’s Unique Approach To Handling Rule 23(f) Petitions
In re Rail Freight Fuel Surcharge Antitrust Litig.
D.C. Circuit Overturns Certification of Antitrust Class Action and Requires Reconsideration in Light of Comcast Corp. v. Behrend
By Archis A. Parasharami on
Posted in Class Certification, Predominance
Class-action lawyers on both sides of the “v.” have been debating the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision earlier this year in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend. Last week, the D.C. Circuit delivered its answer in In re Rail Freight Fuel Surcharge Antitrust Litigation, the most significant opinion thus far to address Comcast. As the D.C. Circuit put it in a unanimous opinion by Judge Brown, “[b]efore [Comcast v.] Behrend, the case law was far more accommodating to class certification under Rule 23(b)(3).” But Comcast places that case law in doubt: When class certification rests on expert economic testimony—which is increasingly the case—“[i]t is now clear . . . that Rule 23 not only authorizes a hard look at the soundness of statistical models that purport to show predominance—the rule commands it” (emphasis added). That powerful holding makes the Rail Freight decision especially important for defendants opposing class certification.