May 10, 2005

9th Outlines Three-Part Test For Class-Certification Review

Focus Column - Litigation - By David Martinez and Dean Martoccia - Rule 23(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that class certification decisions are not immediately reviewable unless the appeals court first grants permission to seek relief by way of interlocutory appeal. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals long had declined to provide guidance on the criteria it would employ in evaluating the contours of this rule - but a unanimous panel of the court recently identified, for the