Class Action Litigation: A Comprehensive Guide to Rule 23

51 questions on class action litigation, answered and cited by the UpLaw editorial team.

• Are service awards to named class representatives permitted?
• Can a defendant moot a class action by offering the named plaintiff complete relief?
• Can an objector appeal approval of a class settlement, and what is “objector blackmail”?
• Can a plaintiff create an appeal by voluntarily dismissing the case after certification is denied?
• Can a Rule 23(b)(2) class recover money damages?
• Do all circuits require administrative feasibility as part of ascertainability?
• Does a denial of class certification bind absent putative class members?
• Does a state statute barring class treatment of a claim apply in federal court?
• Does Daubert apply to expert testimony at class certification?
• Does Rule 23 apply with full force to a class certified only for settlement?
• Do individualized damages calculations defeat predominance?
• How are attorney's fees calculated in a coupon settlement?
• How are class counsel's fees calculated in a common-fund case?
• How can a plaintiff get a class action removed under CAFA sent back to state court?
• How do arbitration clauses with class-action waivers defeat class actions?
• How does a “unique defense” against the named plaintiff defeat typicality?
• How does CAFA removal differ from ordinary diversity removal?
• How far may a court look into the merits at class certification?
• How is predominance under Rule 23(b)(3) different from commonality under Rule 23(a)(2)?
• How large must a class be to satisfy numerosity under Rule 23(a)(1)?
• Must every class member have Article III standing before a class is certified?
• What are “clear-sailing” and fee-reversion clauses, and why are they red flags?
• What are the superiority factors under Rule 23(b)(3), and when does superiority fail?
• What did Comcast Corp. v. Behrend actually hold?
• What did TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez hold, and why does it matter to class actions?
• What did Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes change about commonality?
• What does adequacy of representation require under Rule 23(a)(4)?
• What does the “rigorous analysis” requirement mean, and what is the plaintiff's burden of proof at certification?
• What does typicality require, and what work does it actually do?
• What is a class action, and what is Rule 23 designed to accomplish?
• What is a “fail-safe” class, and how do you avoid one?
• What is a “mass action” under CAFA?
• What is American Pipe tolling, and does it apply to a successive class action?
• What is a Rule 23(b)(2) class?
• What is CAFA notice under 28 U.S.C. § 1715, and what happens if it is skipped?
• What is cy pres relief, and when is it acceptable in a class settlement?
• What is issue certification under Rule 23(c)(4), and do all circuits allow it?
• What is mass arbitration, and how are defendants responding to it?
• What is Rule 23(f), and how does interlocutory appeal of a certification order work?
• What is the two-stage settlement approval process under the amended Rule 23(e)?
• What must a Rule 23(c)(2)(B) class notice actually say?
• What notice is required for a Rule 23(b)(3) class, and who pays for it?
• When does the Class Action Fairness Act give a federal court jurisdiction over a class action?
• When is representative or statistical evidence permissible on a classwide basis?
• When may a class be certified under Rule 23(b)(1)?
• Why did adequacy fail in Amchem Products, Inc. v. Windsor, and what is the fix for a structural conflict?
• Why do class members opt out, and what is a “blow provision”?
• Why do courts now scrutinize projected claims rates and reversion clauses in class settlements?
• Why does class certification create settlement pressure even in weak cases?
• Why is a nationwide class asserting state-law claims so hard to certify?
• Why is reliance the make-or-break issue in consumer class actions?