Supreme Court Decision Alert - March 27, 2013

Keywords: class actions, Class Certification Standards, Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23,

Today the Supreme Court issued one decision, described below, of interest to the business community.

Class Actions—Class Certification Standards

Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, No. 11-864 (previously discussed in the June 26, 2012, Docket Report)

An important and recurring issue in class actions is whether a district court must consider particular merits issues when deciding whether to certify a class under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23. Today, in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, No. 11-864, the Supreme Court reversed the certification of an antitrust class action because the district court failed to conduct a "rigorous analysis" of whether the testimony of the plaintiffs' damages expert satisfies Rule 23(b)(3)'s requirement that "questions of law or fact common to class members predominate" over individualized questions. The lower courts had