Supreme Court Docket Report - December 7, 2010

Originally published December 7, 2010

Keywords: class certification, greenhouse gases, emissions, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure, nuisance claims

Yesterday the Supreme Court granted certiorari in two cases of interest to the business community:

• Class Certification—Rule 23(b)
• Emissions of Greenhouse Gases—Federal Common Law Nuisance Claims

Class Certification—Rule 23(b)

To be certified, a class must meet all the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a)—numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy—and at least one of the three requirements set forth in Rule 23(b). Rule 23(b)(2) allows certification when "final injunctive relief or declaratory relief is appropriate respecting the class as a whole." But Rule 23(b)(2) does not expressly authorize class actions seeking monetary relief, and, according to the advisory committee notes, "does not extend to cases in which the appropriate final relief relates exclusively or predominantly