This week, the Court addresses when individualized issues may
preclude class certification, and considers the public's right
of access to court proceedings seeking third-party assistance with
criminal investigations.
The Court holds that the district court failed to properly
consider whether some class members' receipt of discounts
offsetting a wrongly assessed sales tax created individualized
issues that rendered class certification improper.
The panel: Judges Bea, Ikuta, and Christen,
with Judge Bea writing the opinion and Judge Christen concurring in
part.
Key highlight: "Rule 23 does not demand
proof of who will win or lose at trial. LuLaRoe invoked an
individualized issue—that retailer discounts left some class
members uninjured—and provided evidence that at least some
class members lack meritorious claims because of this issue, thus
summoning the spectre of class-member-by-class-member adjudication.
. . . When a defendant
