It makes less sense to focus on the death of the unnamed plaintiffs' claims because the unnamed plaintiffs are not foreclosed from bringing their own action or from seeking to be added as a named plaintiff to the instant action. However, if the named plaintiffs are truly unable to proceed with the case because the certification is denied, the action will have to be dismissed, either voluntarily or involuntarily, and, for them, the case is dead. For this reason, we view the death knell doctrine from the position of the named plaintiffs. Because in this case there is nothing in the record to indicate that the named plaintiffs are unable or unwilling to proceed with the action, the result of the denial of class certification is not the death of this action. If we were to accept this appeal and rule that the trial court erred in denying class certification, the case would resume as a class action.
Class certifications are always subject to alteration or amendment until final judgment is entered.
See M.R. Civ. Presumably, any modifications to the class description or division of a subclass into additional subclasses or decertification of one or all subclasses would be subject to immediate appeal in the same way that the first order denying the class certification is appealable. Therefore, there is the potential for several time- consuming appeals as the litigation progresses. Furthermore, if we accept this appeal and affirm the denial of class certification, the rationale behind the judicial economy exception will not be satisfied because in all likelihood the affirmance will not end the litigation given that the named plaintiffs have not made any indication to the trial court or us that the action will terminate as to them. If the case proceeds to the merits, the losing party will be entitled to an appeal.