Opinion ID: 593181
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Adjudicating the Case According to the Tort Standards of the Strictest Jurisdiction

Text: 157 Throughout this litigation, an overriding concern of both the district court and this court has been the manageability of the class action. The defendants originally opposed class certification on the ground that because so many different state laws would have to be applied common issues could never predominate and the class action would be unmanageable. Counsel for the class plaintiffs repeatedly responded that the differences in state laws were not that great and that the plaintiffs were willing to prove their case according to the law of the strictest jurisdiction. Relying in part on those two representations, and on the possibility of certifying subclasses under Rule 23(c)(4), the district court certified the class. In re Asbestos School Litigation, 104 F.R.D. 422, 434 (E.D.Pa.1984). We affirmed that certification, albeit with explicit doubts about manageability and with the caveat that the district court could revoke the certification if that seemed appropriate. In re School Asbestos Litigation, 789 F.2d 996, 1010-11 (3d Cir.1986). 34 158 The district court has ruled on a variety of summary judgment motions according to the laws of particular states. It is not entirely clear, however, how it intended to try the case to the jury. At the pretrial conference on December 3, 1991, the parties thrashed out the issue without clear result. 35 At that hearing, the district court expressed its inclination to think further about the matter. In Pretrial Order 353, however, issued that same day, the district court directed the plaintiffs to file a submission stating the strictest jurisdiction's law on each element, and directed the defendants to respond. The district court further declared that the standard of proof would be clear and convincing evidence. At the same time, however, the plaintiffs were also directed to file proposed interrogatories that presumably would be used to mold the jury's verdict to the law of each jurisdiction. 159 The parties filed their submissions while continuing their heated debate. When the district court stayed proceedings in light of other pending petitions for mandamus, it had yet to issue a definitive ruling on the issue. Following the district court's suggestion that the parties file any lurking mandamus petitions, Kaiser Cement filed petition No. 92-1084. That petition alleges that the district court plans to try the case according to the law of the strictest state, rather than according to the law of each individual jurisdiction, and that the district court's approach runs afoul of the Supreme Court's ruling in Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Shutts, 472 U.S. 797, 105 S.Ct. 2965, 86 L.Ed.2d 628 (1985). 160 Shutts held that due process requires that in a class action based on the laws of separate jurisdictions the adjudicating court must apply to any particular claim the substantive law of a jurisdiction having a significant interest in that claim. See id. at 814-23, 105 S.Ct. at 2976-80. Courts may not simply apply the law of the forum state or, presumably, a hybrid or composite of state laws. Thus, Shutts suggests that each plaintiff in this case has the right to have its claims judged according to the law of its jurisdiction, not according to that of a putative or imaginary strictest state. 161 At first blush, one might question why Kaiser Cement, a defendant, has standing to raise this objection. After all, the strictest-state standard appears to make the plaintiffs' case more difficult to prove, and, thus, to advantage the defendants. Kaiser Cement's concern, however, is that even if it wins against the class plaintiffs, and even if the class plaintiffs have waived their Shutts claim, its victory will be hollow because absent class members from more lenient jurisdictions will be able to challenge the judgment collaterally. Kaiser Cement notes that the opt-out notice did not inform the class members that they were waiving their right to have their claims adjudicated according to their own states' (possibly more lenient) laws, and that they therefore could claim inadequate representation by the class plaintiffs. According to the petition, the current trial plan binds Kaiser Cement if it loses, but does not bind absent plaintiffs if it wins. Kaiser Cement thus views trial as unwinnable from a practical standpoint and, hence, fundamentally unfair, in violation of both Rule 23 and the Due Process Clause. 162 We agree that Kaiser Cement has standing to raise this claim, but we do not believe that the issue is ripe for our adjudication. First, it is far from clear how the district court intended to resolve issues other than the standard of proof. Second, even if the district court had taken a clear position on what law to apply, a new district judge will now be presiding over the case. If the newly assigned district judge insists on holding the class plaintiffs strictly to their earlier representations, then they or the defendants may seek review from this court at that time. 163 We expect that that will not prove necessary, however. Despite the barbs that have been traded and the parties' penchant for painting each other with black hats, it appears that both the class plaintiffs and the defendants agree, for different reasons, that Shutts requires the district court to apply the law of the individual jurisdictions. The plaintiffs believe that the case will be manageable if issues are put to the jury according to special interrogatories with the district court later molding the verdict according to the law of each state. The defendants continue to believe that such an approach will be unmanageable, and they therefore desire to have the class action decertified. As we stated in our earlier opinion, however, we believe that the district court will be in a much better position to evaluate and handle such manageability concerns initially, and at this stage we again prefer to defer to its judgment. For now, we simply urge the incoming district judge to examine Shutts carefully before submitting the case to the jury according to the law of a hypothetical strictest state, even if the class plaintiffs once agreed to that approach.