Opinion ID: 4527827
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Basics

Text: Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 23(a) and (b) set the requirements for class certification. Rule 23(a) requires that
all members is impracticable (numerosity); (2) there must be questions of law or fact common to the class (commonality); (3) the claims or defenses of the representative parties must be typical of the claims or defenses of the class (typicality); and (4) the named plaintiffs must fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class (adequacy of representation, or simply adequacy). Marcus v. BMW of N. Am., LLC, 687 F.3d 583, 590–91 (3d Cir. 2012) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Rule 23(b)(3), as relevant here, “requires that (i) common questions of law or fact predominate (predominance), and (ii) the class 10 action is the superior method for adjudication (superiority).” Id. (citation omitted). GSK and Teva challenge only the District Court’s predominance finding. Stated more expansively, a plaintiff “must ‘demonstrate that the element of [the legal claim] is capable of proof at trial through evidence that is common to the class rather than individual to its members.’” Marcus, 687 F.3d at 600 (alteration in original) (quoting Hydrogen Peroxide, 552 F.3d at 311). “Because the nature of the evidence that will suffice to resolve a question determines whether the question is common or individual, a district court must formulate some prediction as to how specific issues will play out in order to determine whether common or individual issues predominate in a given case.” Id. (citation omitted). “If proof of the essential elements of the cause of action requires individual treatment, then class certification is unsuitable.” Hydrogen Peroxide, 552 F.3d at 311 (citation omitted). To determine whether the putative class has satisfied predominance (indeed, all applicable Rule 23 requirements), the District Court must conduct a “rigorous analysis” of the evidence and arguments presented. Id. at 309 (quoting Gen. Tel. Co. of the Sw. v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147, 161 (1982)). That involves three key aspects. First, the court must “find[]” that the requirements of Rule 23 are met and any “[f]actual determinations supporting Rule 23 findings must be made by a preponderance of the evidence.” Id. at 307. Second, “the court must resolve all factual or legal disputes relevant to class certification, even if they overlap with the merits.” Id; see also Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 564 U.S. 338, 351 (2011) (“That [overlap] cannot be helped.”); Marcus, 687 F.3d at 591 (“Rule 23 gives no license to shy away from making factual findings that are necessary to determine whether the Rule’s requirements have been met.”). Third, the court must consider “all relevant evidence and arguments,” including “expert 11 testimony, whether offered by a party seeking class certification or by a party opposing it.” Hydrogen Peroxide, 552 F.3d at 307. If, after all that, the Court is convinced by a preponderance of the evidence that the plaintiffs’ claims are capable of common proof at trial, then the predominance requirement is satisfied.