Opinion ID: 593181
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: the petitions regarding the phase i trial plan

Text: 150 Finally, we turn to Petitions Nos. 92-1014 (filed jointly by Asten Group, Dana, Pfizer, Pittsburgh Corning, and W.R. Grace) and 92-1084 (filed by Kaiser Cement), which challenge different aspects of the district court's plan for the trial of Phase I. 151
152 As just discussed, the district court decided that Phase I of the trial would cover only claims of conspiracy and concerted action. These claims are crucial to the class plaintiffs' overall strategy because they have had considerable difficulty specifically identifying which individual defendant's products appear in their schools. They therefore seek to hold all the defendants jointly liable on the theory that all defendants jointly conspired to conceal the dangers of asbestos and asbestos-containing products, thereby exacerbating the harm caused by any individual defendant's products. It appears that a desire to promote settlement motivated the district court to try this issue first: if the plaintiffs were to prevail in Phase I, the defendants would risk potentially massive liability were they also to lose at subsequent stages of litigation; if, on the other hand, the plaintiffs were to lose in Phase I, their position would be substantially weakened. 153 The gravamen of the joint petition is that the district court lacks jurisdiction to try the issue of conspiracy and concert of action before what petitioners claim is the logically prior issue of liability for the underlying tort. In the petitioners' view, no cognizable case or controversy exists because Phase I would try a hypothetical (or at least unripe) issue in that it would have to assume the outcome of a later trial. The petition also alleges that Phase I would violate the defendants' Seventh Amendment rights because different juries sitting for different phases would be deciding inextricably interwoven factual issues. Finally, the petitioners aver that the district court's plan will hopelessly confuse the jury. 154 In response, the plaintiffs point out that district courts have very broad discretion to order separate trials under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 23 and 42(b), and that such orders are procedural, not jurisdictional, in nature. The district court, in its response to the petition, further explained that, contrary to the petitioners' intimations, it intends to try the conspiracy/concerted action claims in relationship to an underlying tort--the tort of fraudulent concealment and misrepresentation. Both the district court and the plaintiffs also argue that, because no final decisions have been made regarding what future phases will entail, whether different juries will be empaneled, and what later juries might be told of earlier phases, the petitioners' Seventh Amendment claim is not ripe. 155 Fascinating though these issues appear to be, we will not reach any of them at this time, for we believe that they are no longer ripe in light of our decision to disqualify the district court. The petitioners should make their arguments first to the new presiding judge. He or she may have different views as to what procedure, consistent with constitutional limitations, will work best in trying this case. Depending on his or her ruling, the issues raised in the joint petition may become moot. Accordingly, we will dismiss, without prejudice, the petition asserting these Phase I claims. Should the issues reripen, any aggrieved parties may seek relief at that time by interlocutory appeal or by petition for an extraordinary writ, if either means is appropriate (an issue we similarly do not reach). 156
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.