Opinion ID: 6352847
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Superiority and Predominance

Text: Last, Shelter challenges the court’s ruling that a class action would be superior and that common questions predominate. These arguments address the same underlying concerns, so we address them together. Koppers, 2020 Ark. 354, at 9 (“The superiority requirement is closely related to predominance.”). Shelter argues that individualized issues about each class member’s particular claim—for example, whether a class member even has standing to make a claim— would make class-wide adjudication impossible. For this same reason, Shelter argues, the class action would not be a superior method to resolve each class member’s claim. These arguments do not convince us that the court abused its discretion when it concluded that common issues predominated and the class-action mechanism was superior. Whether Shelter’s policy and practice breached the contract or caused unjust enrichment predominates over individual questions like lack of standing and other affirmative defenses. This is because the focus of the predominance inquiry is not an individual’s right to recover, but the 2 Koppers, 2020 Ark. 354, at 5. 3 City of Conway v. Shumate, 2017 Ark. 36, at 7, 511 S.W.3d 319, 325. 4 Indus. Welding Supplies of Hattiesburg, LLC v. Pinson, 2019 Ark. 325, at 8, 587 S.W.3d 540, 547. 10 defendant’s underlying liability. Simpson Hous. Sols., LLC v. Hernandez, 2009 Ark. 480, at 18, 347 S.W.3d 1, 13. And the class-action mechanism provides a superior way to adjudicate this issue, which can be resolved in a single forum rather than in multiple lawsuits. Philip Morris, 2015 Ark. 73, at 14, 462 S.W.3d at 321. Given the broad discretion afforded circuit courts in this area, we find that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in certifying the class. Affirmed. KEMP, C.J., and BAKER and WOMACK, JJ., dissent.