Opinion ID: 2834098
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Impact of Contacts with other Jurisdictions

Text: At this point we return to the reason for the choice of law scrutiny—to provide the context for a court’s rigorous analysis of the certification requirements. See id. at 672-73. The court must ensure that the class representative is adequately representing the rights of absent class members in all aspects of the class litigation. The class representative’s burden in this regard stems from the Due Process Clause, which demands “that the named plaintiff at all times adequately represent the interests of the absent class members.” Shutts , 472 U.S. at 812 (citing Hansberry v. Lee , 311 U.S. 32, 42-43, 45 (1940)). Thus, in this case, where there is a significant aggregation of contacts with Texas to apply Texas law constitutionally, the fact that other jurisdictions are implicated by the pleadings raises an issue of adequacy of representation. In a worldwide case like this, where a class representative abandons or chooses not to allege certain claims, including claims that may exist in other jurisdictions, the potential effect of claim preclusion on absent class members raises concerns about the prerequisites of predominance, superiority, typicality, and adequacy. If other jurisdictions’ laws could apply to the transaction, even though only a Texas violation is alleged, the class members who could assert those causes of action may be barred from later pursuing them in a different lawsuit. The laws of other interested jurisdictions may provide certain class members more beneficial remedies or causes of action arising from the same subject matter of the lawsuit. We therefore address the effect of res judicata or claims preclusion on later litigation of claims not alleged or abandoned and how the risk of preclusion may affect class certification.