Court Opinion

ID: 6762475
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-07-21 00:32:58.364037+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T16:02:37.948432
License: Public Domain

H. Brown, J.,
concurring. I join the syllabus and opinion. An order certifying a class action, if it affects a substantial legal right, qualifies as a special proceeding under R.C. 2505.02 and is thus appealable. This was the holding in Amato v. General Motors Corp. (1981), 67 Ohio St. 2d 253, 21 O.O. 3d 158, 423 N.E. 2d 452. That decision has stood for nine years and has neither undermined the stability of the law nor bred great confusion. I am not prepared to overrule Amato.
I write separately because I believe the Ohio law with respect to final appealable orders presents a dilemma when applied to class action issues. If the order certifying a class action is not immediately appealable, the results of a protracted, complex trial (which class actions usually are) could be nullified by an error in the certification which bears no relationship to the validity of the claims of class members (perhaps numbering into the thousands) on the merits.
On the other hand, if certification orders are immediately appealable, an appeal could be used as a tool to delay proceedings.
There is the further problem presented by amendments to class certification. Each time a modification is made to a class order, is that appealable? I do not read today’s decision as a definitive resolution of all appealability questions which may arise from class action determinations.
The problem, as applied to class actions, stems from the requirement in Ohio that an order be classified as appealable (in which case an appeal must be taken or lost) or nonappealable (in which case no appeal may be taken) regardless of the desirability of having the issue determined before the resources of the parties and the court are expended on the merits.
What is needed is a rule which would make immediate appeals of class certifications permissible but not mandatory. Discretion should be given to the trial judge to determine when the interests of justice and judicial economy will be served by review of a class action order before launching into the trial on the merits.
Such an approach is permitted in the federal courts. Federal district courts may certify for appeal to the courts of appeals an order certifying a class, pursuant to Section 1292, Title 28, U.S. Code, which states in part:
“(b) When a district judge, in making in a civil action an order not otherwise appealable under this section, shall be of the opinion that such order involves a controlling question of law as to which there is substantial ground for difference of opinion and that an immediate appeal from the order may *72materially advance the ultimate termination of the litigation, he shall so state in writing in such order. The Court of Appeals which would have jurisdiction of an appeal of such action may thereupon, in its discretion, permit an appeal to be taken from such order, if application is made to it within ten days after the entry of the order: Provided, however, That application for an appeal hereunder shall not stay proceedings in the district court unless the district judge or the Court of Appeals or a judge thereof shall so order.”
Other states have adopted rules which attempt to solve the peculiar “appealability” problems presented in class actions. See, e.g., Ark. App. R. 2(a)(9); Ga. Ct. App. R. 29; Ill. Supreme Court Rule 308; Ind. App. R. 4(B)(6); and Tex. App. R. 43(a).
I urge the consideration of a rule in Ohio which would avoid the necessity of choosing between the positions taken in today’s case by the majority and dissenting opinions. Until such time as a rule change is accomplished, however, I believe that we should adhere to precedent and that orders certifying a class action are appealable under the “special proceeding” language of R.C. 2505.02.