Court Opinion

ID: 9815932
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 02:31:30.753589+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:03:42.791168
License: Public Domain

JOHN R. GIBSON, Senior Circuit Judge,
concurring in the central holding and with the judgment.
The court today issues a truly masterful opinion. I concur fully in the central holding of the court that the district court failed to make adequate findings under Rule 23(a) to justify class certification, and that the case must be remanded to the district court for further proceedings, and amplification of the record. I concur fully in the reasoning of the court that supports this conclusion and holding, and concur specifically in Parts I, II, III, IV.A, ■ D, E, F, and V.A. and B.l of the opinion.
In addition, I certainly agree that it follows that the district court on remand must consider further the issues of the adequacy of representation, whether the settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate, and if reached, issues relating to attorneys’ fees.
With respect to the remainder of the opinion, I am of the thought that some of the discussion is simply not required to support the holding we reach, specifically Part IV.B and C. In view of the fact that we are remanding for adequate findings under Rule 23(a), I think we need not reach the issue of whether the class requisites have been made on the current record, as we can anticipate that the district court will conduct further proceedings and make additional record in order to fully support such findings. Thus, I think Part V.B.2 dealing with adequacy of representation, Part VI dealing with whether the settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate on the record before us, and Part VII dealing with issues relating to the attorneys’ fees simply need not be addressed in detail as they may come before this court on a far different record after remand.
I must make clear that I have misgivings about not joining in the full opinion. The opinion is a most thorough and scholarly analysis of the numerous issues surrounding settlement of class actions and approval of settlement classes. It will stand as the opinion of the court. My concerns are simply that the court has discussed areas that it need not reach.