Merits Ruling Before Class Certification Okay

In Clark v. Shackleford Farms Partnership, decided August 18, the Second Circuit held that, in a putative class action, a trial court may decide defendant's motion for summary judgment before deciding class certification. "Whereas there is abundant jurisprudence standing for the proposition that it is improper for the trial court to consider the merits of a case in a class certification hearing, we find no jurisprudence that holds that it is improper for the trial court to consider the merits of the case prior to a class certification hearing. Therefore, although it would be erroneous for a trial court to look to the merits of the underlying action as one of the factors in making its determination about whether a class should be certified, it would not be improper to do so in the case sub judice, because there has not been a class certification hearing."

Posted by RPW at August 24, 2004 10:07 AM