Hall v. Rite-Aid

Case Updates

In the coalition amicus letter, the U.S. Chamber asked the court to grant Rite-Aid’s petition for review and clarify the legal standards for class certification. The brief argues that the decision of the lower court needs to be reviewed because under the current holding, a class proponent can overcome the predominantly individualized nature of the inquiry necessary to resolve class members’ claims under the correct legal standard by the simple expedient of raising questions about the nature of that standard and declaring that legal dispute to be a “common” issue. If the decision remains available as precedent to be followed by California trial courts, the rule it articulates would lead to the prolonged class treatment of disputes that as a matter of law are unsuited to the class device, imposing unwarranted litigation costs. The brief points out that the class action devise provided by Code of Civil Procedures section 382 allows persons whose claims turn on common issues to resolve their claims en masse using common evidence that establishes claim elements pertinent to each class member. The class device is designed to provide a means to determine the claims of many persons simultaneously through the use of common evidence, not to provide a means of bringing extraordinary settlement pressure to bear upon a defendant before the court has even decided what the plaintiff class would have to prove in order to prevail. Finally the brief points out that the class device is designed to provide a means to determine the claims of many persons simultaneously through the use of common evidence, not to provide a means of bringing extraordinary settlement pressure to bear upon a defendant before the court has even decided what the plaintiff class would have to prove in order to prevail.

The Chamber filed the brief jointly with the California Chamber of Commerce and the Retail Litigation Center, Inc.

Donald M. Falk of Mayer Brown LLP represented the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as co-counsel to the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center.