Issue Preclusion Effect of Class Certification Orders

Abstract:     
This paper addresses the peculiarities of issue preclusion in class action litigation, particularly after the approval of the American Law Institute’s Principles of the Law of Aggregate Litigation in 2010 and the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Smith v. Bayer Corp. in the summer of 2011. After discussing the reasons why orders that deny class certification cannot have issue-preclusive effect, this paper analyses proposals to address the problem.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 48

Keywords: class actions, issue preclusion, class certification

Accepted Paper Series