Rule 23(c)(5) Subclasses: Certification, Due Process, Adequate Representation, and Settlement

This CLE webinar will discuss when Rule 23 permits the creation and certification of subclasses, their strategic advantages to both plaintiffs and defendants, and the potential pitfalls that await those who fail to understand them. The panel will discuss the types of problems that subclasses can and cannot resolve, the types of cases and issues where they most often appear, how to define them, and the unique questions and issues subclasses raise with respect to predominance, due process, certification, and settlement.

Plaintiffs can define and propose subclasses to address unique issues or to resolve potential intra-class conflicts of interest. Counsel opposing certification will want to emphasize the intra-class conflict as reason to deny certification and show how subclasses render class treatment unmanageable.

Due process requires adequacy of representation for all class members, including subclasses. Circuit courts have overturned settlements if they see conflicts of interest among subclasses and the failure of class counsel to ensure independent representation of subclasses.

Listen as this experienced panel of class action litigators guides both plaintiff and defense counsel through the effective use of subclasses to resolve the case.