Category Archives 3rd Circuit

Although this blog is focused on class action decisions originating out of the 8th and 10th Circuits where your humble authors live, we would be remiss not to mention two recent decisions out of the Third Circuit which address Rule 23's long-standing implicit requirement of ascertainability. Earlier this month, in Hayes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., No. 12-2522, 2013 WL 3957757 (3d Cir. Aug. 2, 2013), the court vacated a trial court's decision granting class certification, holding in part that a plaintiff must demonstrate a reliable and administratively feasible method to ascertain the class.  In Hayes, the district court certified a class of consumers who bought extended warranties for "as is" products, as those warranties specifically excluded "as is" products, despite the fact that Wal-Mart had no method for determining how many such warranties were sold.  The Third Circuit, however, reiterated that “if class members are impossible to identify without extensive…