First District Illinois Appellate Court States Standard Of Review For Class Certification

Affirming certification of a class of plaintiffs who allegedly were overcharged by a moving company, the First District Illinois Court of Appeals stated the standard of review for class certification: “‘The trial court has broad discretion to determine whether a proposed class satisfies the requirements for class certification and should err in favor of maintaining class [certifications].’ … ‘The trial court’s certification of a class will be disturbed only upon a clear abuse of discretion or an application of impermissible legal criteria.’”

The court described “abuse of discretion” (“arbitrary, fanciful, or unreasonable, or when no reasonable person would take the same view”), but did not state whether “clear abuse of discretion” called for anything more.

Get the whole opinion, Ramirez v. Midway Moving and Storage, Inc., No. 1-07-0997 (12/11/07), by clicking here.