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Federal Appeals Court Tightens Standards For Class Certification in Antitrust Actions
February 2, 2009 Full PDF
Last week the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit vacated and remanded another order from a district court certifying a class of antitrust plaintiffs on the grounds that the lower court applied too lenient a standard of proof. The decision, In re Plastics Additives Antitrust Litigation, underscores the impact of the Court of Appeals's recent clarification of class certification standards in In re Hydrogen Peroxide Antitrust Litigation, and definitively places the Third Circuit (which includes New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the Virgin Islands) on the growing list of appellate courts that are insisting on stricter standards of proof to support class certification decisions.