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Philip Morris Inc. v. Angeletti5/16/2000
s membership in this case: Respondents have averred that " n estimated 732,000 Maryland adults smoke cigarettes," that " housands of adolescents begin smoking for the first time every day" and that " housands more Maryland residents use smokeless obacco roducts." (Plaintiffs' Fourth Amended Complaint at 44) [hereinafter Pls.' 4th Am. Compl.]. It is not feasible at this point to determine, from any numbers now-or made-available, what persons within these groups would qualify as injured by or addicted to Petitioners' tobacco products. Suffice it to say, however, that the potential number of Phase III trials, as these estimates now stand, is daunting indeed.
In the interim, judicial and other resources would be expended upon the following: discovery skirmishes, motions in limine, legal disputes over Maryland and probably foreign law, preparation for litigation, litigation, and a host of other unforeseeable conflicts between two well-represented, adverse and resourceful parties. We emphasize this case does not equate with garden variety class action litigation. The waste of judicial and other resources, should the Circuit Court's Class Certification Order be overturned on appeal only after a Phase II or Phase III verdict, would be without precedent in this State.
No citation to authority is required for us to note the crowded dockets in the Circuit Courts of this State; this is especially true in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, where this litigation is scheduled to occur. We have explained before, albeit in a different context, that an order which has the direct effect of terminating litigation is an important issue, even if that order involves only a single litigant. See Clark v. Elza, 286 Md. 208, 213, 406 A.2d 922, 925 (1979). See also CSR Limited v. Link, 925 S.W.2d 591, 596 (Tex. 1996) ("The most efficient use of the state's judicial resources is another factor we consider in determining whether an ordinary appeal would provide an adequate remedy."). That equation increases exponentially when the litigation is as complex as that approved by the Class Certification Order in this case. As one California court has recognized, "Relief by mandamus is appropriate where it will prevent a needless, expensive trial and an ultimate reversal." City of Huntington Beach v. Superior Court, 144 Cal. Rptr. 236, 239 (Cal. Ct. App. 1978). See also Blue Chip Stamps v. Superior Court, 556 P.2d 755, 759 (Cal. 1976) (issuing writ of mandamus to vacate class certification order where, as matter of law, proposed methods of recovery by plaintiffs did not correspond to damages originally suffered); City of Glendale v. Superior Court, 23 Cal. Rptr. 2d 305, 310 (Cal. Ct. App. 1993).
Given the judicial and other resources that would be irrevocably wasted should the Circuit Court's Class Certification Order not be overturned until after a Phase II or Phase III judgment, we will not permit this case to proceed that far if we are convinced presently that reversal of the Class Certification Order is mandated. In ruling interlocutory judicial review of a lower court's class certification proper because of the existence of irreparable harm, a Louisiana intermediate appellate court characterized that harm as follows:
" f, at a later time, after trial on the merits and review, it is determined that the trial judge erred in permitting the matter to be tried as a class action, immeasurable expense and innumerable wasted court days will have resulted. Furthermore, litigants in other matters will have been needlessly delayed." Hampton v. Illinois Central RR Co., 730 So. 2d 1091, 1093 (La. Ct. App. 1999) (quoting State ex rel Guste v. General Motors Corp., 354 So. 2d 770, 774 (La. Ct. App. 1978)). Th
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 Maryland Personal Injury Attorneys
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