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D. C., a Minor, By and Through His Guardian ad Litem, Helen Garter v. San Diego County, California, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 18-55853 · judgment November 5, 2019

Certiorari denied · October 5, 2020

Pre-decision estimate: 1% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Questions presented

Does rule 23(c)(4) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“Rule 23(c)(4)”) require only that common questions predominate over individual ones within the specific issues that are certified (i.e., liability) rather than in the entire cause of action (i.e., liability and damages)?
When determining whether certification of a liability issue class is superior to individualized determinations of liability, is it an abuse of discretion for the court to consider individualized damages issues?
Does collateral estoppel apply to a governmental entity such as the County of San Diego?
Is it an abuse of discretion for the court, when conducting its superiority analysis, to disregard factors such as whether the case has “negative value” and whether, therefore, absent certification class members will be unable to feasibly bring individual suits?

For petitioner
Rachele Renee Byrd
Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP

For respondent
Thomas Dale Bunton
Office of County Counsel

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Oct 05 2020
Petition DENIED.
Jun 24 2020
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2020.
Jun 18 2020
Waiver of right of respondent County of San Diego, et al. to respond filed.
Jun 12 2020
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due July 17, 2020)