Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates v. Monique Russell, et al.

Rule 23(b)(3) mandates that when a party seeks to certify a class action that involves both common and individual issues, certification is proper when the common issues predominate over the individual issues and a class action is a superior method of adjudicating the controversy as a whole. Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(3). The decision below holds that there is an alternate route to certification under Rule 23(b)(3), which allows certification even when the common issues do not predominate over the individual issues for a single claim. Under this theory, if certification of common issues is “appropriate” under Rule 23(c)(4), a court analyzes predominance under Rule 23(b)(3) by considering only the certified (common) issues, ignoring the uncertified (individual) issues. The question presented is: Whether, when an action involves both common and individual questions, a court may certify common questions for class treatment under Rule 23(b)(3) without finding that the common questions predominate over the individual questions.