Keywords: Adequacy, Avritt v. Reliastar Life Ins. Co., Class Certification, commonality, Denney v. Beutsche Bank AG, Eighth Circuit, Hill v. Vanderbilt Capital Advisors LLC, motion to strike class allegations
Here's the situation: You're facing a class action in federal court in which the plaintiffs define the putative class so broadly as to encompass many people who weren't injured by the alleged wrongdoing. For example, consider a false-advertising class action on behalf of "all purchasers" of a product that the vast majority of purchasers would have used without any problem whatsoever, meaning that the alleged rarely occurring (or entirely hypothetical) defect that the defendant failed to disclose makes no difference to them. What's the best way to attack this weakness in the complaint?
One option would be to characterize the problem as a lack of Article III standing. Article III allows courts to hear a case only if the plaintiff has suffered an injury in fact that is fairly traceable to the defendant's conduct and that could be redressed by a favorable decision from the court. In our hypo, the defendant...
