Objections to Motions for Certification

accessibility and communication between parties and the judicial officer, can foster a more cooperative process and encourage outcomes that are mutually acceptable. 30 The unique communication techniques and effective judicial management employed through this program may help bring all parties to a position where they can agree on appropriate terms of settlement, thus leading to a higher rate of certification through settlement as opposed to certification through a litigated motion. Support for this hypothesis can be seen in table 7 which compares the means of certification in program courts versus nonprogram courts.

Certified as part of settlement Certified by motion Certified by both means Total certified

Nonprogram courts Program courts

54% 79%

40% 17%

6% 100%

4% 100% Table 7. Means of certification in program courts versus nonprogram courts31

The rate of certification reached through a classwide settlement agreement is almost 50% higher in program courts, while the rate of cases certified by motion is less than half that of nonprogram courts.

Objections to Motions for Certification

The filing of a motion for certification significantly changes the course of litigation, precipitating additional activity by opposing counsel and by the court. Objections to the motion were filed in over 70% of cases with a motion for certification (118 of 166 cases), and they were filed relatively quickly after the motion itself. The median time between filing of the motion and the objection is just 63 days. In addition, the court is much more likely to issue a ruling on the motion for certification if an objection to the motion is filed.

No ruling on motion Motion for certification denied Motion for certification granted Total

No objection filed Objection filed

71% 20%

8% 27%

21% 53%

100%

100% Table 8. Outcome of motions for certification, if objection to motion was filed32

Table 8 shows that more than 70% of cases in which an objection was not filed were disposed without a ruling on the motion for certification itself. In contrast, only 20% of cases in which an

30 See www.courtinfo.ca.gov/programs/innovations/documents/SI_Brief_ComplexCivLit.pdf 31 See appen. A, table A.5 for full data. 32 See appen. A, table A.6 for full data.