Opinion

In Re General Motors Corp. Pick-Up Truck Fuel Tank Products Liability Litigation

  • 55 F.3d 768
Court
Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Filed
Apr 17, 1995
Author
Gibson
On the bench
Becker, Alito, Gibson, History, Standard, Review, Background, Principles, Rule, Settlement
Cited by
10 cases

stating that an ALJ could consider a portion of a doctor’s diagnosis which appears to be based on a claimant’s own statements as less significant than the doctor’s other findings

How later courts described this case

  • stating that an ALJ could consider a portion of a doctor’s diagnosis which appears to be based on a claimant’s own statements as less significant than the doctor’s other findings
  • “In a bid protest, we follow Administrative Procedure Act § 706 and set aside agency action ‘if it is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.’” (quoting Palladian Partners, Inc. v. United States, 783 F.3d at 1252

Written by the judges who cited it.

The opinion

JOHN R. GIBSON, Senior Circuit Judge,

concurring in the central holding and with the judgment.

The court today issues a truly masterful opinion. I concur fully in the central holding of the court that the district court failed to make adequate findings under Rule 23(a) to justify class certification, and that the case must be remanded to the district court for further proceedings, and amplification of the record. I concur fully in the reasoning of the court that supports this conclusion and holding, and concur specifically in Parts I, II, III, IV.A, ■ D, E, F, and V.A. and B.l of the opinion.

In addition, I certainly agree that it follows that the district court on remand must consider further the issues of the adequacy of representation, whether the settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate, and if reached, issues relating to attorneys’ fees.

With respect to the remainder of the opinion, I am of the thought that some of the discussion is simply not required to support the holding we reach, specifically Part IV.B and C. In view of the fact that we are remanding for adequate findings under Rule 23(a), I think we need not reach the issue of whether the class requisites have been made on the current record, as we can anticipate that the district court will conduct further proceedings and make additional record in order to fully support such findings. Thus, I think Part V.B.2 dealing with adequacy of representation, Part VI dealing with whether the settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate on the record before us, and Part VII dealing with issues relating to the attorneys’ fees simply need not be addressed in detail as they may come before this court on a far different record after remand.

I must make clear that I have misgivings about not joining in the full opinion. The opinion is a most thorough and scholarly analysis of the numerous issues surrounding settlement of class actions and approval of settlement classes. It will stand as the opinion of the court. My concerns are simply that the court has discussed areas that it need not reach.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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