Gatekeeping & Class Certification: The Eleventh Circuit’s Stringent Approach to Admitting Expert Evidence in Support of Class Certification

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 is silent on whether evidence offered in support of a motion for class certification must be admissible under the Federal Rules of Evidence. The Supreme Court has not addressed this issue, and there is currently no authoritative framework for incorporating all or some of the federal evidentiary rules into the class certification process. Resultantly, circuit courts are split on this question and have coalesced among several different approaches. The Eleventh Circuit follows a rigorous evidentiary standard in which evidence offered in support of class certification generally must be admissible under the Federal Rules of Evidence.

This Article examines how district courts in the Eleventh Circuit have applied this standard in class action litigation and how those results compare with district courts in other circuits. Based on our review, we conclude that this more rigorous evidentiary standard promotes judicial economy and preserves party resources.