Issue Preclusion Effect of Class Certification Orders

This Article addresses the peculiarities of issue preclusion in class action certification, particularly after the approval of the American Law Institute’s Principles of the Law of Aggregate Litigation in 2010 and the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Smith v. Bayer Corp. in 2011. After discussing the reasons why orders that deny class certification cannot have issue preclusive effect, this Article analyzes proposals to address the problem.