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Class Warfare: The Eighth Circuit Clamps Down On Consumer Class Actions Under Rule 23(B)(3), Caleb Wagner

Missouri Law Review

This Note will discuss a lawsuit, brought on behalf of North Dakota insurance policyholders, which challenged a scheme by their insurance company to reduce payments on medical claims. Though the trial court allowed the suit to proceed as a class action, the Eighth Circuit found this decision improper and ruled that the class must be decertified.4 In doing so, the Eighth Circuit did not merely apply the recent Supreme Court rulings disfavoring class actions but also extended them. This Note will argue that these precedents should instead be narrowly construed so that the goals of class litigation may be achieved.