State ex rel. Surnaik Holdings of West Virginia, LLC v. Honorable Thomas Bedell (Signed Opinion)
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The Supreme Court granted as moulded a petition for writ of prohibition sought by Respondent to prohibit the circuit court from conducting any further proceedings in this case until the circuit court vacated its class certification order, holding that the circuit court exceeded its jurisdiction by failing to conduct an appropriate and thorough analysis of the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure 23(a) and 23(b) class certification requirements.
Respondent, the Honorable Thomas A. Bedell, sitting by assignment as a circuit court judge, certified a class action against Petitioner. Petitioner subsequently filed the instant petition seeking to prohibit enforcement of the class certification order, asserting that the circuit court clearly erred in several respects in certifying the class action. The Supreme Court agreed, holding that the circuit court exceeded its legitimate powers by certifying the class without undertaking a thorough analysis in its determination of whether the class certification requirements of W. Va. R. Civ. P. 23 were satisfied.
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