Fireside Bank v. Superior Court

Opinion

WERDEGAR, J.

A largely settled feature of state and federal procedure is that trial courts in class action proceedings should decide whether a class is proper and, if so, order class notice before ruling on the substantive merits of the action. (See Green v. Obledo (1981) 29 Cal.3d 126, 146 [172 Cal.Rptr. 206, 624 P.2d 256] (Green); Fed. Rules Civ.Proc., rule 23(c)(1)(A), 28 U.S.C.; Hickey v. Duffy (7th Cir. 1987) 827 F.2d 234, 237.) The virtue of this sequence is that it promotes judicial efficiency, by postponing merits rulings until such time as all parties may be bound, and…