Rel v. Pac. Bell Mobile Servs.

*885The trial court dismissed this proposed class action lawsuit because plaintiffs failed to comply with Code of Civil Procedure section 583.310,1 which requires an action to "be brought to trial within five years after the action is commenced against the defendant." The main issue here is whether a pretrial order dismissing the class claims qualifies as a "trial" for purposes of the five-year dismissal statute. In class action lawsuits, such a pretrial order is treated as a final judgment and is therefore immediately appealable under the so-called death knell doctrine. A second issue is whether…