Rule 1.263.Criteria considered

Rule 1.263 supplies the substance behind rule 1.262's fair-and-efficient-adjudication finding. It lists thirteen factors the court considers and weighs, among others relevant to the case: whether class members share a joint or common interest; whether separate lawsuits risk inconsistent results or incompatible standards of conduct for the opposing party; whether individual adjudications would, as a practical matter, decide the interests of absent members or impair their ability to protect those interests; whether the opposing party has acted on grounds generally applicable to the whole class, making injunctive or declaratory relief appropriate; whether common questions predominate over individual ones; whether other ways of handling the claims are impractical or inefficient; whether a class action is truly the best way to adjudicate the dispute; whether individual members have a real interest in controlling their own separate suits; whether the claims have already been the subject of another class action, government action, or proceeding; whether another forum would serve the case better; and whether unusual management difficulties or conflict-of-laws problems would complicate the litigation. A final factor asks whether individual class members' claims are too small, given the complexity and expense of the case, to give them meaningful relief on their own.

Rule 1.263(2) addresses the separate finding required by rule 1.262(2)(c) -- that the representative parties will adequately protect the class. The court must find that the attorney representing the class will adequately handle the litigation, that the representative parties have no conflict of interest with the class they represent, and that the representative parties have or can acquire adequate financial resources -- considering the fee and expense arrangements disclosed under rule 1.276 -- to ensure the class's interests are not harmed.