(a) Prerequisites to a Class Action. One (1) or more members of a class may sue or be sued as representative parties on behalf of all only if:
(1) The class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable;
(2) There are questions of law or fact common to the class;
(3) The claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class; and
(4) The representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.
(b) Class Actions Maintainable. An action may be maintained as a class action if the prerequisites of subdivision (a) are satisfied, and in addition:
(1) The prosecution of separate actions by or against individual members of the class would create a risk of:
(A) Inconsistent or varying adjudications with respect to individual members of the class which would establish incompatible standards of conduct for the party opposing the class; or
(B) Adjudications with respect to individual members of the class which would as a practical matter be dispositive of the interests of the other members not parties to the adjudications or substantially impair or impede their ability to protect their interests; or
(2) The party opposing the class has acted or refused to act on grounds generally applicable to the class, thereby making appropriate final injunctive relief or corresponding declaratory relief with respect to the class as a whole; or
(3) The court finds that the questions of law or fact common to the members of the class predominate over any questions affecting only individual members, and that a class action is superior to other available methods for the fair and efficient adjudication of the controversy. The matters pertinent to the findings include:
(A) The interest of members of the class in individually controlling the prosecution or defense of separate actions;
(B) The extent and nature of any litigation concerning the controversy already commenced by or against members of the class;
(C) The desirability or undesirability of concentrating the litigation of the claims in the particular forum; and/or
(D) The difficulties likely to be encountered in the management of a classification.
(c) Determination by Order Whether Class Action to Be Maintained; Notice; Judgment; Actions Conducted Partially as Class Actions.
(1) As soon as practicable after the commencement of an action brought as a class action, the court shall determine by order whether it is to be so maintained. An order under this subdivision may be conditional, and may be altered or amended before the decision on the merits.
(2) In any class action maintained under subdivision (b)(3), the court shall direct to the members of the class the best notice practicable under the circumstances, including individual notice to all members who can be identified through reasonable effort. The notice shall advise each member that:
(A) The court will exclude the member from the class if the member so requests by a specified date;
(B) The judgment, whether favorable or not, will include all members who do not request exclusion; and
(C) Any member who does not request exclusion may, if the member desires, enter an appearance through counsel.
(3) The judgment in an action maintained as a class action under subdivision (b)(1) or (b)(2), whether or not favorable to the class, shall include and describe those whom the court finds to be members of the class. The judgment in an action maintained as a class action under subdivision (b)(3), whether or not favorable to the class, shall include and specify or describe those to whom the notice provided in subdivision (c)(2) was directed, and who have not requested exclusion, and whom the court finds to be members of the class.
(4) When appropriate (A) an action may be brought or maintained as a class action with respect to particular issues, or (B) a class may be divided into subclasses and each subclass treated as a class, and the provisions of this rule shall then be construed and applied accordingly.
(d) Orders in Conduct of Actions. In the conduct of actions to which this rule applies, the court may make appropriate orders:
(1) Determining the course of proceedings or prescribing measures to prevent undue repetition or complications in the presentation of evidence or argument;
(2) Requiring, for the protection of the members of the class or otherwise for the fair conduct of the action, that notice be given in such manner as the court may direct to some or all of the members of any step in the action, or of the proposed extent of the judgment, or of the opportunity of members to signify whether they consider the representation fair and adequate, to intervene and present claims or defenses, or otherwise to come into the action;
(3) Imposing conditions on the representative parties or on intervenors;
(4) Requiring that the pleadings be amended to eliminate therefrom allegations as to representation of absent persons, and that the action proceed accordingly; and/or
(5) Dealing with similar procedural matters. The orders may be combined with an order under Rule 16, and may be altered or amended as may be desirable from time to time.
(e) Dismissal or Compromise. A class action shall not be dismissed or compromised without the approval of the court, and notice of the proposed dismissal or compromise shall be given to all members of the class in such manner as the court directs.
Rhode Island does not publish a per-rule amendment history inside the compiled rules text reproduced here. The text above is verified current through the source’s own February 2024 printing; for the underlying adopting orders and any later amendments, see the Rhode Island Judiciary’s compiled rules page.
Rule 23 lets one or more people sue, or be sued, as stand-ins for a larger group when four conditions are all met: the group is so large that joining everyone individually would be impracticable, the case turns on questions of law or fact shared across the group, the representatives’ claims or defenses are typical of the group’s, and the representatives can adequately protect the group’s interests.
Meeting those four prerequisites is not enough on its own; the case must also fit one of three categories. It qualifies if separate lawsuits would risk inconsistent rulings that leave the opposing party facing incompatible standards of conduct, or would as a practical matter decide the rights of people not in those separate suits. It also qualifies if the opposing party has acted or refused to act on grounds that apply to the whole group, making group-wide injunctive or declaratory relief appropriate. Finally, it qualifies if shared questions predominate over individual ones and a class action is the superior way to resolve the dispute — a finding the court bases on factors like class members’ interest in controlling their own cases, existing related litigation, the desirability of handling everything in one forum, and how hard the class would be to manage.
Once a class action is filed, the court must decide as soon as practicable whether the case can proceed as one, and that decision can be conditional and changed before a final ruling on the merits. When a case is certified under the predominance-and-superiority category, the court must send class members the best notice practicable, including individual notice to anyone who can be identified through reasonable effort. That notice has to tell each member that they can opt out by a set date, that the judgment will bind everyone who does not opt out, and that anyone who stays in the case can appear through their own counsel. The eventual judgment must identify who the class members are, and for predominance-based classes, must identify those who received notice and did not opt out. Courts can also certify a class on particular issues only, or split a class into subclasses handled separately.
While a class action is pending, the court has broad authority to manage it: controlling how proceedings unfold to avoid repetition, ordering additional notice about the case’s progress or proposed scope, imposing conditions on the representatives or on anyone who intervenes, requiring pleadings to be amended to drop references to absent class members, and handling other procedural matters. These orders can be combined with a Rule 16 order and revised as the case develops.
Finally, a class action cannot be dismissed or settled without the court’s approval, and everyone in the class must be notified of a proposed dismissal or settlement in whatever manner the court directs. That requirement protects class members who are bound by the outcome but did not personally negotiate it.