Legal Memorandum:

Issue: Under Illinois law, what is the standard of review applied to a court’s decision on class certification?

A court’s decision on class certification is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. Smith v. Illinois Central R.R. Co., 223 Ill.2d 441, 447 (2006). In making its decision as to whether to certify a settlement class, the court should not judge the legal and factual questions by the same criteria applied in a trial on the merits, nor should the court turn the settlement approval hearing into a trial. GMAC Mortgage Corp. of Pennsylvania v. Stapleton, 236 Ill.App.3d 486, 493 (1992). To do this would defeat the purposes of reaching a compromise, such as avoiding a determination on contested issues and dispensing with extensive and wasteful litigation. Id. Accordingly, a class that is suitable for settlement purposes might not be suitable for litigation purposes because the settlement might eliminate all of the contested issues that the court would have to resolve if the case went to trial. Cohen v. Blockbuster Entertainment, Inc., 376 Ill.App.3d 588, 598 (2007).