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Keywords

lawsuitplaintiffdefendantappealmotionsummary judgmentclass action

plaintiffappeal

Related Cases

Wiesmueller v. Kosobucki, 513 F.3d 784

Facts

The plaintiff, a graduate of an out-of-state law school, challenged Wisconsin's rules that allowed graduates from in-state law schools to be admitted to practice law without taking the bar exam. After filing a lawsuit against the Wisconsin Board of Bar Examiners and the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, the plaintiff sought summary judgment while the defendants moved to dismiss the case. The district court dismissed the plaintiff's claim and denied the motion to certify a class of out-of-state law school graduates seeking similar relief.

The plaintiff has appealed. But shortly after filing his notice of appeal, he took the Wisconsin bar exam, and now he has learned that he passed it.

Issue

Whether the plaintiff's appeal from the denial of class certification was moot after he passed the Wisconsin bar exam.

The question is whether his appeal from the denial of class certification is moot.

Rule

A class action suit is not moot if the named plaintiff's claim becomes moot after the class is certified, as long as there are unnamed class members with live claims.

If, on the one hand, the class in a class-action suit is certified before the named plaintiff's claim becomes moot, the mooting of his claim does not doom the suit.

Analysis

The court analyzed the implications of the plaintiff's moot individual claim on the class action. It determined that the named plaintiff could still represent the class until a suitable replacement was found, as long as the class had not yet been certified. The court emphasized that the district judge's dismissal of the plaintiff's claim did not preclude the possibility of class certification, and thus the appeal regarding class certification remained valid.

The district judge seems to have thought that once he rejected the plaintiff's claim on the merits, there was no point in considering whether to certify a class, because the suit, whether on the plaintiff's behalf or on behalf of any other graduate of an out-of-state law school who wants to practice in Wisconsin without taking the Wisconsin bar exam, wasn't going anywhere.

Conclusion

The Court of Appeals reversed the district court's denial of class certification and remanded the case for further proceedings.

The denial of class certification is therefore reversed and the case remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Who won?

The plaintiff prevailed in the appeal regarding class certification because the court found that the denial of class certification was improper.

The Court of Appeals, Posner, Circuit Judge, held that: 1 claim for relief on own behalf was moot upon passing of state bar exam, but 2 claim as named plaintiff on behalf of class was not moot.

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