Moore v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
- Beth Freeman
- 5:23-cv-05011
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Moore v. American Honda, Judge Freeman granted Plaintiff’s motion appointing Capstone and Berger interim class counsel.
Plaintiff and the proposed class are represented by Capstone Law APC and Berger Montague PC as interim class counsel; the order also affects the defendants because those counsel will act for the proposed class in the case.
What happened
In Moore v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Plaintiff asked the court to appoint Capstone Law APC and Berger Montague PC as interim class counsel in a dispute about a defect affecting certain Honda vehicles. The defendants did not oppose the motion.
The court explained that it may appoint interim counsel before deciding whether to certify a class. It considered counsel’s investigation and work on the case, experience with class actions and similar claims, knowledge of the law, and resources available to represent the class. The court found that the proposed counsel had adequately demonstrated these qualifications, including work on a related case that had been consolidated with this one.
Judge Beth Freeman granted the unopposed motion and appointed Capstone Law APC and Berger Montague PC as interim class counsel. The order did not decide whether a class should be certified or resolve the underlying vehicle-defect claims.
The detailed version
- Moore v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc. · No. 5:23-cv-05011
- Beth Freeman
- Feb. 7, 2024
Background
Plaintiff moved to appoint Capstone Law APC and Berger Montague PC as interim class counsel. The dispute concerns a defect affecting certain Honda vehicles. Defendants stated that they did not oppose the requested appointment.
Legal standard
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(g)(3) allows a court to designate interim counsel to represent a proposed class before deciding whether to certify the class. Courts generally consider the factors used to determine whether class counsel would adequately represent the class under Rule 23(g)(1)(A):
- The work counsel has done identifying or investigating potential claims;
- Counsel’s experience with class actions, complex litigation, and the types of claims involved;
- Counsel’s knowledge of the applicable law; and
- The resources counsel will commit to representing the class.
The appointment of interim class counsel is discretionary and is particularly suited to complex cases.
Court’s analysis
The court found that the proposed counsel had shown that they devoted substantial resources to the case. In particular, they had spent considerable time and resources over the preceding three years investigating and litigating a related case involving nearly identical claims, which the court had consolidated with this case. The court also found that Capstone and Berger had sufficient experience litigating complex class actions and knowledge of the applicable law based on their experience representing plaintiffs in similar automobile-defect cases. Finally, the court was satisfied that they would commit sufficient intellectual and financial resources to represent the class.
Disposition
Judge Beth Freeman granted Plaintiff’s motion and appointed Capstone Law APC and Berger Montague PC as interim class counsel. The order did not decide whether to certify a class or determine the merits of the vehicle-defect dispute.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.