Texas Class Action Survey

According to a 2008 Texas Class Action survey, the number of class actions that have survived apellate scrutiny have plummeted since the Texas Supreme Court’s opinion in Southwestern Refining Co. v. Bernal, 22 S.W.3d 425 (Tex.2000).  See, Bayer, Mark, “2008 Annual Survey of Texas Class Action Cases,” Texas Business Litigation Journal, Vol. 31, No. 1, Winter 2009, p. 22.  In this regard, the article reports that Texas class actions are an endangered species and that the small number of appellate decisions in 2008 supports the notion that the Texas class action is on life support.  Id.   The few appellate decisions addressing certification issues in 2008 placed additional barriers to class actions in Texas, and, as stated in the article, the supreme court held that a putative class action case should be dismissed before certification for lack of standing because a named plaintiff’s claim was too remote.  Id.  In addition, the article stated that the supreme court also decertified two of three proposed subclasses in a case brought by royalty owners against a natural gas producer.  Id.  In the courts of appeals around the state, less than a handful of decisions reportedly addressed certifications issues and the few decisions all rejected class actions.  Id.