Daubert Hearings at the Certification Stage

From the ABA Litigation Section news report, via Federal Civil Practice Bulletin:

In what appears to be part of a trend across the country, a federaltrial court in West Virginia has ordered a full, evidentiary Daubert hearing as part of deciding a motion on whether to certify a class in a pending  action.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West  Virginia’s ruling in Rhodes  v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Co.[PDF] follows a number of decisions in federal circuits to allow, oreven require, a rigorous analysis of the facts underlying a motion forclass certification, although that analysis may stray into the meritsof the suit.

ADL