Page 15 Spring/Summer 2017 New Year’s Resolution — Ninth Circuit Trims Down Class Certification Requirements in Briseno v. ConAgra Foods, 844 F.3d 1121 (9th Cir. 2017) By Siena M. Caruso* The Ninth Cir- cuit rang in the New Year by joining the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Circuits in holding a pu- tative class is not required to demonstrate an administratively feasible way to determine class membership at the class cer- tification stage. While a boon for plaintiffs, the court’s decision in Briseno v. ConAgra Foods, 844 F.3d 1121 (9th Cir. 2017), may result in greater administrative bur- dens on the trial courts and in- creased pressure on defendants to settle or reevaluate prior defense strategies. For plaintiffs, the removal of admin- istrative feasibility as an obstacle to class certification may encourage more class action filings in the Ninth Circuit. An increase in class action filings and certifications would further burden district courts in the Ninth Circuit, particularly with a greater number of class action cases going to trial. For defendants, the removal of this implicit barrier to class certification will increase pressure to settle cases and may result in a complete reevaluation of defense strategies. For example, defendants may now choose, when possible, to remain in state court, where administrative feasibility may still be a re- quirement. Ultimately, the Ninth Circuit’s weighing in on the issue of administrative feasibility may trig- ger the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and re- solve the current circuit split with the Third Circuit. In the underlying case, Judge Margaret M. Morrow of the U.S. District Court for the Cen- tral District of California granted in part the plaintiffs’ motion to certify eleven statewide classes for persons in those states who had purchased Wesson-brand cooking oil products labeled “100% Natural.” The plaintiffs alleged ConAgra Foods deceptively and mis- leadingly marketed its Wesson cooking oils, contending the bioengineered in- gredients used to make Wesson oils are not “natural.” While noting the split among Ninth Circuit district courts, Judge Morrow held that to require administrative feasibility would “effectively prohibit class actions involving low priced con- sumer goods — the very type of claims that would not be filed individually — thereby upending ‘[t]he policy at the very core of the class action mechanism.’” The Ninth Circuit affirmed. Writing for the panel, Judge Friedland held that “the lan- (Continued on page 16) “[T]o require administrative feasibility would ‘effectively prohibit class actions involving low priced consumer goods — the very type of claims that would not be filed individually . . .’”