Reserve Life Insurance Co. v. Kirkland

917 S.W.2d 836, 1996 Tex. App. LEXIS 849, 1996 WL 88481
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 29, 1996
Docket14-93-00161-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by53 cases

This text of 917 S.W.2d 836 (Reserve Life Insurance Co. v. Kirkland) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Reserve Life Insurance Co. v. Kirkland, 917 S.W.2d 836, 1996 Tex. App. LEXIS 849, 1996 WL 88481 (Tex. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinions

MAJORITY OPINION ON REHEARING

AMIDEI, Justice.

Reserve Life Insurance Company and Midland National Life Insurance Company appeal from an interlocutory order certifying a class action. Appellants raise nine points of error. In our original opinion of October 27, 1994, we affirmed the trial court’s order. Appellants filed a motion for rehearing, raising nine points of error. We overrule appellants’ motion for rehearing. We withdraw our original opinion and substitute this opinion, affirming the order of the trial court.

Appellees brought this suit on their behalf and on behalf of all others similarly situated alleging fraud and violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Texas Insurance Code. The suit arose from certain [839]*839alleged misrepresentations appellants made in connection -with rate increases on major medical health insurance policies appellees had purchased from appellants. Appellees moved for certification as a class action and the trial court granted this motion and entered an order certifying the following class:

All persons who purchased Major Medical Health Insurance from Reserve Life Insurance Company (“Reserve”) or Westland Life Insurance Company (“Westland”) in Texas from August 1, 1986 until the date this suit was filed, who utilized a SemiAnnual mode of premium payment, who received any of the forms attached as Exhibits “A-I” hereto, whose semi-annual premiums for the year in which they received the notice doubled or more than doubled, and who paid premiums after receiving the notice.

In point of error one, appellants claim the trial court erred in certifying the class as those class members who “purchased ... in Texas.” Appellants argue that this definition is vague. This court’s review of the trial court’s certification order is limited to determining if the court abused its discretion. Adams v. Reagan, 791 S.W.2d 284, 287 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 1990, no writ). After reviewing the record, we may find abuse of discretion only if it is clear that the trial court’s decision was arbitrary and unreasonable. Id. We must view the evidence in a light most favorable to the trial court’s action, and indulge in every presumption favoring the trial court’s action. Id.

One or more members of a class may sue on behalf of all only if:

(1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable,
(2) there are questions of law or fact common to the class,
(3) the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class, and
(4) the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.

Tex.R.Civ.P. 42(a). A class action may be maintained if it meets these four prerequisites of Rule 42(a) and if it meets any of five other requirements under Rule 42(b). In this case, the trial court based its order on the following two of the five requirements under Rule 42(b):

(1) the prosecution of separate actions by or against individual members of the class would create a risk of
(A) inconsistent or varying adjudications with respect to individual members of the class which would establish incompatible standards of conduct for the party opposing the class, or
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(4) the court finds that the questions of law or fact common to the members of the class predominate over any questions affecting only individual members, and that a class action is superior to other available methods for the fair and efficient adjudication of the controversy. The matters pertinent to the findings include: (A) the interest of members of the class in individually controlling the prosecution or defense of separate actions; (B) the extent and nature of any litigation concerning the controversy already commenced by or against members of the class; (C) the desirability or undesirability of concentrating the litigation of the claims in the particular forum; (D) the difficulties likely to be encountered in the management of a class action.

Tex.R.Civ.P. 42(b)(1)(A), (b)(4).

Appellants first argue the term “purchased ... in Texas” is too vague to meet the requirement that a class exists and because it is not administratively feasible for the court to determine its membership. In support of their argument, appellants cite federal case law requiring a class to be “adequately defined and clearly ascertainable.” DeBremaecker v. Short, 433 F.2d 733 (5th Cir.1970).1 Although Federal Rule 23, upon which Rule 42 is based, does not require [840]*840specificity in the class definition, ease law has held that a proposed class must be clearly defined so that it is “administratively feasible for the court to determine whether a particular individual is a member.” Rios v. Marshall, 100 F.R.D. 395, 403 (S.D.N.Y.1983). Vague and amorphous definitions do not meet the requirement of a sufficiently definite class definition. Hendrickson v. Philadelphia Gas Works, 672 F.Supp. 823, 840-41 (E.D.Pa.1987) (court denied certification for a class comprised of (1) all persons who have been or in the future may be denied essential gas service for arbitrary and capricious reasons, and (2) all persons who have been denied service for reasons other than nonpayment, without a prompt and adequate procedure by which the basis of the denial is made known and can be contested either before or after the service is denied).

Appellants argue that when some individual determination of a potential member’s status is necessary to determine membership in the class, the definition is too vague and class certification is inappropriate. See, e.g., Winokur v. Bell Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass’n, 58 F.R.D. 178, 181 (N.D.Ill.1972) (in securities fraud case, court denied class certification where different defendants utilized different advertisements relevant only to claims made by its own customers, making individual determination necessary). The federal cases cited by appellant, however, involve class descriptions that contain vague terms or require determinations of class member state of mind. See DeBremaecker, 433 F.2d at 734 (class definition included state residents active in the peace movement who had been harassed or were in fear of harassment); Wagner v. Central Louisiana Elec. Co., 99 F.R.D. 279, 282 (E.D.La.1983) (subclass included “customers ... to whom the co-op would have already extended [service] but for the unlawful agreement....”); Rios, 100 F.R.D. at 403 (class defined as migrant farm-workers who were employed or applied for employment in the New York apple harvest with defendant growers and who suffered unlawful treatment or were discouraged from applying for employment by defendants’ unlawful acts); Zeltser v. Hunt, 90 F.R.D. 65, 66 (S.D.N.Y.1981) (class included those who purchased silver futures contracts, silver bullion, or refined silver in commercial quantities); Conway v. City of Kenosha, 409 F.Supp.

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Bluebook (online)
917 S.W.2d 836, 1996 Tex. App. LEXIS 849, 1996 WL 88481, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reserve-life-insurance-co-v-kirkland-texapp-1996.