ARTHUR YOUNG & COMPANY et al., Petitioners, v. UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT, etc., Respondent, Albert Kaufman et al., Real Parties In Interest, 549 F.2d 686

Summary

Respondent trial court certified three groups of plaintiffs' claims against petitioners in class actions alleging securities laws violations. Petitioners subsequently applied for a writ of mandamus requiring respondent trial court to vacate its orders. Petitioners contended that class certifications and bifurcation of the issues into separate trials effectively denied them their rights to trial by jury under U.S. Const. amend. VII. The court first refused to grant writ of mandamus as to class certification, holding that respondent trial court did not commit clear error in certifying the classes. The court reasoned that respondent trial court's bifurcation did not contravene U.S. Const. amend. VII because the issues in the certified actions were sufficiently independent of the issues that were to be resolved by the class trials. The court then held that a writ of mandamus to compel respondent trial court to allow an interlocutory appeal under 28 U.S.C.S. § 1292(b) was an improper ...