Cite as 2015 Ark. 73
SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS
No. CV-14-193
| PHILIP MORRIS COMPANIES, INC., a corporation and PHILIP MORRIS INCORPORATED, a corporation
APPELLANTS
V. WAYNE MINER and JAMES EASLEY, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated
APPELLEES
|
Opinion Delivered: February 26, 2015
APPEAL FROM THE PULASKI COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, [NO. 60CV-03-4661] HONORABLE TIMOTHY DAVIS FOX, JUDGE AFFIRMED. |
RHONDA K. WOOD, Associate Justice
Class certification is proper if six, rule-based prerequisites are satisfied. Two of those prerequisites are at issue in this case: predominance and superiority. Another issue is whether the class is ascertainable. Here, the class plaintiffs alleged that Philip Morris deceived them by advertising Marlboro Lights as being safer and having less tar and nicotine than other cigarettes. The circuit court certified the plaintiffs' class action against Philip Morris based on the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act; Philip Morris appeals the class certification. Because common issues predominate, because the class-action mechanism is a superior method to adjudicate at least some parts of the plaintiffs' cause of action, and because the class is ascertainable, we affirm the circuit court's order certifying the class.
