We have been reporting on the Hardwick class certification decision for some time. Readers will recall that the district court in that matter certified a class of over 11 million residents of Ohio plus any person subject to the state’s laws, seeking expansive remedies in the form of an injunction, medical monitoring, and the establishment of a “Science Panel.” Shortly after the district court’s Order, Defendants filed a petition in the Sixth Circuit for permission to immediately appeal. The Sixth Circuit has now agreed to the interlocutory review.

The Sixth Circuit found that the “extraordinary procedure” of interlocutory review was necessary because “when a district court certifies one of the largest class actions in history, predicated on a questionable theory of standing and a refusal to apply a cohesion requirement endorsed by seven courts of appeals, to authorize pursuit of an ill-defined remedy that sits uneasily with traditional constraints on the equity power and threatens massive liability, such a decision warrants further review.”

Given the initial commentary from the unanimous Sixth Circuit panel, the district court’s sweeping Order may be short-lived.