Opinion
No. 1D00-2684.
September 24, 2001. Rehearing Denied October 26, 2001.
An appeal from Circuit Court of Duval County. Peter L. Dearing, Judge.
George E. Ridge and Richard J. Latinberg of Cooper, Ridge Beale, P.A., Jacksonville; Janine L. Pollack and Azra Z. Mehdi of Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes Lerach LLP, New York, for Appellant.
Robert B. Parrish, Andrew J. Knight II and Tracy A. Chesser of Moseley, Warren, Prichard Parrish, Jacksonville; Dwight J. Davis, Thomas F. Urban and S. Stewart Haskins of King Spalding, Atlanta, for Appellees.
The appellant challenges an order by which summary judgment was entered in favor of appellee United States Automobile Association on the issue of class certification. Because class certification was denied, our review is pursuant to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.130(a)(6). Applying summary judgment principles, the trial court determined that there were no genuine issues of material fact, and that the appellant, as a matter of law, could not maintain the underlying action on behalf of the purported class. Although summary judgment is an appropriate vehicle to determine issues of class certification and representation in exceptional cases, we conclude that it was inappropriate in the present case because genuine issues of material fact remain unresolved. Accordingly, we reverse the order under review and remand this case to the trial court for further proceedings pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.220.
ALLEN, C.J., PADOVANO and LEWIS, JJ., CONCUR.