When it is impractical to give individual notice, Civ. Code 1781(d) requires publication of notice of a CLRA class action once a week for four weeks in the county in which the transaction occurred. This decision holds that the section and its notice requirement apply only to notice of a class certification order entered after a contested class certification motion and were inapplicable to a class notice given regarding a class settlement (which included as a term of the settlement, certification of a settlement class). Instead, class notice of a settlement is governed by Civ. Code 1781(f) which merely requires notice as ordered by the court. Furthermore, the decision points out notice in accordance with 1781(d) was infeasible since the settlement called for a nationwide class with “transactions” occurring in an indeterminable number of counties nationwide.
California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 3 (Aldrich, J.); June 21, 2016 (partial publication); 2016 WL 3438077