Hijacked by Statistics, Rescued by Wal-Mart v. Dukes: Probing Commonality and Due Process Concerns in Modern Class Action Litigation

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 468 I. A BRIEF SUMMARY OF WAL-MART STORES, INC. V. DUKES .............. 471 II. STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY AND GROSS DISPARITIES OF DISCRIMINATION ........................................................................ 474 A. Commonality and Its Intricate Relationship with Sampling ... 475 B. Tracing the Roots from Commonality to Statistical Significance ............................................................................. 479 C. Commonality as a Driver for Statistical-Deterministic Steps . 486 D. Using Statistics to Draw Inferences of Discrimination ........... 488 E. Castaneda/Hazelwood’s Missed Assumptions and Substantive Law’s Unfulfilled Aspirations ............................. 489 III. THE MECHANICS OF PROBABILISTIC INFERENCES AND LEGAL REASONING .................................................................................... 491 A. Commonality Deconstructed through Statistical Significance ............................................................................. 492 IV. STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY IN CLASS ACTIONS AND DUE PROCESS .......................................................................... 497 A. Difficulty, Misuse, and Uncertainty of Extrapolation ............. 497 B. Interplay among Liberty, Equality, and Efficiency ................. 500