What is the burden of proving the adequacy of representation for a class action?

"The party seeking class certification has the burden of proving the adequacy of its representation." (Richmond v. Dart Industries, Inc. (1981) 29 Cal.3d 462, 470.) To meet their burden, appellants each declared verbatim: "I have been actively involved in this litigation for its entire duration. I am regularly in contact with my counsel. I have assisted counsel in responding to discovery requests. I understand that as a Class Representative, I must assist counsel in prosecuting the action on behalf of the Class. I have made myself available to date, and will continue to do so and to represent the interests of absent class members to the best of my ability."

Although it may have been reasonable on the basis of these averments for the trial court to have concluded that appellants would adequately represent the interests of the absent class members, that does not mean the trial court's contrary conclusion was necessarily unreasonable. As explained in Earley v. Superior Court (2000) 79 Cal.App.4th 1420, 1434: "A class action is a representative action in which the class representatives assume a fiduciary responsibility to prosecute the action on behalf of the absent parties. [Citation.] The representative parties not only make the decision to bring the case in the first place, but even after class certification and notice, they are the ones

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