To appeal under Code of Civil Procedure section 902, one must be both aggrieved and a party of record in the action. Declining to overrule Eggert v. Pac. States S. & L. Co. (1942) 20 Cal.2d 199, the Supreme Court holds that an unnamed class member does not, simply by objecting to a class action settlement or to an attorney fee award to class counsel following entry of judgment after trial of the class action, gain standing to appeal. Instead, to appeal, the class member must either move to intervene or move to vacate judgment or the fee award. The Court is unpersuaded by Devlin v. Scardelletti (2002) 122 S.Ct. 2005 due to the difference between the federal rules and California statutory law on class actions and appeals. The opinion disapproves Court of Appeal opinions which allowed appeals by non-intervening class action settlement objectors, including Trotsky v. Los Angeles Fed. Sav. & Loan Assn. (1975) 48 Cal.App.3d 134; Rebney v. Wells Fargo Bank (1990) 220 Cal.App.3d 1117; Wershba v. Apple Computer, Inc. (2001) 91 Cal.App.4th 224; and Consumer Cause, Inc. v. Mrs. Gooch’s Natural Food Markets, Inc. (2005) 127 Cal.App.4th 387; Roos v. Honeywell Internat., Inc. (2015) 241 Cal.App.4th 147.
California Supreme Court (Chin, J.); January 29, 2018; 2018 WL 577716.