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(2) claims an interest relating to the property or
transaction that is the subject of the action and
is so situated that disposing of the action may as
a practical matter impair or impede the
movants ability to protect its interest, unless
existing parties adequately represent that
interest.
A movant seeking to intervene under Rule 24(a)(2) must
satisfy the following requirements: (1) the application for
intervention is timely; (2) the applicant has a sufficient
interest in the litigation; (3) the interest may be affected or
impaired, as a practical matter, by the disposition of the
action; and (4) the interest is not adequately represented by an
existing party in the litigation. In re Cmty. Bank of N. Va.,
418 F.3d 277, 314 (3d Cir. 2005) (quoting Harris v. Pernsley,
820 F.2d 592, 596 (3d Cir. 1987)).
Appellants moved to intervene after they had received
notice of the Settlement Agreement signed by the parties.
While permitting a limited degree of participation at the
fairness hearing, the District Court formally denied their
remedy-stage motions to intervene in a short order.
Significantly, it did so without specifically applying (or even
mentioning) the prerequisites for intervention as of right.
Instead, the District Court simply incorporated by reference
its earlier order denying the original liability-stage motion to
intervene filed by the Springstead Intervenors and referenced
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the fact that this Court affirmed its order. We likewise begin
our own analysis with our prior ruling in this case, but we do
not stop there.
1.
Timeliness
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Party
Although not really emphasized in the appellate
briefing, we note that Appellants must establish inadequacy
of representation in order to intervene as of right under Rule
24(a)(2). See, e.g., Mountain Top, 72 F.3d at 368. In
general, the burden of making that showing should be
treated as minimal. Id. (quoting Trbovich v. United Mine
Workers, 404 U.S. 528, 538 n.10 (1972)). Again, the District
Court denied the motions to intervene filed in connection with
the remedy stage of this case without any real discussion of
this (or any other) requirement, and it merely incorporated by
respect to the new class definition. Id. at *5-*6.
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