IN RE HEALTHSOUTH CORPORATION SECURITIES LITIGATION

KARON OWEN BOWDRE, United States District Judge

This matter is before the court on plaintiffs' "Motion for Class Certification" (Doc. 101) filed April 25, 2001. Plaintiffs seek to have certified as a class "all persons who purchased or otherwise acquired the securities of HealthSouth Corporation ("HealthSouth" or the "Company") between April 24, 1997 and September 30, 1998 (the "Class Period"), including those persons who acquired HealthSouth securities in exchange for the securities of Horizon/CMS Healthcare Corporation ("Horizon") in a merger consummated on or about October 29, 1997, and those persons who acquired HealthSouth securities in exchange for the securities of National Surgery Centers, Inc. ("NSC") in a merger consummated on or about July 22, 1998, and were injured thereby. Excluded from the Class are defendants herein, the officers, directors and employees of the Company, members of the immediate family of each of the individual defendants, any entities in which any of the defendants has or had a controlling interest, and the legal representatives, heirs, successors, predecessors in interest, affiliates or assigns of the defendants."

After reviewing numerous submissions by counsel and holding an evidentiary hearing on April 23, 2002, and reviewing additional post-hearing submissions, the court concludes that plaintiffs have not met their burden of proof required to certify the proposed class. While some other class, or subclasses, and some other class period might be appropriate for certification, the burden rests on the plaintiffs — not the court — to propose a class that meets the requirements for certification under Fed.R.Civ.P. Rule 23(a) and 23(b)(3). Therefore, for the reasons stated in the Memorandum Opinion filed contemporaneously, the court DENIES plaintiff's Motion for Class Certification.