Memorandum Opinion and Order

Pending before the court is the plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification [Docket 188]. Under Rule 23(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the court must determine whether to certify the action as a class action “[a]t an early practicable time.”  This determination should only be made “when the court has sufficient information to decide whether the action meets the certification criteria of Rules 23(a) and (b).”  Manual for Complex Litigation, Fourth, § 21.133 (2004). For the reasons stated below, this court FINDS that it does not have sufficient information to determine whether the plaintiffs have satisfied their burden of proving the requirements of Rule 23.  The court ORDERS that a preliminary class certification hearing be held on July 2, 2008, at 11:00 a.m. in Charleston.