issues Anally determined in the class action. See Rule 13(a) (stating that if a compulsory counterclaim is not asserted, relitigation of the claim may be barred by the doctrines of res judicata or collateral estoppel); Rule 13 cmt. (noting that, under the doctrine of collateral estoppel, facts necessary for the adjudication of an affirmative claim may not be relitigated) (citing Crowder v. Red Mountain Mining Co., 127 Ala. 254, 29 So. 847 (1900)). Thus, we perceive nothing in the express language of Rule 13 or Rule 23 that creates a conflict between those rules and bars the assertion of counterclaims in class actions, and we are hesitant to create a conflict that does not appear in the text of the rules. See generally Walker County v. White, 248 Ala. 53, 55, 26 So.2d 253, 255 (1946) (<HOLDING>). Second, the plaintiffs assert that requiring
holding that the words and provisions of a statute must be construed in a harmonious way recognizing that statutes should be construed to avoid conflict and to form a harmonious whole holding that statutes should be interpreted so as to fit if possible all parts into a harmonious whole recognizing conflict recognizing that under massachusetts law statutes are construed to avoid surplusage