When state attorneys general file suits to seek monetary recoveries based on claimed injuries to private citizens, those lawsuits look like, walk like, and quack like class actions. In fact, in most of these so-called “parens patriae” cases, the same private plaintiffs’ lawyers that bring private class actions are retained to represent states in exchange for the potential to garner substantial attorneys’ fees. While most class actions and mass actions of significance can be removed to federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (“CAFA”), the Supreme Court held today in Mississippi ex rel. Hood v.
Continue Reading Supreme Court Holds that CAFA Doesn’t Let Defendants Remove State AG Actions to Federal Court
You’ve Settled the Class Action—Can the State AG Demand Another Payout?
One of the more alarming recent developments in the class-action arena is the increase in actions by state attorneys general that mirror private class actions. These state AG actions aren’t like the typical enforcement action, in which the government pursues claims for civil penalties that are distinct from the relief sought in the private class action. Instead, these are copycat actions in every sense of the word. The state AG seeks restitution or disgorgement that is equivalent to the remedies requested in the private class action. And increasingly, the state AG is handing over the reins entirely to class-action plaintiffs’
Continue Reading You’ve Settled the Class Action—Can the State AG Demand Another Payout?
Video Interview: Discussing Class Actions in the Supreme Court with LXBN TV
Following up on our recent coverage of Mississippi ex rel. Hood v. AU Optronics Corp., my colleague Archis Parasharami had the opportunity to discuss the subject with Colin O’Keefe of LXBN. In this brief video interview, Archis discusses some of the class action issues that the Supreme Court is confronting now or may confront in the future.
Continue Reading Video Interview: Discussing Class Actions in the Supreme Court with LXBN TV
Supreme Court Hears Argument in Class Action Fairness Act Case, Mississippi ex rel. Hood v. AU Optronics Corp.
Today at the Supreme Court, all eyes, including mine, were on the oral arguments in the Town of Greece prayer case. But the second case—although it will certainly garner less attention—also is of great importance, especially to class-action practitioners. The issue in that case, Mississippi ex rel. Hood v. AU Optronics Corp., is whether so-called parens patriae lawsuits filed by state attorneys’ general to recover money on behalf of state citizens can be removed to federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA).
Why does Hood matter? Significantly, the fight is not over whether these cases can be
Continue Reading Supreme Court Hears Argument in Class Action Fairness Act Case, Mississippi ex rel. Hood v. AU Optronics Corp.
Supreme Court To Decide Whether Parens Patriae Suits Can Be Removed Under Class Action Fairness Act
We’ve blogged before about whether parens patriae lawsuits filed by state attorneys’ general to recover money on behalf of state citizens can be removed under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA). (CAFA authorizes defendants to remove certain “mass actions” involving “monetary relief claims of 100 or more persons” from state court to federal court. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(11)(B)(i). Today, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Mississippi ex rel. Hood v. AU Optronics Corp., No. 12-1036, to resolve a circuit split on this issue.
The case arises from a lawsuit that the Mississippi attorney general filed in state court
Continue Reading Supreme Court To Decide Whether Parens Patriae Suits Can Be Removed Under Class Action Fairness Act
Are Quasi-Class Action Suits By State AGs Removable Under CAFA (Or, For Securities Fraud Cases, Barred By SLUSA)?
A number of courts recently have weighed in on a question we’ve blogged before—whether lawsuits by state attorneys general seeking restitution on behalf of private citizens are subject to removal under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (pdf) (“CAFA”). These rulings have broad implications for the litigation of these quasi-class actions. They also are of substantial importance to determining whether securities fraud actions filed by state attorneys general are precluded by the federal Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998 (pdf) (“SLUSA”).
Continue Reading Are Quasi-Class Action Suits By State AGs Removable Under CAFA (Or, For Securities Fraud Cases, Barred By SLUSA)?