Class Action Fairness Act

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Class action defendants usually prefer to have their cases heard in federal court, where the protections of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 apply and where courts and juries are less likely to disfavor an out-of-state business. And as every class action defense lawyer knows, the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (“CAFA”) puts a significant thumb on the scale in favor of having large class actions heard in federal court, allowing for removal of most class actions in which the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million and there is minimal diversity of citizenship between the defendants and the members of the putative class. But how should CAFA apply when one business sues a consumer and the consumer files as a counterclaim a class action against a different business? Today, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. v. Jackson, a case presenting that question. (One of us attended the oral argument.)
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Continue Reading Supreme Court hears oral argument in case involving removal of counterclaim class actions

Although the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA) permits most significant class actions to be heard in federal court, the law requires district courts to remand so-called “local controversies” to state court. A “local controversy” is a class action in which “greater than two-thirds of the members of the proposed classes” are “citizens” of the forum state and at least one defendant “from whom significant relief is sought” and whose “alleged conduct forms a significant basis for the claims asserted” is also a “citizen” of that state. 28 U.S.C. §1332(d)(4).

In an effort to come within this exception,…
Continue Reading Tenth Circuit holds that environmental contamination case doesn’t require remand under Class Action Fairness Act’s “local controversy” exception

To remove a civil action from state court to federal court, the defendant must “file … a notice of removal … containing a short and plain statement of the grounds for removal.” 28 U.S.C. § 1446(a). Under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA), federal courts have jurisdiction over certain class actions if, among other things, the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(2). Today, the Supreme Court held in Dart Cherokee Basin Operating Co. v. Owens (pdf), that a defendant’s notice of removal need only contain a “plausible allegation” that the amount in…
Continue Reading Supreme Court Holds That Defendants Need Not Submit Evidence with a Notice of Removal Under the Class Action Fairness Act

A decade ago, California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and its closely related false advertising law (FAL) were the ideal plaintiff’s tools.  Any person—even one with no connection to a particular asserted violation or harm—was able to bring a claim on behalf of the “general public” and recover restitution for thousands of people (and, of course, attorney’s fees) without going through the hassle of class certification. But in 2004, the California voters changed that; private plaintiffs who want to sue on behalf of others must certify a class. The statutes still work the old way for public prosecutors, who can invoke…
Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Holds That State AGs and Prosecutors Can’t Seek Restitution On Behalf Of A Class That Already Settled Its Private Claims, But Can Seek Injunctive Relief and Penalties

Over the past few years, a number of plaintiffs’ lawyers have attempted—with some success—to circumvent the “mass action” provisions in the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (“CAFA”), which allow defendants to remove to federal court certain cases raising “claims of 100 or more persons that are proposed to be tried jointly.” 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(11)(B)(i).  Although these lawyers represent 100-plus clients with substantively identical claims, they subdivide their mass actions into multiple parallel cases, often with just under 100 plaintiffs each.  And to avoid the “proposed to be tried jointly” language of CAFA, they remain coy about—or…
Continue Reading En Banc Ninth Circuit Permits Removal Under CAFA of a Subdivided Mass Action

This morning I attended oral arguments at the Supreme Court in Dart Cherokee Basin Operating Co. v. Owens.  The issue presented in Dart Cherokee is whether a defendant who wishes to remove a case to federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) is required to submit evidence supporting federal jurisdiction along with the notice of removal.    Here’s my key takeaway from the argument:  The answer will be “no”—defendants need not attach evidence to a notice of removal—but only if the Court concludes that it has the power to reach the merits.

In most circuits, when a defendant…
Continue Reading Supreme Court May Clarify Procedures For Removal Under CAFA—If It Decides To Answer The Question Presented in Dart Cherokee Basin Operating Co. v. Owens

When was the last time you saw a plaintiffs’ lawyer seeking to represent a class argue that the class couldn’t be certified? Readers might wonder whether this is a trick question. In a sense, it is. In Hoffman v. Nutraceutical Corp. (pdf), the Third Circuit upheld the denial of a motion to remand a class action to state court, rejecting the argument—made by the named plaintiff himself!—that a class could not be certified under controlling circuit precedent. The Third Circuit acknowledged that the plaintiff was right about the governing law, but pointed out that the relevant jurisdictional inquiry was whether…
Continue Reading Class Action Can’t Be Remanded To State Court Just Because The Plaintiff Says It’s Uncertifiable

To remove a civil action from state court to federal court, the defendant must “file … a notice of removal … containing a short and plain statement of the grounds for removal.” 28 U.S.C. § 1446(a). Today, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Dart Cherokee Basin Operating Co. v. Owens, No. 13-719, to decide whether a notice of removal must also include evidence supporting jurisdiction if the facts establishing jurisdiction do not appear on the face of the state-court complaint. The Court’s resolution of this issue will be important to all businesses seeking to remove state-court class actions…
Continue Reading Supreme Court to Decide Whether All Evidence Supporting Removal Under the Class Action Fairness Act Must Be Submitted With The Notice of Removal

Over the years, the plaintiffs’ bar has used a wide variety of stratagems to try to prevent defendants from removing class actions to federal court. We’ve previously blogged about several of them. A recent Eleventh Circuit decision addresses yet another page from the plaintiffs’ playbook.

Defendants often can remove significant class actions under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) when there is at least minimal diversity of parties and the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million. In South Florida Wellness, Inc. v. Allstate Insurance Co. (pdf), the plaintiffs tried to prevent the defendant from satisfying CAFA’s $5 million amount-in-controversy…
Continue Reading Plaintiffs Can’t Evade Removal Under Class Action Fairness Act By Suing For Only Declaratory Relief