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Jurisdiction Divested under CAFA when class action allegations are removed

An attorney sued a group of title insurance companies for violating a Connecticut statute, which requires that  real estate title agents be attorneys licensed to practice in Connecticut.  After 12 years of litigation, the plaintiff-attorney amended his complaint to remove all class-action allegations.  The district court dismissed the action without prejudice because, by removing the class-action allegations,  the plaintiff had divested the court of jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act.

On appeal, the Second Circuit affirmed, rejecting the plaintiff's assertion that the time-of-filing rule would allow it to continue to have jurisdiction.  That rule allows a court to retain jurisdiction if it had jurisdiction when the complaint was commenced. The Court held that the rule did not apply.  The Court had to look at the new amended complaint to ascertain what the facts were at the time of filing, but taking out the class action allegations, the complaint showed no basis for jurisdiction at the time of the commencement of the action. 

The decision in Gale v. Chicago Title Insurance Co. can be found here.

Full post as published by Second Opinions on July 11, 2019 (boomark / email).