Shady Grove Orthopedic Associates, P.A. v. Allstate Insurance Company, ___ U. S. ___, No 08-1008 (March 31, 2010)

OK – this decision isn’t about the Class Action Fairness Act, but it’s important nevertheless in the class action world.  At least you need to know a little something about it. Like it’s the latest, modern-day take on Erie or something like that.  Short version – federal Rule 23, not the states, controls the issue of when a class action may be filed in federal court, and thus, a state doesn’t have the authority to limit a right to sue.

Longer version – take a look at the synopsis from Scotus Wiki by Lyle Denniston and the SCOTUSblog team.  Or Lyle’s post with an analysis of the decision.  both are worth the time and effort.  Besides, you can then impress your friends at the next neighborhood cocktail party with your wit and insight (they already know about your charm) when you casually mention the split on the court, and how Justices Scalia, writing for the majority, and Stevens, concurring in part, may have set the tone, but that Justice Ginsburg might have carried the day had she narrowed her opinion only slightly.  Or you can talk about sex, the weather, sex, politics, sex, health care reform, sex, the Final Four, sex, the children (or grandchildren) or sex.  We know what faithful CAFA Law Blog followers would rather talk about . . .  (Editor’s Note:  the now famous "wet t-shirt" post still ranks as our all-time most popular post, measured by number of hits.  Go figure.  And we thought our readers really liked CAFA. Huh.)