Gay v. Morgan, In the Supreme Court of the United States, No. 06-1470, On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

The Chamber of Commerce of the United States recently cited a fantastic law review article analyzing the burden of proof under CAFA’s minimal diversity standard authored by none other than our very own CAFA Law Blog Editors H. Hunter Twiford, III, Anthony Rollo, and John Rouse in its amicus curiae brief in support of the petitioners in a case appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States from the Third Circuit. We gave you a sneak peak of the article back on May 5, 2006 before it was published in the Mississippi College Law Review.

The Chamber asserted that the Third Circuit’s holding erroneously raised the burden on removing defendants by requiring them to establish federal jurisdiction by a “legal certainty” and allowing district courts to consider non-binding, post-removal statements by plaintiffs regarding the value of their claims when evaluating the amount in controversy. The Chamber explained that, if left to stand, this decision would significantly restrict the ability of defendants to remove cases and would frustrate the intended purpose of CAFA by reversing its relaxed removal standards for certain interstate class actions. 

The Chamber cited our Editors’ article to help explain the impact of imposing a “legal certainty” burden of proof, as opposed to a “preponderance” standard on defendants’ chances of successful removal, as well as to explain CAFA’s intended goal of extending federal jurisdiction for certain class actions.

Remember: you saw it here first, folks.