Everyone’s favorite whipping boy, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, hasn’t exactly been complying with the spirit of the Class Action Fairness Act, at least according to Christina Imre and her blog, the Appellate Strategist. As evidenced in CAFA’s legislative history, Congress clearly intended a presumption in favor of federal jurisdiction over class actions. However, the district courts of the Ninth Circuit have repeatedly remanded class actions relying on case law creating a strong presumption against federal jurisdiction. (Christina is not alone. Check out George Will’s column of Thursday, November 16, in the Washington Post entitled "Circuit Breaker" discussing the Ninth Circuit’s disconnect with the Supreme Court.)

This was not lost on Ms. Imre as illustrated by her post of July 28th, 2006, in which she questions the accuracy of this position regarding the proper presumption to apply to federal jurisdiction issues under CAFA. You can check out her post here: http://www.appellatestrategist.com

If you are itching for more in-depth coverage on CAFA’s burden of proof, you’re in the right place. Take a gander at our position on the issue: “CAFA’s New ‘Minimal Diversity’ Standard For Interstate Class Actions Creates A Presumption That Jurisdiction Exists, With The Burden Of Proof Assigned To The Party Opposing Jurisdiction” available here.