The following are summaries of selected civil opinions issued by the Fifth Circuit in March 2024. The summaries are overviews of particular aspects of the opinions; please review the entire opinions.
CLASS ACTIONS: Class Action Fairness Act’s local controversy exception to federal jurisdiction requires that all plaintiffs sustain their principal injuries in the
forum state and nowhere else.
Cheapside Mins., Ltd. v. Devon Energy Prod. Co., L.P., 94 F.4th 492 (5th Cir. 2024).
The Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) expanded federal subject-matter jurisdiction over many large class-action lawsuits and mass actions so long as there exists minimal diversity between the plaintiffs and defendants and the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million.
CAFA offers a handful of statutory exceptions, including the local controversy exception. That exception mandates that a federal district court decline to exercise jurisdiction when several requirements are met, including that “principal injuries resulting from the alleged conduct or any related conduct of each defendant were incurred in the State in which the action was originally filed.”