Cruz-Alvarez & Stamps Todd: When Is a Motion to Remand Under CAFA Not a “Motion”? Divided 11th Circuit Panel Digs Deep for an Answer

Statutory interpretation meets CAFA remand in a new way in the Eleventh Circuit’s recent decision in Ruhlen v. Holiday Haven Homeowners, Inc. The case would have presented a novel issue for appellate review—whether a case brought under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.222 (which governs mobile homeowners’ associations) qualifies as a civil action filed under FRCP 23 “or similar State statute or rule of judicial procedure authorizing an action to be brought by 1 or more representative persons as a class action,” rendering it a “class action” under CAFA. Over a rigorous dissent, the majority held that the appellate court lacked jurisdiction to consider the defendants’ appeal because a district court’s sua sponte remand order does not fall under CAFA’s exception to the general rule that an appellate court may not review a district court’s decision to remand a case based on a lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.

Read the full article at the Washington Legal Foundation's Legal Pulse >>