Class Action Watch Publishes Two SHB Articles

Two city offices have contributed to the most recent Class Action Watch, a Federalist Society publication.  Partner Mark Behrens and Staff Attorney Chris Appel co-authored an article titled, "New Jersey and Missouri Supreme Courts Reject Lead Paint Public Nuisance Claims," while Partner Ken Reilly and Associate Frank Cruz-Alvarez contributed a piece titled "Has the Eleventh Circuit Set a New Standard for Federal Diversity Jurisdiction?"  Behrens and Appel summarize June 2007 lead paint decisions of the high courts in Missouri and New Jersey and suggest that "they may have a significant influence on courts deciding similar lead paint cases and in other cases where plaintiffs may seek to avoid traditional products liability and class certification requirements through government-sponsored public nuisance claims."  Reilly and Cruz-Alvarez discuss the April 2007 Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision about the removal of a mass action under the Class Action Fairness Act.  The Eleventh Circuit determined that the removing party bears the burden of establishing the jurisdictional amount by a preponderance of the evidence and refused to give defendants an opportunity to conduct post-removal discovery into the amount in controversy which was not clearly stated in the complaint.  The authors opine that the decision could allow plaintiffs to "make their cases removal-proof." To view the articles, please click here.