Abstract
This Note explores the applicability of the Class Action Fairness Act's (CAFA) mass action removal provision to parens patriae suits. CAFA amended the federal rules governing aggregate litigation, replacing the complete diversity requirement with a minimal diversity requirement. CAFA's applicability to parens patriae suits, a type of representative lawsuit brought by a state alleging injuries to its citizens, was first addressed in Louisiana ex rel. Caldwell v. Allstate Insurance Co. In Caldwell, the Fifth Circuit held that a parens patriae suit was mislabeled because the real parties in interest-the parties whose interests constitute the basis of the parens patriae standing-represented in the action were the citizens and the suit should have been treated as a mass action for purposes of removal under CAFA. This Note examines CAFA's mass action provision and the concept of parens patriae actions and concludes that the Fifth Circuit's approach to removing mislabeled parens patriae suits is supported by existing jurisprudence and statutory analysis and is consistent with CAFA's intent
Recommended Citation
Jacob Durling,
Waltzing Through a Loophole: How Parens Patriae Suits Allow Circumvention of the Class Action Fairness Act,
83
U. Colo. L. Rev.
549
(2012).
Available at:
https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/lawreview/vol83/iss2/5