No. 23-1024

Country Mutual Insurance Company v. Angela Sudholt, et al.

Lower Court: Seventh Circuit
Docketed: 2024-03-18
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Amici (2)Response Waived Experienced Counsel
Tags: ability-to-pay cafa circuit-split class-action class-action-fairness-act federal-jurisdiction home-state-exception primary-defendant real-target
Key Terms:
ERISA Securities ClassAction Jurisdiction
Latest Conference: 2024-05-09
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether a court should consider a defendant's ability to pay a judgment when determining whether the defendant is a primary defendant' under CAFA's home-state exception

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED The Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 expanded federal-court jurisdiction over “interstate cases of national importance.” Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, sec. 2(a)(4), (b)(2), Pub. L. No. 109-2, 119 Stat. 4. Congress specified narrow exceptions to that jurisdiction, two of which are at issue here. First, under the “homestate” exception, federal courts may not hear class actions where “the primary defendants|] are citizens of the State in which the action was originally filed.” 28 U.S.C. § 1832(d)(4)(B). Second, under the “internalaffairs” exception, federal courts may not hear “any class action that solely involves a claim * * * that relates to the internal affairs or governance of a corporation.” Id. § 1832(d)(9)(B). The questions presented are: 1. Whether a court should consider a defendant’s ability to pay a judgment when determining whether the defendant is a “primary defendant” under CAFA’s home-state exception, as the Fifth and Seventh Circuits have held, or whether a court should instead determine if the defendant is the “real target” of the litigation, as the Third, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits have held. 2. Whether a class action should be remanded to state court under CAFA’s internal-affairs exception even if it requires a factfinder to “look beyond” the internal affairs of a corporation and evaluate other legal issues, as the Second, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits have held, or whether such a case should remain in federal court, as the Fourth Circuit has held. (i)

Docket Entries

2024-05-13
Petition DENIED.
2024-04-23
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/9/2024.
2024-04-17
Waiver of right of respondent Angela M. Sudholt, et al. to respond filed.
2024-04-17
2024-04-17
Brief amici curiae of The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, et al. filed.
2024-03-14
2024-01-12
Application (23A642) granted by Justice Barrett extending the time to file until March 14, 2024.
2024-01-09
Application (23A642) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from January 29, 2024 to March 14, 2024, submitted to Justice Barrett.

Attorneys

Angela M. Sudholt, et al.
Eugene Alexis SokoloffMoloLamken LLP, Respondent
Eugene Alexis SokoloffMoloLamken LLP, Respondent
Atlantic Legal Foundation & DRI Center for Law and Public Policy
Lawrence S. EbnerAtlantic Legal Foundation, Amicus
Lawrence S. EbnerAtlantic Legal Foundation, Amicus
Country Mutual Insurance Company
Neal Kumar KatyalHogan Lovells US LLP, Petitioner
Neal Kumar KatyalHogan Lovells US LLP, Petitioner
The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies and American Property Casualty Insurance Association
Katherine Crawford YargerLehotsky Keller Cohn LLP, Amicus
Katherine Crawford YargerLehotsky Keller Cohn LLP, Amicus