The Class Action Fairness Act: The Meaning of 'Commenced' After 1 Year

The Class Action Fairness Act ('CAFA') was enacted almost a year and a half ago, signed into law by President Bush on Feb. 18, 2005. 28 U.S.C. '1332(d)(2). CAFA was enacted to help control the 'explosion' in the number of class actions while still allowing the right of access to the courts. As stated by one of the act's proponents, Sen. Orin Hatch, during his keynote address to the American Bar Association conference on class actions, 'truly national class actions should not be heard in remote state courts with little tie to any of the parties involved.' CAFA attempts to rectify this situation by allowing national class actions to be heard in federal courts.

CAFA is of particular importance to product liability litigators because product manufacturers are often named in state court class actions in 'remote state courts' where they have few ties and where the state courts appear unfavorable to defendants. CAFA has expanded federal court jurisdiction over class actions by providing that such class actions in remote state courts may be removable to federal court. Under CAFA, federal courts may have jurisdiction over class actions that do not meet the traditional requirement of complete diversity and do not meet the threshold amount in controversy for federal court jurisdiction. CAFA amended the federal diversity statute and provides federal courts with jurisdiction over class actions where minimal diversity exists and the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million in the aggregate. CAFA's more expansive jurisdictional allowances may allow product manufacturers greater access to federal courts. CAFA is expressly not retroactive and only applies to cases 'commenced' after its effective date.