Cert. granted in CAFA case

In State of Mississippi v. AU Optronics Corp., the Fifth Circuit reversed a remand order, finding that a suit brought to protect consumers by the Mississippi Attorney General was a “mass action” under CAFA. 701 F.3d 696 (2012).  Based on the analytical framework of Louisiana ex rel Caldwell v. Allstate Insurance, 536 F.3d 418 (5th Cir. 2008), the Court concluded that the numerical requirements of CAFA for a mass action were satisfied, and the “general public policy” exception in the statute was not.  A concurrence endorsed the outcome but suggested that the “claim-by-claim” framework of Caldwell effectively mooted the public policy exception.  The Supreme Court has now granted certiorari in this case to resolve a circuit split about how CAFA should treat “parens patriae” actions.