Tolling limitations during class certification proceedings
August 23, 2013A district court vacated a previously-granted class certification in a securities case in 2004. The putative class refiled in Texas in 2009. The district court found the action time-barred, concluding that any tolling effect under American Pipe & Construction Co v. Utah, 414 U.S. 538 (1974) ended with the order of vacatur. Hall v. Variable Annuity Life, No. 12-20440 (August 15, 2013). The Fifth Circuit affirmed, finding no meaningful distinction in this context between a vacatur order and a decision not to certify in the first instance.