The Standard Fire Insurance Co. v. Knowles: SCOTUS Will Decide Whether Plaintiff May Destroy CAFA Jurisdiction By Stipulating to Seek Less Then $5 Million

On August 31, 2012, the Supreme Court of the United States granted a petition for writ of certiorari in The Standard Fire Insurance Co. v. Knowles (Case No. 11-1450) to decide the following issue:

Whether, after Smith v. Bayer [564 U.S. ---, 131 S.Ct. 2368 (2011), discussed here] when a named plaintiff attempts to defeat a defendant’s right of removal under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 by filing with a class action complaint a “stipulation” that attempts to limit the damages he “seeks” for the absent putative class members to less than the $5 million threshold for federal jurisdiction, and the defendant establishes that the actual amount in controversy, absent the “stipulation,” exceeds $5 million, the “stipulation” is binding on absent class members so as to destroy federal jurisdiction.

The Supreme Court's web site for Standard Fire is here. I have added it to our Watch List.