(l-r) U.S. Circuit Judges Elizabeth L. Branch and Stanley Marcus, who sit in the Eleventh Circuit and U.S. District Judge Paul C. Huck, who sits in the Southern District of Florida. Photos: ALM/Courtesy
A federal appeals court entered the first major decision in a class action seeking $900 million in damages when it reversed and remanded a lower court ruling against a real estate broker and a nursing home operator by mandating that the case remain in federal court.
At issue was whether economic studies and statistics, along with property and tax records, but not directly involving the plaintiffs in the case, are sufficient to establish whether a certain percentage of class members reside in a state for purposes of the local controversy and discretionary exemptions under the Class Action Fairness Act.
