In a case of first impression, a federal appeals court appeared unlikely to apply the U.S. Supreme Court’s jurisdictional holding in Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of California to a class action.
In oral arguments on Friday, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit grilled defense attorney Joseph Palmore, who argued to affirm a 2018 decision from an Illinois federal judge striking class allegations in a telemarketing case under Bristol-Myers. The case is the second to ask an appeals court to interpret whether the Supreme Court, in limiting personal jurisdiction in a mass tort case against Bristol-Myers, meant also to restrict class actions in the same manner. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard similar arguments last week.
