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Class(Less) Action Reform, Eric Y. Choi

Seventh Circuit Review

The Seventh Circuit harbors a known distrust for class actions, particularly those adjudicated on the state level. One of the court's concerns involves class action plaintiffs that initially limit the value of their damages in order to avoid less-lenient federal courts, but later attempt to amend their complaint for greater damages after the defendant's opportunity to remove has foreclosed. In response to these and other concerns, Congress passed the Class Action Fairness Act, which greatly reduces plaintiffs' ability to keep class actions on the state level. Nevertheless, the Seventh Circuit continues to unnecessarily federalize class actions. Recently, in Oshana v. …