New Ninth Circuit CAFA decision: Lussier v. Dollar Tree Stores, Inc.

In Lussier v. Dollar Tree Stores, Inc., ___ F.3d ___ (9th Cir. Mar. 7, 2008), the defendant removed the case under CAFA. The district court granted plaintiffs' motion to remand but denied their motion for attorneys' fees. Plaintiffs appealed. The Ninth Circuit affirmed, holding that in the early period after CAFA went into effect, when an action was "commenced" for CAFA removal purposes was an unsettled question. Therefore, the defendant's arguments in support of removal were not objectively unreasonable (even though the arguments "were losers"). Slip op. at 2208. [Via Federal Civil Practice Bulletin]