Recent Ninth Circuit CAFA decision: Davis v. HBSC Bank Nevada

I'm catching up a bit on opinions handed down while I was on a semi-hiatus from blogging. 

In Davis v. HBSC Bank Nevada, N.A., 557 F.3d 1026 (Mar. 4, 2009), the Ninth Circuit construed the term "citizen" for purposes of the local controversy exception to CAFA jurisdiction (28 U.S.C. §1332(d)(4)):

[W]e hold that a nationwide retailer with operations spread across many states will be a citizen of California only when a substantial predominance of its activities are located in California; it will not be a citizen of California merely because its operations in California cater to California’s larger population.

Slip op. at 2786.