United States Fifth Circuit

In a class action involving claims for injuries and deaths allegedly caused by defects and unreasonably dangerous conditions at defendants' medical facilities on the date of Hurricane Katrina, and also alleging a failure to provide adequate transportation, grant of plaintiffs' motion remand their class action lawsuit to state court is reversed where the evidence was insufficient to allow a credible estimate to be made that at least two-thirds of the proposed class members were domiciled in Louisiana at the time of filing the class action, for purposes of the "local controversy" exception of the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA).

Appellate Information

• Decided 04/25/2007
• Published 04/26/2007

Judges

• CARL E. STEWART, Circuit Judge:, Before DeMOSS, STEWART and PRADO, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Fifth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Val Patrick Exnicios, Tammie E. Holley, Roderick Alvendia, New Orleans, LA, Lisa M. Africk, Law Office of Salvador Anzelmo, Mark Philip Glago, Glago Law Firm, Anthony D. Irpinio, Irpino Law Firm, New Orleans, LA, Rebecca Maria Urrutia, Metairie, LA, for Cheryl Weems., Franklin D. Beahm, Jacob Kenneth Best, Beahm & Green, New Orleans, LA, for Touro Infirmary., Nicole M. Duarte, Charles W. Bradley, Jr., Michael Stephen Sepcich, Lemle & Kelleher, New Orleans, LA, for SHONO, Inc.