United States Eighth Circuit

In a class action alleging the price fixing of chocolate, district court's conclusion that the amount in controversy was below the federal jurisdictional minimum and remand to state court for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is vacated where the district court incorrectly required the defendants to establish jurisdictional facts by a legal certainty standard rather than by the preponderance of the evidence standard. On remand, if the manufacturers prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the amount in controversy is satisfied, remand to state court would only be appropriate if plaintiff can establish that it is legally impossible for him to recover in excess of the jurisdictional amount.

Appellate Information

• Decided 02/26/2009
• Published 02/26/2009

Judges

• MURPHY, Circuit Judge., Before MURPHY and SMITH, Circuit Judges, and LIMBAUGH, District Judge.

Court

• United States Eighth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Christopher Landau, argued, Washington, DC, Todd A. Strother, John C. Cortesio, Jr., Robert L. Fanter, Mark E. Weinhardt, Edward W. Remsburg and John Moorlach, Des Moines, IA, Craig S. Primis, Angela M. Butcher, Jennifer W. Cowen, Stefan M. Meisner, Roxann E. Henry, Washington, DC, David Marx, Jr., Chicago, IL, Dennis P. Orr, new York City, on the brief, for Plaintiff-Appellee., Joseph R. Gunderson, argued, Des Moines, IA, David E. Sharp, on the brief, Houston, TX, for Defendants-Appellants.