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Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA)
Practical Law Glossary Item 0-502-3082 (Approx. 3 pages)
Glossary
Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA)
On February 18, 2005, Congress enacted the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA), significantly expanding federal diversity jurisdiction over most class actions and mass actions (28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)). In particular, for covered class actions, CAFA:
- Increased the amount in controversy requirement from $75,000 to $5 million, but relaxed the threshold standard by requiring the $5 million to represent the aggregate sum of each individual plaintiff's claims (28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(2), (6)).
- Relaxed the requirement that all plaintiffs be diverse from all defendants to allow jurisdiction where at least one plaintiff is diverse from at least one defendant (28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(2)).
CAFA also enacted new rules and procedures related to removal of class actions (28 U.S.C. § 1453) and to settling class actions (28 U.S.C. §§ 1711-1715).
For more information about CAFA, see Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA): Overview.