In my August 20, 2012 post, I noted that there were several petitions pending before the U.S. Supreme Court involving class action issues.  Today the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in The Standard Fire Ins. Co. v. Knowles, an insurance class action case presenting the following question:

Whether, after Smith v. Bayer, when a named plaintiff attempts to defeat a defendant’s right of removal under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 by filing with a class action complaint a “stipulation” that attempts to limit the damages he “seeks” for the absent putative class members to less than the $5 million threshold for federal jurisdiction, and the defendant establishes that the actual amount in controversy, absent the “stipulation,” exceeds $5 million, the “stipulation” is binding on absent class members so as to destroy federal jurisdiction.

I drafted the petition for certiorari and am counsel of record in this case.  The papers filed with the Court are available on SCOTUSblog.