Stuck in concrete: 7th Circuit chisels hole in Class Action Fairness Act

Class Actions

By Jeffrey S. Jacobson and Justin O. Kay

Jeffrey S. Jacobson is a partner in the New York office of Faegre Drinker. He has experience at the highest levels of the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, as well as two decades defending clients in their most significant claims. Justin O. Kay is a partner in the Chicago office of Faegre Drinker, where he advises and defends business clients regarding their interactions and communications with consumers. He appears regularly on behalf of clients before federal and state courts, federal agencies and regulatory bodies.

Posted February 18, 2021 11:45 AM

How can a class action claim be weighty enough to entitle the putative class to $5 million-plus in damages, yet not be sufficiently “concrete” for a federal court to hear it? In Thornley v. Clearview AI, Inc., No. 20-3249, 2021 WL 128170 (7th Cir. Jan. 14, 2021), the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent an Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act claim back to state court without answering that question, and then later denied reconsideration. Thornley may lead to more class actions staying in state court, where …

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