Reply #31: The mechanical changes are many

[Maven]

and are too detailed to describe in full here. The overall thrust of the jurisdictional changes is to ease the removal of class actions to federal court. Generally speaking, federal judges are less likely to certify classes and to hold in favor of plaintiffs in class actions. This is not a rule that is written down anywhere--it's a generality borne out of experience with the federal courts and an understanding of the federal rules that govern those courts, which are more complex and unforgiving when it comes to class actions than many of their state counterparts. Overall, what the bill does is ensure that many class action lawsuits will wind up in unsympathetic fora, increasing the likelihood of denied recovery. This is what the industry backers of the bill clearly understood when they lobbied for it.

By the way, judgment "on the merits" is a legal term of art that is only used to distinguish from a disposition that is procedural in nature. For example: a claim that exceeds the applicable time limitation for filing such claims may be dismissed without ever reaching its "merits." This is an especially important distinction when it comes to class actions, which involve many procedural hurdles to cross before ever getting to the merits, the most important of which is certification of the class--in other words, getting the court to recognize that a certain group of people even has the right to sue together. (Thus, in a class action, the first papers filed by the defendant wouldn't be motions to dismiss, as you'd suggested--they'd be motions to oppose certification). In federal court, the process of certification is often more complex than in state court, and federal judges as I mentioned are generally (though not always) stringent about the rules. Thus, after CAFA, many plaintiffs who find themselves unexpectedly in federal court may never get to argue the merits of their case.

I invite you to read the bill and to get some background on the "legal landscape," although I would warn you that it's a vast area (and probably the most complex sections of civil procedure) to such an extent that an entire subspecialty of litigation practice is now dedicated to it.