President Bush Signs Class Action Fairness Act

On February 18, 2005, President Bush signed into law the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA). CAFA is effective immediately, and will apply to all civil actions filed on or after its enactment. The primary effect of CAFA will be to transfer most multi-state class actions from state court to federal court. By conferring federal court jurisdiction on such cases, CAFA is intended to put a stop to the practice of forum shopping, in which a large number of multi-state class actions have been filed in certain “magnet jurisdictions” known for returning disproportionately large verdicts.