Following a removal from state to federal court based on the Class Action Fairness Act, the plaintiffs will normally test the removal with a motion to remand. Once the motion to remand is ruled on, CAFA allows the losing party to appeal. But what's the deadline for the appeal? The statute seems to make the answer clear:
[A] court of appeals may accept an appeal from an order of a district court granting or denying a motion to remand a class action to the state court from which it was removed if application is made to the court of appeals not less than 7 days after entry of the order.
According to this language, the losing party must wait at least 7 days to file a notice of appeal. Recently, however, both the 9th and 10th Circuits have interpreted this language to mean exactly the opposite: the notice of appeal must be filed within 7 days.
These confusing rulings create a problem for practitioners. Anyone interested in the problem should read Howard Bashman's detailed analysis in his article, "Less Is More: When Courts Decide a Law Means the Opposite of What It Says," which also contains a link to the two recent court decisions.
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