Tag Archives Amount-in-controversy

When we first discussed Standard Fire Insurance Co. v. Knowles, No. 11-1450, 568 U.S. -- (Mar. 19, 2013), we noted that a ruling in favor of Defendants could mean an end to the traditional rule that a plaintiff is the “Master” of his or her own complaint, by foisting upon a party imputed damages that may have not been alleged in the case for strategic reasons.   And while the Court recognized that an individual plaintiff may avoid litigating in federal court by stipulating to an amount in controversy below the federal jurisdiction requirement, the Court unanimously held  that the same is not true for a plaintiff seeking to represent a proposed class: "Our reason is a simple one: Stipulations must be binding…. [a] plaintiff who files a proposed class action, cannot legally bind members of the proposed class before the class is certified." Slip op. at 4.   Even though this…