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Plaintiffs may not file for nationwide class certification in state courts, Seventh Circuit says.

Article Excerpt
Plaintiffs in a Firestone tire case whose nationwide class certification was reversed on appeal last year are not permitted to seek similar certification in state courts, according to a follow-up ruling by the appeals court. (In re Bridgestone/Firestone, Nos. 03-1379, 03-1564, 2003 WL 21418413 (7th Cir. June 20, 2003).)

In its decision, which observers are calling Firestone IL the Seventh Circuit stated that its earlier reversal of a district court's class certification was sufficiently firm as to have collateral estoppel effect.

Following the appellate court's original ruling--and after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review the case--plaintiffs filed class actions in several jurisdictions around the country. In its recent decision, the Seventh Circuit claimed that in at least five of those suits, plaintiffs sought certification of the same class the court denied the first time around. One state judge certified...

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