Opinion
Civil Action No. 06-cv-00558-LTB-CBS.
July 12, 2006
ORDER
This case is before me on Plaintiff's Motion to Remand. After consideration of the motion, related pleadings, and the case file, I grant Plaintiff's motion as set forth below.
I. Background
On January 10, 2003, Plaintiff, along with other individuals, commenced Case No. 03CV 55 in the Boulder County District Court asserting various state law claims against Defendants and other insurance companies based on their alleged failure to properly inform the plaintiffs of the nature and scope of uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.
On February 24, 2006, the state court ordered that the claims against Defendants be severed from those asserted against the other defendant insurance companies. The claims against several other defendant insurance companies in Case No. 03CV55 were likewise severed from each other. Each of the severed cases was assigned a new case number and amended complaints were to be filed in order to limit the allegations and claims to the appropriate parties.
On March 24, 2006, Defendants removed this case to this Court pursuant to the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 ("CAFA"), Pub.L. No. 109-2, 119 Stat. 4 (codified in scattered sections of 28 U.S.C.). Plaintiff now seeks to remand this case back to the Boulder District Court on the basis that CAFA is inapplicable under the circumstances here present.
II. Analysis
Section 1453(b) of CAFA provides for the removal of class actions from state court. CAFA is only applicable, however, to actions commenced on or after its effective date of February 18, 2005. The question of whether this court has jurisdiction over Plaintiff's claims pursuant to CAFA therefore requires a determination of when this case was commenced. In this regard, Plaintiff argues that the applicable date is January 10, 2003, which is the date Case No. 03CV55 was filed in the Boulder County District Court, while Defendants argue that the applicable date is February 24, 2006, which is the date that Plaintiff's claims against Defendants were severed from the other claims asserted in Case No. 03CV55.
On July 10, 2006, Judge Robert E. Blackburn of this Court granted a similar motion to remand that had been filed in one of the other cases that was severed from Case No. 03CV55. Specifically, in Briggs v. Geico General Ins. Co., Civil Case No. 06-cv-00550, Judge Blackburn concluded that the removed state court case commenced on January 10, 2003 and that CAFA was therefore inapplicable. I adopt Judge Blackburn's reasoning and further incorporate the remand order in Briggs, a copy of which is attached, herein by reference.
Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion to Remand [Doc. # 14] is GRANTED.