Duane Morris Class Action Review - 2023 - Report - Page 66
district court’s finding that the plaintiff lacked standing to pursue certain state claims.
The Eleventh Circuit held that the district court erred in finding that the plaintiff lacked
standing, noting that multiple federal circuits have held that whether the plaintiff can
represent unnamed class members whose claims fall under different states’ laws is a
question for class certification and should not be decided on a motion to dismiss. The
Eleventh Circuit added that the defendants were wrong to suggest the appeal had been
made moot by the plaintiff’s failure to challenge the shotgun pleading finding because
appellate courts “have never suggested that an appellant’s failure to challenge all
alternative grounds on appeal leaves us without a justiciable case or controversy.” Id. at
19. However, the Eleventh Circuit concluded that the plaintiff had not challenged the
shotgun pleading dismissal in any way on appeal, and that “[b]y not attacking the
shotgun pleading ruling, [the plaintiff] has left us with no choice but to affirm the
dismissal of the [complaint].” Id. at 18.
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Duane Morris Class Action Review – 2023