Charles Faruki, Managing Partner of FI&C was recently selected as a 2013 BTI Client Service All-Star MVP by BTI Consulting Group. All-Star MVPs are standout attorneys honored for delivering superior client service year after year. Charlie is among the 41 attorneys to return to The BTI Client Service All-Star list for two or more years in a row.

The 2013 BTI Client Service All-Stars report from BTI Consulting Group Inc. (Wellesley, Mass.) lists a total of only 307 attorneys nationally, named by corporate counsel as delivering outstanding client service. The list is a definitive list of attorneys—identified through client feedback—standing out with corporate counsel from Fortune 1000 and other large companies as delivering the highest levels of client service. Charlie and the other lawyers were selected for their superior client focus, exceptional understanding of the client’s business, outsized value, exceptional legal skills, and outstanding results.

On Tuesday, March 19, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in  Standard Fire Ins. Co. v. Knowles, No. 11-1450, and held that class action plaintiffs cannot plead around the Class Action Fairness Act’s (“CAFA”) jurisdictional amount in controversy requirement.  Agreeing with petitioner Standard Fire, the Court declined to permit circumvention of federal removal jurisdiction under CAFA by stipulating in the complaint that the named plaintiff/putative class representative will not seek damages in excess of $5 million, the requisite jurisdictional amount under the Act.

The Court held that plaintiff, Greg Knowles, lacked the power to speak for the putative class when he stipulated that he and the class would not ask for more than $5 million.  Justice Breyer, writing for the Court, explained that:

Say goodbye to those anxious readings (and re-readings) of Rule 45.  After twenty-two years, Rule 45 is getting a makeover.  Last September, the Judicial Conference of the United States approved the first substantive amendments to Rule 45 since 1991.  The proposed amendments are now before the Supreme Court, which has until May 1, 2013 to approve and transmit the proposed rule changes to Congress.  Absent congressional action, these revisions will become effective on December 1, 2013.