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Michael Collins v. Village of Palatine, Illinois

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, No. 16-3395 · judgment November 16, 2017


Certiorari denied · May 14, 2018
Pre-decision estimate: 1% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Questions presented

American Pipe & Constr. Co. v. Utah, 414 U.S. 538, 94 S. Ct. 756, 38 L.Ed.2d 713 (1974) and Crown, Cork & Seal Co. v. Parker, 462 U.S. 345, 350, 103 S. Ct. 2392, 76 L. Ed. 2d 628 (1983) hold that the commencement of a class-action lawsuit tolls the statute of limitations for absent class members until the existence and limits of the class have been established. The First, Third, Fifth, Sixth and Eleventh Circuits interpret that to mean that tolling continues throughout the litigation of the classcomplaint including appeals. The Seventh Circuit holds that tolling stops immediately when a district court dismisses a class-action complaint with prejudice before a class certification determination is made and does not continue while the dismissal is appealed.

  1. Whether American Pipe tolling ceases immediately when a class-action lawsuit is dismissed with prejudice before a determination on class certification is made by the district court.

  2. Whether the answer to question number 1 is different if the dismissal was erroneous and reversed on appeal.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Martin Joseph Murphy
Law Office of Martin J. Murphy

For respondent
Paul Alan Rettberg
Querrey & Harrow

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Linked docket
17A922

Proceedings

  1. May 14 2018
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Apr 24 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/10/2018.
  3. Apr 18 2018
    Waiver of right of respondent Village of Palatine, Illinois to respond filed.
  4. Apr 13 2018
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due May 17, 2018)
  5. Mar 06 2018
    Application (17A922) granted by Justice Kagan extending the time to file until April 13, 2018.
  6. Mar 02 2018
    Response to application from respondent Village of Palatine, Illinois filed.
  7. Feb 26 2018
    Application (17A922) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from March 13, 2018 to April 13, 2018, submitted to Justice Kagan.