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Dennis G. Collins, et al. v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, No. 23-1351 · judgment September 20, 2024


Certiorari denied · March 3, 2025
Pre-decision estimate: 9% cert probability (95% interval 5%–14%)

Before the decision, about 2.1× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a circuit split argued in the petition, an Eighth Circuit decision below, and a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition), and down for a business respondent.

Question presented

Whether a United States Court of Appeals can—sua sponte—affirm a district court’s judgment on Rule 9(b) and other grounds that neither the parties nor the district court ever addressed below or in the parties’ appellate briefing and, as a result, were waived on appeal, especially when the appellants had no opportunity to amend their complaint.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Thomas Cusack Cronin
Cronin & Co., LTD

For respondent
Sandra Denise Hauser
Dentons US LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Mar 03 2025
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Feb 12 2025
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/28/2025.
  3. Feb 10 2025
    Reply of petitioners Dennis Collins, et al. filed. (Distributed)
  4. Jan 27 2025
    Brief of respondent Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in opposition filed.
  5. Dec 19 2024
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 27, 2025)