Gary v. Sheahan

Summary

The Seventh Circuit held that a petition for leave to appeal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(f) must be filed within ten days of the original class-certification order, or a timely reconsideration disposition. A belated motion to decertify does not restart the Rule 23(f) period unless the district court materially alters the class-certification decision; the petition was therefore dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

Holdings

1. A party may not use a motion to decertify or a motion for reconsideration filed more than ten days after the class-certification order to create a new ten-day window for seeking permission to appeal under Rule 23(f).
2. An untimely or successive motion for reconsideration does not extend or restart the time for seeking appellate review under Rule 23(f).
3. If a district judge responds to a belated reconsideration motion by materially altering the class-certification decision, the party aggrieved by that alteration may seek permission to appeal within the normal Rule 23(f) period; that exception does not apply when the motion is denied and the class definition remains unchanged.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a party may obtain interlocutory review under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(f) by filing a petition within ten days after the denial of a motion to decertify a class when the motion was filed more than ten days after the original class-certification order.
2. Whether a belated or successive motion for reconsideration or decertification restarts the ten-day period for a Rule 23(f) petition.
3. Whether the exception for a materially altered decision applies when the district court denies the motion and leaves the class definition unchanged.

Disposition

dismissed