By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//January 2, 2015//
U.S. Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit
Civil
Civil Procedure – Subject matter jurisdiction
Litigation over Post-filing expenses does not create subject matter jurisdiction.
“Several times the Supreme Court has encountered the contention that a dispute about the allocation of costs, attorneys’ fees, or other post-filing expenses justifies adjudication of a suit that is otherwise not within federal jurisdiction. For example, in Diamond v. Charles, 476 U.S. 54 (1986), an intervenor who had been ordered to pay the prevailing side’s legal fees contended that this kept the controversy alive, even though the only litigants with standing had dropped out, since if the judgment were reversed on the merits the award of fees would fall with it. The Justices held, however, that awards of legal fees and other post-filing procedural events could not supply a case or controversy. 476 U.S. at 68–71. The Court followed up by holding that a litigant cannot sidestep the need for a controversy on the merits by bringing suit for the costs of bringing suit. Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment, 523 U.S. 83, 107 (1998). See also Lewis v. Continental Bank Corp., 494 U.S. 472 (1990).”
Vacated and Remanded.
14-1464 State Farm Life Ins. Co. v. Jonas
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Lawrence, J., Easterbrook, J.