William Schorsch, Individually and on Behalf of Others Similarly Situated, Plaintiff-Respondent v. Hewlett-Packard Company, Defendant-Petitioner

EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge.

Ever since Congress enacted the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, Pub.L. 109-2, 119 Stat. 4 (2005), defendants have been trying to remove suits that were pending in state court on February 18, 2005, although the statute applies only to suits “commenced” after that date. We have rejected two of these attempts in published opinions. See Knudsen v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., 411 F.3d 805 (7th Cir. June 7, 2005); Pfizer, Inc. v. Lott, 417 F.3d 725, 2005 WL 1840046 (7th Cir. August 4, 2005). Today’s opinion makes a third.

Knudsen holds that a case is “commenced” when…