Table of Contents: Introduction and Overview - CAFA in the Congress: The Eight-Year Struggle - Whether to Use CAFA Legislative History - Is this a Class Action? - The Amount in Controversy Under CAFA: Have You Got What it Takes for Federal Court? - Numerosity - Basics of Minimal Diversity Under CAFA - Navigating CAFA’s Exceptions - How CAFA Expands Federal Jurisdiction to Include Certain Mass Actions - Advanced Procedural and Strategic Considerations on Removal Under CAFA - CAFA-Related Appeals - CAFA Settlement Provisions Gregory C. Cook is a Partner in the Birmingham, Alabama law firm of Balch and Bingham LLP where he has practiced since 1991 and now chairs Balch’s Financial Services Litigation Practice Group. He is a graduate of Duke University, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He received his law degree from Harvard Law School, magna cum laude, and served as the Executive Editor of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. His practice centers on complex commercial litigation with a concentration on defending class actions (over 60). Mr. Cook has spoken and written widely on civil procedure and class actions. He served for three years as co-chair of the ABA Class Action and Derivative Suits Committee, as a past chair of the Business Torts and Antitrust Section of the Alabama State Bar and as past Chair of the Birmingham Bar Association Civil Courts Procedure Committee. He is a member of the Alabama Supreme Court's Standing Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure. Mr. Cook is a Fellow of the Birmingham Bar and of the American Bar Association. He has served on numerous Bar Committees including as the Alabama Bar Disciplinary Rules and Enforcement Committee, the Alabama Lawyer Board of Editors, the Alabama State Board of Bar Examiners (Subject Matter Expert), Alabama Bar Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee, Birmingham Bar Bulletin Committee, Birmingham Bar Professional Ethics Committee, and Birmingham Bar Continuing Legal Education Committee. He is admitted to practice in Alabama and Texas, the United States Courts of Appeal for the Second, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits, and the Supreme Court of the United States. He has been recognized by many rating services including as a BTI Client Service All-Star twice, Benchmark, Best Lawyers, Martindale Hubbell and Super Lawyers. Mr. Cook served in the United States Air Force, rising to the rank of Captain.