The Second Circuit today upheld a district court’s order barring class members in a federal class action from suing class counsel in a new state court action for botching the class case by settling for too little. The panel ruled that the “relitigation exception” to the federal Anti-Injunction Act (which, by the way, played a role in the Affordable Care Act cases that the Supreme Court decided in June) gave the district court the power to enjoin the state court fraud and malpractice action. The state court plaintiffs (and erstwhile class members) sought, in effect, to undo the federal judge’s findings that class counsel had done a really good job, the panel said. Wyly v. Weiss, No. 10-4785-cv (2d Cir. Oct. 10, 2012).
Yes, that Weiss.