Eleventh Circuit Adds To Split Of Authority Regarding Whether Unaccepted Rule 68 Offer Of Judgment Moots Putative Class Claims

On December 2, 2014, in Stein v. Buccaneers Ltd. P'ship, No. 13-15417, — F.3d –, 2014 WL 6734819 (11th Cir. 2014), the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed a district court order dismissing a putative class action as moot, holding that: (1) an unaccepted Rule 68 offer of judgment does not moot a plaintiff's individual claims; and (2) even if a Rule 68 offer were to moot individual claims, the putative class action would remain justiciable, irrespective of whether a motion to certify the class had been filed at the time of the offer.

The Eleventh Circuit held: "[I]t is plain that this case still presents a live controversy. The plaintiffs say BLP violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and that all class members are entitled to money damages; BLP denies it . . . . The case before us, therefore, rests not on whether there exists a live controversy, but on whether the district court has before it some plaintiff with a personal stake in