Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an opinion directing the lower court to vacate a transfer order, and keeping a challenge to the CFPB’s credit card late fee rule in Texas. In its unanimous ruling, a three-judge panel noted the complex series of procedural events, including two changes of venue ordered by the district court. However, during the first venue transfer (covered by InfoBytes here), a different panel issued a writ of mandamus, reversing the transfer decision because the district court lacked jurisdiction over the case at that time. This was due to the fact that an appeal concerning the preliminary injunction motion was already pending before the 5th Circuit (covered by InfoBytes here). Because the 5th Circuit’s decision to issue the writ of mandamus was based on jurisdictional grounds, they did not have a reason to evaluate whether the district court’s decision to transfer venue was appropriate under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). Now, the court said, they do. The panel found that the transfer order misapplied the controlling standard for transferring cases and “was a clear abuse of discretion.” Therefore, the 5th Circuit dissolved its administrative stay, granted plaintiffs’ petition for a writ of mandamus, and directed the district court to vacate its transfer order.