Press Release

Washington, DC— The following is a statement from American Association for Justice CEO Linda Lipsen on today’s decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, which held that defendants cannot eliminate lawsuits by merely offering settlements to individual plaintiffs. The case threatened the viability of class actions, and could have resulted in a rule that allowed defendants to pick off named plaintiffs and extinguish the entire litigation.

Class actions are necessary to help ensure fairness and efficiency in our judicial system. By allowing groups of similarly-harmed individuals to join together, the Supreme Court ensured that Americans with even the most limited means can hold the most powerful corporations accountable for wrongdoing. An alternative result in this case would have upended that balance and, as Justice Ginsberg writes, “would place the defendant in the driver’s seat” of the civil justice system.

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The American Association for Justice works to preserve the constitutional right to trial by jury and to make sure people have a fair chance to receive justice through the legal system when they are injured by the negligence or misconduct of others—even when it means taking on the most powerful corporations. Visit http://www.justice.org.