Jurisdiction and Procedure
The Litigation Center champions the jurisdictional and procedural principles that serve as the bedrock of a stable and predictable legal system. For example, the Litigation Center has urged courts not to shy away from exercising their jurisdiction, while cautioning them to ensure that the key requirements for such jurisdiction are in place.
The Litigation Center has filed dozens of briefs on issues of standing, personal jurisdiction, and venue; actively argues for appropriate limits on the extraterritorial application of state and federal law; and promotes rational discovery and evidence rules that are fair to all parties.
Latest Content
California Supreme Court: Decided
View CaseCalifornia Supreme Court holds that a California cost-shifting provision for parties that reject reasonable settlement offers and fail to achieve a better outcome in litigation applies whenever its terms are met, including if the litigation is ultimately resolved by settlement. The U.S. Chamber filed an amicus brief supporting this result.U.S. Chamber files amicus brief urging California Supreme Court to recognize that a California cost-shifting provision for parties that reject reasonable settlement offers and fail to achieve a better outcome in the litigation applies regardless of whether the litigation was ultimately resolved by trial.Missouri Supreme Court: Decided
View CaseMissouri Supreme Court holds that filing a pre-answer motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim does not waive the right to arbitrate, which is an affirmative defense. The U.S. Chamber filed an amicus brief supporting this result.U.S. Chamber files amicus brief urging Missouri Supreme Court to hold that filing a motion to dismiss does not automatically waive the right to seek arbitration.U.S. Supreme Court: Pending
View CaseU.S. Chamber files amicus brief urging Supreme Court to grant certiorari and reject California court’s expansive assertion of personal jurisdiction in action seeking to void out-of-state noncompete agreement.U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit: Pending
View CaseChallenge to Maryland’s digital advertising tax
U.S. Chamber coalition files reply brief urging Fourth Circuit to hold the pass-through provision of Maryland’s Digital Advertising Services tax an unconstitutional restriction on the freedom of speech.U.S. Chamber coalition files opening brief urging Fourth Circuit to hold that Maryland law banning taxpayers’ speech about digital advertising services tax on their invoices violates the First Amendment.Georgia Supreme Court: Pending
View CaseU.S. Chamber files coalition amicus brief urging Georgia Supreme Court to hold that products-liability statute of repose begins running at plaintiff’s first-ever purchase of product at issue.U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit: Pending
View CaseU.S. Chamber files amicus brief urging Second Circuit to uphold sanctions against Russian bank that sought to circumvent U.S. sanctions against Russia.U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit: Pending
View CaseChallenge to price-control measures in the Inflation Reduction Act
U.S. Chamber coalition files reply brief in Sixth Circuit in appeal from district court’s dismissal for lack of venue of their challenge to the drug-price-control provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act.U.S. Chamber coalition files opening brief in Sixth Circuit in appeal from district court’s dismissal for lack of venue of their challenge to the drug-price-control provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act.New Jersey Superior Court: Decided
View CaseNew Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division holds that ESI discovery must be limited to relevant documents, and reverses trial court order compelling production of tens of thousands of irrelevant documents as an abuse of discretion. The U.S. Chamber filed a coalition amicus brief supporting this outcome.U.S. Chamber files coalition amicus brief urging New Jersey Appellate Division to overturn discovery order denying defendant any opportunity for relevance review and compelling production of tens of thousands of irrelevant documents.U.S. Supreme Court: Decided
View CaseU.S. Supreme Court denies cert, refusing to address standards governing admissibility of expert testimony at the class-certification stage. The U.S. Chamber filed a coalition amicus brief urging the Court to grant review and hold that Evidence Rule 702’s full gatekeeping standards apply at that stage.U.S. Chamber files coalition amicus brief urging Supreme Court to grant review and hold that Evidence Rule 702’s standards governing admissibility of expert testimony fully apply at the class-certification stage.Georgia Supreme Court: Pending
View CaseU.S. Chamber files coalition amicus brief urging Georgia Supreme Court to hold that state’s statutory cap on noneconomic damages applies to wrongful death actions. The Chamber previously filed an amicus brief supporting review.Georgia Supreme Court grants review of decision holding the state’s statutory cap on noneconomic damages inapplicable to wrongful death actions. The U.S. Chamber filed a coalition amicus brief supporting this outcome.U.S. Supreme Court: Decided
View CaseSupreme Court holds that a plaintiff's voluntary dismissal without prejudice under Rule 41(a) constitutes a "final proceeding" from which the plaintiff may seek relief under Rule 60(b). The U.S. Chamber filed an amicus brief arguing that relief is not available in these circumstances, to promote finality in litigation and deter nuisance motions.U.S. Chamber files amicus brief urging Supreme Court to hold that a plaintiff’s voluntary dismissal of his complaint under Rule 41 is not a “final judgment, order, or proceeding” from which the plaintiff may seek relief under Rule 60.U.S. Supreme Court: Decided
View CaseSupreme Court holds that start courts cannot apply state-law administrative exhaustion requirements to Section 1983 claims where doing so would effectively immunize state officials from Section 1983 claims that challenge delays in the administrative process. The U.S. Chamber filed an amicus brief urging the Court to hold that state courts cannot apply state-law exhaustion requirements to Section 1983 claims.U.S. Chamber files amicus brief urging Supreme Court to hold that plaintiffs, including businesses and trade associations, suing state government officials in state court for denying their federal rights need not exhaust state administrative remedies.U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit: Decided
View CaseFourth Circuit affirms denial of class certification because high numbers of uninjured individuals in the proposed class meant individual standing issues predominated over common issues. The U.S. Chamber filed an amicus brief supporting this outcome.U.S. Chamber files amicus brief urging Fourth Circuit to affirm denial of class certification where plaintiffs either proposed class definitions that swept in many of the uninjured or were so-called “fail-safe” classes that would never allow for a judgment on the merits against the class.North Carolina Supreme Court: Pending
View CaseU.S. Chamber files coalition amicus brief urging North Carolina Supreme Court to grant petition for review, vacate punitive discovery sanctions, and discourage the practice of litigation-by-sanction.U.S. Supreme Court: Pending
View CaseU.S. Chamber files amicus brief urging Supreme Court to hold that Palestine Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority are not persons entitled to the protection of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, and to avoid more difficult questions about Fifth Amendment limits on personal jurisdiction under the Due Process Clause.U.S. Supreme Court: Pending
View CaseU.S. Chamber files coalition amicus brief urging Supreme Court to reaffirm that businesses have Article III standing to challenge agency actions that predictably harm them, including agency actions that do not directly regulate such businesses. This is the second amicus brief the Chamber has filed in this case.Supreme Court grants certiorari to decide whether a party may establish the redressability component of Article III standing by relying on the predictable effects of regulation on third parties. The U.S. Chamber filed a coalition amicus brief urging the Court to grant review on this specific question.U.S. Supreme Court: Pending
View CaseU.S. Chamber files amicus brief urging Supreme Court to grant certiorari and reverse D.C. Circuit ruling that insulates Cuban government and its instrumentalities from liability for expropriation of U.S. nationals’ property.U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit: Pending
View CaseU.S. Chamber files coalition amicus brief urging en banc Sixth Circuit to hold that Rule 23(b)(3) damages class actions must exclude uninjured persons. This is the third amicus brief the Chamber has filed in this case.Sixth Circuit grants rehearing en banc to consider certification of substantially uninjured damages class. The U.S. Chamber filed a coalition amicus brief in support of this result.U.S. Supreme Court: Decided
View CaseSupreme Court holds that plaintiff’s post-removal amendment of complaint to delete federal-law claims providing basis for removal divests federal court of supplemental jurisdiction. The U.S. Chamber filed an amicus brief supporting the position that supplemental jurisdiction is established at the time of removal and is not divested through subsequent amendment.U.S. Chamber files amicus brief urging Supreme Court to hold that federal jurisdiction is established upon a defendant’s proper removal of a case to federal court, and is not divested through a plaintiff’s subsequent amendment of their complaint.U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit: Pending
View CaseU.S. Chamber files amicus brief urging Sixth Circuit to grant mandamus and hold that regulatory compliance audit documents prepared by in-house counsel during internal investigations are protected by the attorney-client privilege. The Chamber has filed multiple briefs in this case.