Wells Fargo Bank v. Gutierrez, et al.

Case Updates

In its amicus brief, a U.S. Chamber-led coalition supported a cert. petition at the U.S. Supreme Court that seeks review of a Ninth Circuit decision affirming a class judgment. The certified class sought damages under California’s Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”), which permits (as a matter of California state law) a named plaintiff in California state court to represent a class of plaintiffs who have not demonstrated any injury caused by the defendant.

The brief explains that this California rule contradicts Article III’s standing requirements and, thus, no UCL class containing uninjured plaintiffs can be certified in federal court under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 consistent with the U.S. Constitution.

The Chamber filed this brief jointly with the American Bankers Association, California Chamber of Commerce, Civil Justice Association of California, and California Bankers Association.

Jeremy B. Rosen, Felix Shafir, and Emily V. Cuatto of Horvitz & Levy LLP served as co-counsel for the amici on behalf of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center in this case.