Forum
U.S. Supreme Court
Case Status
Decided
Docket Number
Term
Cert. Denied
Lower Court Opinion
Questions Presented
Whether a federal court may certify a class under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, and award monetary relief to all class members, even though the class includes individuals who were not harmed by the challenged conduct and could not have prevailed in an individual action.
Case Updates
Cert. petition denied
April 04, 2016
U.S. Chamber urges Supreme Court to review no-injury lawsuit
May 14, 2015
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.
Case Documents
- Opinion from 2012 -- Gutierrez v. Wells Fargo (CA9).pdf
- Opinion from 2014 -- Gutierrez v. Wells Fargo II (CA9).pdf
- Cert. Petition -- Wells Fargo v. Gutierrez (SCOTUS).pdf
- U S Chamber Amicus Brief Wells Fargov Gutierrez SCOTUS
- Brief in Opposition -- Wells Fargo v. Gutierrez (SCOTUS).pdf
- Petitioner's Reply Brief -- Wells Fargo v. Gutierrez (SCOTUS)_0.pdf
- Supplemental Brief for Petitioner (August 2015) -- Wells Fargo v. Gutierrez (SCOTUS).pdf
- Supplemental Brief in Opposition -- Wells Fargo v. Gutierrez (SCOTUS)_0.pdf
- Supplemental Brief for Petitioner (March 2016) -- Wells Fargo v. Gutierrez (SCOTUS).pdf