What You Need to Know
Should the Supreme Court determine that there are no Article III
or Rule 23(b)(3) prohibitions on certifying a damages class that
includes uninjured members, plaintiffs could artificially inflate
their class sizes and drive up defendants' exposure, thereby
increasing plaintiffs' settlement leverage pre- and post-class
certification.
The Court's answer could bring uniformity to the federal
courts, which may reduce forum shopping for the plaintiffs'
bar.
On January 24, 2025, the United States Supreme Court agreed to
hear a case that could resolve whether putative Rule 23(b)(3)
classes may be certified in the federal courts when some of the
class members are uninjured. Or, as the Supreme Court put the
certified question in the case, Laboratory Corporation of
America Holdings, dba Labcorp, v. Luke Davis, et al., No.
22-55873: