Ninth Circuit Privacy Ruling Could Be Used To Expand Potential Forums For E-Commerce Lawsuits

On Monday, April 21, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, sitting en banc, issued an opinion in Briskin v. Shopify, Inc., __ F.4th __ (9th Cir. Apr. 21, 2025), that plaintiffs will cite to attempt to expand where e-commerce platforms can be subject to courts' specific personal jurisdiction, particularly in privacy-related cases in that Circuit. In an outlier opinion, the court departed from courts' historical reluctance to broadly find personal jurisdiction in cases involving products and/or services offered nationwide, particularly in scenarios where at-issue products or services only "enter" a jurisdiction as the result of a consumer's unilateral actions.

Relevant Background