CCL President Robert S. Peck told congressional staffers that the upcoming Supreme Court term provided the Court with a large number of opportunities to rule narrowly or broadly in ways that could affect a variety of cases not before the Court while participating in the Congressional Civil Justice Caucus Academy's U.S. Supreme Court Briefing on October 4.
Focusing on DaimlerChrysler AG v. Bauman and Mississippi ex rel. Hood v. AU Optronics Corp., Peck stated that Bauman, which involves whether a foreign parent corporation can be sued for human rights violations in the United States based only on the contacts that a subsidiary has with the jurisdiction, holds important implications for whether a domestic corporation that operates in a state solely on the basis of its wholly owned subsidiary can be sued in that state. Peck was co-counsel on an amicus brief making the same point that filed in Bauman on behalf of the American Association for Justice. Other counsel on that brief included Associate Dean Alan B. Morrison of George Washington University law school, Professor Arthur Miller of New York University law school, and Dean Erwin Chermerinsky of the University of California at Irvine law school.
Hood raises the issue of whether the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA), which permits certain class actions and "mass actions" to be removed from state court to federal court, applies to an Attorney General's lawsuit using the parens patriae authority of the State, which is an act of a sovereign state. Past precedent, Peck said, would appear to foreclose application of CAFA to a State's own lawsuit, particularly where, as here, the state is acting under its antitrust and consumer protection statutes.
Peck was joined on the panel by Richard Faulk of Harrington LLP, who provided a more pro-business perspective. The well-attended event was held at the Rayburn House Office Building.
Share »