The Supreme Court rebuffed efforts by Ford Motor Company to further narrow plaintiffs' options on where they can bring a lawsuit for vehicle defects that result in injury or death in an unanimous decision, relying in part on an amicus brief filed by CCL on behalf of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) and Public Justice. 

     In consolidated cases from Montana and Minnesota, Ford argued that it could not be sued in either state in cases where the vehicle at issue was originally purchased in another state. Instead, it said, plaintiffs were limited to the place of purchase, the place where the car was designed, or the state where Ford has its headquarters, because only those places have a causal link to the alleged defect. The Court, however, rejected that argument, holding that "[w]hen a company like Ford serves a market for a product in a State and that product causes injury in the State to one of its residents, the State's courts may entertain the resulting suit."

    In the AAJ and Public Justice brief, CCL pointed out that Ford encouraged owners of their vehicles to service and maintain the cars with original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts, whether they bring their cars to dealerships, auto shops, or work on the vehicles themselves. On a Ford owner's website, the company promotes its OEM parts with the slogan, "Keep Your Ford a Ford." Only the CCL-authored brief made this point in the filings before the Supreme Court. Justice Elena Kagan's opinion for the Court adopted the argument, demonstrating that Ford maintained a relationship with the vehicle and with every owner of a Ford through its promotion of those parts and noting the slogan promoted by the company of "Keep Your Ford a Ford." The use of these facts and argument by the Court testifies to the effectiveness of CCL's brief.

     CCL President Robert S. Peck, author of the brief, was quoted by Bloomberg News as saying that the Court's decision was a "step back from the brink" as it arrested a trend of personal jurisdiction decisions dating back to 2011 that increasingly narrowed the eligible jurisdictions for lawsuits against out-of-state companies.