U.S. Supreme Court Invites Solicitor General to File Comment on Pending Spokeo Appeal

by H. Scott Kelly and Alan D. Wingfield

The United States Supreme Court on Oct. 6 issued an order inviting the U.S. Solicitor General to file a brief on the pending cert petition filed in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, which is on appeal from the Ninth Circuit [lexis.com subscribers may access Supreme Court briefs for this case]. The issue in Spokeo is whether Congress may confer Article III standing upon a plaintiff who suffers no concrete harm and who therefore could not otherwise invoke the jurisdiction of a federal court, by authorizing a private right of action based on a bare violation of a federal statute (i.e., the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) in Spokeo).

Many observers believed that the Court would issue its ruling on the cert petition the same day. A grant of the petition potentially could have monumental implications for pending cases in the consumer financial services space, particularly no-damage class actions filed under the FCRA. Instead, it may be months before the Court rules on the petition. Moreover, whether the Solicitor General will support cert is yet to be seen.

Read more at Consumer Financial Services Law Monitor by Troutman Sanders LLP. 

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