Goldberg Asks Supreme Court to Grant Certiorari in Appeal of Cyberhacking Class Certification

Public Policy Group Co-Chair Phil Goldberg has filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of a petition for certiorari in a case involving the standards for interlocutory appeal of a class certification order. The District Court certified a class action against automobile manufacturer Chrysler involving diminution of value claims over the perceived risk that its vehicles were hackable. Researchers hacked into the system in a laboratory, but Chrysler recalled the product and closed the port the researchers found. No one’s vehicle was actually hacked and nobody suffered any injury. Chrysler sought interlocutory appeal because granting the class certification was manifestly erroneous given the Court’s recent rulings that plaintiffs who are not injured, or where no such injury is imminent, have no standing in federal court.

The amicus brief explained that such manifest error should be an express reason for granting interlocutory appeal of a class action under Rule 23(f). Shook's Public Policy group filed it on behalf of the National Association of Manufacturers and the American Tort Reform Association.

The case is FCA US LLC v. Flynn, No. 18-398 (U.S.).