Katie Bond and Samuel Butler Author WLF Legal Pulse Article on Ninth Circuit Restricting Defendants’ Opportunities to Challenge Standing

Keller and Heckman Partner Katie Bond and Associate Samuel Butler authored a Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) Legal Pulse article, “Solar Storm in the Ninth Circuit restricts Defendants’ Opportunities to Challenge Standing.” The article examines the Ninth Circuit’s recent reversal of the dismissal of a putative false advertising class action alleging that a plaintiff was harmed by “trace amounts of benzene she found in her sunscreen.” Katie and Samuel warn potential defendants that, following Bowen, “it is now more difficult in the Ninth Circuit to find an early exit from a putative class action based on superior evidence.”

Katie and Samuel explain further that “in Bowen, the plaintiff pointed to experts asserting the danger of trace levels of benzene in sunscreen, while the defendants pointed to contrary evidence showing that levels under 2 ppm do not pose a risk. The Ninth Circuit held that determining whose evidence was stronger would have to wait until a later stage of the case… Because the factual issue cannot be decided at this early stage of the litigation, the plaintiff’s evidence was sufficient support for her allegations that she suffered an economic injury. She therefore has standing, the court has jurisdiction over the case, and the case must continue—presumably to discovery.”

To read the full article, please click here.