State attorneys general who have been aggressively pursuing companies for alleged violations of their antitrust and consumer protection laws scored a major victory on Tuesday when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that their lawsuits belong in state, not federal, courts.
The justices unanimously reversed a lower federal appellate court’s decision that so-called state parens patriae suits constitute mass actions removable to federal court under the federal Class Action Fairness Act. The doctrine of parens patriae allows a state to sue to protect its residents’ interests.
