The Supreme Court's Decision in Amchem Products, Inc. v. Windsor

The U.S. Supreme Court in Amchem Products, Inc. V. Windsor_U.S._, No. 96-270, 1997 U.S. LEXIS 4032 (June 25, 1997) held that while the existence of a settlement may be relevant to the class certification, a putative class created solely for settlement must nevertheless be analyzed in the same manner as a class sought for litigation purposes. Affirming the result reached in the Third Circuit, the high court ruled that the "sprawling class" certified by the District Court solely for settlement purposes did not meet the standards set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23. This White Paper contains an analysis of the Supreme Court's decision and its implications for future class action litigation.

Amchem evolved in response to one aspect of the asbestos litigation crisis. Asbestos personal injury lawsuits gave rise to a flood of litigation in the 1970s and because the latency period for medical conditions allegedly related to asbestos exposure may be as long as 40 years, additional personal injury cases can be expected to be filed over the next two decades. The Supreme Court noted that managing asbestos litigation has become an administrative problem for state and federal judiciary clogging dockets with repetitive and costly litigation; and despite calls for a national asbestos dispute resolution program to address these concerns, Congress has not responded.

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