On April 29 the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Medical Marijuana, Inc. v. Horn, No. 23-365, a case presenting the question of whether civil RICO encompasses claims for alleged economic harms resulting from personal injuries.

Recognizing the importance of this civil justice issue, the Atlantic Legal Foundation, joined by the DRI Center for Law and Public Policy, were the only organizations last November that filed an amicus brief urging the Court to review the case.

Horn v. Medical Marijuana, Inc. is a seemingly ordinary product liability suit involving a legal, non-psychoactive, CBD wellness product. The Second Circuit held, however, that the truck driver plaintiff, who lost his job after ingesting the product and then failing a routine drug test, can maintain a civil RICO claim for lost wages and other employment-related economic harm against the product’s producers. The defendants filed a certiorari petition requesting the Supreme Court to rule that civil RICO claims do not encompass economic harms resulting from personal injuries. The Court now has agreed to hear the case.

The ALF/DRI amicus brief argued that the Supreme Court should grant certiorari and reverse the Second Circuit to deter forum-shopping plaintiffs from circumventing state tort reform laws, and depriving corporate defendants of due process, by transforming product liability suits into civil RICO treble-damages actions. Civil RICO’s expansive venue provision allows plaintiffs to sue practically anywhere, including in plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions. Allowing such suits would greatly exacerbate the already skyrocketing costs of product liability litigation, and adversely affect product innovation and the public.

The petition-stage amicus brief was authored by Sarah Elizabeth Spencer of Spencer Willson, PLLC and ALF Executive Vice President & General Counsel Larry Ebner. Valuable input also was provided by Joe Hollingsworth, Bill Cople, and Elyse Shimada of Hollingsworth LLP.