By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr.
Duane Morris Takeaway: As authors and editors of our firm’s our Class Action Review, we identified ten (10) key trends in class action litigation over the past year. Trend # 1 focuses on the unprecedented number of massive class action settlements reached in the last 12 months. Aside from the Big Tobacco settlements nearly two decades ago, 2022, 2023, and 2024 have marked the most extensive set of billion-dollar class action settlements in the history of the American court system.
In today’s video blog, Duane Morris partner Jerry Maatman discusses how the aggregate monetary value of class action settlements continued to reach incredible highs in 2024, as plaintiffs’ lawyers and government enforcement agencies monetarized their claims into enormous settlement values. In 2024, the plaintiffs’ bar was successful in converting case filings into significant settlement numbers again. Tune in below to hear all about this or read the blog post blow for more information.
In 2024, settlements reached the $40 billion mark for the third year in a row. The cumulative value of the highest ten settlements across all substantive areas of class action litigation totaled $42 billion. That number is the third highest value we have tallied in the last two decades, trailing only the settlement numbers from 2023 and 2022. In 2023 settlements totaled $51.4 billion, and in 2022, settlements totaled $66.0 billion. Combined, the past three years of $159.4 billion reflect use of the class action mechanism to redistribute wealth at an unprecedented level.
These gargantuan settlements yielded extraordinary and record-setting attorneys’ fee awards. On April 23, 2024, U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina awarded more than $956 million in attorneys’ fees to plaintiffs’ lawyers who secured two settlements worth more than $11 billion with four manufacturers of “forever chemicals” that allegedly polluted drinking water in the United States with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. Numbers like this explain at least in part why we are continuing to see the plaintiffs’ class action bar grow in numbers and expand its reach as lawyers clamor to identify the next “tort of the day.”
On an aggregate basis, across all areas of litigation, class actions and government enforcement lawsuits garnered more than $42 billion in settlements in 2024. The largest 20 settlements during 2024 are in the chart below. The total for the top 20 settlements in 2024 was $34.6 billion.
Such numbers fall slightly short only of the numbers we tallied in 2022 and 2023. The value of class actions and government enforcement settlements in 2022 topped $66 billion, and the value in 2023 topped $51 billion. Combined, the three-year settlement total eclipses any other three-year period in the history of American jurisprudence.
As to settlements of one billion dollars or more, in 2024, parties agreed to resolve ten class actions for $1 billion or more. These settlements include the following:
The number of billion dollar settlements in 2024 surpassed the number in 2023, falling short only of the number of billion-dollar settlements in 2022. In 2023, parties resolved nine class actions for $1 billion or more. In 2022, parties resolved 15 class actions for $1 billion or more in settlement dollars. Together, corporations have seen 34 settlements of one billion dollars or more in three years. This string of settlements marks the most extensive set of billion-dollar class action settlements in the history of the American court system.
In 2024, rich settlement numbers spanned nearly every area of class action litigation. The following shows the cumulative value of the ten highest settlements in each key area of class action litigation:
The value of the ten highest settlements in the privacy, data breach, and labor areas increased in 2024, reflecting the growth of class action litigation in these areas, as they account for a higher percentage of the overall total. By contrast, the value of the ten highest settlements in antitrust, discrimination, civil rights, and FCRA class actions decreased to less than 50% of their 2023 totals.
Particularly when viewed in conjunction with the settlement values observed in 2022 and 2023, the settlement numbers in 2024 confirm that we have entered and are operating in a new era of enhanced class action risks. Corporations should expect these numbers to continue to incentivize the plaintiffs’ class action bar to be equally if not more aggressive with their case filings and settlement positions in 2025.
While settlements have been particularly robust over the past three years, the number of class action filings have been relatively stable and are down slightly overall in 2024.
There has been a steady increase in areas such as data privacy, with heightened concerns about cybersecurity and consumer data protection driving lawsuits. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic sparked a rise in class actions related to health and safety protocols, insurance claims, and employee rights. Overall, the legal landscape has grown more complex, with plaintiffs and defendants navigating a more dynamic and often contentious environment, and often leading to massive settlement opportunities for plaintiffs.
Duane Morris Takeaway: Corporations should expect such numbers to incentivize the plaintiffs’ class action bar to be equally if not more aggressive with their case filings and settlement positions in 2025.