Settlements Eclipse $40 Billion in 2024 as PFAS, Reverse Discrimination Claims Emerge

Once again, settlements from class-action litigation topped $40 billion in 2024, according to an extensive analysis of more than 1,400 cases by law firm Duane Morris.

Gerald L. Maatman, partner at the firm and co-author of its 650-page report, said class-action settlements in 2024 were “like a gold rush, with plaintiffs mining the courts for massive payouts.”

Settlements in 2024 across all areas of litigation totaled about $42 billion in 2024. It was the third year a row settlements eclipsed $40 billion and the third-highest total value of the last 20 years, according to Duane Morris. Maatman said the last three years of settlements of more than $157 billion “shows the enduring power of class actions as a tool for redistribution of wealth on an extraordinary basis.”

There may not be a reprieve coming soon. Jennifer A. Riley, vice chair of Duane Morris’ class-action defense team and co-author of the report, said a the “decreased role for government enforcement” and the “increasingly active and influential pace of Supreme Court decisions will continue to loom over the class-action landscape.”

Duane Morris said plaintiff’s attorneys are “clamoring to find the next ‘tort of the day,'” which looks to have been found with PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). Record-setting settlements involving these so-called “forever chemicals” include two of the highest settlements of the year totaling more than $11 billion, including $956 million in attorneys’ fees.

“These numbers are going to inspire a continued wave of PFAS class actions, as the plaintiffs’ class action bar targets more companies with claims that their products or packaging contained PFAS, and those companies, in turn, search for claims against their material suppliers,” Duane Morris said.

Also making headlines in 2024 and noted by Duane Morris were the attacks on companies’ diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and environmental, social, governance (ESG) initiatives. The Supreme Court’s ruling regarding Harvard’s admission policies was “like a lightning strike that set off a storm of challenges against [DEI] programs,” said Riley, adding that claims have “poured in” over the last year from employees or job applicants accusing companies of putting diversity over merit. Watch for more potential lawsuits once the Supreme Court rules in a case on whether members of a majority group that allege reverse discrimination need to meet a higher burden of proof.

Class actions involving privacy and data breaches also generated many filings in 2024. Privacy, according to Duane Morris, is one of the “hottest areas of growth in terms of activity by the plaintiffs’ class-action bar,” and as technology advances, the trend is not predicted to slow. Suits involving biometrics were plentiful in 2024, with 427 lawsuits. Website advertising technology is another are of privacy class-action growth, the firm said.