Motions to Dismiss Haven’t Stopped the CEMA Litigation Wave. So What’s the Defense Playbook Now?

Since the Washington Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Old Navy, retailers and consumer brands have faced an unprecedented wave of CEMA subject-line litigation.  Each case threatens existential exposure. Many defendants initially pursued a familiar strategy: seek dismissal of these cases at the pleading stage. The problem?

Those efforts have largely failed.

As these bet-the-company cases move into discovery, companies face a critical question:

If motions to dismiss are not eliminating CEMA claims, how can we defeat them?

In a new report, Benesch litigators examine the emerging CEMA landscape and offer a blueprint for defanging the threat of massive CEMA exposure at the class-certification stage. The report provides a forward-looking analysis of the legal, operational, and data-driven considerations that sophisticated retailers should be evaluating now as they prepare for the next phase of these high-stakes cases.

In this report, you’ll learn:

• How the litigation landscape is evolving as more cases advance beyond the pleading stage.
• How to navigate the class-certification battleground that may determine the future of many CEMA cases.
• Practical considerations and tactics companies should evaluate now to better position themselves for future disputes.

For retailers, consumer brands, e-commerce companies, and in-house counsel, the question is no longer whether CEMA claims can survive a motion to dismiss. The more important question is what comes next.

Read the full report to discover the strategic considerations shaping the next frontier of CEMA litigation.