Header graphic for print  Supreme Court Dismisses Edwards
Posted in Litigation, United States  By Mali Friedman and Simon
Frankel  With all eyes on the Affordable Care Act today, the
United States Supreme Court also quietly dismissed a case that
could have had a profound impact on a wide range of citizens’
rights litigation—First American Financial Corp. v. Edwards. 
Stating only that the writ of certiorari had been “improvidently
granted,” the Court skirted an opportunity to clarify the limits
of Article III standing and the ability of a plaintiff to seek
damages under laws allowing for statutory damages even in the
absence of any other specific and concrete injury to the
plaintiff.   In Edwards, the Ninth Circuit held that a plaintiff
had standing to sue under the anti-kickback provision of the
Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (which provides that a
party can be liable for violating the statute in “an amount
equal to three times the amount of any charge paid for such
settlement service”), even though