Report: Class Action Settlements Break $40 Billion for Third Straight Year

The top ten class action settlements from 2024 were smaller than the record-shattering figures seen in 2022 and 2023, but they still represented the third-highest total in two decades, according to a new report.

These ten settlements amounted to $42 billion redistributed from corporations to consumers, workers, and investors. The report uses terms like “unprecedented” and “gargantuan” to describe the scale of recent payouts, emphasizing that class actions give plaintiffs “increased leverage” while keeping corporate defendants “awake at night.”

Insights From the Duane Morris Class Action Review 2025

The latest edition of the Duane Morris Class Action Review confirms that 2024 was another defining chapter in the evolution of high-stakes class action litigation.

As in previous versions of the report, key trends and takeaways that defined the class action litigation landscape in the previous year are analyzed. We share some of the top takeaways and look ahead to what is proving to be another action-packed year for Milberg’s class action practice.

Record-Setting Settlements Continue

For the third consecutive year, the ten largest class action settlements topped $40 billion. The $42 billion recovered in 2024 is the third-highest amount in two decades and only slightly below the unprecedented highs of 2022 ($66 billion) and 2023 ($51.4 billion).

Class action litigation generally involves high stakes that can keep corporate counsel and senior management awake at night.

The past three years have collectively seen nearly $160 billion in wealth redistributed from corporations to class members, including a growing number of billion-dollar class action settlements.

Last year saw 10 settlements of a billion dollars or more, surpassing the total from 2023 and only narrowly trailing the 15 billion-dollar cases reported in 2022.

This string of mega-settlements marks the most extensive run of billion-dollar class action resolutions in U.S. history, Duane Morris reports. The largest settlement of 2024 involved PFAS “forever chemicals”.

Privacy Class Actions Surge as Plaintiffs Target Biometrics, Adtech, and AI

Privacy remains one of the most active and inventive frontiers in class action litigation. In 2024, plaintiffs’ attorneys continued to push the boundaries of existing statutes, driving substantial growth in lawsuits under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) and over website tracking technologies that allegedly share personal data without consent, the report finds.

BIPA filings remained strong, with 427 new lawsuits, up slightly from 417 in 2023, despite a major legislative shift in August 2024 that limited damages to one recovery per person (rather than per biometric scan). This amendment ended the threat of massive, per-scan penalties but hasn’t slowed interest in these claims.

Plaintiffs now target emerging technologies like AI-driven facial recognition, virtual try-on features, and tools designed to detect facial expressions or verify age.

Adtech lawsuits challenging companies’ use of software like Meta Pixel or Google Analytics to collect and transmit user browsing behavior have surged as well. In 2024, plaintiffs filed more than 200 adtech-related class actions, often alleging violations of wiretap laws, state privacy statutes, the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), and unfair trade practices. VPPA claims alone more than doubled year-over-year, surpassing 250 filings.

Data Breach Lawsuits Hit All-Time High

Data breach litigation surged again in 2024, totaling 1,488 class actions filed. That’s the most data breach filings ever recorded—more than double the number filed just two years earlier and an increase of more than 1,265% over six years. This explosion in filings has cemented data breaches as one of the fastest growing and most active areas in class action law.

However, standing remains a key hurdle. Federal courts remain divided on whether the risk of future harm, such as identity theft, is enough to satisfy the Supreme Court’s standard for a “concrete injury.” Some courts say yes, comparing exposure of private information to traditional privacy torts; others say no, dismissing cases where plaintiffs couldn’t show actual misuse of their data.

Despite legal uncertainties, settlement activity remains robust, with many defendants choosing to settle rather than contest standing or class certification.

In just a three year period, Milberg recently settled more than 50 class actions involving privacy violations in state and federal courts across the country as lead or co-lead counsel—more than any other class action firm in the country during that time.

PFAS Litigation Expands as “Forever Chemicals” Fuel Massive Settlements

Class action lawsuits involving PFAS—so-called “forever chemicals”—reached new heights in 2024, both in terms of media attention and monetary impact.

The largest class action settlement of the year, totaling over $10 billion, stemmed from PFAS-related contamination. That case doubled the size of the next largest settlement and reflects the increasing legal and financial risks tied to environmental and product liability claims.

Corporations must consider settlement from the very beginning of a class action.

PFAS are a group of manmade chemicals used in countless consumer and industrial products. Their persistence in the environment has prompted growing regulatory scrutiny—six more states enacted PFAS laws in 2024—and a wave of litigation. The EPA also finalized its first-ever federal drinking water limits for PFAS, now subject to legal challenge.

While many PFAS cases are still focused on environmental damage, newer lawsuits target consumer goods companies under fraud and misrepresentation theories, alleging their products or packaging contain undisclosed PFAS.

Class Action Outlook for 2025

Duane Morris concludes its report by noting “class action litigation is a staple of the American judicial system” and that the volume of class action filings has increased every year for the past decade. It expects this trend to continue in 2025 and says, in this litigation environment, “corporations must consider settlement from the very beginning of a class action.”

Although written for corporate counsel managing litigation risk, from the perspective of plaintiffs’ counsel, the report shows that class action lawsuits remain one of the most effective tools for addressing systemic wrongdoing by large companies.

Milberg, the law firm that pioneered federal class action litigation, remains a national leader in class actions. We’ve recovered more than $50 billion for our clients and are among the most active firms in the country in the areas of consumer protection and privacy class action lawsuits.