Breaking

Feb 20, 2026 — SCOTUS 6–3: IEEPA tariffs invalidated. $170B+ in duties now subject to refund claims.  PwC analysis →

IEEPA Tariff Refund Claims

Your Firm Is About to Be Flooded.
Are You Ready?

IEEPA-related tariffs have been struck down by the Supreme Court. Every business that paid them is now a potential claimant. The firms that qualify leads fast — before competitors do — will win this wave.

See Case Compass in Action How It Works
$0B+
IEEPA tariffs collected
to date — PwC estimate
6–3
Supreme Court ruling
February 20, 2026
Every Importer
Potentially a refund claimant
or contract dispute party
Now
First-mover firms will
capture the strongest cases
The Opportunity

Two Distinct Cases for Law Firms

The ruling creates immediate work across two practice types — and both require fast, systematic intake to capitalize.

High Urgency

Customs & Trade Refund Recovery

Importers of record who paid IEEPA tariffs directly to U.S. Customs can file for refunds. CBP will process them to the importer — but qualification, timing, and claim preparation matter. Firms with customs and trade experience will be inundated with inquiries from day one.

Ongoing Opportunity

Contract & Commercial Disputes

The harder, longer-tail fight: who in the supply chain actually keeps the refund? Distributors, manufacturers, and retailers who absorbed tariff surcharges may have legitimate claims against importers. This is commercial contract litigation at scale — and it will run for years.

The challenge: Both opportunity types will generate massive inbound volume — from legitimate high-value claims to businesses with weak or non-existent cases. Without a systematic intake and qualification process, your firm wastes time on unwinnable cases and misses the ones worth taking.

Case Compass

Built for Exactly This Kind of Surge

High-volume, high-stakes intake where fast qualification is the difference between a great case and a time sink.

01

Smart, Automated Intake

An AI-guided conversational intake captures claimants 24/7 — asking the right questions in the right order. Claimant type, tariff amounts, contract documentation, goods category, supply chain role — all collected before your team ever picks up the phone.

02

Waypoint AI Lead Scoring

Every submitted intake is automatically scored against your firm's criteria — tariff amounts paid, documentation quality, supply chain position, and legal exposure. Your team sees a case score before they open the record.

03

Pipeline & Status Tracking

Track every lead from first inquiry through intake, evaluation, and engagement. Tag leads as Qualified, Needs Documentation, Strong Claim, or Disqualified — whatever maps to your workflow.

04

Referral Partner Network

Customs brokers, accountants, and trade associations are already fielding questions. Set up referral partner portals so they submit leads directly and track real-time status — without touching your internal dashboard.

05

Speed to Engagement

Automated intake, instant scoring, and priority queues mean your team focuses on high-value cases — not manually triaging a spreadsheet. The firms that move fastest win the best cases.

06

CRM Integration

Seamlessly push qualified leads into Filevine, Litify (Salesforce), or LeadDocket. No duplicate data entry, no handoff friction — just a clean pipeline from inquiry to engagement.

Waypoint criteria list — 18 active criteria organized by case value, urgency, and risk Waypoint in Action

Every intake scored before
your team opens the record.

Waypoint's criteria library is organized by category — case value, liability, medical, urgency, red flags, and more. For IEEPA claims, your library is configured around the specific factors that matter: tariff amounts, supply chain position, documentation quality, and legal exposure.

The moment an intake is submitted, Waypoint evaluates it against every criterion and surfaces a score. No manual review, no gut calls — just consistent, documented evaluation on every single claimant, applied with the same standard every time.

Waypoint criterion configuration — custom scoring settings per case type Built Around Your Standards

Your criteria. Your scoring logic.
Not a generic template.

Each criterion is configured around what your firm actually cares about — not a one-size-fits-all scoring model. For IEEPA practices, that means weighting tariff exposure heavily, flagging weak documentation, and fast-tracking claims with separately itemized surcharges and clear pass-through language.

Case Compass works with your team to build the criteria library. Most firms are scoring live within days.

Waypoint

What to Score on Every IEEPA Intake

Configure Waypoint criteria around the factors that actually determine whether a claim is worth pursuing. Every intake gets evaluated automatically — consistently, at scale.

1
Tariff Amount PaidTotal IEEPA tariffs paid — higher amounts mean stronger recovery incentive and case value
2
Supply Chain RoleImporter of record vs. distributor vs. end buyer — determines legal pathway and complexity
3
Contract DocumentationSupply agreements, purchase orders, and tariff surcharge records — strength of documentary evidence
4
Tariff Pass-Through StructureWere tariffs separately invoiced or embedded in pricing? Key determinant of refund entitlement
5
Goods Category & HTS CodesSpecific product classifications affected by IEEPA orders and the claimant's import categories
6
Exposure Time PeriodDuration and volume of tariff-impacted transactions across the relevant filing period
7
PSC & Protest DeadlinesPost Summary Correction and protest windows — time-sensitive claims need immediate attention
8
Reservation of RightsWhether the claimant documented tariff costs as temporary or reserved rights — supports recovery
9
Prior CBP InteractionPrior protests, rulings, or classification disputes that affect the refund claim pathway
10
Existing Legal RepresentationWhether the claimant has trade counsel — determines urgency and exclusivity opportunity

According to PwC's analysis, companies should immediately inventory IEEPA duties paid, map PSC and protest deadlines, review contractual tariff pass-through provisions, and coordinate across trade, tax, finance, and legal functions. "Early preparation may be critical" — the firms with a systematic intake process in place before formal CBP guidance issues will be best positioned to act fast on the strongest cases.

Who It's For

Built for Firms Handling This Wave

Case Compass is already used by firms managing high-volume intake. IEEPA claims are the same challenge at a different scale.

Ideal For

  • Customs & trade law practices seeing inbound from importers
  • Commercial litigation firms handling contract disputes along supply chains
  • Class action practices building consolidated tariff refund cases
  • General business litigation firms with existing commercial clients
  • Any firm looking to capture IEEPA referrals from trade associations or brokers

What You Get

  • Conversational intake live in days, not weeks
  • AI scoring criteria calibrated to IEEPA claim factors
  • Referral partner portals for customs brokers, accountants, trade groups
  • Full lead pipeline with status tracking and staff assignment
  • CRM integrations with Filevine, Litify, and LeadDocket
Limited Window

The Window Is Open —
But Not for Long

Firms that build a systematic intake process now will capture the most valuable IEEPA cases. Those that don't will be manually triaging inquiries while competitors are closing retainers.

Book a 30-Minute Demo See Our Intake Solutions