The Legal Aid Society joined an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to find that the Seventh Amendment requires a jury trial to resolve disputes regarding exhaustion of administrative remedies when they are intertwined with the merits of a claim While incarcerated in Michigan, Kyle Brandon Richards and two others sued a prison staff member for sexual abuse and subsequent retaliation for reporting the abuse. In the trial court, Perttu obtained dismissal after a judge concluded that Richards had failed to exhaust all administrative remedies. The Sixth Circuit reversed.

On June 18, 2025, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Mr. Richards, holding that the PLRA mandates a jury trial on exhaustion when that issue is intertwined with the merits of a claim that requires a jury trial under the Seventh Amendment.