After several Supreme Court decisions and Executive Orders upended many of the norms governing the relationship between governmental agencies and the constitutional branches, a recent decision by the Federal Deposit Insurance...more
On Feb. 18, 2025, in a case seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against the SEC, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a Notice of Change in Position indicating that the DOJ will no longer defend in litigation "the...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is currently facing a growing number of challenges related to the constitutionality of the agency’s structure and operation. One of these challenges was raised by current FTC...more
On December 10, 2024, U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden, sitting in the District of Columbia, ruled that the job protections afforded NLRB Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) are unconstitutional because they impede the...more
A government contractor challenged a U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs ("OFCCP") enforcement scheme in federal court as violating the United States Constitution. The contractor...more
On October 30, 2024, the District Court for the Southern District of Texas preliminarily enjoined the Department of Labor (“DOL”), the Secretary of Labor, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”), and the...more
In February of this year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) brought an administrative complaint to block Kroger Company’s $24.6 billion merger with Albertsons Companies, Inc., citing antitrust concerns. On August 19, 2024,...more
Judge Alan Albright of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas issued an order on July 23, 2024, granting Space Exploration Technologies Corporation’s (SpaceX) motion for a preliminary injunction after...more
SpaceX is challenging whether the National Labor Relations Board should continue to exist as we know it. In two separate lawsuits, the aerospace company has asked a federal court to strike down the agency’s structure as...more
In a landmark decision issued last week, SEC v. Jarkesy, the Supreme Court held that the Seventh Amendment guarantees a defendant a jury trial when the SEC seeks civil penalties against the defendant for committing securities...more
At the end of its 2024 term, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down four decisions limiting the power of federal agencies. While none of those decisions involved a labor and employment agency, all of them could transform labor...more
In a much-watched case concerning the administrative state, on June 27, the Supreme Court decided in SEC v. Jarkesy that defendants facing a fraud suit by the SEC have a Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial in an Article...more
When the CPSC finds that a product is defective and constitutes a substantial product hazard, it will ask a company to voluntarily undertake a corrective action, commonly called a recall. If the company refuses to take such...more
An impending Supreme Court decision is poised to transform how the National Labor Relations Board decides cases and may fundamentally alter the course of labor relations as we know it. We predict that a SCOTUS decision to be...more
On November 29, 2023, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in a critically important administrative law case, Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, No. 22-859. This case carries enormous potential consequences for...more
On November 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Jarkesy v. Securities and Exchange Commission, a case in which the respondents are challenging the constitutionality of the SEC’s use of administrative...more
In recent years, independent agencies have continued to face a number of constitutional and statutory challenges before the Supreme Court. AMG Capital Management struck down the Federal Trade Commission’s authority to obtain...more
The U.S. Supreme Court began its new term this week and is taking cases government enforcement practitioners will want to follow. Specifically, the Court will address issues concerning: the interplay between SEC...more
A panel of the D.C. Circuit recently relied on Lucia and Cochran to enjoin a FINRA regulatory enforcement action pending appeal of an Appointments Clause challenge....more
On June 30, 2023, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy to review a decision by the Fifth Circuit rejecting key aspects of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC or the...more
On June 20, 2023, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to review three questions about the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) administrative courts...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of the Fifth Circuit’s decision in Jarkesy v. Securities and Exchange Commission, a case with...more
Article I of the U.S. Constitution articulates the fundamental principles that “[a]ll legislative Powers … shall be vested in a Congress,” “[t]he executive Power shall be vested in a President,” and “[t]he judicial Power …...more
In a landmark decision, the Fifth Circuit struck down the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) primary mechanism for enforcing the nation’s securities laws. In Jarkesy v. Securities and Exchange Commission, a...more
In a decision that likely will reverberate throughout the administrative state, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently held in Jarkesy v. Securities and Exchange Commission...more