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
When Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act, it expanded the SEC’s power to use its in-house administrative forum to bring enforcement actions. Supporters said this change promoted investor protection by giving the SEC a more...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a major decision on May 18, 2022 holding Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) administrative adjudications unconstitutional on multiple...more
Two recent judicial developments create questions about the constitutionality of the SEC’s in-house judicial system. First, on May 16, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of Michelle Cochran, an accountant facing...more
Key Points On May 18, 2022, in Jarkesy v. SEC, No. 20-61007 (5th Cir. May 18, 2022), a split panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit identified three independent constitutional flaws in the administrative...more
In Jarkesy v. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a remarkable opinion holding numerous aspects of the SEC’s administrative enforcement regime are unconstitutional. The May...more
On May 18, 2022, the Fifth Circuit issued an opinion vacating a Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Administrative Law Judge’s (“ALJ”) decision that George Jarkesy, Jr. (“Jarkesy”) and his investment adviser Patriot28,...more