News & Analysis as of

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Article II Constitutional Challenges

Holland & Knight LLP

DOJ Forsakes Defending the ALJ Process Against Article II Challenges

Holland & Knight LLP on

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

DLA Piper

Executive Order on Federal Agencies

DLA Piper on

On February 18, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order (EO), entitled, “Restoring Democracy and Accountability in Government,” which asserts greater authority over all federal agencies, including those...more

Hogan Lovells

Constitutional challenges facing FTC may find receptive audience in nominee to lead the Commission

Hogan Lovells on

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

Venable LLP

Jarkesy: SEC Change-Up - The Supreme Court Curbs the Use of Administrative Courts for Litigated Fraud Claims and Civil Penalties

Venable LLP on

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

Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP

In SEC v. Jarkesy, Supreme Court Leaves Open Constitutional Challenges Related to FTC Structure and Process

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

Fisher Phillips

SCOTUS Predictions: Supreme Court Set to Limit Labor Board’s Reach Over Employers in Surprising Way

Fisher Phillips on

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

Ballard Spahr LLP

SCOTUS to hear oral argument on Nov. 29 in case involving challenge to use of administrative law judges by federal agencies

Ballard Spahr LLP on

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

Venable LLP

Tracking the Impact of Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy and Other Constitutional Challenges Against the FTC

Venable LLP on

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

Burr & Forman

The Assault on the SEC’s Administrative Citadel Continues

Burr & Forman on

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

Ballard Spahr LLP

SEC asks SCOTUS to review Fifth Circuit decision with implications for CFPB’s use of administrative law judges

Ballard Spahr LLP on

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

Carlton Fields

A Coming Seismic Shift in Administrative Law? Or Just a Tremor?

Carlton Fields on

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

Robinson & Cole LLP

Fifth Circuit Decision Threatens to Upend SEC’s Use of Administrative Proceedings

Robinson & Cole LLP on

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

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Fifth Circuit Bombshell on SEC ALJs Raises Questions about DEA ALJs

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

Jenner & Block

Fifth Circuit Holds SEC's In-House Forum is Unconstitutional

Jenner & Block on

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

Proskauer - Corporate Defense and Disputes

Fifth Circuit Holds SEC’s In-House Courts and Judges Unconstitutional

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

Jones Day

Fifth Circuit Holds District Court Has Jurisdiction to Hear Constitutional Challenge to SEC Administrative Law Judges

Jones Day on

The Fifth Circuit's opinion creates a circuit split that raises the possibility of a Supreme Court review. On December 13, 2021, the Fifth Circuit issued an en banc opinion in Cochran v. U.S. Securities & Exchange...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

DOJ sides with Lucia against the SEC in dispute over whether ALJs are inferior officers

Ballard Spahr LLP on

The Supreme Court is considering a cert petition requesting that it hear the Lucia case, which we have blogged about extensively due to its potential impact on the outcome of the PHH case. Significantly, the DOJ recently...more

A&O Shearman

In Reversal, SEC Agrees That Its Administrative Law Judges Are Inferior Officers That Require Commission Appointment, But Still...

A&O Shearman on

On November 29, 2017, the U.S. Solicitor General submitted a brief to the United States Supreme Court in Lucia v. Securities and Exchange Commission, No. 17-130, urging the Court to grant certiorari and resolve a circuit...more

K&L Gates LLP

SEC Reverses Course on ALJ Appointments Issue, but Uncertainty Remains

K&L Gates LLP on

On Thursday, November 30, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or the “Commission”) took action to settle an issue that had been impacting its enforcement efforts for some time: whether its administrative law...more

Burr & Forman

SEC About-Face, About Time, on ALJs

Burr & Forman on

On November 29, the SEC did an about-face and admitted its ALJs are “inferior officers” (not merely employees) subject to the Constitution’s Article II appointment provisions. The Solicitor General’s brief on behalf of the...more

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Circuit Split Cries Out for Supreme Court Review - Have SEC ALJs been operating contrary to the U.S. Constitution?

The District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals’ earlier decision in Lucia v. SEC that U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) administrative law judges (ALJs) are employees who are not subject to the Appointments...more

Burr & Forman

SEC Stays ALJ Cases Subject to 10th Circuit Review

Burr & Forman on

On Monday, May 22, the SEC stayed all its administrative proceedings assigned to an ALJ in which a Respondent has an option for review by the 10th Circuit. (Securities laws provide appellate review of SEC administrative...more

Carlton Fields

Circuits Split Over Constitutionality of SEC’s Administrative Law Judges

Carlton Fields on

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, in Bandimere v. SEC, recently held that the SEC’s administrative law judges (ALJs) are “inferior officers” whose appointments violate the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution...more

Goodwin

DC Court of Appeals Orders Rehearing of PHH v. CFPB

Goodwin on

On February 16, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit granted Respondent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) petition for rehearing en banc of PHH Corp. v. CFPB, No. 15-1177 (D.C. Cir.). In...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

Tenth Circuit ruling on constitutionality of SEC administrative judges: implications for CFPB

Ballard Spahr LLP on

Just before year-end, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, in Bandimere v. United States Securities and Exchange Commission, set aside an SEC decision finding the petitioner liable for violating various securities...more

27 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 2

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide