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Supreme Court Holds That the Federal Government May Intervene to Dismiss False Claims Act Cases Even When the Government Initially Declined to Intervene in the Case

United States ex rel. Polanksy v. Executive Health Resources, Inc., No. 21-1052 Today, the Supreme Court held, in an 8-1 decision, that the United States can move to dismiss a claim brought by a private party under the False Claims Act (FCA), even when the United States initially declined to intervene and take over the case. Background: The FCA […]

Supreme Court Holds That Third-Party Counterclaim Defendants May Not Remove State-Court Cases To Federal Court Under The Class Action Fairness Act

Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. v. Jackson, No. 17-1471 Today, the Supreme Court held in a 5-4 decision that a third-party counterclaim defendant may not remove a state-court case to federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA). Background: Nearly eighty years ago, the Supreme Court held in Shamrock Oil & Gas Corp. v. Sheets that […]

Preemption—Failure-to-Warn Claims in Pharmaceutical Cases

Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. v. Albrecht, No. 17-290 In a sequel to Wyeth v. Levine, 555 U.S. 555 (2009), the Supreme Court has granted certiorari to decide whether state-law failure-to-warn claims are preempted by a decision of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that rejected a proposal by the defendant drug manufacturer to warn […]

Appellate Jurisdiction—Cases Consolidated in District Court

Hall v. Hall, No. 16-1150 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 42 permits a district court to consolidate actions that involve a common question of law or fact.  Sometimes, even though cases are consolidated, one of the consolidated cases will reach final judgment while others remain pending.  The lower courts have divided as to whether a […]

Federal Appellate Jurisdiction—Finality Of Order Dismissing One Among Many Consolidated Cases

Gelboim v. Bank of America Corp., No. 13-1174 (described in the June 30, 2014, Docket Report) Under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, the federal courts of appeals have jurisdiction over “final decisions of the district courts.” Today, the Supreme Court unanimously held that complaints that have been consolidated for purposes of multidistrict litigation (“MDL”) pretrial proceedings “retain[] […]

Cases of Interest to the Business Community

In recent weeks, the Supreme Court has also invited the Solicitor General to file briefs expressing the views of the United States in the following cases of interest to the business community: Google Inc. v. Oracle America, Inc., No. 14-410: The question presented is whether copyright protection extends to all elements of an original work […]

Cases of Interest to the Business Community

In recent weeks, the Supreme Court has also invited the Solicitor General to file briefs expressing the views of the United States in five cases of interest to the business community: Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, No. 13-1339: The question presented is whether Congress may confer Article III standing upon a plaintiff who suffers no concrete […]

Cases & Experience

Supreme Court Holds That An Individual Need Not Work In The Transportation Industry To Qualify For The Section 1 Exemption To The Federal Arbitration Act

Case Name and Number: Bissonnette v. LePage Bakeries Park Street, LLC, No. 23-51 Today, the Supreme Court held in a unanimous decision that an individual need not work in the transportation industry to fall within the exemption from the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) protection in Section 1 of the statute. The Court decided only that […]

Supreme Court’s Affirmative Action Decision Carries Potential Implications For Businesses

Students For Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President And Fellows of Harvard College, No. 20-1199; Students For Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina, No. 21-707 Today, the Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision striking down affirmative action admissions policies in higher education as a violation of the Equal Protection Clause. Although the Court’s decision does not apply to private employers, […]

Supreme Court adopts narrow liability standard for Anti-Terrorism Act aiding-and-abetting claims, declines to address scope of websites’ Section 230 immunity

Case Name and Number: Twitter, Inc. v. Taamneh, et al., No. 21-1496 & Gonzalez, et al. v. Google LLC, No. 21-1333 Introduction: Today, in Taamneh, the Supreme Court held in a unanimous decision that the plaintiffs, who were allegedly injured in an ISIS terrorist attack, failed to state a claim against Twitter for aiding and […]

Supreme Court Holds Constitutional Challenges to Agency Investigations and Adjudications Can Proceed As Separate Actions in Federal Court

Axon Enterprise, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission, No. 21-86, and Securities and Exchange Commission v. Cochran, No. 21-1239 Introduction: Today, the Supreme Court voted 9-0 to allow constitutional challenges to federal agencies’ investigatory and adjudicatory authority to be brought as separate lawsuits in federal court before the agency adjudication has concluded—and, in some contexts, as […]

Supreme Court Limits EPA’s Power To Regulate Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Power Plants

Case Name and Number: West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, No. 20-1530 Introduction: Today, the Supreme Court held in a 6-3 decision that EPA lacks authority under the Clean Air Act to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants through “generation shifting,” i.e., increasing the use of cleaner energy sources like wind and solar and […]

Supreme Court Holds Foreign Discovery Statute Does Not Apply To Private Arbitrations Abroad

Case Name and Number: ZF Automotive US, Inc. v. Luxshare, Ltd., No. 21-401; AlixPartners, LLP v. Fund for Protection of Investors’ Rights in Foreign States, No. 21-518 Introduction: Under 28 U.S.C. § 1782(a), a federal district court may authorize discovery to produce documents “for use in a proceeding in a foreign or international tribunal.” Today, the […]

Supreme Court Holds That A Mistake Of Law Invalidates A Copyright Registration Only If The Copyright Holder Knew Of Its Mistake

Case Name and Number:  Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P., No. 20-915 Introduction:  Today, the Supreme Court held in a 6-3 decision that a copyright registration that is inaccurate because the registrant made a mistake of law is valid unless the registrant knew of its mistake at the time of registration. Background:  Under […]

Supreme Court Stays OSHA’s Vax-Or-Test COVID-19 Rule

National Federation of Independent Business v. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, No. 21A244 Introduction:  Today, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 to stay OSHA’s rule requiring large US employers to have a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, or to give employees the option of vaccinating or undergoing weekly COVID-19 testing, holding that the challengers are likely to […]

Supreme Court Reaffirms Spokeo’s Limitations On Article III Standing, Concludes Vast Majority Of Class Members Failed To Demonstrate Concrete Harm

Case Name and Number: TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, No. 20-297 Introduction: Today, the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision reversed a class-wide judgment, holding that the vast majority of class members failed to satisfy the injury-in-fact requirement for Article III standing to sue because they did not suffer a concrete harm resulting from the defendant’s […]

Supreme Court Narrows Alien Tort Statute Liability

Case Name and Number: Nestlé USA, Inc. v. Doe I, No. 19-416; Cargill, Inc. v. Doe I, No. 19-453 Introduction: Today, the Supreme Court held in an 8-1 decision that allegations of general corporate activity within the United States (such as headquarters oversight and decisionmaking) are insufficient to establish a permissible domestic application of the […]

Baltimore’s Global Warming Suit May Be Able To Stay In Federal Court

BP p.l.c. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, No. 19-1189 Introduction: Today, the Supreme Court held in a 7-1 decision that a court of appeals can review the entirety of a district court’s order remanding a case to state court when the defendant relied on the federal officer removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1442, […]

Supreme Court Holds Federal Trade Commission Cannot Seek Monetary Relief, Such As Restitution Or Disgorgement, To Redress Unfair Or Deceptive Conduct

AMG Capital Management, LLC v. Federal Trade Commission, No. 19-508 Introduction: In a unanimous opinion, the Supreme Court held that the Federal Trade Commission Act does not allow the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to seek, or a court to award, equitable monetary relief to redress unfair or deceptive conduct. Background: The Federal Trade Commission Act […]