With agency rulemaking under increased scrutiny, clients are turning to Sullivan & Cromwell to bring challenges under the Administrative Procedure Act. In recent months, we have delivered major victories for industry groups in some of the most consequential controversies of our day.
On behalf of broadband industry groups, we persuaded a unanimous U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to strike down the Federal Communications Commission’s controversial net-neutrality rules, which would have reclassified Internet service providers as common carriers, subjecting them to a new and massive regime of public-utility-style regulation. The New York Times called the ruling “one of the highest-profile examples yet of an appeals court wielding newfound authority after the Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision.”
On behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups, we helped secure the first decision vacating the FTC’s noncompete rule, which would have banned virtually all noncompete agreements across the country.
On behalf of the Crypto Freedom Alliance of Texas and the Blockchain Association, we obtained a summary judgment decision vacating the SEC’s rules expanding the definition of “dealers” that must register under the Securities Exchange Act.
Jeff Wall, the co-head of S&C’s Supreme Court and Appellate Practice, is leading the teams on these cases, working with partners Judd Littleton and Morgan Ratner. Jeff, Judd, and Morgan all have substantial experience in APA litigation at S&C and at the U.S. Department of Justice before joining the Firm.
Among other challenges, S&C also is representing industry and business groups challenging the FCC’s digital-discrimination rule, pending in the Eighth Circuit; the SEC’s securities-lending and short-reporting rules, pending in the Fifth Circuit; and the CFPB’s open-banking rule, pending in the Eastern District of Kentucky.