Our group is led by partners Jeff Wall, Matt Schwartz, Judd Littleton and Morgan Ratner. They draw on their substantial experience in APA litigation at S&C and work closely with others at the Firm who have held high-level positions in other government agencies—including, for example, the former head of the Antitrust Division at DOJ, the former director of enforcement at the SEC, the former director of enforcement at the CFTC, the former Director of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management, and the former Director of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control—or who have extensive experience dealing with agencies on behalf of our clients. Jeff, Judd and Morgan also handled extensive APA litigation when they served at the U.S. Department of Justice, including in the Office of the Solicitor General and the Civil Division.
We have represented:
- U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable, Texas Association of Business, and Longview Chamber of Commerce in their challenge to the FTC’s rule banning noncompete agreements, securing the first nationwide decision declaring the rule unlawful.
- NCTA – The Internet & Television Association, USTelecom – The Broadband Association, and Ohio Telecom Association in their challenge to the FCC’s reclassification of broadband under Title II of the Communications Act, including obtaining a nationwide stay pending judicial review in the Sixth Circuit.
- Crypto Freedom Alliance of Texas and the Blockchain Association in their challenge to the SEC’s rules expanding the definition of “dealers” that must register under the Securities Exchange Act, obtaining a summary judgment decision vacating the rules from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
- U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Texas Association of Business, and Longview Chamber of Commerce in their challenge to the FCC’s digital-discrimination rule, pending in the Eighth Circuit.
- National Association of Private Fund Managers, Managed Funds Association, and Alternative Investment Management Association in their challenge to the SEC’s Securities Loan Report and Short Position Reporting rules, pending in the Fifth Circuit.
- Bank Policy Institute in a challenge to the CFPB’s open-banking rule, pending in the Eastern District of Kentucky.
- Comcast Corporation in a suit against the Department of Labor seeking to halt a whistleblower administrative proceeding as inconsistent with constitutional restrictions on agencies.
- Volkswagen and Audi in an affirmative countersuit against the State of Texas alleging the state failed to comply with mandatory rule review procedures under the Texas Administrative Procedure Act for the rule it sought to enforce against our clients.
- Valero Renewable Fuels Company, LLC in challenges to vehicle-emission and fuel-economy rules issued by the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, pending in the D.C. Circuit and the Sixth Circuit.
- DeFi Education Fund as amicus challenging an unprecedented CFTC enforcement action against a decentralized autonomous organization.
- American Hospital Association, Association of American Medical Colleges, America’s Essential Hospitals, Catholic Health Association, Federation of American Hospitals, and National Rural Health Association as amici in support of a successful petition for certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the Department of Health and Human Services’ formula for calculating DSH payments.
- U.S. Chamber of Commerce as amicus in support of Grayscale Investments, LLC’s successful petition for review in the D.C. Circuit, which vacated the SEC’s denial of a proposal to list a bitcoin-based security on a national securities exchange.
- New York Bankers Association in persuading the Southern District of New York to strike down the “New York City Responsible Banking Act” under the U.S. and New York State constitutions. The RBA had sought to impose city regulation over banks in contravention of the exclusive regulatory power of the federal and state governments.
