Supreme Court

Subscribe to Supreme Court via RSS
Sarah Abrams

Following the Supreme Court’s recent decision striking down President Trump’s IEEPA tariffs, many companies will now have to consider whether and how they might seek a refund. Indeed, the first of what undoubtedy will be many refund actions has already been filed. In the following guest post, Sarah Abrams examines the refund-related questions corporate executives now face, and considers the D&O risks involved. My thanks to Sarah for allowing me to publish her article as a guest post on this site. Here is Sarah’s article.Continue Reading Guest Post: Tariff Whiplash, Refund Strategy, and D&O Risk

Last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated ruling in the case challenging the tariffs President Trump imposed in reliance on the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA). By a 6-3 majority, the Court ruled in Learning Resources v. Trump that the IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. However, even though the Court has now ruled, questions and uncertainty remain. As discussed below, the continuing questions have important implications for companies’ tariff-related D&O risk. The Court’s February 20, 2026 opinion can be found here.Continue Reading What Does the Supreme Court’s Tariffs Decision Mean?

The U.S. Supreme Court only rarely agrees to take up consideration of cases involving securities law issues, so it was a noteworthy event when the Court agreed late last week to take up a case involving the SEC’s enforcement powers. As discussed below, the case involves questions of what the SEC has to prove in order to secure disgorgement from alleged wrongdoers. The Court’s ruling in the case, which is captioned Sripetch v. SEC, will address a split in the Circuit Courts on the question of whether the SEC must prove that investors were harmed by the wrongdoers’ acts in order to obtain disgorgement.Continue Reading Supreme Court Agrees to Consider SEC’s Disgorgement Remedy Rights

Sarah Abrams

Last fall the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed, as improvidently granted, the writ of certiorari in two pending securities lawsuits, including in the Meta Platforms/Facebook case (as discussed here). The Court’s dismissal of the writ of certiorari in the Facebook case had obvious implications for the immediate litigants in the case, as it left the prior circuit court ruling standing. But the dismissal also has important implications for litigants in other cases involving the same issues as were raised in the Facebook case.

In the following guest post, Sarah Abrams, Head of Claims Baleen Specialty, a division of Bowhead Specialty, considers the implication for those other litigants in those other cases in light of the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the writ of certiorari in the Facebook case. I would like to thank Sarah for allowing me to publish her article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors in topics of interest to this site’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Sarah’s article.Continue Reading Guest Post: Location, Location, Location

Walker Newell
Theresa Milano

In Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a June 2024 decision, overruled its 40-year-old precedent known as the “Chevron doctrine.” Under Chevron, federal courts were required to defer to administrative agencies when interpreting statutes that were ambiguous. In the following guest post, Walker Newell, Esq., Vice President at Woodruff Sawyer, and Teresa Milano, Esq., also a Vice President at Woodruff Sawyer, consider the Court’s decision and assess its implications. A version of this article previously was published on Woodruff Sawyer’s D&O Notebook. I would like to thank Walker and Teresa for allowing me to publish their article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this site’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is the author’s article.Continue Reading Guest Post: D&O Risk and Insurance in a Post-Chevron World

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up a case in which the court will be asked to address the recurring question of whether the failure to make disclosure required by Item 303 of Reg. S-K is an actionable omission under Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5. The Court apparently agreed to take up the case due to a split between the Circuits on the question of whether or not an Item 303 violation can be actionable. Because allegations based on alleged Item 303 violations are a frequent feature of securities class action complaints, the Court’s ruling in the case could potentially be significant. A copy of the Court’s September 29, 2023, order granting the petitioners’ petition for a writ of certiorari in the cases, Macquarie Infrastructure Corporation v. Moab Partners, L.P., can be found here.Continue Reading Supreme Court to Consider Whether Item 303 Violations are Actionable under Section 10(b)

On June 30, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take up a case to consider the legality of the SEC’s use of in-house administrative tribunals, which the agency uses to enforce the federal securities laws. The agency sought Supreme Court consideration of a federal appellate court ruling that held the administrative courts to be unconstitutional. The case could significantly impact the way in which the agency enforces the federal securities laws. The court’s June 30, 2023 order in which the SEC’s petition for a writ of certiorari was granted can be found here.Continue Reading U.S. Supreme Court Takes Up Case Concerning the SEC’s Use of In-House Court

Joseph Gross

Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in the Slack case, the  high-profile securities law case the Court is considering this term. In the following guest post, Joseph Gross of the Wiley firm provides a detailed overview of the legal issues in the case and summarizes the parties’ oral arguments. I would like to thank Joe for allowing me to publish his article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this site’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Joe’s article.Continue Reading Guest Post: Will the Supreme Court Cut Securities Plaintiffs Some Slack? 

In the same December 11, 2020 Order in which it rejected the bid by the Texas Attorney General to overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential election, the U.S. Supreme Court also agreed to take up a case involving the effort of Goldman Sachs to overturn the certification of a class in the long-running securities lawsuit. The case relates to the bank’s alleged conflicts of interest in structuring collateralized debt obligation securities before the global financial crisis. The case will require the Court to address important questions pertaining to the ability of securities lawsuit defendants opposing class certification to attempt to rebut the presumption of reliance and the extent to which the defendants in opposing class certification can rely on matter that is also relevant to merits-related issues such as materiality.
Continue Reading U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Take Up Securities Suit Class Certification Issues