Eric Gotting and James Votaw Quoted in Bloomberg Law Article on Impacts of Recent Supreme Court Rulings

Keller and Heckman Partners Eric Gotting and James Votaw were quoted in the Bloomberg Law article, “Supreme Court Rulings Boost Odds to Win Chemical Rule Challenges.” The article describes three recent Supreme Court decisions, including Loper Bright Enters. v. Raimondo and SEC v. Jarkesy, and how the decisions will impact regulatory challenges.

Regarding the impacts of Loper Bright on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), James pointed out that separate lawsuits over TSCA rules that restrict different chemicals will raise some of the same issues and varied decisions could result. Loper Bright doesn’t mean you’re “eliminating the possibility of split circuits and different decisions,” he said, “but the likelihood is less. The judges have to do their own work instead of just deferring to agency,” and they’ll rely on the law’s plain language.

Over time, “regulatory whiplash” will be reduced, continued Eric. A judicial ruling will constrain subsequent administrations from adopting new, possibly reasonable interpretations of a law that Chevron would have directed courts to defer to, he added.

Additionally, the June 27 Jarkesy ruling, which gave companies the chance of a jury trial for some situations including an agency’s allegation of fraud, applies to certain EPA enforcement cases, said Eric and James.

Eric added that the Supreme Court’s ruling means the accused company could avoid the administrative step and go straight to court if it thinks it’s entitled to a jury.

To read the full article, please click here.