Reprinted from The Voice (April 3, 2019), published by DRI-The Voice of the Defense Bar Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s first Supreme Court opinion is a model of stylistic clarity and judicial restraint. Writing for a unanimous Court, his January 8, 2019 opinion in Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer & White Sales, Inc., No. 17-1272, holds that where […]
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Effective use of amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs is an important part of appellate practice in federal and state courts. Every lawyer who is handling or managing an appeal should “think amicus.” In other words, think about whether submission of one or more amicus briefs would be helpful to your client’s position. Thinking
Have you ever circulated for review and comment what you thought was a well-written draft motion or brief? Then you know how disconcerting it feels when your draft is returned with so much redlining (or undecipherable handwritten edits and notes), that your original is barely visible. How should you, a previously confident legal writer with
Collaborate Collegially on Legal Writing Read More »
On May 14, the Supreme Court held in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association that the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (“PASPA”) is unconstitutional. The Court ruled that PASPA’s prohibition against States authorizing sports betting violates the “anticommandeering principle,” which precludes Congress from directing States to take, or refrain from taking, particular legislative
Supreme Court’s Sports Betting Decision Reveals Hidden Preemption Requirement Read More »
Federal preemption of state and local law is a legal concept that is important to every producer and user of pesticides and other federally regulated products. Larry Ebner has been deeply involved in federal preemption issues for more than 30 years. His article, “Preemption 101,” published by the National Pest Management Association in the January-February
In Ali Jaber v. United States, No. 16-5093 (D.C. Cir. June 30, 2017), recently retired D.C. Circuit Judge Janice Rogers Brown authored a unanimous panel opinion faithfully applying circuit precedent and the political question doctrine to bar a declaratory judgment suit challenging the wisdom of a U.S. drone strike in Yemen that allegedly resulted in
After almost eight years of consolidated, multidistrict, pretrial proceedings—including massive jurisdictional discovery and a succession of dispositive motions and appeals—Judge Roger W. Titus of the U.S. District Court of the District of Maryland on July 19, 2017 dismissed in its entirety the “Burn Pit” toxic-tort multidistrict litigation. The primary defendant, Kellogg Brown & Root Services,
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There is an art to writing amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs. Capital Appellate Advocacy’s Larry Ebner, who serves DRI-The Voice of the Defense Bar as Chair of its Amicus Committee, has written an article in the February 2017 edition of For The Defense, “Learning the High Art of Amicus Brief Writing.” The article — which has been
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Under FIFRA, the federal pesticide law, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state agencies both have authority to regulate the sale and use of agricultural, industrial, structural, and consumer pesticides, but only EPA can regulate the content and format of nationally uniform pesticide product labeling. Emboldened by a 1991 Supreme Court decision, and despite state-imposed preemption
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FIFRA is the comprehensive federal statute that for the past 70 years has regulated “pesticides”—a term which encompasses a broad range of agricultural, professional, industrial, and consumer pest control products. One of the most persistent as well as hotly contested areas of pesticide regulation involves the subject of “preemption”—the supremacy of federal law over
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