In new research, Adam Callister, Andrew Granato, and Belisa Pang argue that differing incentives faced by plaintiffs and defendants in “battles of the experts” litigation (like securities suits) leads to structurally higher spending by defendants on expert witnesses. These incentives also apply to any class action suit and many individual suits. They argue that courts should take this dynamic into account and correspondingly be more aggressive in using authority to employ court-appointed ...| ProMarket
Fabio De Pasquale, a prosecutor at the Milan prosecutor’s office who led the investigation into energy conglomerates Eni and Shell for their alleged involvement in the OPL 245 corruption scandal (both companies have since been found not guilty), discusses how the case reflects the failures of international anti-corruption efforts. ProMarket is publishing a series of articles in collaboration with Stanford University’s Program on Capitalism and Democracy. Read it at ProMarket >>| ProMarket
Sharon Block writes that after Loper Bright, there remain many questions about how the courts will treat the discretionary rulemaking authority of the National Labor Relations Board to protect workers’ right to choose to join unions and act collectively. While precedent suggests the NLRB could retain most of its power to issue and enforce rules, the recent history of a Supreme Court that has shown little favor toward workers or government intervention suggests a narrower reading of the NLRB...| ProMarket
Blaine Saito writes that the end to the Chevron deference doctrine could lead to a return to the National Muffler standard that grants judicial deference to long-standing agency rules and rules promulgated contemporaneously with Congressional statute. This may mean that the courts overturn newer taxation rules, though the Internal Revenue Code provides explicit discretionary rulemaking power to the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service, which should further limit Loper Bright’s impact on th...| ProMarket
Adam Crews writes that Congress’s expressly broad grants of rulemaking power mean that the Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision limiting federal agencies’ discretion will likely affect the Federal Communications Commission less than some other federal agencies. Instead, the major questions and nondelegation doctrines pose greater threats to the FCC’s regulatory discretion.| ProMarket
A federal judge recently blocked the proposed merger of JetBlue and Spirit airlines on antitrust grounds, reversing antitrust enforcers’ recent history of waving through airline industry consolidation. However, while this decision affirms that mergers designed to reduce competition and raise prices violate antitrust law, it comes too late to undo the damage from 15 years of lax enforcement that allowed radical consolidation in the airline industry.| ProMarket
