- Chevron Deference Ruling Fallout — With the U.S. Supreme Court having ended Chevron deference to federal agencies’ statutory interpretations in June 2024, judges now have more freedom to construe laws without deferring to agencies. This diminution in federal agencies’ privileged position on statutory interpretation may lead to more empowerment of regulated individuals and entities in litigation against the government, as the playing field is leveled on statutory interpretation.
- Change in Federal Trade Commission Leadership — The expected departure of FTC Chair Lina Khan will likely reshape the landscape for antitrust cases with a shift away from the commission’s current strong anti-corporate consolidation position.
- Hostile Work Environment and Reverse Discrimination Claims — The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College may lead to an influx of claims related to hostile work environment and reverse discrimination.
- “Nuclear” and “Thermonuclear” Verdicts Increase in State Courts — A trend toward rising damages awards has spread across several states and is likely to continue to grow. Insurance industry experts have dubbed these awards of over $15 million and $100 million as “nuclear” and “thermonuclear” verdicts, which are often driven by high “soft damages” awards, such as pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of society, and disfigurement, because such awards are reviewed under a less stringent standard than economic damages awards.
- Embedded Appellate Counsel in Trial Teams — As litigation teams are now more focused on winning both at trial and on appeal, appellate counsel is more often embedded within the team at earlier stages of the process than before. Collaboration of these two specialties creates opportunities to increase the potential for success on appeal of both favorable and unfavorable verdicts.
About the Authors:
Elliot H. Scherker, Dale Wainwright, and Dominic E. Draye are co-chairs of Greenberg Traurig’s Appeals & Legal Issues Practice. The practice comprises appellate lawyers with deep experience handling appeals in almost every area of the civil law and white-collar criminal law, including cases involving commercial law, federal and state constitutional law, environmental law, labor law, white collar criminal law, tax law, First Amendment law, real estate law, civil rights law, class action law, oil and gas law, power law, intellectual property and patent law, health care law, products liability and medical device law, voting rights and election law, toxic tort, insurance law, tax law, and administrative and regulatory law. In addition to handling client appeals, the Appeals & Legal Issues Group coordinates with trial counsel to help enhance trial court records and advance the potential for success on appeal.