News & Analysis as of

Administrative Proceedings Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Appeals

Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP

Client Alert: FINRA Issues Administrative Order and Decision Regarding Alpine Sanctions

On March 25, 2025, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued a 100-page Administrative Order and Decision confirming and modifying its sanctions of Alpine Securities Corporation, which include expulsion from...more

A&O Shearman

United States Supreme Court To Hear Appeal On SEC Power To Initiate Administrative Proceedings

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On June 30, 2023, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal regarding the constitutionality of administrative proceedings in the case of George Jarkesy and Patriot28 LLC v. SEC, which could have important...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

The Fifth Circuit Strikes a Blow to the Constitutionality of SEC Administrative Proceedings

Foley & Lardner LLP on

On Wednesday, in a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in Jarkesy v. SEC that proceedings before an SEC administrative law judge were unconstitutional. Notably, the...more

Jones Day

Fifth Circuit Finds SEC Administrative Proceedings Unconstitutional

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On May 18, 2022, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that key aspects of the SEC's in-house enforcement regime for securities fraud cases were unconstitutional. The decision, Jarkesy v. SEC, has significant...more

Proskauer - Corporate Defense and Disputes

Fifth Circuit Holds SEC’s In-House Courts and Judges Unconstitutional

In Jarkesy v. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a remarkable opinion holding numerous aspects of the SEC’s administrative enforcement regime are unconstitutional. The May...more

WilmerHale

D.C. Circuit Forfeiture Holding Highlights Importance of Involving Litigation Counsel in the Early Stages of Administrative Agency...

WilmerHale on

On February 26, 2021, in Springsteen-Abbott v. Securities and Exchange Commission, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that a petitioner challenging sanctions imposed by the Financial Institutions...more

WilmerHale

Insider Trading Law Alert: The Second Circuit Clears the Path for Insider Trading Convictions Absent a Dirks Personal Benefit

WilmerHale on

On December 30, 2019, the Second Circuit issued a consequential insider trading decision in United States v. Blaszczak. In Blaszczak, the Second Circuit faced the question whether the “personal benefit” test set forth in...more

Carlton Fields

SEC Proceedings Face Uncertainty After Supreme Court Holds ALJs Unconstitutional

Carlton Fields on

After much anticipation, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC or Commission) Administrative Law Judges (ALJs)....more

Fisher Phillips

MSHA Citations Upheld by Administrative Law Judges Before April 3, 2018 May Be Invalid

Fisher Phillips on

Over the last few years, there has been debate regarding whether ALJs are “inferior officers” under the Appointments Clause of the Constitution. This provision provides that officers, including inferior officers, may only be...more

Polsinelli

Lack of Presidential Appointment May Invalidate ALJ Decisions

Polsinelli on

In one of its last opinions of the term, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Lucia v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on June 21, 2018, that administrative law judges (ALJs) are officers of the United States, not...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Lucia Is Likely To Have Little Impact On Waning FCC Adjudications

During its most recent Term, the Supreme Court held in Lucia v. SEC that the administrative law judges (“ALJs”) that preside over adjudications at the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) are “Officers of the United...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

3 Key Defense Arguments For Post-Lucia SEC Proceedings

Orrick's Andrew Morris and Ben Aiken co-authored an article for Law360 in which they identify three of the most significant defense arguments for respondents in SEC administrative actions in light of the Supreme Court's...more

Carlton Fields

Supreme Court Set to Rule on Constitutionality of SEC’s ALJs

Carlton Fields on

In April, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Lucia v. SEC to resolve the federal circuit court split on whether the SEC’s administrative law judges (ALJs) are "inferior officers" of the United States who must be...more

Vedder Price

SEC Administrative Law Judges: Key Takeaways and Lingering Questions from Lucia v. SEC

Vedder Price on

On June 21, 2018, the United States Supreme Court resolved a circuit split on the question of whether administrative law judges (“ALJs”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC” or the “Commission”) qualify as...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

What does the Supreme Court’s Lucia decision mean for the CFPB and federal banking agencies?

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In its June 21 decision in Lucia v. Securities & Exchange Commission, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that administrative law judges (ALJs) used by the SEC are “Officers of the United States” under the Appointments Clause in...more

Jones Day

U.S. Supreme Court Holds SEC's Staff Appointments for Administrative Law Judge Unconstitutional

Jones Day on

In Lucia v. SEC, the U.S. Supreme Court made things messy for the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") by vindicating constitutional concerns over the agency's use of administrative law judges. The Court concluded that...more

K&L Gates LLP

Supreme Court Offers Others a Chance for a Second Bite at the Apple in Federal Administrative Adjudication Proceedings – But the...

K&L Gates LLP on

On June 21, 2018 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Lucia et al. v. Securities and Exchange Commission, [1] that the appointment of certain administrative law judges (“ALJs”) was unconstitutional, and that those with matters...more

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer

Supreme Court Rules the SEC’s Procedure for Appointing Administrative Law Judges Violates the Constitution’s Appointments Clause

On June 21, 2018, the Supreme Court in Raymond J. Lucia, et al. v. SEC, held that the SEC’s administrative law judges are “Officers of the United States” whose appointment must comport with the requirements of the...more

Tonkon Torp LLP

Supreme Court Throws Out SEC Administrative Law Judge Process

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On June 21, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States invalidated the process that the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") had been using to appoint administrative law judges. Staff from the SEC had selected...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP

Lucia Leaves Many Important Questions Unanswered

In Lucia v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Justice Elena Kagan, writing for a six-justice majority, presents the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision as both narrow and uncomplicated. “The sole question” the court chose to...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Government Agencies Face Uncertainty After Supreme Court Rules That SEC ALJs Must Be Appointed

• SEC ALJs are “Officers of the United States” within the meaning of the Appointments Clause and therefore must be appointed directly by the SEC. The Court’s decision may permit litigants in prior and pending administrative...more

Miller Canfield

The Supreme Court Rules that SEC ALJs Were Unconstitutionally Appointed

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The U.S. Supreme Court has held that administrative law judges (ALJs) of the Securities and Exchange Commission are "Officers of the United States" under the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution, and are not mere...more

A&O Shearman

United States Supreme Court Reverses And Remands SEC Administrative Proceeding - Finding That SEC Administrative Law Judges Are...

A&O Shearman on

On June 21, 2018, the Supreme Court held that Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) administrative law judges (“ALJs”) are “inferior officers” of the United States, subject to the Appointments Clause of the Constitution....more

Morgan Lewis

Supreme Court Provides One Answer about SEC Administrative Law Judges, but Leaves Many Questions

Morgan Lewis on

On June 21, in Lucia v. Securities and Exchange Commission, the US Supreme Court held that administrative law judges of the US Securities and Exchange Commission are not mere federal employees but qualify as “Officers of the...more

WilmerHale

Supreme Court Rules SEC ALJs Are Officers Subject to the Appointments Clause

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On June 21, 2018, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Lucia v. SEC, Slip Op. No. 17-130. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) administrative law judges (ALJs) have traditionally been appointed by SEC staff members,...more

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