On June 30, Law360 published 3 Takeaways From The Supreme Court’s Session, an article providing insights about the Court’s now-completed 2022 Term. In the section called “No Banner Term for Business” ALF Executive Vice President & General Counsel Larry Ebner, who earlier this year was appointed to the Law360 Appellate Editorial Advisory Board, is quoted as follows:
Corporations also frowned upon the Mallory v. Norfolk Southern decision upholding a Pennsylvania law that says corporations can be sued in the state by virtue of registering to do business there, no matter where the company is headquartered or incorporated.
Lawrence Ebner, who is general counsel for the Atlantic Legal Foundation and chair of defense bar group DRI Center for Law and Public Policy, both of which are active amicus brief filers at the court, said the Mallory decision “significantly, and surprisingly, muddies the waters on general personal jurisdiction” and will “significantly increase forum shopping.”
But Ebner praised the court’s decision in Coinbase v. Bielski — that litigation is automatically stayed during appeals on questions of arbitrability — as one that reinforces the Federal Arbitration Act as well as the benefits of arbitration over litigation. He also praised the Axon v. FTC and Cochran v. SEC decisions, which he described as important victories for corporations and corporate officers facing enforcement actions.
“Those agencies’ ability to coerce consent decrees from enforcement targets who lack the resources to try to defend themselves in the agencies’ own administrative courts may now be diminished,” Ebner said.
