An economic system based on free enterprise requires an objective, clear, predictable, stable, and uniform body of rules around which commercial enterprises can organize their business affairs. For 40 years, Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) has championed fundamental free-enterprise principles in courts and regulatory agencies, as well as in the court of public opinion.
Because the US Supreme Court has the last word on many laws and regulations that affect free enterprise, WLF focuses a significant portion of its litigation activities each year on convincing the justices to decide cases in a manner that promotes legal clarity and uniformity. This past term, which concluded at the end of June, was one of WLF’s most successful in its long history of Supreme Court advocacy. Our view not only prevailed in 8 of the 10 cases in which we filed amicus briefs on the merits, but in 6 of those 10 cases, WLF also successfully supported the Petitioner’s effort to obtain Supreme Court review. Below is a list of those cases with links to press releases and related WLF commentary:
Cases in which WLF filed briefs at the cert. and merits stages
- Ziglar v. Abbasi (4-2 victory; represented 5 former Attorneys General & 2 former FBI Directors; press release; SCOTUSblog commentary by WLF’s Richard Samp)
- Bristol-Myers Squibb v. Superior Court (8-1 victory; joined by Allied Education Foundation; press release; WLF Legal Pulse post)
- Microsoft v. Baker (8-0 victory; represented National Association of Manufacturers, International Association of Defense Counsel, and NFIB Small Business Legal Center; press release; WLF Legal Pulse post)
- BNSF Railway Co. v. Tyrrell (8-1 victory; joined by Allied Education Foundation; press release)
- TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands (8-0 victory; press release; WLF Legal Pulse post)
- State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. United States ex rel. Rigsby (8-0 loss; joined by Allied Education Foundation)
Cases in which WLF filed a brief only at the merits stage
- CalPERS v. ANZ Securities, Inc. (5-4 victory, Justice Kennedy’s opinion cited WLF’s amicus brief; press release)
- Kokesh v. SEC (9-0 victory; press release; WLF Legal Pulse posts here, here, and here)
- NLRB v. SW General, Inc. (6-2 victory; joined by Allied Education Foundation; press release)
- SCA Hygiene Products Aktiebolag v. First Quality Baby Products, LLC (7-1 loss)
Most of those decisions, and others that impact America’s free-enterprise system, were discussed at WLF’s 28th annual end-of-the-term Supreme Court briefing: