April 2026 Month in Review

HIGHLIGHTS:
4 victories – 6 amicus filings – 2 comments – 10 publications – 2 programs

NEW FILINGS – AMICUS BRIEFS

United States ex rel. Streck v. Eli Lilly
WLF asks the Supreme Court to grant review in a case challenging the constitutionality of the False Claims Act’s qui tam provisions.
[False Claims Act]

Philip Morris v. FDA
WLF urges the Eleventh Circuit to affirm a lower court’s ruling that FDA unlawfully withheld data casting doubt on its justification for imposing graphic cigarette-pack warnings.
[Administrative law/First Amendment]

In re NVIDIA Corporation Securities Litigation
WLF asks the Ninth Circuit to grant NVIDIA’s Rule 23(f) petition for interlocutory appeal of the district court’s class certification order in a meritless securities case.
[class actions]

Construction Laborers Pension Trust of Greater St. Louis v. Funko, Inc.
WLF urges the Ninth Circuit to reconsider a ruling that misapplied a federal safe harbor from private securities litigation.
[class actions]

BNSF v. Lynn
WLF asks the Supreme Court to review and reverse a state court’s holding that BNSF consented to be sued in Minnesota by simply registering to do business in the state.
[personal jurisdiction]

Perkins Coie v. U.S. Department of Justice
WLF urges the D.C. Circuit to affirm a series of lower court decisions that enjoined executive orders targeting private law firms with selective punishment.
[rule of law]

NEW FILINGS – REGULATORY COMMENTS

In re Nonlawyer Law Firm Ownership and Fee-Sharing
WLF asks the Tennessee Supreme Court to maintain longstanding prohibitions on nonlawyer ownership of law firms and fee-sharing with nonlawyers.
[civil justice]

In re Employee or Independent Contractor Status
WLF urges the Department of Labor to adopt its proposed rule clarifying independent-contractor status.
[employment law]

CASE UPDATES (DECISIONS ISSUED)

First Choice Women’s Resources Centers v. Davenport
The Supreme Court unanimously holds that a constitutional challenge to a state attorney general’s investigative demand for donor information belongs in federal court. *victory*
[rule of law]

In re Juul Labs, Inc. Antitrust Litigation
The Ninth Circuit grants immediate appeal from a class certification order that unduly extended California’s Cartwright Act to out-of-state transactions and harms. *victory*
[class actions]

Fontaine v. Philip Morris USA Inc.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court refuses to hold that punitive damages require proof by clear and convincing evidence or, when requested, bifurcated trials.
[punitive damages]

Enbridge v. Nessel
The Supreme Court affirms a decision preventing a state attorney general’s suit challenging a treaty-protected pipeline from being removed to federal court.
[rule of law]

Drake v. Bayer Healthcare LLC
A partially divided Ninth Circuit panel affirms a trial court certification order that failed to require common proof of class-wide injury.
[class actions]

San Diego County Employees Retirement Ass’n v. Johnson & Johnson
The Supreme Court declines to clear up deepening confusion on the scope of disclosure requirements under federal securities law.
[class actions]

Chevron U.S.A Inc. v. Plaquemines Parish
The Supreme Court rejects the Fifth Circuit’s cramped reading of the federal-officer removal statute. *victory*
[rule of law]

Massachusetts v. Meta
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirms a lower court decision allowing the Commonwealth’s consumer-protection and tort case against Meta to proceed.
[civil justice]

McKee Foods v. BFP Inc.
The Sixth Circuit, adopting an argument from WLF’s amicus brief, affirms that ERISA preempts a state law that regulates employer-sponsored health plans. *victory*
[Supremacy Clause]

PUBLICATIONS

Changes Are Coming:  What History Teaches about Tort Litigation over Social Media and Software
Eric L. Alexander, Holland & Knight LLP, and Gerard M. Stegmaier, Esq.
[civil justice]

Video Privacy Law Litigation: The Best Reading of “Personally Identifiable Information”
Molly Jennings and Anneke Dunbar-Gronke, WilmerHale
[class actions]

United States v. Heppner: Use of Generative AI Can Waive Privileges
Brittain Shaw, Thompson Hine LLP
[Business Civil Liberties and Criminal Liability]

Judicial Science Manual Under Fire: The FJC–NASEM Controversy That Won’t Go Away
Phil Goldberg and Christopher Appel, Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P.
[expert evidence]

California Plaintiffs’ Pen-Register Nonsense: IP Addresses Are Not Illegal Surveillance Tools
Cory L. Andrews, Washington Legal Foundation
[class actions]

Don’t Silence Patients: Protect Transparency, Free Speech and Patient Outcomes
John “CZ” Czwartacki, Informed Patients Project
[FDA regulation]

A Surprising Reason Self-Funded Health-Plan Costs Are Increasing
Shira McKinlay, Dominic DeMatties, Beth A. Mandel, Thompson Hine LLP
[arbitration/employment law]

Loper Bright Didn’t Nuke Preemption Law—And Pretending It Did Would Torch American Agriculture
Cory L. Andrews, Washington Legal Foundation
[federal preemption]

Cisco Systems v. Doe: Clarifying the Alien Tort Statute’s Original Intent
Cory L. Andrews, Washington Legal Foundation
[rule of law]

Victory for Home Distillers and Limited Government
Glenn G. Lammi, Washington Legal Foundation
[rule of law]

PROGRAMS

Monsanto Co. v. Durnell: A Supreme Court Oral Argument Preview
Shannen W. Coffin, Steptoe LLP; Lawrence S. Ebner, Atlantic Legal Foundation; Willy Jay, Goodwin Procter LLP
[federal preemption]

EPA’s “Compliance First” and LEAPS-Based Enforcement: Opportunities and Risks
Michael Showalter, Arent Fox Schiff LLP and Tom Boer, Hogan Lovells
[environmental law]