On April 1, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that denied a mandamus petition against a district court that held that when a forum-selection clause designates a specific federal forum or allows the parties to select the federal courts of a different forum, the federal change of venue statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a),—as opposed to Rule 12(b)(3) and 28 USC § 1406—is the proper procedural mechanism for the clause’s enforcement. Atl. Marine Constr. Co., Inc. v. U.S. Dist. Ct. for the W. Dist. of Tex., No. 12-929, 2013 WL 1285318 (cert. granted Apr. 1, 2013). This issue is significant because § 1404(a) applies when venue is proper but a transfer is sought, whereas Rule 12(b)(3) and § 1406 provide for dismissal or transfer of an action that has been brought in an improper venue. Thus, this question turns on whether private parties can, through a forum-selection clause, render venue improper in a court in which it is otherwise proper. The grant of certiorari notes that the majority of federal circuit courts hold that a valid forum-selection clause renders venue “improper” in a forum other than the one designated by the contract and that, in those circuits, the clauses are routinely enforced by motions to dismiss or transfer venue under Rule 12(b)(3) and § 1406. In addition to the Fifth Circuit, the Third and Sixth Circuits follow a contrary rule. The Supreme Court has requested that the parties address two issues in their briefs: (i) whether the Courts decision in Stewart Organization, Inc. v. Ricoh Corp., 487 U.S. 22 (1988), changed the standard for enforcement of clauses that designate an alternative federal forum, limiting review of such clauses to a discretionary, balancing-of-conveniences analysis under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a); and (ii) if so, how should district courts allocate the burdens of proof among parties seeking to enforce or to avoid a forum-selection clause?

On March 20, an environmental case before the Supreme Court spurred two opinions from three Justices that question the continuing vitality of the agency deference doctrine known as Auer deference. Decker v. Nw. Envtl. Defense Ctr., No. 11-338, slip op. (S. Ct. Mar. 20, 2013). Auer deference provides that a court should ordinarily defer to an agency’s view of its own regulation, so long as the agency’s view is not “plainly erroneous” or “inconsistent” with that regulation.  But in a partial dissent, Justice Scalia criticized the basis for the doctrine and attacked each of the three reasons why the doctrine is invoked. Justice Scalia was not alone. Two other justices—including Chief Justice Roberts—said that they also felt it was appropriate to reconsider Auer when the proper case presented itself. Reconsidering Auer could in turn effect a significant change in how many federal administrative cases—including cases involving banking and financial regulators—are handled.

On March 19, the Supreme Court held that a class action plaintiff’s pre-class certification stipulation that the class would not seek damages exceeding the Class Action Fairness Act’s (CAFA) $5 million amount-in-controversy requirement could not be binding on the class, and therefore, the stipulation would not affect federal jurisdiction under CAFA. Standard Fire Ins. Co. v. Knowles, No. 11-1450, 2013 WL 1104735 (2013). The district court determined that the value of the putative class members’ claims would have exceeded $5 million, but for the named plaintiff’s stipulation limiting damages to less than that amount, and based on that stipulation, remanded the case to state court. On appeal, the Supreme Court explained that while a plaintiff may disclaim his or her own damages, such damages stipulations or any pre-certification stipulation “cannot legally bind members of the proposed class before the class is certified.” The Court thus held that because the class representative “lacked the authority to concede the amount-in-controversy issue for the absent class members,” the district court wrongly concluded that the “precertification stipulation could overcome its finding that the CAFA jurisdictional threshold had been met.” The Court vacated the District Court’s order remanding the case to state court, and remanded the class action for further proceedings in the federal district court.

On March 18, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition seeking review of a Second Circuit decision that reinstated a class action against an underwriter and an issuer of mortgage-backed securities. Goldman Sachs & Co. v. NECA-IBEW, No. 12-528, 2013 WL 1091772 (2013). An institutional purchaser of certain MBS filed suit on behalf of a putative class alleging that the offering documents contained material misstatements regarding the mortgage loan originators’ underwriting guidelines, the property appraisals of the loans, and the risks associated with the certificates. After the district court dismissed the case, the Second Circuit reinstated and held that the plaintiff had standing to assert the claims of the class, even when the securities were purchased from different trusts, because the named plaintiff raised a “sufficiently similar set of concerns” to allow it to seek to represent proposed class members who purchased securities backed by loans made by common originators. With regard to the plaintiff’s ability to plead a cognizable injury, the court reasoned that while it may be difficult to value illiquid assets, “the value of a security is not unascertainable simply because it trades in an illiquid market.”

On February 27, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the clock on the five-year statute of limitations for the SEC to pursue civil fraud claims under the Investment Advisers Act begins to run when the fraud occurs, and not when it is discovered, because the “discovery rule” does not apply to government enforcement actions for civil penalties. Gabelli v. SEC, No. 11-1274, 2013 WL 691002 (Feb. 27, 2013). The Court’s holding followed an investment adviser’s appeal from a Second Circuit decision that, under the discovery rule, the statute of limitations had not accrued until the fraud was discovered or could have been discovered with reasonable diligence because the claims sounded in fraud. The Court reversed the Second Circuit’s decision and remanded for further proceedings on the basis that extending the fraud discovery rule to government civil penalty enforcement actions would improperly leave defendants exposed to government action for an uncertain period beyond the five years after their alleged misdeeds. The Court explained that the discovery rule is meant to preserve the claims of parties who have no reason to suspect fraud, but that the government, here the SEC, is different insofar as it is specifically tasked with rooting out fraud and possesses several legal tools to that end. The Court also observed that, unlike a standard victim of fraud seeking only recompense, the government also seeks remedies intended to punish.

On February 26, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the FDCPA does not limit a court’s discretion under federal rules to award costs to a prevailing defendant creditor alleged to have violated the Act. Marx v. Gen. Revenue Corp., No. 11-1175, 2013 WL 673254 (Feb. 26, 2013). The Tenth Circuit had earlier held that the defendant creditor did not violate the FDCPA, and that the creditor could be awarded costs under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(d)(1). On appeal, the debtor, supported by the United States as amicus, argued that any statute specifically providing for costs displaces Rule 54(d)(1), regardless of whether it is contrary to the Rule. The relevant FDCPA provision, §1692k(a)(3), provides that “[o]n a finding by the court that an action under this section was brought in bad faith and for the purpose of harassment, the court may award to the defendant attorney’s fees reasonable in relation to the work expended and costs.” The Court affirmed the Tenth Circuit and held that the language and context of §1692k(a)(3) indicate that Congress did not intend it to prohibit courts from awarding costs. The Court explained that (i) the statute is best read as codifying a court’s pre-existing authority to award both attorney’s fees and costs, (ii) by including “and costs” in the second sentence of the statute, Congress foreclosed the argument that defendants can only recover attorney’s fees when plaintiffs bring an action in bad faith and removed any doubt that defendants may also recover costs in such cases, and (iii) the statutory language sharply contrasts with that of other statutes in which Congress has placed conditions on awarding costs to prevailing defendants.

This week the Supreme Court denied petitions for a writ of certiorari in two banking-related appeals. In Cummings v. Doughty, No. 12-351, the petitioners, a bank and its CEO, asked the Supreme Court to determine whether the safe harbor established by the Annunzio-Wylie Anti-Money Laundering Act provides absolute (versus qualified) immunity from claims that arise from the submission of a suspicious activity report (SAR). The petitioners were appealing a Louisiana state court holding, which the state appellate courts declined to review, that denied petitioners immunity under the Act after the CEO reported a bank president for possible suspicious activity. The bank president claimed that the petitioners lacked a good faith basis to report him and, therefore, could not receive absolute immunity. The petitioners argued that the First Circuit and the Second Circuit have held, based on the plain language of the Act, that financial institutions have absolute immunity from any cause of action relating to the submission of a SAR, while the Eleventh Circuit has held that the Act only grants qualified immunity. The Supreme Court declined to remedy the apparent circuit split.

In Parks v. MBNA America Bank, N.A., No 12-359, the Supreme Court denied review of a California Supreme Court decision that held that the National Bank Act preempts state requirements that certain disclosures accompany preprinted or “convenience checks” provided by a credit card issuer to its cardholders. The plaintiff filed suit on behalf of a putative class after he used such checks and was assessed finance charges that were greater than those that he would have been assessed had he used his credit card instead. He alleged that California law requires certain disclosures to be provided with the checks, including those related to convenience checks. In June, the California Supreme Court held the specific disclosure obligations imposed by the state law at issue, including precise language and placement of the disclosures, exceeded any federal law requirements and is preempted as an obstacle to the broad grant of power given to national banks by the NBA to conduct the business of banking.

On October 9, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the petitions for writ of certiorari filed by plaintiffs in two cases challenging the overdraft billing practices of certain banks. Hough v. Regions Financial Corp., No. 12-1139, 2012 WL 3097294 (Oct. 9, 2012); Buffington v. SunTrust Banks, Inc., No. 12-146, 2012 WL 3134482 (Oct. 9, 2012). In March, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued two separate, but substantively similar, opinions regarding arbitration agreements at issue in the overdraft litigation. Hough v. Regions Financial Corp., No. 11-14317, 2012 WL 686311 (11th Cir. Mar. 5, 2012); Buffington v. SunTrust Banks, Inc., No. 11-14316, 2012 WL 660974 (11th Cir. Mar. 1, 2012). In both cases, based on the Supreme Court’s holding in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, 131 S. Ct. 1740 (2011), the Eleventh Circuit vacated district court rulings that the banks’ arbitration clauses were substantively unconscionable under Georgia law because they contained a class action waiver. After further proceedings on remand yielded a second appeal, the Eleventh Circuit held that, under Georgia law, an agreement is not unconscionable because it lacks mutuality of remedy. It also rejected the district court’s holding that the clauses were procedurally unconscionable because the contract did not meet the Georgia standard that an agreement must be so one-sided that “’no sane man not acting under a delusion would make [it] and … no honest man would’ participate in the transaction.” The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision not to review the Eleventh Circuit decisions will now require the plaintiffs to arbitrate their claims against the banks.

On June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a writ of certiorari and permitted a plaintiff’s putative suit against a title insurance company under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act’s (RESPA) anti-kickback provisions to proceed. First Am. Fin. Corp. v. Edwards, No. 10-708, 2012 WL 2427807 (U.S. June 28, 2012). After purchasing title insurance at a rate approved by the Ohio Title Insurance Rating Bureau, plaintiff alleged that her title insurance company paid a “kickback” to receive referrals for title insurance. The plaintiff sued her title insurance company under RESPA’s anti-kickback provisions. The district court denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed. The Supreme Court granted the writ of certiorari and heard oral arguments on November 28, 2011 but declined to issue an opinion, stating that the writ was “improvidently granted.”

On June 11, the New Jersey Township of Mount Holly petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case involving the use of disparate impact claims under the Fair Housing Act. Specifically, Mount Holly asks the Court to determine whether disparate impact claims are cognizable under the Fair Housing Act, and, if so, how such claims should be analyzed. The issues presented in this case are substantially similar to those the Supreme Court agreed to hear in Magner v. Gallagher, but was unable to hear because the petitioner in Magner withdrew its petition prior to oral argument. As detailed in a recent BuckleySandler article about Magner and the history of the Fair Housing Act, the Supreme Court has never decided whether the FHA permits plain­tiffs to bring claims under a disparate impact theory. The U.S. Department of Justice and HUD, relying on lower court rulings permitting disparate impact claims, have increasingly employed the theory to further their policy goals. More recently, the CFPB repeatedly has stated its intention to apply disparate impact in enforcing ECOA. The instant petition could present an opportunity for the Court to alter the landscape within which federal authorities enforce the Fair Housing Act and other antidiscrimination laws.

On March 7, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that a national bank could compel arbitration of a dispute involving student loans. Kilgore v. KeyBank, Nat’l Ass’n, No. 09-16703, 2012 WL 718344 (9th Cir. Mar. 7, 2012). A group of students filed a class action in state court alleging that KeyBank violated state law in its offering of loans to students of a helicopter pilot school, which subsequently misappropriated the student loan funds. KeyBank removed the action to federal court and moved to compel arbitration. The district court denied the motion and KeyBank appealed. While the case was on appeal, the Supreme Court in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, 131 S. Ct. 1740 (2011), set a new standard for assessing the enforceability of arbitration clauses. That new standard required the Ninth Circuit to hold in KeyBank that the Federal Arbitration Act preempts California’s rule prohibiting arbitration of claims for broad, public injunctive relief. The court also held that the arbitration clause was not procedurally unconscionable because it clearly provided a sixty-day opt-out provision and a “conspicuous and comprehensive explanation of the arbitration agreement.” The court did not address the issue of whether the arbitration agreement was substantively unconscionable.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently issued two separate, but substantively similar, opinions regarding arbitration agreements, both in cases consolidated in the multidistrict overdraft fee litigation pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Hough v. Regions Financial Corp., No. 11-14317, 2012 WL 686311 (11th Cir. Mar. 5, 2012); Buffington v. SunTrust Banks, Inc., No. 11-14316, 2012 WL 660974 (11th Cir. Mar. 1, 2012). In both cases, based on Concepcion, the court previously vacated district court rulings that the banks’ arbitration clauses were substantively unconscionable under Georgia law because they contained a class action waiver. On remand, the banks renewed their motions to compel arbitration. The district court denied the motions again, this time on the ground that the arbitration clauses were substantively unconscionable under Georgia law because a provision granting the banks’ the unilateral right to recover their expenses for arbitration allocated disproportionately to the plaintiffs the risks of error and loss inherent in dispute resolution. The Eleventh Circuit held that, under Georgia law, an agreement is not unconscionable because it lacks mutuality of remedy. It also rejected the district court’s holding that the clauses were procedurally unconscionable because the contract did not meet the Georgia standard that for an agreement to be procedurally unconscionable it must be so one-sided that “’no sane man not acting under a delusion would make [it] and … no honest man would’ participate in the transaction.” The Eleventh Circuit vacated the district court’s orders and remanded both cases with specific instructions to compel arbitration.

On February 10, the parties in a major fair housing case under review by the U.S. Supreme Court requested that the Court dismiss the case. As reported previously by BuckleySandler, the City of St. Paul, Minnesota withdrew its petition in Magner v. Gallagher, No. 10-1032, due to concerns that “a victory could substantially undermine important civil rights enforcement throughout the nation.” A Supreme Court decision in Magner likely would have definitively decided whether disparate impact claims are cognizable under the Fair Housing Act (FHA), and if they are, the applicable legal standards for such claims. Under the disparate impact theory of discrimination, a plaintiff can establish “discrimination” based solely on the results of a neutral policy, without having to show any intent to discriminate.  The result of the Supreme Court review would have had profound impact both in private litigation and government enforcement actions, and as such had drawn significant attention from civil rights groups, state attorneys general, and financial services trade groups. The withdrawal of Magner means that these important questions will remain open.

In Magner, the City had asked the Supreme Court to consider whether the FHA permits disparate impact claims. Private landlords, seeking to limit the City’s “aggressive” enforcement of its housing code, sued the City for violating the FHA. The landlords argue that the City’s attempts to close housing that violates its housing code reduces the amount of affordable housing available to minority renters. The landlords claim that as a result, the City’s enforcement efforts have a disparate impact on minority renters in violation of the FHA. Although the District Court ruled for the City, the Eighth Circuit reversed, holding that the landlords had stated a cognizable claim under the FHA. The City petitioned the Eighth Circuit for rehearing en banc, but the court denied the petition. As previously reported, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the City’s petition for certiorari on November 7, 2011.  The parties and numerous amici had submitted briefs to the Court, and oral argument was scheduled for February 29.

Magner was the Supreme Court’s first opportunity to evaluate whether disparate impact claims can exist under the FHA since Smith v. City of Jackson, 544 U.S. 228 (2005). In City of Jackson, the Court held that disparate impact claims are grounded in Title VII’s statutory text, not merely in the broader purpose of the legislation. Since City of Jackson, the courts of appeals have offered almost no guidance as to whether the FHA permits disparate impact claims. Reviewing parallel language in the Equal Credit Opportunity Act in Garcia v. Johanns, 444 F.3d 625 (D.C. Cir. 2006), the D.C. Circuit stated in dicta that “[t]he Supreme Court has held that this ["effects"] language gives rise to a cause of action for disparate impact discrimination under Title VII and the ADEA.  ECOA contains no such language.”

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On February 10, several media outlets reported that a major fair housing case under review by the U.S. Supreme Court had been dismissed by agreement of the parties. The case, Magner v. Gallagher, No. 10-1032, described previously in a BuckleySandler alert, poses the question of whether disparate impact claims are cognizable under the Fair Housing Act. The result of the Supreme Court review would have had profound impact both in private litigation and government enforcement actions, and as such had drawn significant attention from civil rights groups, state attorneys general, and financial services trade groups. The City of St. Paul, which raised the question on appeal, reportedly decided not to pursue the appeal out of concern that “a victory could substantially undermine important civil rights enforcement throughout the nation.” Instead, the City will now take its case to trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. For additional reports regarding these developments, please click here and here.

This week, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second and Eleventh Circuits issued rulings regarding the enforceability of arbitration clauses in customer agreements. On January 31, the Eleventh Circuit, on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, reversed its earlier unpublished decision that affirmed a district court ruling allowing a consumer class action to proceed against a bank because the class action waiver in the arbitration agreement at issue was substantively unconscionable. The underlying case involves allegations that the bank improperly ordered customer transactions in order to maximize overdraft fees. The bank sought to enforce the arbitration clause in its customer agreement. Given the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, 131 S. Ct. 1740 (2011), which held that the Federal Arbitration Act establishes a broad policy requiring arbitration of such disputes, and preempts state law that may allow class actions despite customer arbitration agreements, the Eleventh Circuit vacated its earlier decision and remanded the case to the district court for further proceedings and reconsideration of the bank’s original motion to compel arbitration.

On February 1, the Second Circuit decided not to enforce an arbitration agreement, notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s decision in Concepcion. In this case, merchants sued a credit card provider arguing that the card provider’s interchange fee system violated federal antitrust laws. The card company moved to compel arbitration and enforce a class action waiver provision in the merchant agreement. The Second Circuit vacated a district court decision to enforce the arbitration agreement. That decision in turn was vacated by the Supreme Court and remanded. The Second Circuit, though, did not find that Concepcion altered its original analysis, and the Second Circuit again held that the class action waiver agreement was unenforceable in this case because the practical effect would be to preclude the merchants’ ability to pursue statutory rights, an issue not addressed by Concepcion. Consistent with prior Supreme Court caselaw untouched by Concepcion, the merchants proved as a matter of law that the costs of individual arbitration with the lender would be so costly as to deprive them of statutory protections granted by the antitrust laws.