Andrew J. Pincus

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Andrew Pincus focuses his appellate practice on briefing and arguing cases in the Supreme Court of the United States and in federal and state appellate courts, as well as on developing legal arguments in trial courts.

Andy has argued 23 cases in the Supreme Court of the United States, four of them in the 2010 and 2011 Terms, including AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, 131 S. Ct. 1740 (2011). For his victory in Concepcion, Andy was named Litigator of the Week by the American Lawyer and Appellate Lawyer of the Week by The National Law Journal. Andy’s work in Concepcion and successful defense of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s right to run for office were cited by the American Lawyer in its article naming Mayer Brown as one of the top six US litigation firms in the 2012 Litigation Department of the Year report.

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The day after we released our study (pdf) of class action litigation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued some preliminary results in connection with its study of arbitration under the Dodd-Frank Act. (That statute gives the CFPB power to regulate or prohibit the use of arbitration agreements by the businesses it oversees, but requires the Bureau first to conduct a study of arbitration agreements.)

The agency repeatedly describes the information that it reports as “preliminary” and subject to further review and revision, and states that the subjects covered are those as to which it has been able to gather information—and…
Continue Reading CFPB Has Much More Work To Do On Arbitration Study

Earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court granted review in Halliburton Co. v . Erica P. John Fund, No. 13-317, to address an important question affecting securities class actions: whether the “fraud-on-the market” presumption created by the Court in Basic, Inc. v. Levinson remains viable in light of new developments—both in economic thinking and in the marketplace—over the 25 years since Basic was decided.

Where did the fraud on the market presumption come from? Here are the basics (pun intended). The vast majority of securities fraud class actions are brought under a private right of action that was not created…
Continue Reading Supreme Court Will Address “Fraud-On-The-Market” Presumption in Securities Class Actions

The California Supreme Court has a long history of inventing new rules—either from common law or as “glosses” on statutes—to invalidate arbitration agreements entered into by consumers and employees. For example, in 2005, that court announced a new unconscionability rule—the“Discover Bank” doctrine, which was named after one of the parties to the case—that effectively blocked enforcement of every consumer arbitration agreement that did not permit class procedures. The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion held that the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) preempted the Discover Bank rule.

Will the California Supreme Court faithfully apply…
Continue Reading Will California Strike Again? The Latest Word From the California Supreme Court On Enforcing Arbitration Agreements

The Supreme Court’s decision today in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant (pdf), No. 12-133, eliminated the last significant obstacle to adoption of fair, efficient arbitration systems that increase access to justice for consumers while reducing transaction costs for everyone, particularly the huge legal fees of both plaintiffs’ lawyers and defense lawyers.

In AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 131 S. Ct. 1740 (2011), the Supreme Court held that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) prohibits courts from refusing to enforce arbitration agreements on the ground that they do not provide for class actions. Today’s ruling in American Express makes clear that Concepcion’s determination applies to claims under federal law as well. Mayer Brown represented AT&T Mobility in Concepcion and filed an amicus brief (pdf) for the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America and Business Roundtable in American Express.

American Express has significant implications both for courts’ consideration of attempts to invalidate arbitration agreements and for the policy debate over the enforceability of those agreements. We discuss both, after explaining the grounds for the Supreme Court’s ruling.Continue Reading Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Arbitration Agreements

Today, the Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum (pdf) on the scope of the Alien Tort Statute (“ATS”), 28 U.S.C. § 1350, a law that creates federal jurisdiction for civil actions brought by aliens for torts committed in violation of the law of nations or a U.S. treaty. In Kiobel, the Court held that presumption against applying federal statutes extraterritorially applies to the ATS, and affirmed the dismissal of an ATS complaint alleging violations of international law in Nigeria. Kiobel thus is a very welcome development for businesses that have been targeted by lawsuits under the ATS, an increasingly common vehicle for unjustified class actions in recent years.

See additional discussion below the fold.
Continue Reading Supreme Court Holds That Alien Tort Statute Doesn’t Apply Extraterritorially

Earlier today, the Ninth Circuit issued its en banc opinion in Kilgore v. KeyBank, N.A. The court had granted en banc review to decide whether the Federal Arbitration Act preempts California’s so-called “Broughton/Cruz” rule, which declares that claims for “public” injunctive relief under California consumer protection statutes are unsuitable for, and exempt from, arbitration.

As we have discussed in prior blog posts—and argued in an amicus brief on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce—the answer should be easy. The Supreme Court stated in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion that “[w]hen state law …
Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Narrows California Exception To Arbitration Agreements, But Puts Off Deciding Whether FAA Preempts The Exception Altogether

On January 25, 2013, the D.C. Circuit held in Noel Canning v. NLRB (pdf) that President Obama’s three recess appointments last year to the NLRB are unconstitutional.  The decision casts a shadow over every action taken by the NLRB since those appointments were made on January 4, 2012.  Moreover, because Richard Cordray received a recess appointment to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on the same day, the DC Circuit’s decision provides grounds for challenging certain CFPB actions.  Please see our report on the DC Circuit’s decision and the implications for challenges by companies to agency actions.
Continue Reading DC Circuit Invalidates NLRB Recess Appointments, Undermining Many NLRB and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Decisions

When the Supreme Court convenes for its private conference today, the Justices will consider whether to grant certiorari in a case presenting one of the most significant questions regarding the meaning of the Court’s ruling in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion that remains unresolved in the lower courts.

Following the Concepcion decision, opponents of arbitration tried to convince lower courts to limit Concepcion’s holding that arbitration clauses could not be invalidated on the ground that they required individual arbitration and prohibited class proceedings. The overwhelming majority of those arguments were rejected by district courts and courts of appeals, as explained in this article.

But a two-judge panel of the Second Circuit earlier this year endorsed the bizarre assertion that Concepcion applies differently depending on whether the claim to be arbitrated arises under state or federal law. In In re American Express Merchants’ Litigation, the panel held that agreements to arbitrate disputes on an individual basis need not be enforced when a plaintiff provides evidence that the costs of vindicating a federal claim make it “economically irrational” to pursue such a claim without the class-action procedure. Amazingly, the court found that the affidavit of the plaintiffs’ own economic expert provided sufficient “evidence” to invalidate the arbitration clauses. In other words, arbitration clauses that could be enforced with respect to a state claim might be unenforceable if the same plaintiff brought a virtually identical claim under federal law.

As noted in an earlier blog post, American Express filed a petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of the Second Circuit’s ruling (American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant, No. 12-133) and Mayer Brown authored an amicus brief supporting the petition on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable, American Bankers Association, and National Association of Manufacturers.Continue Reading Supreme Court Poised To Decide Whether To Grant Certiorari In Major Arbitration Case (In re American Express)