Kasowitz, on Behalf of Former Attorneys General and Famed Constitutional Law Scholars, Files Supreme Court Amicus Brief Supporting Limits on In-House Agency Proceedings and Defending Article III of the U.S. Constitution

On August 3, 2026, Kasowitz, on behalf of former U.S. Attorneys General Edwin Meese III and Michael B. Mukasey, and renowned constitutional law scholars Steven G. Calabresi and Gary S. Lawson, filed an amicus curiae brief with the Supreme Court of the United States in Department of Labor v. Sun Valley Orchards.  The case stems from an administrative proceeding by the Department of Labor that charged the regulated party with violating contractual obligations and imposed ruinous monetary liability.  The business community is closely monitoring this case—like Securities & Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, it will test the extent to which administrative agencies may channel actions that implicate private rights away from Article III courts and into their own in-house proceedings, where prosecutors, witnesses, and adjudicators are employees of the same department.
 
The brief encourages the Court to affirm the Third Circuit’s ruling that DOL’s action triggered an entitlement to an Article III forum and fell outside the public-rights exception to Article III.  The amici further argue that an administrative agency may not route either cases in law or cases in equity through in-house proceedings and thereby evade Article III courts, whose independence is integral to the separation of powers that protects the liberty of regulated businesses and individuals.
 
The Kasowitz team representing former Attorneys General Meese and Mukasey, and Professors Calabresi and Lawson was led by partner Amit R. Vora.