Supreme Court declines to overrule Auer deference

On June 26, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Kisor v. Wilkie, and the result is a mixed bag for companies subject to federal regulation. While the Court declined to overrule Auer deference — the doctrine whereby courts will defer to a regulator’s interpretations of its own, ambiguous regulations — it did impose some new limits on the application of such deference. Whether the new limits will make a meaningful difference in practice remains to be seen. But the decision is, at least on paper, something of a victory for litigants challenging an agency’s regulatory interpretation in court. The Court’s decision is available here.