DC Circuitry

If you’re a litigator, you’ve probably invoked the specific-controls-the-general canon at one time or another.  Whether you’ve prevailed with that argument is another question; it ...

The FDA has the undisputed power to ban a medical device entirely; but if it approves the device, it may not ban certain uses.  That ...

Not long ago, two D.C. Circuit decisions reminded us not to lean too hard on jurisdictional truisms (e.g., “jurisdiction can’t be waived”), which, though seemingly ...

Two recent decisions of the D.C. Circuit provide reminders that even jurisdictional truisms are not absolute. Truism #1:  If Congress says something is jurisdictional, it’s ...

In cases involving statutory construction, someone often will say, “if Congress had wanted to say X it would have been easy enough to say X.” ...

Do you know the difference between the major-questions doctrine and the no-elephants-in-mouseholes principle? If you ever find yourself litigating against federal agencies, it’s a distinction ...