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Regulatory Litigation

Overview

Administrative rules and regulations govern nearly every aspect of conducting business in the United States. These requirements not only pose compliance challenges—they can make companies vulnerable to costly disputes, sidetrack innovation, and potentially put core operations at risk.

When it comes to understanding and navigating the vast web of intricate industry regulations, few firms compare to Crowell. With a robust presence in the epicenter of the nation’s regulatory ecosystem, Crowell’s team of more than 350 lawyers in Washington D.C. guides clients through the complex enforcement actions and courtroom battles that arise across varied subject matters and industries. Along with our practitioners in California, New York, Chicago, and Denver, we regularly represent clients, including more than a third of Fortune 100 companies, in high-stakes regulatory disputes such as internal investigations, government enforcement actions, and litigation involving both private parties and the government.

Fusing industry knowledge with litigation power

Our unique, interdisciplinary model pairs regulatory lawyers, who routinely advise industry groups and are steeped in nuanced regulatory challenges, with seasoned trial and appellate lawyers who have deep litigation and defense experience. We do not operate in silos, but rather collaborate as one cohesive unit, combining subject matter knowledge with litigation talent.

While we have a long track record of resolving issues without the need to litigate, we are always prepared for that potential outcome. When a matter does proceed to trial, we are well known for successfully handling the most sophisticated cases in federal, state, and specialty courts, such as the U.S. Federal Circuit and U.S. Court of International Trade.

Our premier team is stacked with former government officials—including lawyers who served as federal prosecutors, agency heads, and attorneys general—who are intimately familiar with many of the regulations that clients face and strategically employ this knowledge to provide comprehensive approaches to any regulatory issue. Because of our vast experience on the government side, we have also have forged positive relationships with myriad agencies and regulators, earning a credible reputation when we advocate for our clients. A full list of our government experience is available here.

Practice and industry breadth

Our regulatory litigation team handles cases in a wide range of practice areas and industries, including:

 

We also have experience working with almost every major federal and state regulatory department and agency, including, but not limited to:

  • Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
  • Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
  • Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
  • Department of Defense (DOD)
  • Department of Energy (DOE)
  • Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
  • Department of Justice (DOJ)
  • Department of Labor (DOL)
  • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  • Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
  • Department of Transportation (DOT)
  • Department of the Treasury (TREAS)
  • Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
  • Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
  • Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
  • Government Accountability Office (GAO)
  • National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
  • National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
  • National Security Agency (NSA)
  • Patent & Trademark Office (PTO)

Contacts

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Insights

Client Alert | 5 min read | 02.20.25

Declaration of No Independence: President Trump Asserts Control Over Independent Agencies Through Executive Order

On February 18, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies” that directs independent agencies (as well as Cabinet Departments and their sub-agencies) to route all “proposed and final significant regulatory” and budgetary actions through the White House and the Office of Management and Budget. If implemented to its full extent, this action will significantly strengthen the authority of the White House by weakening the political autonomy of these independent agencies. As an assertion of the President’s inherent powers under Article II of the U.S. Constitution, it also stands to weaken congressional influence over these independent agencies, both through the appropriations and confirmation processes....

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Representative Matters

  • Represent eight Blue Cross Blue Shield companies in an antitrust MDL proceeding centralizing over 20 class action cases across the country. The MDL class action cases are brought by physicians and other health care providers as well as plan members asserting claims that the Blue Cross Blue Shield association and the companies conspired to violate antitrust laws by limiting competition through exclusive service areas and other restraints. The cases are centralized in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
  • Represented a large defense contractor in securing a dismissal in the district court and affirmed by the Fourth Circuit of a complaint seeking $500+ million in damages from a commercial dispute related to a Foreign Military Sale (FMS) transaction between the U.S. Government and Republic of Korea for F-35 fighter jets manufactured by our client
  • Represent the U.S. commercial television broadcast industry in litigation and administrative proceedings to recover shares of copyright royalties for cable and satellite retransmission of stations for decades.
  • Represent client in a multiyear battle against "safeguard tariffs" on double-sided solar panels alongside a broad coalition of importers. The cross-practice team helped secure an injunction preventing the White House from reinstating the solar duties, a court order broadening that injunction, and then another court order faulting the White House when it thrice attempted to impose the duties.
  • Represent health plans in litigation challenging the U.S. Government’s failure to make Affordable Care Act (ACA) “risk corridors” payments, and litigated the first successful Federal Court challenge to Government’s failure to pay $3 billion under the ACA’s cost-sharing reduction (CSR) program. In April 2020, the Supreme Court held in an 8‐1 decision that that health care plans were entitled to approximately $13 billion in damages from the federal government.
  • Represent major U.S. airline in pending putative class actions alleging that the major airlines participated in a price fixing conspiracy by coordinating their capacity decisions through third parties such as investment analysts and institutional investors.
  • Represented a Fortune 500 company in cyber theft litigation.In addition to providing litigation counsel, we coordinated forensics efforts to track down and prove improper download of company computer files and addressed issues relating to computer management and inventory of data. 

Contacts

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Insights

Client Alert | 5 min read | 02.20.25

Declaration of No Independence: President Trump Asserts Control Over Independent Agencies Through Executive Order

On February 18, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies” that directs independent agencies (as well as Cabinet Departments and their sub-agencies) to route all “proposed and final significant regulatory” and budgetary actions through the White House and the Office of Management and Budget. If implemented to its full extent, this action will significantly strengthen the authority of the White House by weakening the political autonomy of these independent agencies. As an assertion of the President’s inherent powers under Article II of the U.S. Constitution, it also stands to weaken congressional influence over these independent agencies, both through the appropriations and confirmation processes....

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Insights

Client Alert | 5 min read | 02.20.25

Declaration of No Independence: President Trump Asserts Control Over Independent Agencies Through Executive Order

Webinar | 01.23.25

Trump Administration and What it Means for Businesses Outside the US

Firm News | 3 min read | 12.05.24

Crowell & Moring Notches Tenth Straight Year on “GIR 100”

Firm News | 1 min read | 11.11.24

Orange County Business Journal Honors Chahira Solh at Women in Business Awards
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Professionals

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Insights

Client Alert | 5 min read | 02.20.25

Declaration of No Independence: President Trump Asserts Control Over Independent Agencies Through Executive Order

On February 18, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies” that directs independent agencies (as well as Cabinet Departments and their sub-agencies) to route all “proposed and final significant regulatory” and budgetary actions through the White House and the Office of Management and Budget. If implemented to its full extent, this action will significantly strengthen the authority of the White House by weakening the political autonomy of these independent agencies. As an assertion of the President’s inherent powers under Article II of the U.S. Constitution, it also stands to weaken congressional influence over these independent agencies, both through the appropriations and confirmation processes....

View All Insights