Tax Law
Attorneys describe ‘chaotic’ situation after SCOTUS tariffs decision
President Donald Trump recently said he would impose a new across-the-board tariff after the Supreme Court ruled most of his levies illegal. (Photo by Peter W. Stevenson/The Washington Post)
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court striking down most of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, trade attorneys have reported being deluged with questions from clients about potential refunds.
On Friday, the Supreme Court held in a 6-3 ruling that Trump did not have the authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose a vast array of import levies on goods from nearly all the nation’s trading partners.
Crowell & Moring filed one of the first lawsuits Monday seeking to recover funds on behalf of FedEx, and other BigLaw firms expect a significant amount of litigation to follow in the coming months, Law.com reports.
“The decision about whether to sue to recover is anything but straightforward for a lot of clients, and so that’s been the principal focus of our conversations with clients in the last few days,” Dennis Hranitzky, a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, told Law.com. “At least over the course of the coming week, there will be, I’m sure, many who decide that they do want to go forward with litigation.”
According to Law.com, Quinn Emanuel created a tariff refund litigation task force to advise clients on their options.
Aaron Cummings, a shareholder at Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber & Shreck, told Law.com that “virtually all of our clients at our firm are interested in this, and the firm has thousands of clients.”
Cummings also reportedly said “this is an area where we have already seen a lot of growth, and we see that there will be a lot of opportunity to help clients in the immediate and long-term future.”
Trade attorneys also are advising clients on changes in Trump’s tariff agenda, Law.com reports. After the Supreme Court’s decision, Trump signed an executive order implementing a 15% global import duty.
Timothy Brightbill, a partner at Wiley Rein, told Law.com that the law firm’s international trade practice already experienced increasing client demand in the past year. He said it had been a “chaotic” few days since the Supreme Court’s decision.
“Certainly, even since Friday, we’ve had new clients reach out, and we’ve had existing clients recommend us to others who need help on these critically important issues,” Brightbill reportedly said.
Law.com also reported this week that attorneys are looking to the U.S. Court of International Trade for guidance on how to move forward with a refunds procedure.
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