Summary: This panel will explore how judicial deference to agency decisionmaking has evolved since the seminal Supreme Court decision in Chevron v. NRDC and whether it is time to revisit the doctrine of "Chevron deference." The panelists will discuss questions such as whether Chevrondeference has led courts to take such a hands-off approach in litigation against agency action that the agencies have become an unaccountable fourth branch of government. Or is Chevron deference a doctrine that is necessary to keep courts from becoming policymaking bodies? They will discuss the real-world implications of Chevron deference from the perspective of regulated parties and whether there are any practical alternatives to Chevron deference. The panel will also explore related doctrines of judicial deference, such as so-called Auer deference, and whether lower courts have taken that deference beyond what the Supreme Court intended. -- The Federalist Society's Litigation Practice Group presented this panel on "Time to Revisit Chevron Deference?" on Thursday, November 13, during the 2014 National Lawyers Convention. -- Featuring: Prof. Jack M. Beermann, Harry Elwood Warren Scholar Professor of Law, Boston University School of Law; Hon. Charles J. Cooper, Partner, Cooper & Kirk, PLLC, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel; Prof. Thomas W. Merrill, Charles Evans Hughes Professor of Law, Columbia University School of Law; and Prof. Amy Wildermuth, Associate Vice President for Faculty, Senior Vice President Academic Affairs - Operations, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law. Moderator: Hon. Don R. Willett, Texas Supreme Court. Introduction: Hon. Rachel L. Brand, Member, Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board; Senior Advisor to the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, United States Chamber of Commerce; and former Assistant U.S. Attorney General for Legal Policy United States Department of Justice; and Chairman, Litigation Practice Group.
