On January 31, 2019, the firm submitted an amicus curiae brief to the United States Supreme Court in Kisor v. Wilkie on behalf of a group of nonprofit veteran’s service organizations, including the National Veterans Legal Services Program. In Kisor, the Court will consider whether to overrule the doctrine of Auer deference, which directs courts to defer to an agency’s interpretation of its own ambiguous regulation unless that interpretation is plainly erroneous.
The brief explains that Auer is particularly harmful to veterans seeking disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs and that it incentivizes the VA to draft and retain regulations that are ambiguous, keeping in place a system that is notoriously confusing and difficult for veterans to understand and navigate.
The team representing the group of veteran’s service organizations, including the National Veterans Legal Services Program, includes Amy Saharia, Liam Montgomery, William Marks, and Matt Rice.