Supreme Court Grants Certiorari: Will Determine Whether FTC Entitled to Seek Equitable Monetary Relief in the Form of Disgorgement

July 11, 2020 / Richard B. Newman

FTC defense attorney Richard B. Newman recently authored an article for National Law Review titled “Supreme Court Decides to Rule on FTC’s Disgorgement Authority.”

As previously blogged about here and here, the Supreme Court recently upheld the SEC’s disgorgement authority but imposed various limits, including the consideration of net profits and legitimate business expenses.

The article examines how FTC defense practitioners could potentially leverage the recent Liu decision and how it might impact other judicial challenges relating to whether Section 13(b) of the FTC Act authorizes the FTC to obtain equitable monetary relief.

On July 9, 2020, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in the AMG Capital Management and Credit Bureau Center matters that should now decide the issues of whether Section 13(b) permits courts to award disgorgement.  AMG and Credit Bureau reached opposite conclusions.

Following the Supreme Court’s issuance of its orders granting certiorari in the two cases, the FTC’s General Counsel issued the following statement:

“We look forward to proving to the Supreme Court that the FTC Act empowers us to fully protect consumers by ensuring that money unlawfully taken from them is rightfully returned.”

These two matters should conclusively resolve splits of authority relating to whether or in what circumstances the FTC is entitled to obtain monetary relief.

Richard B. Newman is an advertising practices attorney at Hinch Newman LLP.  

Informational purposes only. Not legal advice. May be considered attorney advertising.

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Richard B. Newman

Richard B. Newman is a nationally recognized FTC advertising compliance, CID investigation and regulatory enforcemetn attorney. He regularly provides advertising counsel and represents clients in high-profile investigations and enforcement proceedings initiated by the Federal Trade Commission, state attorneys general, departments of consumer affairs, and other federal and state agencies with jurisdiction over advertising and marketing practices. Richard is also an ecommerce lawyer and spam defense attorney. His practice additionally focuses upon false advertising defense, data privacy, cybersquatting, intellectual property law and transactional matters relating to the dissemination of national advertising campaigns, including the gamut of affiliate marketing, telemarketing, lead generation, list management and licensing agreements. Richard advises clients on how to minimize the legal risks associated with digital marketing, email marketing, telemarketing, social media influencer campaigns, endorsements and testimonials, negative option marketing models, native advertising, online promotions and comparative advertising,

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