The Supreme Court denied a petition for a writ of certiorari today on an issue of preemption, where CCL represented the plaintiffs in opposing review. 

     In Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P. v. Anderson, No. 21-552, the financial management firm sought Supreme Court review of a Ninth Circuit decision that the plaintiffs' claims were not preempted by the federal Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act (SLUSA), which was enacted to cover lawsuits based on the purchase or sale of a covered security. The Ninth Circuit had held that, when Edward D. Jones switched the plaintiffs from commissioned-based fees on their investments to an annual management fee arrangement, the complaint about the higher fees was unrelated to purchases or sales. The plaintiffs were "buy and hold" investors, which means that after making their original purchases they largely rode the market, rather than engage in frequent trading. As a result, their accounts generated very few commissions. The annual management fee, on the other hand, taxed clients a percentage of their investment, guaranteeing income to the firm.

     Lawyers for Edward D. Jones argued that the federal appellate circuits had split on whether the litigated issue had to "coincide with" or be "material to" a purchase or sale and asked the Supreme Court to settle that issue through this case. CCL's brief in opposition to certiorari argued that the issue in the case was utterly unrelated to a purchase or sale and thus provided no occasion for the Supreme Court to take up the issue. In representing the plaintiffs, CCL joined Franklin D. Azar & Associates, who had won the case in the Ninth Circuit.