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Hui Feng, et al. v. Securities and Exchange Commission

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 17-56522 · judgment August 23, 2019

Certiorari denied · February 22, 2021
Pre-decision estimate: 7% cert probability (95% interval 5%–10%)

Before the decision, about 1.6× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for counsel who has won certiorari before and a Ninth Circuit decision below.

Questions presented

The questions presented are:

  1. Whether the SEC exceeded its statutory authority under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which regulates secondary market transactions in securities on exchanges and the over-the-counter markets, by applying the Exchange Act’s broker registration requirements to Petitioners who had no involvement with secondary market transactions.

  2. Whether the Ninth Circuit erred in finding that Petitioners violated the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws when the basis for the finding is Petitioners’ alleged breach of an attorney ethics rule and when the alleged misconduct was only tangentially related to purchases or sales of securities.

  3. Whether the Ninth Circuit erred in finding “scienter” and “materiality” in this case.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Robert G. Heim
Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP

For respondent
Brian H. Fletcher
Acting Solicitor General

Case

Subject area
Economic Activity (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Order
Order list, February 22, 2021 · Certiorari denied

Proceedings

  1. Feb 22 2021
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Jan 27 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/19/2021.
  3. Jan 22 2021
    Waiver of right of respondent Securities and Exchange Commission to respond filed.
  4. Dec 22 2020
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 29, 2021)