Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Byron C. Farley v. Merit Systems Protection Board
IFP petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 2025-1827 · judgment January 15, 2026
Questions presented
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Whether attorney withdrawal that violates modem ethical standards—specifically the duties articulated in ABA Formal ■ <' / Opinion 516—can constitute an “extraordinaiy circumstance” warranting equitable tolling under Irwin v. Department of Veterans Affairs, 498 U.S. 89 (1990), Holland v. Florida, 560 U.S. 631 (2010).
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Whether the Federal Circuit erred by affirming the MSPB’s refusal to apply equitable tolling based on a factual premise contradicted by the record, where the petitioner worked continuously and diligently after counsel’s last-minute withdrawal.
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Whether the longstanding rule that “clients are responsible for their attorneys’ errors” should apply when the attorney’s withdrawal is professionally improper under contemporary ethical standards and occurs at the eve of a jurisdictional deadline.
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Byron C. Farley
For respondent
D. John Sauer
Solicitor General
Case
Subject area
Judicial Power (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)
Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference
Proceedings
- Oct 05 2026The motion of petitioner for leave to proceed in forma pauperis is denied. Petitioner is allowed until October 26, 2026, within which to pay the docketing fee required by Rule 38(a) and to submit a petition in compliance with Rule 33.1 of the Rules of this Court.
- Jul 02 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/28/2026.
- Jun 26 2026Waiver of right of respondent Merit Systems Protection Board to respond filed.
- May 14 2026Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due June 29, 2026)