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Regulation By Amicus: The Department Of Labor's Policy Making In The Courts, Deborah Thompson Eisenberg

Deborah Thompson Eisenberg

This Article examines the practice of “regulation by amicus”: that is, an agency’s attempt to mold statutory interpretation and establish policy by filing “friend of the court” briefs in private litigation. Since the United States Supreme Court recognized agency amicus interpretations as a source of controlling law entitled to deference in Auer v. Robbins, agencies have used amicus curiae briefs—in strategic and at times aggressive ways—to advance the political agenda of the President in the courts. Using the lens of the U.S. Department of Labor’s amicus activity in wage and hour cases, this Article explores the tension between the extraordinary …