Program Details
2026-12-08 12:00:00
Over 1,000+ webinars
Course Overview
2026-12-08 12:00:00
2h CLE Credits
Intermediate
2
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm ESTThe session will examine what Loper Bright changed about judicial review of agency statutes and what remains of deference under Skidmore, express congressional delegations, and agency factual findings. It will also explore how agencies continue to shape law and policy after Chevron. The discussion will turn to Corner Post and the potential to challenge longstanding regulations when a new injury arises, including the statute-of-limitations and finality defenses the government raises and how federal appellate courts have addressed these issues. It will then analyze Jarkesy and the constitutional right to a jury trial in agency enforcement proceedings, identifying penalty regimes that may be vulnerable to challenge, strategies for moving disputes into Article III courts, and how the Department of Justice and federal agencies are adapting their enforcement approaches. Drawing on the perspectives of former DOJ lawyers, the session will conclude with an inside look at how government litigators defend agency action after Chevron, including their leading arguments, administrative record strategies, and potential vulnerabilities that small-business challengers can exploit.
Varu Chilakamarri
Robert S. Silverblatt 1:10 pm - 2:10 pm ESTThe session will provide an inside look at how the Department of Justice evaluates, defends, and resolves challenges to federal agency action, including the government’s litigation strategies and considerations that shape its decisions. It will examine the procedural hurdles challengers must overcome to get into federal court, including standing, ripeness, venue, and exhaustion requirements. The discussion will then address emergency relief following Trump v. CASA, comparing temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions, stays under APA § 705, and vacatur as tools for challenging agency action. Participants will also explore how to build a persuasive case through the administrative record, identify gaps in the government’s evidence, and preserve arguments for appellate review. Finally, the session will consider avenues beyond the Administrative Procedure Act, including money claims before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, challenges to grant and contract terminations, and structural constitutional challenges in light of Humphrey’s Executor.
Samantha Chaifetz
Josh GardnerVarudhini “Varu” Chilakamarri is a Partner in the Washington, DC office of K&L Gates and a member of the firm’s Environment, Land, and Natural Resources practice group, where her work spans appellate litigation, administrative and regulatory law, environmental and energy matters, mass tort, and product liability. She joined K&L Gates in December 2023 after approximately 17 years at the U.S. Department of Justice, most recently as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Division, where she oversaw the Torts Branch and the defense of the United States in damages suits nationwide. A veteran appellate advocate, she has argued cases in the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fifth, Ninth, Tenth, District of Columbia, and Federal Circuits, and two preemption cases she worked on reached the Supreme Court of the United States. Since Loper Bright, Ms. Chilakamarri has become one of the most frequently quoted voices on the end of Chevron deference and the future of agency power — cited by Law360, Bloomberg Law, USA Today, the Financial Times, The Hill, Inside EPA, and Reuters — and she advises clients on the legal risks and opportunities that arise when the federal government is a counterparty, regulator, or adversary.
Robert (Rob) S. Silverblatt is a Partner in the Washington, DC office of K&L Gates and a member of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations practice group, where his work also spans tax controversy and litigation and U.S. congressional investigations. A former U.S. Department of Justice trial attorney with substantial experience serving as lead counsel on legally and factually complex cases, he represents companies and individuals in matters before the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission — from civil False Claims Act litigation to criminal investigations and prosecutions — as well as in congressional investigations, IRS audits and tax litigation, and internal investigations. From 2016 to 2021 he served as a trial attorney in the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he litigated tax shelter, fraudulent transfer, undisclosed foreign bank account, tax preparer injunction, and alter ego cases in federal district and bankruptcy courts across the country and was honored with the Department’s Outstanding Attorney award in three consecutive years. Now on the other side of the table, he prepares chief executives and senior officers for interviews and testimony before Congress and grand juries, helps clients identify and remediate legal and reputational risk, and advises on the shifting boundaries of federal enforcement power — including the growing body of post-Jarkesy and post-Loper Bright challenges to agency penalty authority.
Samantha Chaifetz is a Partner in the Washington, DC office of DLA Piper and Co-Chair of the firm’s Appellate Advocacy practice. A nationally recognized appellate litigator with roughly two decades of experience in complex civil appeals raising constitutional, statutory, and administrative law questions, she has served as appellate counsel in more than 100 matters, presented oral argument in more than 40 federal appeals, and argued before 10 federal circuits — frequently on issues of first impression. Before joining DLA Piper in 2023, she spent fifteen years as a lead appellate attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where she defended agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act, handled challenges to federal statutes including the Affordable Care Act, prepared Supreme Court filings, and represented all 15 federal executive departments. She has also held senior legal posts in the White House and the U.S. Senate. Today she represents life sciences and technology companies in multidistrict and class actions, foreign banks in cross-border disputes, and regulated entities in administrative challenges, and she is a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School.
Joshua (Josh) Gardner is a Partner in the Washington, DC office of DLA Piper, where he practices in the firm’s Litigation, Arbitration and Investigations and Regulatory and Government Affairs groups. A first-chair trial and appellate attorney, he handles high-stakes litigation, appeals, congressional investigations, and regulatory disputes arising from federal and state government action, drawing on more than two decades of experience in private practice and at the U.S. Department of Justice, including more than a dozen bench and jury trials in district courts across every federal circuit. Before joining DLA Piper in 2025, Mr. Gardner held senior roles in the Civil Division across five presidential administrations — most recently as Acting Deputy Director and Special Counsel of the Federal Programs Branch, the office charged with defending federal agencies and their regulations against constitutional and Administrative Procedure Act challenges — and served as Acting Chief of Staff of the Department’s Office of Legislative Affairs. He now represents corporations, financial institutions, health care organizations, energy companies, and trade associations in commercial litigation, toxic tort and product liability matters, constitutional and regulatory challenges, and appeals, and he serves as outside counsel to Lawyers for Civil Justice on federal rulemaking and civil justice reform.
Varudhini “Varu” Chilakamarri is a Partner in the Washington, DC office of K&L Gates and a member of the firm’s Environment, Land, and Natural Resources practice group, where her work spans appellate litigation, administrative and regulatory law, environmental and energy matters, mass tort, and product liability. She joined K&L Gates in December 2023 after approximately 17 years at the U.S. Department of Justice, most recently as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Division, where she oversaw the Torts Branch and the defense of the United States in damages suits nationwide. A veteran appellate advocate, she has argued cases in the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fifth, Ninth, Tenth, District of Columbia, and Federal Circuits, and two preemption cases she worked on reached the Supreme Court of the United States. Since Loper Bright, Ms. Chilakamarri has become one of the most frequently quoted voices on the end of Chevron deference and the future of agency power — cited by Law360, Bloomberg Law, USA Today, the Financial Times, The Hill, Inside EPA, and Reuters — and she advises clients on the legal risks and opportunities that arise when the federal government is a counterparty, regulator, or adversary.
Robert (Rob) S. Silverblatt is a Partner in the Washington, DC office of K&L Gates and a member of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations practice group, where his work also spans tax controversy and litigation and U.S. congressional investigations. A former U.S. Department of Justice trial attorney with substantial experience serving as lead counsel on legally and factually complex cases, he represents companies and individuals in matters before the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission — from civil False Claims Act litigation to criminal investigations and prosecutions — as well as in congressional investigations, IRS audits and tax litigation, and internal investigations. From 2016 to 2021 he served as a trial attorney in the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he litigated tax shelter, fraudulent transfer, undisclosed foreign bank account, tax preparer injunction, and alter ego cases in federal district and bankruptcy courts across the country and was honored with the Department’s Outstanding Attorney award in three consecutive years. Now on the other side of the table, he prepares chief executives and senior officers for interviews and testimony before Congress and grand juries, helps clients identify and remediate legal and reputational risk, and advises on the shifting boundaries of federal enforcement power — including the growing body of post-Jarkesy and post-Loper Bright challenges to agency penalty authority.
Samantha Chaifetz is a Partner in the Washington, DC office of DLA Piper and Co-Chair of the firm’s Appellate Advocacy practice. A nationally recognized appellate litigator with roughly two decades of experience in complex civil appeals raising constitutional, statutory, and administrative law questions, she has served as appellate counsel in more than 100 matters, presented oral argument in more than 40 federal appeals, and argued before 10 federal circuits — frequently on issues of first impression. Before joining DLA Piper in 2023, she spent fifteen years as a lead appellate attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where she defended agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act, handled challenges to federal statutes including the Affordable Care Act, prepared Supreme Court filings, and represented all 15 federal executive departments. She has also held senior legal posts in the White House and the U.S. Senate. Today she represents life sciences and technology companies in multidistrict and class actions, foreign banks in cross-border disputes, and regulated entities in administrative challenges, and she is a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School.
Joshua (Josh) Gardner is a Partner in the Washington, DC office of DLA Piper, where he practices in the firm’s Litigation, Arbitration and Investigations and Regulatory and Government Affairs groups. A first-chair trial and appellate attorney, he handles high-stakes litigation, appeals, congressional investigations, and regulatory disputes arising from federal and state government action, drawing on more than two decades of experience in private practice and at the U.S. Department of Justice, including more than a dozen bench and jury trials in district courts across every federal circuit. Before joining DLA Piper in 2025, Mr. Gardner held senior roles in the Civil Division across five presidential administrations — most recently as Acting Deputy Director and Special Counsel of the Federal Programs Branch, the office charged with defending federal agencies and their regulations against constitutional and Administrative Procedure Act challenges — and served as Acting Chief of Staff of the Department’s Office of Legislative Affairs. He now represents corporations, financial institutions, health care organizations, energy companies, and trade associations in commercial litigation, toxic tort and product liability matters, constitutional and regulatory challenges, and appeals, and he serves as outside counsel to Lawyers for Civil Justice on federal rulemaking and civil justice reform.
Requirements
The Alabama State Bar MCLE Commission requires attorneys to complete 12 credits, including 1 ethics, by December 31 of each year. All credits must be reported by February 15 of the following year. A maximum of 12 credits, including 1 ethics credit, may be carried over for 1 year only.
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