Affirmative claims against various government entities

Davis Polk has significant experience bringing – and prevailing on – affirmative litigation claims against a variety of government entities. Our work includes:

• Won a trial victory in tax litigation by ExxonMobil against the United States affirming ExxonMobil’s entitlement to significant interest expense deductions arising out of a multi-billion-dollar transaction.
• Successfully sued and won summary judgment against the U.S. Department of the Treasury and OFAC in federal court to vacate a penalty notice imposing a $2 million fine on ExxonMobil for alleged violations of the Ukraine-related sanctions regulations.
• Secured an appellate victory from the D.C. Circuit granting the petition of our client Grayscale Investments to vacate an SEC order denying approval to list and trade shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust as an exchange-traded product.
• Representing a major technology company in several affirmative matters against the FTC, including:
  • Our client’s challenges to the FTC’s administrative proceeding to reopen and rewrite its 2020 consent order with our client. In 2023, we filed a motion to enforce the stipulated order and to enjoin the FTC’s administrative proceeding in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which approved and entered the consent order.
  • An action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the FTC and its commissioners as defendants, which raises structural constitutional challenges to the FTC.
• Represented a major telecom company in a successful challenge to the FCC’s 30% cable ownership rules.
• Represented an electric utility in asserting – and favorably resolving – affirmative claims against the City of New York.

Members of the Davis Polk teams are based in the New York, Washington DC and Northern California offices.