Dames & Moore v. Regan

Background

This case comes from the Ninth Circuit and the Supreme Court has agreed to review it. A long list of companies, banks, and individuals asked permission to file friend-of-the-court briefs, and the Court granted those requests for the named entities. The list in the order includes Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall; Chas. T. Main International, Inc.; American Bell International, Inc.; Jerry Plotkin; Sperry Corporation and others; Reading & Bates Corporation and others; Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York and others; Bank Melli Iran and others; Sylvania Technical Systems, Inc.; Marschalk Co., Inc.; Electronic Data Systems Corporation Iran; and FLAG, Inc. One group, Bank Melli Iran and others, separately asked to join the case as an intervenor, but that intervention request was denied.

Reasoning

The Court resolved a set of procedural requests about who may participate in the case and how much time each side may have to argue. It allowed the listed organizations to file briefs supporting or explaining positions to the Court, but it denied several requests to take part in oral argument as amici. The Court also granted the requests by the Islamic Republic of Iran and Bank Markazi Iran for divided argument and additional time, and it described how the two hours for oral argument would be split among the participants.

Real world impact

The order gives many organizations the chance to submit written arguments to the Justices while limiting who can speak at argument. The Court allotted a total of two hours for oral argument: one hour for the party that sought review, forty minutes for the Solicitor General, ten minutes for the Islamic Republic of Iran, and ten minutes for Bank Markazi Iran. These rulings manage participation but do not decide the underlying dispute, so the merits remain for later decision.