Nationwide Biweekly Administration obtains Ninth Circuit decision reversing dismissal of challenges to California state laws

Client(s) Nationwide Biweekly Administration, Inc. and two affiliated parties

Jones Day successfully represented Nationwide Biweekly Administration, Inc., along with two affiliated parties, in consolidated appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The case began when Nationwide Biweekly Administration filed two separate constitutional challenges to California state laws. It sought a preliminary injunction in both cases, but the District Court denied its requests. While the federal cases were still pending, the State of California initiated enforcement actions in state court against Nationwide Biweekly Administration, seeking to enforce the very laws at issue in the federal proceedings. Rather than permit the federal proceedings to continue alongside the state proceedings, the district court dismissed both cases under Younger v. Harris, which permits courts, in specific circumstances, to abstain from deciding cases that implicate ongoing state proceedings.

Nationwide Biweekly Administration appealed the District Court’s Younger decision to the Ninth Circuit. Following oral argument, the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s decision to abstain under Younger. It further determined that one of the challenged laws violated the Dormant Commerce Clause, vacated the district court’s preliminary-injunction decision concluding otherwise, and remanded for further proceedings.

Loan Payment Administration, LLC v. Hubanks, No. 15-16253 (9th Cir.); Nationwide Biweekly Administration, Inc. v. Owen, No. 15-16220 (9th Cir.)