The Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion today slashing the Federal Trade Commission’s ability to seek monetary awards in court, finding that Congress had not intended to give the agency that power in a section of the Federal Trade Commission Act granting the FTC the ability to seek injunctions.  This critical ruling invalidates what has historically been a key legal tool for the FTC to recoup monetary gains from defendants allegedly involved in deceptive business practices, and hands a victory to business and trade groups that have argued against the agency’s wide-reaching powers.

Going forward, we expect to see more FTC cases jointly filed with state AG offices that have express authority in state unfair deceptive statutes to seek restitution and disgorgement.