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Waiting For Levine

By James M. Beck and Mark Herrmann

Everyone keeps asking us when the Supreme Court will decide the big preemption case of Wyeth v. Levine. The parties argued the case on November 3; when will the Court rule?

We don't have a clue.

The Supreme Court decides all cases argued during a Term before the Court adjourns for the Summer in the last week of June. So we'll get a decision before the end of June.

We probably won't have to wait that long, because the Court has already been thinking about the case for three months. But you don't have to check the Court's website every morning to see if the decision has been posted, because the Supreme Court doesn't release opinions every day.

The Court typically releases opinions on "Tuesday and Wednesday mornings and on the third Monday of each sitting, when the Court takes the Bench but no arguments are heard." The exceptions to this rule are for (a) time-sensitive matters (such as election rulings); and (b) the end of the term, typically beginning in mid-June, when the Court releases opinions on additional days.

Wyeth v. Levine has no time urgency, so the Court may release its opinion on the following days this Term:

February 23 - 25 (argument days);

March 2 - 4 (argument days);

March 9 (designated Monday);

March 23 - 25 (argument days);

March 30 - April 1 (argument days);

April 6 (designated Monday);

April 20 - 22 (argument days);

April 27 - 29 (argument days);

May 4, 18, and 26 (designated Mondays and the Tuesday after Memorial Day); and

June 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29 (designated Mondays).

And, as noted above, the Court typically releases opinions on additional days beginning in mid-June.

Those are the mornings to watch.

Or you can just stay tuned here. We'll do our best to let you know as soon as we hear a peep from the Court.

Full post as published by Drug and Device Law on February 10, 2009 (boomark / email).