In one of the federal Department of Labor's final acts under the Obama administration, the agency filed a Notice of Appeal of a November ruling by a federal court in Texas that permanently enjoined the implementation of the agency's persuader rule.

 

The new persuader rule would have required certain disclosures to be made for "indirect persuader activity" conducted by attorneys and employer associations.  On review, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas found that the rule was "defective to its core" because it would irreparably harm the attorney-client relationship by destroying the confidentiality of communications between clients and lawyers, and because it likely violated the plain language of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act ("LMRDA"), which expressly protects "advice" from disclosure.  As such, the court concluded that it was proper to make permanent a temporary nationwide injunction that had been issued earlier last year to prevent the rule's implementation.

 

Indicating its disagreement with the court's decision, the Department of Labor filed an appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on January 12, 2017.  The appeal came after final judgment was issued in the case on December 12, 2016.