Litigation Alert | Third Circuit Reaffirms Scope Of Federal Priority Rules

On December 4, 2017, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued its much-anticipated precedential opinion in Marathon Petroleum Corp. et al., v. Secretary of Finance et al., No. 16-4011. The opinion affirms the Third Circuit's existing view (described in its 2012 New Jersey Retailers Association decision) that US Supreme Court precedent permits a private cause of action to enforce the federal priority rules, overruling the federal district court's conclusion (in this case and Temple-Inland) that the priority rules only apply to disputes between states.

The plaintiffs in this case ultimately lost (i.e., Delaware's motion to dismiss was upheld) on ripeness grounds because the state had not yet taken formal steps to compel cooperation with the third-party auditor's document request (i.e., Delaware had not yet issued a subpoena, but had only threatened it). The Third Circuit also rejected to the plaintiff's argument that Delaware is barred from auditing