The NFIB Small Business Legal Center is celebrating 25 years fighting for small businesses by highlighting several significant victories during the 2024-25 U.S. Supreme Court term. NFIB’s Legal Center also filed its first amicus brief of the 2025-26 U.S. Supreme Court Term in the case Enbridge Energy, LP, et al. v. Dana Nessel, Attorney General of Michigan.

• Enbridge v. Nessel: 

NFIB’s first amicus brief of the 2025-26 Supreme Court term deals with procedural time limits of 30 days placed on defendants to remove a case when federal jurisdiction exists. The brief argues that there are circumstances where the normal deadline for removal must be extended, and Congress has provided small business defendants with that right.

NFIB also argues that there should be exceptions to remove the time limit in cases where the plaintiff uses procedural gamesmanship and lawsuit manipulation to avoid federal jurisdiction. This will allocate time for important federal questions to be considered in a federal court.

Overall, the Legal Center participated in seven cases, representing over 10% of the Supreme Court’s merits caseload. Here are the highlights from NFIB’s amicus work in the 2024-25 Supreme Court Term:

• City & County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): 

This win for small businesses focused on the EPA imposing prohibitions on pollutant discharge permits that focused on the end-result water instead of specific discharges by a regulated entity. NFIB filed a brief stating that the Clean Water Act did not authorize generic end-result water permitting conditions, which the Supreme Court agreed with.

• E.M.D. Sales, Inc. v. Carrera: 

This case involved minimum wage and overtime provisions from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which includes certain exemptions from overtime pay requirements. NFIB’s brief argued that the proper showing of an employee’s exemption is the legal standard of proof. The Supreme Court agreed unanimously.

• Diamond Alternative Energy v. EPA: 

This case covered companies who were directly affected by regulations instituted by administrative agencies and the ability of those companies to challenge the regulations in court. NFIB’s brief argued companies should have the right to challenge regulations, and the Supreme Court agreed.

The NFIB Small Business Legal Center celebrates 25 years fighting for the rights of small businesses and will continue working to eliminate harmful regulations that hinder the nation’s small business growth. NFIB is involved in more than 40 cases across federal and state courts nationwide, including the Supreme Court. Reach out to the NFIB Small Business Legal Center at info@nfib.org with any questions.