Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca9-13-17131/USCOURTS-ca9-13-17131-2/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 895
Nature of Suit: Freedom of Information Act of 1974
Cause of Action: 

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FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

U.S. FOOD & DRUG

ADMINISTRATION,

Defendant-Appellee.

No. 13-17131

D.C. No.

3:12-cv-04376-EDL

OPINION

On Remand from the En Banc Court

Filed September 30, 2016

Before: Susan P. Graber, Kim McLane Wardlaw,

and Mary H. Murguia, Circuit Judges.

Per Curiam Opinion

 Case: 13-17131, 09/30/2016, ID: 10143401, DktEntry: 76-1, Page 1 of 3
2 ALDF V. USFDA

SUMMARY*

Freedom of Information Act

On remand from the en banc court, the panel reviewed de

novo the district court’s summary judgment in a Freedom of

Information Act case, concluded that there was a genuine

issue of material fact, and reversed and remanded to the

district court for further proceedings.

COUNSEL

Monte M.F. Cooper, Derek F. Knerr, and Scott Lindlaw,

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, Menlo Park, California,

for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Lindsey Powell and Michael S. Raab, Attorneys, Appellate

Staff, Civil Division, Department of Justice, Washington,

D.C.; for Defendant-Appellee.

Caitlin Zittkowski and Cristina R. Stella, San Francisco,

California, as and for Amicus Curiae Center for Food Safety.

* This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It has

been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader.

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ALDF V. USFDA 3

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

In Animal Legal Defense Fund v. FDA, No. 13-17131,

2016 WL 4578362 (9th Cir. Sept. 2, 2016) (en banc) (per

curiam), the en banc court overruled our earlier precedents on

the applicable standard of review in Freedom of Information

Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552, cases decided on summary

judgment. The court held that the usual summary judgment

standard applies, so we must review the district court’s

decision de novo. Accordingly, on summary judgment, “if

there are genuine issues of material fact in a FOIA case, the

district court should proceed to a bench trial or adversary

hearing.” Animal Legal Def. Fund, 2016 WL 4578362, at *2.

As we noted in our earlier opinion, Animal Legal Defense

Fund v. FDA, 819 F.3d 1102, 1108–09 (9th Cir. 2016), the

parties submitted competing declarations concerning the

potential competitive effect of releasing egg-production

information. In a per curiam concurrence, we also observed

that, “if ordinary principles applied, summary judgment

would not be appropriate because the record contains a

disputed issue of material fact.” Id. at 1112. Following the

en banc court’s decision, those ordinary principles now

control this case. Applying the usual summary judgment

standard, we conclude that there is a genuine issue of material

fact in this case and, therefore, we must reverse and remand

to the district court for further proceedings.

REVERSED and REMANDED.

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