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The Eight Circuit Court of Appeals won the lottery that was used to determine the court that will hear the challenges to the SEC’s climate disclosure rules. As this Bloomberg Law article notes, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation selected the Eighth Circuit based on its lottery system, and the challenges that have been filed in six different circuits will all be consolidated in the Eighth Circuit. The Eight Circuit covers Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. The Eighth Circuit was likely not one of the venues that the SEC was hoping for when the lottery was conducted. The Bloomberg Law article notes:

Litigation over whether the SEC can require public companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and other climate-related information to investors will be consolidated and reviewed by the conservative-leaning Eighth Circuit, as the result of a lottery drawing Thursday.

The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation lottery selected the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit as the venue for hearing a case consolidating nine lawsuits against the March 6 Securities and Exchange Commission regulations filed in six different circuits, according to an order. Of the St. Louis-based court’s 17 judges, only one was appointed by a Democratic president.

Among the matters for the Eighth Circuit to consider will be whether the stay on the SEC’s rules that was ordered by the Fifth Circuit should remain in place going forward. If you want to get in on some lottery action yourself, consider the buying a ticket for Saturday’s Powerball drawing, where the jackpot has soared to an estimated $750 million!

For more details on developments with the SEC’s climate disclosure requirements, be sure to check out our coverage on PracticalESG.com. If you’re not yet a member of PracticalESG.com, subscribe online, email sales@ccrcorp.com or call 800.737.1271.

– Dave Lynn