Attorney General Paxton today commended the U.S. Department of Labor after it rescinded the Obama-era Persuader Rule, which violated the federal Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act.
In November 2016, Attorney General Paxton won a permanent nationwide injunction against the Persuader Rule, when a federal judge ruled that it was unlawful and would have required attorneys to make public confidential information protected by attorney-client privilege. A month later, Texas and a coalition of 10 states won a final judgment in the case. Last August, Attorney General Paxton led a 17-state coalition asking the Labor Department to rescind the rule.
“The Persuader Rule is among the Obama administration’s most outrageous and unlawful attempts at federal overreach,” Attorney General Paxton said. “The rule would have made it more difficult and expensive for small business owners to obtain legal advice, interfering with attorney-client privilege, which is one of our most basic rights. It’s gratifying to know that the Texas-led coalition of states prevailed in its fight to do away with the onerous rule for good.”
The Obama administration’s reinterpretation of the Persuader Rule upended five decades of established federal labor policy and would have made it more difficult and expensive for small businesses to obtain legal advice. Attorney General Paxton’s lawsuit kept the Department of Labor from ever enforcing the rule.