“A fight is brewing in the Kansas and Texas courts over whether to allow advocates and opponents of the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule to state their case.

“Insurer Market Synergy urged a Kansas judge Friday to throw out the “barrage” of amicus briefs filed by supporters of DOL’s rule on the basis that the briefs are “irrelevant” to Market Synergy’s request to preliminarily halt the rule’s implementation.

“Meanwhile, the federal judge overseeing the three lawsuits filed in Texas against DOL’s fiduciary rule denied on Monday a request by the plaintiffs in the case to establish a schedule regarding potential amicus filings.” 

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Better Markets’ response to the Market Synergy opposition, filed Tuesday, argues that Market Synergy “wants to keep the proposed brief away from this court because it does exactly what any good amicus brief should — it contributes new information and a unique perspective about the legal and factual disputes the court confronts.”

Dennis Kelleher, president and CEO of Better Markets, a group that supports Wall Street regulation, said the group’s response shows that “Market Synergy’s lawyers rhetoric is entirely incorrect on their analysis of the law and the spirit of amicus briefs.”