3rd Circuit - Labor - First Amendment - Project Labor Agreement -Standing - Mootness Philadelphia, like many large urban communities, adopts various requirements as part of its procurement process. One of those requirements became the subject of this lawsuit. The city put out to bid several projects and as part of its bidding template incorporated a requirement that award winners enter into a Project Labor Agreement that set several diversity standards and required affiliation with a local trade union. Several contractors sued claiming interest in the contracts and alleging that the PLA's violated their First Amendment rights. Shortly after suit was filed, the city abandoned the PLA requirements of affiliation with the local trade union. The contractors' employees were members of the United Steelworkers Union which was not affiliated with the local trade union and would not agree to the diversity requirements imposed by the city. The lower court found that the contractors did not have standing and concluded that in any event the claims were mooted by the city's decision to rescind the PLA's. The panel concluded that standing existed as to both the claims for First Amendment violation associated with the trade union mandate and an Equal Protection claim associated with the diversity requirements. The court concluded that the Plaintiffs showed injury in fact and met the other standing requirements and concluded that the suit was not moot. Road-Con vs. Philadelphia, 231782p.pdf<https://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/231782p.pdf> Consider registering for IMLA's annual conference in New Orleans and our Spring Seminar in DC now at the most attractive rates that will be available. We also have a number of excellent CLE programs available by webinar and I encourage you to follow this link to our website to learn more about IMLA and our programming. www.imla.org<http://www.imla.org> Charles W. Thompson, Jr. Of Counsel P: (202) 466-5424 x7110 M: (240) 876-6790 D: (202) 742-1016 [facebook icon]<https://www.facebook.com/InternationalMunicipalLawyersAssociation/>[twitter icon]<https://twitter.com/imlalegal>[linkedin icon]<https://www.linkedin.com/company/international-municipal-lawyers-association-inc./> [logo]<https://imla.org/> 51 Monroe St. Suite 404 Rockville, MD, 20850 www.imla.org<http://www.imla.org/>