Mealey's (July 1, 2019, 1:37 PM EDT) -- BOSTON — In addressing a matter of first impression, a First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on June 26 ruled that the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) is a government instrumentality that is shielded from vicarious liability for the unauthorized acts of its agents pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Fed. Crop Ins. Co. v. Merrill, 332 U.S. 380 (1947), known as the Merrill doctrine (Ralph Faiella v. Federal National Mortgage Association, No. 18-1063, 1st Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 19083)....