Analysis

What To Know About Biden's ACA Nondiscrimination Rule

By Kellie Mejdrich

Recently finalized regulations tackling what constitutes discrimination under the Affordable Care Act could have significant impacts on health plans that include greater liability for third-party plan administrators, attorneys say. Here are three things employers should know now that the final rule is on the books.

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5th Circ. Upholds SEC Proxy Rule On ESG Disclosures

By Jessica Corso

The Fifth Circuit on Friday threw out a legal challenge to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requirement that will make it easier for investors to identify ESG issues on corporate ballots, saying that suing states like Texas haven't proven that they'll be financially harmed by the measure.

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CFPB's Credit Card Late Fee Rule Halted By Texas Judge

By Jon Hill

A Texas federal judge on Friday stayed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's $8 credit card late fee standard, granting a preliminary injunction sought by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other industry groups that are challenging the legality of the agency rule.

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Gov't Watchdog Sees Title IX Enforcement Lagging

By Alex Lawson

More than five decades after the passage of Title IX, the U.S. Department of Education is falling down on the job of ensuring gender equity in college athletics, a government watchdog agency found this week, demanding more vigilance and transparency from the department.

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Fuzzy Jurisdiction In Web Cases Has 1st Circ. Judge 'Worried'

By Julie Manganis

A First Circuit judge has said uncertainty over how personal jurisdiction rules apply to cases involving the borderless internet may require action from Congress or the U.S. Supreme Court, expressing concern that website operators can "manipulate" the legal requirement in order to avoid accountability.

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Mich. Lawmakers Introduce Judicial Privacy Bill

By Emily Sawicki

A group of Michigan state senators has introduced a bill that would allow judges to seal personal information about themselves and their immediate family members in government agency files, including blocking the government from disclosing the information in response to public records requests, with some narrow exceptions.

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The Week In Trump: All Eyes On NY As Other Cases Lag

By Phillip Bantz

Donald Trump's Manhattan hush money trial took center stage with dramatic testimony from adult film actress Stormy Daniels, while the former president's criminal cases in Georgia and Florida ran into delays that could last through Election Day.

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DC Circ. Upholds Steve Bannon's Contempt Conviction

By Ali Sullivan

The D.C. Circuit on Friday upheld former Trump aide Steve Bannon's conviction for contempt of Congress, rejecting Bannon's argument that he did not "willfully" flout a subpoena from the Jan. 6 House select committee because his lawyer advised him not to respond to it.

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Eastman Withdraws From Colo. Suit Amid Disbarment Case

By Thy Vo

Former Donald Trump lawyer John C. Eastman withdrew as an attorney in a Colorado civil suit on Friday as the California Supreme Court is set to consider a recommendation for the attorney's disbarment.

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Cohen Urged To Stop Trashing Trump As Testimony Nears

By Rachel Scharf, Frank G. Runyeon and Stewart Bishop

The Manhattan judge overseeing Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial made clear Friday that he wants star witness Michael Cohen to stop talking publicly about the charges as the former president's erstwhile attorney prepares to take the stand as soon as Monday.

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Calif. May Allow Judges To Work Remotely In Civil Matters

By James Mills

California's Judicial Council next week will consider amending court rules to allow judges to preside remotely over civil proceedings from a location other than a courtroom.

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Conn. Quarry Wants $1.3M For Attys After $9.5M Trial Win

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut quarry that the town of East Haven was found to have shut down for political reasons should receive just under $1.3 million for its attorney fees after winning a constitutional challenge in federal court, the company said in a Friday filing.

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Ariz. GOP Wants A Say In VRA Dispute Headed For 9th Circ.

By Crystal Owens

The Arizona Republican Party wants to intervene in a Voting Rights Act dispute headed for the Ninth Circuit, arguing that it intends to defend the validity of the provisions of two state redistricting laws that a lower court found violated federal law.

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CFTC Floats Ban On Election Betting Contracts

By Jessica Corso

A divided U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved a proposed rule Friday that would ban trading on the outcome of elections, further solidifying its contested position that such activities constitute illegal "gaming" and threaten to thrust the agency into the role of an "election cop."

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EPA Tightens Copper-Smelting Toxic Emissions Standards

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing regulations it says will reduce toxic, cancer-causing emissions from copper-smelting facilities.

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Pa. Commission Had Right To Deny Grid Project, 3rd Circ. Told

By Madeline Lyskawa

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission called on the Third Circuit on Friday to reinstate its rejection of a transmission power project approved by regional grid operator PJM Interconnection, arguing a federal district court wrongly deemed the decision unconstitutional.

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Signal Peak Asks Court To Block DOI's Coal Mine 'Delay'

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

Signal Peak Energy is asking a D.C. federal court to force the U.S. Department of the Interior to speed up its "unlawfully lengthy" timeline for an environmental review needed for the planned expansion of a Montana coal mine.

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Now Hiring: Michigan AG Seeks Attys For Climate Change Suits

By Madeline Lyskawa

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is looking for attorneys and law firms to serve as assistant attorneys general to pursue litigation related to climate change on behalf of the state of Michigan.

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Okla. Tells Justices 10th Circ. Wrong On PBM Law

By Kellie Mejdrich

Oklahoma's insurance department Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up its petition seeking review of a Tenth Circuit decision overturning portions of a state law regulating pharmacy benefit managers, arguing that high court intervention is needed to resolve disagreement among the circuits on federal preemption.

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Pharma Cos., FDA Debate 'Same Drug' In Orphan Drug Case

By Ali Sullivan

Two pharmaceutical companies and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration faced off in D.C. federal court Friday over allegations that the federal agency wrongly approved a treatment that rivals Jazz Pharma's narcolepsy drug despite Jazz's exclusivity rights under the Orphan Drug Act.

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Epic Judge Raises Eyebrows About Apple's New 27% App Fee

By Bonnie Eslinger

The California federal judge overseeing Epic's antitrust case against Apple challenged the terms the tech giant is using to comply with her order to allow app developers to send users to outside payment platforms, saying Friday that Apple appears to be trying to maintain its past revenue with a new 27% fee.

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Congress Wants Microsoft Prez To Testify On Security Failures

By Henrik Nilsson

A congressional committee has asked Microsoft President Brad Smith to testify at a public hearing about the company's cybersecurity measures and response to recent successful attacks against government officials by Russian and Chinese hackers, according to a letter posted Friday on social media platform X.

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No 'Piecemeal' Fees For Infant Data Win Amid 6th Circ. Appeal

By Carolyn Muyskens

A federal judge said Friday that he wouldn't award attorney fees to children who challenged Michigan's handling of blood samples collected in an infant health screening program until the state's Sixth Circuit appeal is resolved.

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UPMC Inks $38M Deal To End Neurosurgery FCA Suit

By Ryan Harroff

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has agreed to pay $38 million to put an end to a False Claims Act suit brought by three medical workers from its neurological surgery department who said the medical center fraudulently billed federal healthcare programs.

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Trade Court Lets Solar Duties Suit Proceed Over Feds' Protest

By Jennifer Doherty

U.S. solar panel manufacturers' suit over a two-year pause on new duties for competitors from four Southeast Asian countries survived the government's push for dismissal this week, with the trade court affirming its authority over the case.

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Feds Finalize Tariffs Topping 744% On 8 Countries' Mattresses

By Alyssa Aquino

The U.S. Department of Commerce firmed up anti-dumping duties reaching more than 744% on mattresses that are being dumped in the U.S., marking its third wave of sky-high tariffs on mattresses from abroad.

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4th Circ. Judge Suspects 'Abuse' In Land Donor Tax Case

By Travis Bland

The Fourth Circuit appeared poised Friday to rule that a couple owes taxes and penalties after claiming an inflated $5.1 million valuation on donated land for deductions, with one judge positing he believed the couple had engaged in "abuse" of a conservation donation.

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Newsom Says No Tax Increases Planned In Calif. Budget

By Jaqueline McCool

California would not increase taxes or impose new taxes under a revised budget plan presented Friday by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.

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Cos. Sufficiently Alleged DOL Retaliation Over Atty, Judge Says

By Rae Ann Varona

The U.S. Department of Labor failed Friday to trim a lawsuit challenging three companies' five-year ban from the H-2B program after a Texas federal judge ruled that the companies sufficiently alleged that the department retaliated against them because of their attorney choice.

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Immigration Court Backlog Swells To Nearly 3.6M Cases

By Henrik Nilsson

The number of pending deportation cases in courts across the country has swelled to almost 3.6 million as of the end of April, almost 1.3 million of which are asylum cases, while many immigrants continue to get deported without legal representation, according to a report issued by Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse on Wednesday.

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Analysis

New Evidence, Old Politics To Collide In 2nd Menendez Trial

By Carla Baranauckas

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez and the government will face off Monday for the second time before a jury tasked with weighing bribery charges, a courtroom showdown that promises higher stakes — think flashier evidence and a more dramatic defense — than the corruption case the New Jersey Democrat escaped seven years ago.

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Ill. Residents Ask Court To Void Alaskan Tribal Co. Loans

By Joyce Hanson

Six borrowers accusing an Alaska-based tribal lending company of making usurious loans at annual rates of as much as 700% or more have filed suit in Illinois federal court, saying it violated racketeering laws and must void the already existing debt.

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Oil Giants Say Tribal Climate Change Row Must Stay Federal

By Crystal Owens

Several giant oil companies are fighting a bid by two Native American tribes to remand their consolidated case to state court, telling a Washington federal district court that the claims brought by tribes have always been governed by federal law.

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Sens. Lament Broadband Subsidy's Absence From FAA Bill

By Courtney Bublé

Senators from both parties are upset that the Federal Aviation Authorization bill, which the Senate passed 88-4 on Thursday night, did not include provisions to bolster the pandemic-era broadband assistance program.

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NY Gov. Orders Shakeup Of Cannabis Regulatory Agency

By Sam Reisman

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday announced an overhaul of the state's embattled cannabis regulatory agency, unveiling an investigative audit that showed how "inexperienced" leaders "wasted valuable time and resources," and then declaring $5 million in one-time grants would be awarded to a select group of applicants who took a financial hit by the licensing delays.

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NJ State Police Settle Suit Over Expungements Backlog

By Carla Baranauckas

The New Jersey State Police agreed to speed up the processing of expungements to resolve the Office of the Public Defender's proposed class claims over a backlog of judicial orders that numbered 46,000 as of October, Attorney General Matt Platkin said Friday. 

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How FTC's Noncompete Rule May Affect Exec Comp Packages

In the event the Federal Trade Commission's final noncompete rule goes into effect as currently contemplated, companies will need to take stock of how they structure post-employment executive compensation arrangements, such as severance agreements and clawbacks, says Meredith O'Leary at King & Spalding.

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Regulating Resurrected Species Under The ESA

As the prospect of extinct species being resurrected from DNA and reintroduced into the wild grows closer, an analysis of the Endangered Species Act suggests that it could provide a thoughtful, flexible governance framework for such scenarios, say Caroline Meadows and Shelby Bobosky at the SMU Dedman School of Law.

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What CRA Deadline Means For Biden Admin. Rulemaking

With the 2024 election rapidly approaching, the Biden administration must race to finalize proposed agency actions within the next few weeks, or be exposed to the chance that the following Congress will overturn the rules under the Congressional Review Act, say attorneys at Covington.

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A Look At FERC's Plan To End Reactive Power Compensation

A recent notice of proposed rulemaking indicates that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is likely to eliminate compensation for reactive power within the standard power factor range — causing significant impacts for the electric power industry, which relies on income from providing this service, say Norman Bay and Matthew Goldberg at Willkie and Vivian Chum at Wright & Talisman.

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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

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CFPB Reality Check: Video Game Cash Is Still Money

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent report examining payments within online video games indicates that financial services offered within the game marketplace are quickly evolving to the point where they are indistinguishable from traditional financial services subject to regulation, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

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Action Steps To Address New Restrictions On Outbound Data

Companies should immediately assess all their data-based operations so they can consider strategies to effectively mitigate new compliance risks brought on by recently implemented transaction restrictions, including a Justice Department proposal and landmark data legislation, say attorneys at Wiley.

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Suspect Wanted In Murder Of Lewis Brisbois Atty Arrested

By Andrea Keckley

The suspect named in the murder of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP attorney Jeffrey Limmer turned himself in on Friday, the Houston Police Department announced Monday.

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Cohen Says Trump Ordered Him To Bury News Of Affairs

By Frank Runyeon and Stewart Bishop

Donald Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen took the witness stand Monday in the ex-president's New York criminal case, testifying that his longtime "boss" directed him to make hush money payments to alleged paramours and knew the details of the deals.

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NJ Firm's Former Exec Says Home Purchase Not Tied To Theft

By Emily Sawicki

A previous McElroy Deutsch executive is fighting a claim on her house after her husband, another former firm leader, copped to stealing $1.5 million, arguing his theft began after January 2017 and therefore the firm could not show funds were used to purchase their New Jersey home in 2016.

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'Prolific' Asbestos Injury Firm Accused Of Fraud, Racketeering

By Jack Karp

A "prolific" Illinois-based asbestos litigation law firm allegedly engaged in a yearslong scheme involving perjured testimony, suppressed evidence and baseless claims to extract as much money from as many companies as possible, according to one of the companies repeatedly targeted by the firm.

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