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Public Policy
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July 09, 2024
CIT Finds Labor Issues Don't Justify Penalty Evasion Ruling
The U.S. Court of International Trade backed U.S. Customs and Border Protection's decision not to penalize an importer that allegedly threatened workers against speaking with officials investigating potential duty evasion, saying the purported misconduct hadn't hampered the probe.
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July 09, 2024
Veriwave Telco Faces FCC Action Over 'Tax Relief' Robocalls
The Federal Communications Commission is moving to block robocalls about purported "tax relief" programs from a Delaware-based telecommunications company, announcing in an order Monday that Veriwave Telco had another 14 days to demonstrate compliance with the agency's rules or risk having downstream providers cut its traffic.
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July 09, 2024
Ex-DOJ Atty Tells Guo Jury Of Illicit Extradition Campaign
Prominent Chinese Communist Party critic Miles Guo capped off his defense to $1 billion fraud charges Tuesday with testimony from a former U.S. Department of Justice attorney, who admitted to participating in a plot to lobby the U.S. government for Guo's extradition to China.
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July 09, 2024
Judge Calls Cost Of DOJ's Assa Abloy Market Study 'Insane'
A D.C. federal judge took the U.S. Department of Justice and its monitoring trustee to task Tuesday for their pursuit of an open-ended look at Assa Abloy's books to check for anticompetitive harms from a 2023 merger, excoriating budget estimates pricing the investigation at a minimum of $1.7 million.
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July 09, 2024
5th Circ. Indicates Skepticism In Brett Favre Defamation Case
The Fifth Circuit on Tuesday seemed skeptical that comments made by former NFL star Shannon Sharpe about Brett Favre's alleged involvement in a massive Mississippi welfare fraud scheme amounted to defamation, pressing Favre's attorney over why the retired NFL quarterback didn't sue over Sharpe's more emotionally charged statements.
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July 09, 2024
Maryland, SC Tell 4th Circ. PFAS Suits Belong In State Courts
Federal district courts properly determined that lawsuits Maryland and South Carolina filed against 3M over alleged contamination stemming from the manufacture, use and disposal of a wide range of consumer products containing so-called forever chemicals can proceed within their respective state courts, the two states told the Fourth Circuit.
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July 09, 2024
Alaska Senators Condemn District Judge After Resignation
Alaska's two Republican senators reprimanded the federal judge from their state who was found by a special committee to have created a hostile work environment and had an "inappropriately sexualized relationship" with one of his clerks, and has resigned.
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July 09, 2024
Ex-NLRB Atty Rejoins Ogletree After In-House Stint
After a busy month of expansion, management-side labor and employment firm Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC announced Monday that it is welcoming a shareholder back to the firm following his in-house stint with wholesale grocery distributor UNFI.
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July 09, 2024
Ex-NRA Finance Chief Agrees To 10-Year NY Nonprofit Ban
A former chief financial officer of the National Rifle Association has agreed not to serve as a fiduciary of a New York nonprofit for 10 years as part of a settlement in the state attorney general's suit in state court alleging he and other executives misused donor money, according to deal terms disclosed Tuesday.
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July 09, 2024
5th Circ. Skeptical Of Nixing ESG Rule Despite Chevron's End
A Fifth Circuit panel appeared unlikely Tuesday to knock out a Biden administration rule allowing retirement plan advisers to consider environmental, social and governance factors when choosing investments, although one judge seemed to support vacating a lower court's decision upholding the regulation in light of the Chevron doctrine's demise.
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July 09, 2024
'ComEd Four' To Renew Acquittal Bid After Bribery Ruling
An Illinois federal judge effectively pushed the next ruling in the criminal case against former Commonwealth Edison CEO Anne Pramaggiore and her three co-defendants to at least winter, as the defendants vowed to renew their acquittal bid in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling finding that federal bribery law doesn't criminalize rewards given after an official act.
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July 09, 2024
Fla. Agrees To Stronger CWA Protections For Piney Point Site
Conservation groups said they've reached an agreement with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to settle litigation over a phosphogypsum facility in Manatee County, with state regulators agreeing to a draft Clean Water Act permit for the site.
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July 09, 2024
Fed's Powell Backs Do-Over For Basel Bank Capital Plan
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told senators on Tuesday that he supports a reproposal of federal regulators' Basel III endgame overhaul to big-bank capital requirements, suggesting the package is being rethought significantly enough to merit a whole new draft before it can be finalized.
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July 09, 2024
Newman Loses Suit Against Fed. Circ. Over Suspension
A D.C. federal judge on Tuesday dismissed the lawsuit Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman filed against her colleagues over her suspension for refusing to undergo medical tests, saying she failed to prove the judicial conduct law at issue is unconstitutional.
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July 09, 2024
Ark. Group Gets 100K Signatures For Medical Pot Expansion
An Arkansas cannabis advocacy group has collected more than 100,000 signatures in favor of expanding the state's medical marijuana program, more than enough to get an initiative on the state's ballot this November, the state announced Friday.
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July 08, 2024
Resigning US Judge Had 'Sexualized Relationship' With Clerk
U.S. District Judge Joshua Kindred of the District of Alaska, who abruptly announced his resignation last week, had a "sexualized relationship" with his clerk, including sexual encounters with her shortly after she left her clerkship and joined the U.S. Attorney's Office, according to an order issued Monday by the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit.
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July 08, 2024
Giuliani's Creditors Call Ch. 7 Conversion Bid A 'Delay Game'
Rudy Giuliani's unsecured creditors in his Chapter 11 case on Monday slammed the former New York City mayor's bid in New York bankruptcy court to convert the proceedings to a liquidation, saying the move is just another part of his "delay game" to avoid discovery and "responsibility for his malfeasance."
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July 08, 2024
Migrants Want Another Try In Martha's Vineyard Flight Suit
Several migrants who claim they were tricked into boarding flights to Martha's Vineyard have asked a Massachusetts federal judge to let them file an amended suit in an effort to cure the jurisdictional issues that doomed the initial complaint in March.
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July 08, 2024
Maple Leaf Must Go The Way Of Chevron, Solar Cos. Say
Last month's U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning 40 years of judicial deference to federal agencies' read of statutes puts the Federal Circuit's own brand of executive branch acquiescence squarely on the chopping block, a solar industry group said Monday.
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July 08, 2024
Orgs Worry FCC Could Overreach On Network Security
The Federal Communications Commission should rein in its plans to impose new security rules regarding the crucial routing technology used by the internet, lest it prompt other countries to devise their own and start a domino effect, two internet security advocates have told the agency.
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July 08, 2024
Baseless Lawsuit Rule A 'Catch-22' For Texans, 5th Circ. Told
Those that are labeled vexatious litigants under a Texas statute meant to restrict baseless lawsuits are stuck in a "catch-22" if they seek to file legitimate litigation, a group of Texans told the Fifth Circuit on Monday.
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July 08, 2024
FDIC Downgrades Green-Focused Bank On CRA Exam
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has dinged Forbright Bank, a sustainability minded bank started by former Democratic presidential candidate John Delaney, over an allegedly "illegal credit practice" tied to a since-discontinued third-party partnership, lowering its latest community lending exam grade.
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July 08, 2024
Senate Confirms 7th Circ. Judge GOP Slammed For Backlog
The Senate voted 47-43 on Monday evening to confirm U.S. District Judge Nancy L. Maldonado to the Seventh Circuit.
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July 08, 2024
Federal Circuit Doubts Impropriety Of $4K H-1B Fraud Fee
A Federal Circuit panel seemed unpersuaded Monday by an argument from software companies that a $4,000 fraud fee for H-1B visa petitions does not apply to noncitizens in the U.S. seeking to change their nonimmigrant visa status to H-1B.
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July 08, 2024
Texas Anesthesia Co. Can't Pause Or Appeal Suit, FTC Says
The Federal Trade Commission urged a Texas federal court not to pause its suit accusing U.S. Anesthesia Partners Inc. of a monopolistic "roll-up" of Lone Star State anesthesia practices, arguing the company can't appeal an order refusing to toss the case against it.
Expert Analysis
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6 PTAB Events To Know From The Last 6 Months
The first half of 2024 brought a flurry of Patent Trial and Appeal Board developments that should be considered in post-grant strategies, including proposed rules on discretionary denial and director review, and the first decisions of the Delegated Rehearing Panel, say attorneys at Fish & Richardson.
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Key Takeaways From High Court's Substitute Expert Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Smith v. Arizona decision, holding that the confrontation clause generally bars prosecutors’ use of a substitute expert witness at trial, will have the most impact in narcotics and violent crime cases, but creative defense lawyers may find it useful in white collar cases, too, say Joshua Naftalis and Melissa Kelley at Pallas Partners.
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Opinion
Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem
The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.
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How Generative AI May Aid Merger Clearance Process
Generative artificial intelligence capable of analyzing and searching large datasets stands to revolutionize the merger clearance process, including by significantly reducing the time and effort required to respond to Hart-Scott-Rodino second requests, say Kenneth Koch and Brian Blush at BDO USA.
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Proposed Customer ID Rule Could Cost Investment Advisers
A rule recently proposed by FinCEN and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to make financial advisers collect more customer information parallels an anti-money laundering and counterterrorism rule proposed this spring, but firms may face new compliance costs when implementing these screening programs, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.
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What Passage Of House Crypto Bill Could Mean For Industry
While the prospects of the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, which recently passed the House in a bipartisan fashion, becoming law remain murky, the manner of its passage may give crypto markets a real cause for hope, say Neel Maitra and Dale Beggs at Dechert.
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A Case Study For Calif. Cities In Water Utility Takeovers
With growing water scarcity and drier weather looming, some local governments in California have sought to acquire investor-owned water utilities by eminent domain — but the 2016 case of Claremont v. Golden State Water is a reminder that such municipalization attempts must meet certain statutory requirements, say attorneys at Nossaman.
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Series
NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2
The second quarter of 2024 saw less enforcement activity in the realm of New York financial services, but brought substantial regulatory and legislative developments, including state regulators' guidance on cybersecurity compliance and customer service processes for virtual currency entities, say James Vivenzio and Andrew Lucas at Perkins Coie.
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4 Important Events In Bank Regulation: A Midyear Review
The first six months of 2024 have been fairly stable for the banking industry, though U.S. Supreme Court decisions and proposals from regulators have significantly affected the regulatory standards applicable to insured depository institutions, says Christina Grigorian at Katten.
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FTC Focus: Competition And The Right To Repair
If the Federal Trade Commission includes commercial and industrial products as part of copyright exemptions that allow consumers to modify or repair products, then businesses and affected rights holders will need to consider copyrights' impact on infringement issues, say attorneys at Proskauer.
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How Cannabis Rescheduling May Affect Current Operators
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's proposal to reschedule marijuana to Schedule III provides relief in the form of federal policy from the stigma and burdens of Schedule I, but commercial cannabis operations will remain unchanged until the federal-state cannabis policy gap is remedied by Congress, say Meital Manzuri and Alexis Lazzeri at Manzuri Law.
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Series
Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer
The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.
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Air Ambulance Ruling Severely Undermines No Surprises Act
A Texas federal court's recent decision in Guardian Flight v. Health Care Service — that the No Surprises Act lacks a judicial remedy when a health insurer refuses to pay the amount established through an independent review — likely throws a huge monkey wrench into the elaborate protections the NSA was enacted to provide, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.
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Justices' Removal Ruling Presents Hurdles, But Offers Clarity
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Campos-Chaves v. Garland and two other consolidated cases endorses a multistep notice practice that could impair noncitizens' access to adequate judicial notice, but its resolution of a longstanding circuit split also provides much-needed clarity, says Devin Connolly at Reeves Immigration Law Group.
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Tracking Implementation Of IRA Programs As Election Nears
As the Biden administration races to cement key regulations implementing the Inflation Reduction Act, a number of the law's programs and incentives are at risk of delay or repeal if Republicans retake control of Congress, the White House or both — so stakeholders should closely watch ongoing IRA implementation and guidance, say attorneys at Squire Patton.