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Public Policy
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December 09, 2024
NC Hemp Store Owners Say Raids Targeted Their Race
North Carolina sheriff's deputies allegedly "ransacked" and robbed two hemp stores and harassed their Middle Eastern owners in an effort to run them out of their community despite the businesses being legal, according to a new complaint filed in federal court.
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December 09, 2024
Asylum Limits Suit May Remain On Ice Past Inauguration
The Biden administration and attorneys for a group of asylum-seekers challenging a rule restricting asylum on the southern border told a D.C. federal judge that settlement talks are ongoing but may not conclude before President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month.
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December 09, 2024
NYC Council Sues Mayor For Not Enforcing Jail Abuse Ban
The New York City Council sued Mayor Eric Adams on Monday for failing to end the use of solitary confinement in city jails after the lawmaking body passed a bill banning the practice earlier this year, arguing that his "emergency" order violated the separation of powers.
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December 09, 2024
Skipping Diversity Suits Lets Error 'Metastasize,' Alito Says
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review Boston's allegedly discriminatory COVID-19 pandemic-era admissions policy for three elite public schools, turning away the second case to challenge the use of race-neutral diversity initiatives in a decision Justice Samuel Alito claims ignores a "glaring constitutional error" and undermines the court's affirmative action decision.
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December 08, 2024
Trump Names His Personal Atty As Counselor
The New Jersey-based litigator who represented Donald Trump in suits that saddled him with multimillion-dollar civil judgments will serve as his counselor when he returns to the White House, the president-elect said Sunday in announcing a new round of picks for his upcoming administration.
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December 07, 2024
Up Next: Environmental Reviews, Wire Fraud & TM Awards
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear its final set of oral arguments for the 2024 calendar year starting Monday, including disputes over the proper scope of federal environmental reviews and whether corporate affiliates can be ordered to pay disgorgement awards in trademark infringement disputes.
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December 06, 2024
USDA Orders Raw Milk Be Tested For Bird Flu
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday issued a federal order requiring raw milk across the country to be tested as part of an effort to control and stop the spread of bird flu.
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December 06, 2024
CFPB Loses Bid To Unfreeze Credit Card Late Fee Rule
A Texas federal judge Friday refused to lift a preliminary injunction blocking the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's $8 credit card late fee rule from taking effect, ruling that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other trade groups are likely to succeed in their challenge to the rule.
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December 06, 2024
DC Circ. Ruling Far From Last Word On Looming TikTok Ban
The D.C. Circuit's decision Friday paving the way for a U.S. ban on TikTok to take effect next month sparked immediate concerns about the loss of a social platform that millions rely on to freely express themselves, but a likely appeal and upcoming administration change could end up flipping the script.
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December 06, 2024
Ga. Man Freed After 26 Years Sues Over Bogus Murder Charge
A Georgia man who spent more than a quarter-century in prison for murder before his name was cleared with the help of two true crime podcasters has sued the county and cops behind his arrest and prosecution alleging he was framed for the accidental death of a friend during a game of Russian roulette.
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December 06, 2024
Billionaires Show New Interest In Texas' Intermediate Courts
Billionaire-backed funding in Texas helped push a wave of Republican judges who swept races for intermediate appellate courts across the state, representing a new level of corporate spending in judicial races often marked by underfunded campaigns and low voter awareness.
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December 06, 2024
Wash. City Says Tribe's ER Shelter Sidesteps Safety Concerns
The city of Toppenish has told a Washington federal judge that the Yakama Nation has no right to use a local property within reservation boundaries to operate a 24-hour emergency cold weather shelter, arguing that building health and safety issues can't be sidestepped.
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December 06, 2024
Neb. Tribe Asks US High Court To Undo Tobacco Sales Ruling
A Nebraska tribe's tobacco companies are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn an Eighth Circuit ruling that held the state can regulate a tribally owned manufacturer's sales of cigarettes to Indigenous-owned distributors, arguing that Native American nations' ability to conduct their own affairs within their own borders is at stake.
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December 06, 2024
US Ukrainian Group Wants FCC SpaceX Approvals Halted
The FCC needs to put any decisions related to SpaceX on ice until an ethics committee can decide how to handle them now that the company's billionaire owner Elon Musk has been tapped for an oversight role in the upcoming Trump administration, the agency has been told.
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December 06, 2024
How Paul Atkins' Last SEC Term Might Shape Agency's Future
President-elect Donald Trump's choice to lead the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission next year is no stranger to the agency, and Paul Atkins' past speeches, statements and actions as a commissioner may offer a road map for how he would lead the agency in areas such as private funds, shareholder activism and multibillion-dollar enforcement sweeps.
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December 06, 2024
High Court To Weigh $47M TM Award Liability For Non-Parties
A trademark case before the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday will delve into whether corporate affiliates of a real estate development company should be liable for an infringement judgment of nearly $47 million, even though they were not named defendants in the litigation.
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December 06, 2024
GEO Tells 9th Circ. Recent Ruling Backs It In Wage Fight
Private prison contractor The GEO Group Inc. told the Ninth Circuit on Friday that a recent ruling in the same court underscores its assertion that only the federal government can say whether a minimum wage must be paid to detained immigrants participating in a voluntary work program in Tacoma, Washington.
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December 06, 2024
Mich. Pot Cos. Get A Shot At Undoing Rivals' Licenses
Two Detroit-area companies that largely lost their bids challenging a municipality's award of marijuana retail licenses to competing enterprises will get an opportunity to invalidate those permits in court, a Michigan state appeals court has ruled, finding the city violated the state's open meetings law.
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December 06, 2024
5th Circ. Judge Notes Inconsistencies In Medicare Rate Policy
A Fifth Circuit judge called out inconsistencies in a new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services policy, asking the government to explain apparent discrepancies that four Texas anesthesia practices say will cost them $4 million in reduced reimbursements.
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December 06, 2024
DC Circ. Mulls If EPA Can Set Rules Based On Predicted Tech
At least one member of the D.C. Circuit did not seem to be picking up what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was putting down in defense of a rule that would give coal-fired power plants until 2032 to meet certain emissions standards that critics claim are impossible.
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December 06, 2024
Calif. Judge Revives H-1B Application For Biz With Pot Ties
A California federal judge has revived a software company's application for a foreign employee's H-1B visa amendment, ruling the government was not justified in denying the application because of the company's clientele in the cannabis industry.
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December 06, 2024
Justices To Decide If Terror Victim Law Violates Due Process
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether a 2019 law gives courts jurisdiction over the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization or conflicts with the Fifth Amendment's due process clause.
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December 06, 2024
Neb. Judge Nixes Bid To Revisit Challenge To Medical Pot
A Nebraska state judge has refused to reopen the secretary of state's challenge to medical marijuana legalization ballot initiatives, calling the motions largely "futile" in her order — teeing up a potential appeal before the state's highest court.
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December 06, 2024
FTC Dems Tout Impact of Handbag Merger Win
The Federal Trade Commission's leader said a recent court ruling that led the owners of Coach and Michael Kors to abandon their planned $8.5 billion tie-up should make it easier to prove mergers hurt competition without needing to rely on expensive economic experts.
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December 06, 2024
Wash. Justices OK Pilot To Relax Regs For Non-Lawyers
Washington's high court has approved a pilot program that will allow the Evergreen State to loosen rules on who can practice law, with the aim of empowering businesses and organizations not run by lawyers to innovate on providing legal services, and perhaps make them more affordable.
Expert Analysis
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan
Characters in the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan break the rules of good lawyering by shamelessly throwing responsible critical thought to the wind, providing hilarious lessons for lawyers and judges on how to avoid a surfeit of traps and tribulations, say acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits and law student Tara Scown.
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California's AI Safety Bill Veto: The Path Forward
California Gov. Gavin Newsom's veto of a bill that sought to impose stringent regulations on advanced artificial intelligence model development has sparked a renewed debate on how best to balance innovation with safety in the rapidly evolving AI landscape, say Bobby Malhotra and Carson Swope at Winston & Strawn.
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Staying Off The CFPB's Financial Services Offender Registry
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's soon-to-launch registry of financial services companies that have faced public enforcement orders is designed to ratchet up long-term scrutiny of entities that could become repeat offenders, so companies should take their new compliance and filing requirements seriously, say Andrea Mitchell and Chris Napier at Mitchell Sandler.
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New TCPA Rule Faces Uncertain Future Post-Loper Bright
The Federal Communications Commission's new rule aiming to eliminate lead generators' use of unlawful robocalls is now in doubt with the U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision, and the Eleventh Circuit's Insurance Marketing Coalition v. FCC is poised to be a test case of the agency's ability to enforce the Telephone Consumer Protection Act post-Chevron, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.
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A Look At Calif.'s New AI Law For Health Insurers
A newly enacted California law prohibits artificial intelligence tools from making medical necessity determinations for healthcare service plans or disability insurers, addressing core questions that have arisen around AI's role in coverage decisions, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
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New HHS Research Misconduct Rules Bring Seismic Changes
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' new rule regarding research misconduct investigations brings significant changes that focus on remediation, appeals and confidentiality, while other changes could result in institutions causing undue harm to scientists accused of such misconduct, say attorneys at Cohen Seglias.
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To Report Or Not To Report Others' Export Control Violations
A recent Bureau of Industry and Security enforcement policy change grants cooperation credit to those that report violations of the Export Administration Regulations committed by others, but the benefits of doing so must be weighed against significant drawbacks, including the costs of preparing and submitting a report, says Megan Lew at Cravath.
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Earned Wage Access Laws Form A Prickly Policy Patchwork
Conflicting earned wage access laws across the country, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recently issued rule, mean providers must adopt a proactive compliance approach and adjust business models where needed, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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What FDIC Expansion Of Change In Bank Control Could Mean
A recent Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. proposal pertaining to the Change in Bank Control Act has the potential to create uncertainty around investments by mutual fund complexes in banking organizations, which represent a stable source of capital for the banking industry, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.
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HSR Amendments Intensify Merger Filing Burdens, Data Risk
The antitrust agencies' long-awaited changes to premerger notification rules under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act stand to significantly increase the time and cost involved in preparing an initial HSR notification, and will require more proactive attention to data issues, says Andrew Szwez at FTI Technology.
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Deadline Extension Highlights PFAS Reporting Complexities
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent extension of reporting and recordkeeping timelines for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances under the Toxic Substances Control Act offers relief to the regulated community, but the unprecedented volume of data required means that businesses must remain diligent in their data collection efforts, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
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Can SEC's Consolidated Audit Trail Survive Post-Chevron?
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is currently in a showdown at the Eleventh Circuit over its authority to maintain a national market system and require that the industry spend billions to maintain its consolidated audit trail, a case that is further complicated by the Loper Bright decision, says Daniel Hawke at Arnold & Porter.
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What's Inside Feds' Latest Bank Merger Review Proposals
Recent bank merger proposals from a trio of federal agencies highlight the need for banks looking to grow through acquisition to consider several key issues much earlier in the planning process than has historically been necessary, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape
Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.
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Cos. Should Focus On State AI Laws Despite New DOL Site
Because a new U.S. Department of Labor-sponsored website about the disability discrimination risks of AI hiring tools mostly echoes old guidance, employers should focus on complying with the state and local AI workplace laws springing up where Congress and federal regulators have yet to act, say attorneys at Littler.