Public Policy

  • June 14, 2024

    Court Says NYC Can Intervene In Cannabis TM Fight

    New York City is looking to kill a Manhattan entrepreneur's trademark lawsuit over a cannabis themed cruise he claims stole his logos when advertised on Facebook, with the municipality arguing the businessman has been previously ordered to stop using its "NYC" logo.

  • June 14, 2024

    Split DC Circ. Rejects NY's Electricity Rate Challenge

    A split D.C. Circuit panel rejected Friday a New York utility regulator's attempt to unravel the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's approval of the state grid operator's wholesale electricity rates, leaving in place an estimated 17-year lifespan for new fossil-fueled power plants.

  • June 14, 2024

    Colo. Says Pollution Law Leaves Details Up In The Air

    Colorado's Air Quality Control Commission said state lawmakers gave it a long leash to implement a 2021 law requiring more stringent air pollution monitoring in disproportionately impacted communities, urging a state judge to reject environmental groups' challenge to a permitting rule. 

  • June 14, 2024

    FAA Probes Fake Titanium Docs From Boeing Supplier

    The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday that it's investigating whether certain Boeing Co. jets were manufactured with titanium components that may have been sold to the plane maker with falsified authenticity documents.

  • June 14, 2024

    Industry Groups End 2nd Circ. Case Over NY Broadband Law

    Six trade groups said Friday they will end a Second Circuit challenge to a New York law that requires internet service providers to offer low-cost broadband service plans.

  • June 14, 2024

    Ga. Woman Wants 'Illegal' Online Gambling Suit In State Court

    A Georgia woman wants her suit accusing an online operator of hosting illegal gambling on sites disguised as game arcades sent back to state court, arguing she cannot verify without discovery whether the case meets the $5 million, 100-member class threshold required for federal cases.

  • June 14, 2024

    T-Mobile Sues NJ Town Over Plan For School Cell Tower

    T-Mobile has been paying on a lease for a proposed cell tower site for nearly 14 years, but it cannot build the tower because the New Jersey town the land sits in won't approve the necessary applications, the mobile behemoth says in a new lawsuit.

  • June 14, 2024

    'Bless Your Heart': The Art Of Taming A Chatty Witness

    When a former U.S. Department of Agriculture official took the stand as a prosecution witness in the federal corruption trial of Sen. Robert Menendez, he took great pains to be clear and complete in his answers — so much so that prosecutors, defense attorneys and the judge repeatedly asked him to talk less.

  • June 14, 2024

    9th Circ. Balks At Gas Buyers' Price-Fix Fight Over Trump Pact

    A Ninth Circuit panel appeared skeptical Friday of efforts to revive a proposed antitrust class action alleging that Chevron, Exxon Mobil and others fixed gasoline prices following the Trump administration's 2020 oil production deal with Russia and Saudi Arabia, with each judge doubting that federal courts have jurisdiction over the dispute.

  • June 14, 2024

    Colo. Town Says It Took Resort Co.'s Land To Protect Sheep

    A Colorado town has told a state appeals court it was justified in condemning and taking over local land that was owned by The Vail Corp. because the town needed to preserve wildlife space for a bighorn sheep herd.

  • June 14, 2024

    Okla. Says Immigration Law In Harmony With Federal Rule

    Oklahoma is defending its new law enacting state penalties against undocumented immigrants from a challenge by the Biden administration, telling a federal court that the policy doesn't conflict with the federal immigration scheme.

  • June 14, 2024

    Red States Look To Block ACA Trans Discrimination Rule

    A group of 15 conservative states urged a Mississippi federal court to halt recently finalized regulations clarifying gender identity-based discrimination under the Affordable Care Act from taking effect, saying the new rule strips the states of their right to oversee medical ethics.

  • June 14, 2024

    Novant Urges 4th Circ. To Reject FTC's 'Emergency' Bid

    Novant Health told the Fourth Circuit there is no need to block its planned North Carolina hospital purchase while the Federal Trade Commission pushes a merger challenge, saying the deal will increase competition by preventing the hospitals from closing.

  • June 14, 2024

    DOJ Can't Force Retroactive FARA Registration, DC Circ. Says

    The U.S. Department of Justice can't force casino magnate Steve Wynn to retroactively register as a foreign agent because his alleged lobbying efforts on behalf of China ended years ago, a D.C. Circuit panel ruled Friday.

  • June 14, 2024

    Off The Bench: Ex-Players Claim NIL, Loss For Trans Swimmer

    In this week's Off The Bench, the 1983 men's college basketball champions want a piece of the loot the NCAA made off of their names, swimmer Lia Thomas loses in her bid to overturn an international trans athlete ban, and the House gets a bill through committee that would keep college athletes from becoming employees.

  • June 14, 2024

    DC Circ. Backs FERC Climate Reviews In Pipeline Project Row

    The D.C. Circuit on Friday appeared to endorse the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's current method of evaluating the climate change impacts of gas infrastructure projects in approval in rejecting an environmental group's challenge of the agency's pipeline upgrade project serving the New York City area.

  • June 14, 2024

    Study Bulk ISP Billing, But Don't Pass Rules Yet, FCC Urged

    A cable industry group is trying to dissuade the Federal Communications Commission from crafting new rules to clamp down on bulk billing practices for broadband services in apartment buildings.

  • June 14, 2024

    Pa. Court Allows 'Special Prosecutor' For Philly Transit

    Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner cannot stop the Pennsylvania Legislature and the state attorney general from appointing a "special prosecutor" to handle crimes within the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, according to a split state appellate court Friday.

  • June 14, 2024

    DOJ Declines To Prosecute AG Garland For Contempt

    The U.S. Department of Justice is declining to prosecute Attorney General Merrick Garland after the House voted earlier this week to hold him in contempt for not turning over audio recordings of the president and his ghostwriter speaking with special counsel Robert Hur for his investigation into President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents.

  • June 14, 2024

    Political Speech Groups Challenge NJ Judicial Privacy Case

    Two voting-integrity groups moved Friday to dismiss federal claims brought against them under New Jersey's Daniel's Law on the grounds that their business of publishing voter registration information is political speech protected by the First Amendment and federal voting rights laws.

  • June 14, 2024

    Voting Groups Seek $124K In Fees In Recently Tossed Ga. Suit

    A coalition of voting rights groups that challenged the legality of how Georgia adds newly naturalized citizens to its voter rolls asked a federal judge to award them more than $124,000 in attorney fees and costs after the case was dismissed midtrial.

  • June 14, 2024

    4th Circ. Urged To Toss Cannabis Dormant Commerce Suit

    Maryland cannabis regulators have told the Fourth Circuit that a lower district court judge was right to deny a California entrepreneur's bid to halt all social equity licensure and that the state's policies do not discriminate against out-of-state players.

  • June 14, 2024

    Enviros Fight FERC OK Of Pipeline Feeding Mexico LNG Plant

    The Sierra Club and Public Citizen called on the D.C. Circuit to review the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's approval of a methane gas pipeline to run between West Texas and Mexico, asserting the agency failed to conduct a thorough analysis of the pipeline's 157 U.S.-based miles.

  • June 14, 2024

    Red State Challenge To EEOC Pregnant Worker Rule Falls Flat

    An Arkansas federal judge on Friday rejected a bid from a group of Republican state attorneys' general to freeze the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's rule implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ahead of its June 18 effective date, refusing to issue an injunction and ruling they lacked standing to invalidate the regulations. 

  • June 14, 2024

    Senate Passes Bill For State, Local Judge Security

    The U.S. Senate has passed a bill unanimously to better protect state and local judges from threats amid "unacceptable attacks" on the judiciary.

Expert Analysis

  • Key Priorities In FDIC Report On Resolving Big Bank Failures

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    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s report last month on the resolvability of large financial institutions contains little new information, but it does reiterate key policy priorities, including the agency's desire to enhance loss-absorbing capacity through long-term debt requirements and preference for single-point-of-entry resolution strategies, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • Best Practices For Space Security In Our Connected World

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    NASA's recently published space security guide is another indication that cyber-resilience has become a global theme for the space and satellite sector, as well as a useful reference for companies and organizations reviewing their cybersecurity frameworks or looking to partner with the U.S. agency, says Hayley Blyth at Bird & Bird.

  • Opinion

    SEC Doesn't Have Legal Authority For Climate Disclosure Rule

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    Instead of making the required legal argument to establish its authority, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related disclosure rule hides behind more than 1,000 references to materiality to give the appearance that its rule is legally defensible, says Bernard Sharfman at RealClearFoundation.

  • What 100 Federal Cases Suggest About Changes To Chevron

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    With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn or narrow its 40-year-old doctrine of Chevron deference, a review of 100 recent federal district court decisions confirm that changes to the Chevron framework will have broad ramifications — but the magnitude of the impact will depend on the details of the high court's ruling, say Kali Schellenberg and Jon Cochran at LeVan Stapleton.

  • FTC Noncompete Rule May Still Face Historical Hurdles

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    The Federal Trade Commission's final rule banning noncompetes might face challenges that could have been avoided with more cautious consideration of the commission's long history of failed lawsuits that went beyond the agency's statutory authority, as well as the mountain of judicial precedent justifying noncompete agreements in employment contracts, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • A Look At Subchapter V As Debt Limit Expiration Looms

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    If proposed legislation to extend Subchapter V’s debt eligibility ceiling sunset date in June is passed, bankruptcy professionals can seek ways to work with their local jurisdictions to advocate for code changes and guidance that bring more efficiencies and clarity to the process, say Matthew Brash at Newpoint Advisors and Melinda Bennett at Stretto.

  • Opinion

    SEC Should Be Allowed To Equip Investors With Climate Info

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule to require more climate-related disclosures will provide investors with much-needed clarity, despite opponents' attempts to challenge the rule with misused legal arguments, say Sarah Goetz at Democracy Forward and Cynthia Hanawalt at Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change.

  • 8 Fla. Statutes That Construction Cos. Should Prepare For

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    In this article, Jason Lambert at Hill Ward discusses a number of recent bills out of the Florida Legislature targeting construction companies in the Sunshine State that have been sent to the governor for signature, at least some of which will have broad impacts that affected companies should prepare for ahead of the July 1 effective date.

  • Game-Changing Decisions Call For New Rules At The NCAA

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    From a newly formed college players union to coaches transferring at the drop of a hat, the National College Athletic Association needs an overhaul, including federal supervision, says Frank Darras at DarrasLaw.

  • End Of Acquitted Conduct Sentencing Can Spark More Reform

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    The U.S. Sentencing Commission’s recent end to factoring acquitted conduct into federal sentences could signal the start of a more constitutionally sound advisory scheme, but Congress and the Supreme Court must first authorize the commission to resolve two constitutional errors baked into its guidelines, say Mark Allenbaugh at SentencingStats.com and Alan Ellis at the Law Offices of Alan Ellis.

  • Manufacturers Should Pay Attention To 'Right-To-Repair' Laws

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    Oregon’s recently passed "right-to-repair" statute highlights that the R2R movement is not going away, and that manufacturers of all kinds need to be paying attention to the evolving list of R2R statutes in various states and consider participating in the process, says Courtney Sarnow at Culhane.

  • Opinion

    Viral Deepfakes Of Taylor Swift Highlight Need For Regulation

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    As the nation grapples with addressing risk from artificial intelligence use, the recent circulation of AI-generated pornographic images of Taylor Swift on the social platform X highlights the need for federal legislation to protect nonconsenting subjects of deepfake pornography, say Nicole Brenner and Susie Ruiz-Lichter at Squire Patton.

  • Opinion

    Time To Fix NYC's Broken Property Assessment System

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    A New York appellate court's decision to revive Tax Equity Now New York v. City of New York may force the city to revamp its outdated and unfair real estate tax assessment system, which could be fixed with a couple of simple changes, says Seth Feldman at Romer Debbas.

  • New Federal Bill Would Drastically Alter Privacy Landscape

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    While the recently introduced American Privacy Rights Act would eliminate the burdensome patchwork of state regulations, the proposed federal privacy law would also significantly expand compliance obligations and liability exposure for companies, especially those that rely on artificial intelligence or biometric technologies, says David Oberly at Baker Donelson.

  • How Cos. Can Comply With New PFAS Superfund Rule

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new rule designating two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances as "hazardous substances" under the Superfund law will likely trigger additional enforcement and litigation at sites across the country — so companies should evaluate any associated reporting obligations and liability risks, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

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