Public Policy

  • July 25, 2024

    Ninth Circ. Vacates, Remands BIA Sexual Misconduct Dispute

    The Ninth Circuit vacated and remanded a lower court's ruling that the Bureau of Indian Affairs isn't liable for the actions of one of its officers who sexually assaulted a Northern Cheyenne woman, saying conflicting statements create a factual dispute regarding whether the officer was acting within the scope of his employment.

  • July 25, 2024

    SEC Seeks To Narrow Attack On Nasdaq Board Diversity Rule

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told the Fifth Circuit Thursday that conservative groups objecting to a Nasdaq rule mandating the disclosure of board diversity data can no longer complain about the exchange's offer to help companies recruit applicable candidates because that offer has expired, mooting at least one aspect of a broader attack against the rule.

  • July 25, 2024

    FCC Keeps Chin Up, But Chevron Woes Won't Soon Fade

    After the U.S. Supreme Court term stampeded over long-established elements of administrative law this summer, the future of several major Federal Communications Commission initiatives was cast into doubt, but the agency says it's still optimistic it can navigate the new challenges.

  • July 25, 2024

    Sports Court Confirms US Figure Skating Win In Beijing

    The Court of Arbitration for Sport has rejected appeals filed by the Russian figure skating team challenging the rankings in the team event during the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, a decision that means the U.S. team members will finally be able to collect their gold medals.

  • July 25, 2024

    Newsom Cites High Court In Ordering Encampments Cleared

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday ordered state agencies to start removing homeless encampments on state property while providing outreach services to homeless residents following a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that gave governments broader authority to ban camping in public.

  • July 25, 2024

    NC High Court Signals End To College Building Access Row

    The Tar Heel State's Supreme Court this week unpaused a legal battle between North Carolina State University and a cancer-stricken professor after the two said they had resolved a dispute over testing for carcinogens in a campus building.

  • July 25, 2024

    Fla. Agency Gets Most Of Unions' Claims Over Dues Law Axed

    A public employee relations agency secured an early win against claims from Florida teachers unions that provisions in a state law pertaining to dues deductions and recertification violated the U.S. Constitution, a federal judge ruled, sending only one contracts clause allegation to trial.

  • July 25, 2024

    US Calls For Labor Scrutiny At Mexican Components Plant

    The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced a new request Thursday calling on Mexican authorities to investigate claims that workers at a components manufacturing plant were fired for protected activities and blocked from joining outside unions.

  • July 25, 2024

    Cable Group Says Funds May Cover Less Under BEAD Rules

    The funds the Biden administration has put into the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program should be enough to get most eligible locations connected if the National Telecommunications and Information Administration doesn't set any mandates on how much that service will cost after it's there, a cable trade group says.

  • July 25, 2024

    Pentagon Panel To Review Wounded Knee Medals Of Honor

    The U.S. Department of Defense will evaluate about 20 Medals of Honor awarded after the 1890 Wounded Knee conflict in South Dakota to ensure that no U.S. Army soldier was recognized with the nation's highest military accolade for inconsistent conduct.

  • July 25, 2024

    Defense Teams' Solidarity Key In Hawaii DA's Acquittal

    California federal prosecutors' bribery case against a prosecutor, a businessman and an outside counsel collapsed after no defendant turned state's evidence and one even testified for the defense, showing the value of presenting a unified front, the winning lawyers said.

  • July 25, 2024

    Lawmakers Take Stab At Energy Permitting As Election Looms

    U.S. Senate energy committee leaders have proposed legislation that would significantly overhaul energy project infrastructure permitting, but it faces a sharply divided Congress made even more daunting by a presidential election this fall. With an initial markup scheduled for Wednesday, here are some key takeaways.

  • July 25, 2024

    Solvay Wants Arkema To Cover Some Of NJ PFAS Deal

    Solvay Specialty Polymers USA LLC said it plans to ask a New Jersey state judge to lift a 3-year-old stay so it can seek contributions from Arkema Inc. for the remediation of forever chemical pollution stemming from a West Deptford facility.

  • July 25, 2024

    California Disses Chamber's Climate Compliance Attack

    The state of California on Wednesday slammed the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's attempt to block the state's corporate climate disclosure rules before discovery opened in the Chamber's suit, arguing it should be allowed a chance to disprove the group's "vague and unsubstantiated" claims.

  • July 25, 2024

    Trade Commission Affirms Pea Protein Import Harms

    The U.S. International Trade Commission voted unanimously Thursday to find that pea protein imports from China have harmed the domestic industry, clearing the U.S. Department of Commerce to levy antidumping and countervailing duties on the goods.

  • July 25, 2024

    1st Circ. Leery Of Fishing Industry Challenge To Wind Farm

    A First Circuit panel on Thursday appeared unlikely to disturb a district court's rulings affirming a series of approvals for a massive wind farm off the coast of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, questioning procedural claims by fishing industry groups and whether they have standing to sue.

  • July 25, 2024

    SEC Says Consensys 'Rushed To Court' Over Probe Notice

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has argued cryptocurrency firm Consensys improperly "rushed to court" to head off an enforcement action alleging certain products require brokerage registration.

  • July 25, 2024

    Edible Cannabis Co. Can't Revive RFID Tag Case

    A Colorado state judge has said he won't let a company that makes edible cannabis continue to challenge the state's mandated use of radio frequency identification tracking tags, concluding that a senior enforcement official's statement at a rulemaking hearing was not a final action the company could appeal.

  • July 25, 2024

    DA Says Trump Immunity Ruling Doesn't Affect NY Convictions

    Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told a New York judge Thursday that the U.S. Supreme Court's presidential immunity ruling has no bearing on Donald Trump's conviction in his hush-money case since the charges relate to unofficial acts.

  • July 25, 2024

    Conn.'s Added Tax On Warranties Called Double Taxation

    The Connecticut state tax commissioner's levy of an additional tax on extended vehicle warranties connected to out-of-state vehicle sales is double taxation because the warranties are already taxed by the buyer's home state, a Connecticut-based auto wholesaler told a state trial court.

  • July 25, 2024

    Justices Urged To Hear Red State Bid To End Climate Torts

    Industry groups and conservative think tanks urged the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a novel request by 19 Republican-led states to nix climate change torts brought by rival state governments against fossil fuel companies, arguing the rival states' claims violate the constitutional bounds of state authority.

  • July 25, 2024

    Advocacy Group Pushes FCC For Hearing On Fox TV License

    An advocacy group accusing a Philadelphia Fox television station of knowingly airing harmful conspiracy theories following the 2020 election has told the Federal Communications Commission the group has collected more than 25,000 signatures from people saying the agency should grant a hearing on the subject of yanking the station's license.

  • July 25, 2024

    Alaska Sues To Block Federal Land Conservation Rule

    The state of Alaska is challenging a Bureau of Land Management rule that aims to conserve and protect public lands, saying the "vast majority" of the rule isn't allowed under state and federal law because of how it prioritizes "ecosystem resilience" over longtime policies.

  • July 25, 2024

    ​​​​​​​Justices Urged To Revisit FCC Fund After 5th Circ. Ruling

    Free-market groups asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to take another look at their challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's low-income and rural subsidy programs after the Fifth Circuit ruled the system was unconstitutional.

  • July 25, 2024

    GOP States Win Reprieve From Title IX Gender Identity Rule

    The U.S. Department of Education can't enforce its new interpretation of Title IX expanding LGBTQ+ rights against six states challenging the regulations, a Missouri federal judge ruled, saying the federal agency's interpretation of the statute isn't owed any deference under recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    After Chevron: Rethinking Agency Deference In IP Cases

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent overturning of Chevron deference could make it simpler to challenge the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s proposed rule on terminal disclaimers and U.S. International Trade Commission interpretations, says William Milliken at Sterne Kessler.

  • Tricky Venue Issues Persist In Fortenberry Prosecution Redo

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    Former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry was recently indicted for a second time after the Ninth Circuit tossed his previous conviction for improper venue, but the case, now pending in the District of Columbia, continues to illustrate the complexities of proper venue in "false statement scheme" prosecutions, says Kevin Coleman at Covington.

  • Series

    Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.

  • 1st Gender Care Ban Provides Context For High Court Case

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    The history of Arkansas' ban on gender-affirming medical care — the first such legislation in the U.S. — provides important insight into the far-reaching ramifications that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti next term will have on transgender healthcare, says Tyler Saenz at Baker Donelson.

  • CFPB's New Registration Rule Will Intensify Nonbank Scrutiny

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recently finalized nonbank registration rule aimed at cracking down on repeat offenders poses significant compliance challenges and enforcement risks for nonbank financial firms, and may be particularly onerous for smaller firms, say Ketan Bhirud and Emily Yu at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Series

    After Chevron: FCC And Industry Must Prepare For Change

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    The Chevron doctrine was especially significant in the communications sector because of the indeterminacy of federal communications statutes, so the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the doctrine could have big implications for those regulated by the Federal Communications Commission, bringing both opportunities and risks for companies, say Thomas Johnson and Michael Showalter at Wiley.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Uniform Tax Law Interpretation Not Guaranteed

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    The loss of Chevron deference will significantly alter the relationship between the IRS, courts and Congress when it comes to tax law, potentially precipitating more transparent rulemaking, but also provoking greater uncertainty due to variability in judicial interpretation, say Michelle Levin and Carneil Wilson at Dentons.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Environmental Law May Face Hurdles

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling overturning Chevron deference could prove to be as influential as the original 1984 decision, with far-reaching implications for U.S. environmental laws, including rendering recently promulgated regulations more vulnerable to challenges, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice

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    The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • Why High Court Social Media Ruling Will Be Hotly Debated

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    In deciding the NetChoice cases that challenged Florida and Texas content moderation laws, what the U.S. Supreme Court justices said about social media platforms — and the First Amendment — will have implications and raise questions for nearly all online operators, say Jacob Canter and Joanna Rosen Forster at Crowell & Moring.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Good News For Gov't Contractors In Litigation

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    The net result of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision overturning Chevron deference is that individuals, contractors and companies bringing procurement-related cases against the government will have new pathways toward success, say Joseph Berger and Andrés Vera at Thompson Hine.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Scale Tips Favor Away From HHS Agencies

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    The loss of Chevron deference may indirectly aid parties in challenging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' interpretations of regulations and could immediately influence several pending cases challenging HHS on technical questions and agency authority, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Series

    After Chevron: FDA Regulations In The Crosshairs

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the Chevron doctrine is likely to unleash an array of challenges against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, focusing on areas of potential overreach such as the FDA's authority under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Realtor Settlement May Create New Antitrust Pitfalls

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    Following a recent antitrust settlement between the National Association of Realtors and home sellers, practices are set to change and the increased competition may benefit both brokers and homebuyers, but the loss of the customary method of buyer broker compensation could lead to new antitrust concerns, says Colin Ahler at Snell & Wilmer.

  • Navigating The New Rise Of Greenwashing Litigation

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    As greenwashing lawsuits continue to gain momentum with a shift in focus to carbon-neutrality claims, businesses must exercise caution and ensure transparency in their environmental marketing practices, taking cues from recent legal challenges in the airline industry, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

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