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Public Policy
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August 19, 2024
Groups Urge EPA To Ban Dispersants Used In Deepwater Spill
Two advocacy groups on Monday petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to immediately stop using two chemical dispersants that were used after the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster and that they say cause a variety of health problems including cancer.
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August 19, 2024
Boston Defeats Suit By Fired Police Commissioner
A Boston police commissioner who was fired over decades-old abuse allegations had plenty of chances to give his side of the story, a Massachusetts federal court said Monday in rejecting claims he was defamed and stigmatized by the city's ex-mayor.
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August 19, 2024
Harris' Plan To 'Ban' Price-Gouging Met With Pushback
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, has unveiled a proposal to crack down on high grocery prices, stating as part of her economic agenda that she would implement a first-ever federal ban on price-gouging — yet market participants aren't so sure that's the right approach.
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August 19, 2024
Net Neutrality Akin To Federal Law Rewrite, 6th Circ. Told
A pair of think tanks told the Sixth Circuit it should reject the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules in part because the agency's decision to hold back its legal authority in some areas, like rate regulation, shows why the regime lacks statutory authority in the first place.
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August 19, 2024
Even Kids Use 'Unfair' Like CFPB Policy Does, 5th Circ. Told
Scholars from top law schools urged the Fifth Circuit to reverse a Texas federal court's decision to strike a policy expanding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's antidiscrimination oversight capabilities, arguing that even "schoolchildren" could agree with the agency's legal position.
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August 19, 2024
Philly To Pay $25M For Breaking Prison Conditions Settlement
A federal judge has ordered Philadelphia to set aside $25 million to ramp up recruitment and retention efforts for the city's Department of Prisons, just over a month after the court found the city in contempt of a settlement in a lawsuit over prison conditions.
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August 19, 2024
CFTC's Pham Wants More Credit For Firms In Wash Trade Deal
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday ordered two Raizen units to pay $750,000 to settle charges they carried out illegal wash sales on sugar contracts worth more than $1 billion, but Commissioner Caroline Pham said the companies should have gotten more credit for self-reporting and remediating.
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August 19, 2024
DOJ Waited Too Long On Chats Deletions, Google Says
Google urged a Virginia federal judge Friday to reject the Justice Department's request to sanction the search giant over a policy of deleting internal chats, arguing that the request came too late and that the government isn't missing any evidence for its advertising technology monopolization suit.
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August 19, 2024
Fair Use Dooms Santos Suit Over Jimmy Kimmel's Prank Videos
A New York federal judge said Monday that the fair use exception to copyright law is fatal to former U.S. Rep. George Santos' suit against ABC and Jimmy Kimmel over video clips that the late-night TV show host tricked the ex-congressman into making.
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August 19, 2024
NIH Program To Use Tribal Research To Combat Opioid Crisis
The National Institutes of Health is investing $268 million over the next seven years in a program that will employ Indigenous research methods to help combat opioid use and the overdose crisis plaguing Indian Country with an additional focus on pain management and mental health and wellness.
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August 19, 2024
Spouse Asks Tax Court To Reconsider Relief Request
A woman barred from innocent spouse relief on grounds that tax debt related to an erroneously issued refund doesn't qualify asked the U.S. Tax Court to reconsider, saying she's entitled to the break for any unpaid tax liability.
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August 19, 2024
DHS Unveils Green Card Rule For Mixed-Status Families
The Biden administration on Monday officially rolled out the "keeping families together" program, which will ease bureaucratic obstacles for noncitizens and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to apply for green cards and work permits from within the country.
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August 19, 2024
Judge Urges Throwing Out DOJ's 'Simple' Race Bias Suit
A federal judge recommended dismissing a U.S. Department of Justice suit accusing a Georgia county of firing two Black workers who complained about a slur from a white colleague, faulting the DOJ for trying to "overcomplicate" the case.
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August 19, 2024
DC Council Member Charged With Bribery
Federal prosecutors are accusing a Washington, D.C., councilmember of accepting more than $150,000 in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for pressuring government employees to extend city contracts, according to a complaint unsealed Monday in D.C. federal court.
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August 19, 2024
Calif. Lawmakers Decline To Advance Hemp THC Law
A California bill that would have imposed new THC limits on hemp consumables is unlikely to become law this year, after lawmakers declined to move it out of committee.
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August 19, 2024
DQ'd Judge Should Have Kept Quiet, Tax Challengers Say
A Michigan federal judge who disqualified himself from homeowners' challenge to a $217 million dam repair tax assessment put his "thumb on the scale of justice" by improperly commenting on legal questions as he bowed out, according to homeowners seeking to have the comments rescinded.
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August 19, 2024
Ex-NJ County Exec Loses Bid To DQ Firm In Retaliation Suit
A former Cumberland County, New Jersey, health official claiming his firing was political retaliation cannot disqualify the county's counsel in his lawsuit, Testa Heck Testa & White PA, over interactions he had with two firm attorneys around the time of his firing, a state court judge ruled Friday.
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August 19, 2024
Crypto Co. Consensys Says Texas Is Right For SEC Fight
Crypto software firm Consensys Software Inc. told a Texas federal judge that it beat the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to court when it filed a suit seeking a judgment that its MetaMask software does not offend securities laws, and the regulator cannot now "change the playing field" to New York with its later enforcement suit.
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August 19, 2024
Santos Admits Fraud: 'Betrayed The Trust Of My Constituents'
Former U.S. Rep. George Santos pled guilty in New York federal court Monday to juicing his election fundraising reports with fake donations to qualify for Republican Party support, charges that carry a minimum of two years in prison.
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August 19, 2024
Hogan Boosts DC Energy, IP Teams With A&O Shearman Atty
Hogan Lovells has hired a new global regulatory and intellectual property practice partner, who is joining the firm in Washington, D.C., after a little more than two and half years with Allen Overy Shearman Sterling, Hogan Lovells announced Monday.
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August 19, 2024
Voters Fight DeSantis Bid To Toss Prosecutor Suspension Suit
Florida voters and a partisan advocacy group have pushed back against Gov. Ron DeSantis' argument that voters have no right to see an elected official serve an entire term in a suit over the suspension of Florida prosecutor Monique Worrell, saying it doesn't matter when interference in an election occurs because the effect on the voters is the same.
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August 19, 2024
GOP Rep. Fostered Homophobic Workplace, Ex-Staffer Says
A former congressional staffer slapped a Republican lawmaker from Texas with a federal lawsuit claiming he was bullied, denied training opportunities and ultimately forced to quit because he is gay.
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August 19, 2024
H&R Block's Case On In-House Judges' Role Is Paused
A Missouri federal judge who refused to halt Federal Trade Commission proceedings accusing H&R Block of deceptive advertising agreed to pause, while the company appeals her refusal, a district court case in which the company has argued that administrative judges should be booted from the proceedings.
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August 19, 2024
FTC Says Albertsons Execs Deleted Texts About Merger
The Federal Trade Commission accused executives from Albertsons of deleting text messages about the supermarket chain's planned megamerger with Kroger, saying the messages likely contained valuable internal views about the effects of the $25 billion deal.
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August 19, 2024
Trump's Immunity Appeal May Delay Sentencing, DA Says
Prosecutors will not oppose Donald Trump's request to delay sentencing in his New York hush money case, currently set for next month, while he seeks to dismiss his conviction in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's presidential immunity ruling, agreeing that an immediate appeal may upend the proceedings anyway.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.
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Justices' Bribery Ruling: A Corrupt Act Isn't Necessarily Illegal
In its Snyder v. U.S. decision last week, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a bribery law does not criminalize gratuities, continuing a trend of narrowing federal anti-corruption laws and scrutinizing public corruption prosecutions that go beyond obvious quid pro quo schemes, say Carrie Cohen and Christine Wong at MoFo.
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3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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Roundup
After Chevron
In the month since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 26 different rulemaking and litigation areas.
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Takeaways From New HHS Substance Use Disorder Info Rules
A new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rule continues the agency's efforts to harmonize complex rules surrounding confidentiality provisions for substance use disorder patient records, though healthcare providers will need to remain mindful of different potentially applicable requirements and changes that their compliance structures may require, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Series
After Chevron: Expect Few Changes In ITC Rulemaking
The U.S. Supreme Court's opinion overruling the Chevron doctrine will have less impact on the U.S. International Trade Commission than other agencies administering trade statutes, given that the commission exercises its congressionally granted authority in a manner that allows for consistent decision making at both agency and judicial levels, say attorneys at Polsinelli.
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Opinion
Reform NEPA To Speed Mining Permits, Clean Energy Shift
It is essential to balance responsible regulatory oversight with permit approvals for mining projects that are needed for the transition to renewable energy — and with the National Environmental Policy Act being one of the leading causes of permit delays, reform is urgently needed, say Ana Maria Gutierrez and Michael Miller at Womble Bond.
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Series
Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2
The second quarter of 2024 in California, which saw efforts to expand consumer protection legislation and enforcement actions in areas of federal focus like medical debt and student loans, demonstrated that the state's role as a trendsetter in consumer financial protection will continue for the foreseeable future, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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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.