Public Policy

  • July 22, 2024

    FCC Blames AT&T Network Change For 'Sunny Day' Outage

    The Federal Communications Commission said Monday it will consider enforcement action after finding that an AT&T network change triggered a massive service outage in February, which blocked more than 92 million calls and 25,000 attempts to reach 911.

  • July 22, 2024

    Ex-Lawmaker Says Group Offered Campaign Cash For Vote

    A former Colorado state senator said Monday that an interest group once dangled campaign cash and an endorsement if she promised to support an upcoming bill, testifying as part of the state's attempt to rebut Republicans' attacks on individual campaign contribution limits that regulators say deter corruption.

  • July 22, 2024

    Michigan's Cases To Watch 2024: A Midyear Report

    Michigan's highest court is preparing to take on cases that could restore imperiled PFAS regulations, prevent employers from cutting short employees' window to file civil rights claims and expand the reach of Michigan's consumer protection law. Here are some of Michigan's most important cases to watch for the rest of the year.

  • July 22, 2024

    Rail Biz Asks 4th Circ. To Revive Va. Broadband Law Fight

    The Association of American Railroads is asking the Fourth Circuit to step in and put a stop to a Virginia law that allows broadband providers easier access to railroad property, calling it a "supercharged eminent-domain scheme."

  • July 22, 2024

    Iowa Defends New Hemp Law From CBD Cos.' Challenge

    A federal court should not interrupt Iowa as it continues to roll out new restrictions on consumables infused with hemp-derived THC, the state argued, saying there's been "no arbitrary enforcement" of the law, nor has its language proven to be "unconstitutionally vague."

  • July 22, 2024

    Price-Fixing Claims Against Par Pharma On Chopping Block

    A Connecticut federal judge has asked a coalition of states to explain why he shouldn't toss two price-fixing lawsuits against Par Pharmaceutical Companies Inc., noting that the defendant and its parent, Endo International PLC, recently filed Chapter 11 reorganization plans shielding them from the cases.

  • July 22, 2024

    Steward Health Care Finds Buyers For 2 Hospitals

    Steward Health Care has told a Delaware bankruptcy judge it has found buyers for two of the facilities in its first round of hospital sales in its Chapter 11 case, but three others had attracted no qualified bids.

  • July 22, 2024

    What Attorneys Need To Know About JD Vance

    Vice presidential nominee JD Vance's brief legislative record shows he is aligned with his fellow Republicans on hot-button issues like abortion and immigration, but it also indicates that the senator from Ohio may be willing to break with the GOP mainstream when it comes to regulating big business. Here's what attorneys should know about the vice presidential candidate.

  • July 22, 2024

    San Fran Tells Justices EPA Water Regs Are Like Bad Soup

    San Francisco compared the federal government to a bad chef on Friday, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to find that a water pollution permit must include specific numerical goals rather than narrative standards the city says are too vague.

  • July 22, 2024

    FTC Tells 5th Circ. Anesthesia Co. Can't Stop Antitrust Case

    The Federal Trade Commission is telling the Fifth Circuit to dismiss U.S. Anesthesia Partners Inc.'s appeal in the FTC's antitrust case against it, saying the circuit court has no jurisdiction in the appeal because the lower court ruling at issue falls outside the scope of the collateral order doctrine.

  • July 22, 2024

    Colo. Judge Blocks Zoning Ban On Church's Shelter Program

    A Colorado federal judge preliminarily blocked a town from enforcing zoning regulations to prevent a church from allowing homeless people to live in RVs on church property, finding the church could likely prove such enforcement unlawfully violates its religious freedom.

  • July 22, 2024

    Nebraska AG Stops Shops From Selling Synthetic THC

    Six Nebraska smoke shops have agreed to stop selling synthetic THC products, according to an announcement by the state's Attorney General's Office, which has sued more than a dozen retailers for violations of state consumer protection and food safety laws.

  • July 22, 2024

    Fla. City's Anti-Panhandling Law Deemed Unconstitutional

    A Florida federal judge has declared unconstitutional a Daytona Beach ordinance that criminalizes panhandling in certain parts of the city, ruling that the law violates the First Amendment.

  • July 22, 2024

    Ex-Lobbyist Asks To Be Severed From Madigan RICO Case

    The former Commonwealth Edison lobbyist on track to face a jury alongside former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan this fall asked a federal judge Friday to sever his corruption case from Madigan's, saying a joint trial would be unfair because Madigan's lawyers intend to act as "second prosecutors" against him.

  • July 22, 2024

    NC State Resolves Cancer Patient's Fight To Test Building

    North Carolina State University and a professor with cancer have ended a dispute over testing a campus building that contains cancer-causing chemicals, with the school telling the state's highest court the parties are ready to move on from that part of the legal dispute.

  • July 22, 2024

    In Transfer Row, Live Nation Calls DOJ Case Merger Deal 2.0

    Live Nation and Ticketmaster formally asked a skeptical New York federal judge to transfer the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit to Washington, D.C., arguing the case clearly grows out of an underlying 2010 deal clearing the merger the government now wants unwound.

  • July 22, 2024

    NY Appeals Court Revives Cayuga Lake PFAS Suit

    A Finger Lakes conservation group can challenge a permit state regulators issued for a solid waste facility over possible "forever chemicals" pollution to Cayuga Lake, a New York state appeals court ruled, holding that the group has standing to try to get the permit thrown out.

  • July 22, 2024

    Groups Ask 3rd Circ. To Reverse Medicare Drug Price Rulings

    A conservative group was one of several organizations to file amicus curiae briefs with the Third Circuit on Friday urging it to reverse a lower court's finding that Medicare's ability to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies does not run contrary to the companies' constitutional rights.

  • July 22, 2024

    NY Judge Declares Migrant Challenge To Housing Policy Moot

    A New York federal court swept aside asylum-seekers' challenge to county-level housing restrictions that they say were designed to bar them, agreeing with local officials that the case was moot after they issued new policies.

  • July 22, 2024

    Native Villages Push For Injunction In Fed Broadband Row

    Two Alaskan tribes are urging a federal judge to step in and yank back $70 million in broadband infrastructure funds that they say the U.S. Department of Agriculture gave away to someone else after falsely marking them served.

  • July 22, 2024

    Wash. Jury Says Seattle Port Owes Fired Police Chief $24.2M

    A Washington state jury said Monday that the Port of Seattle owes its ex-police chief $24.2 million, capping off a six-week trial on his claims that the port axed him as punishment for complaining about lack of due process in workplace misconduct investigations.

  • July 22, 2024

    DHS Adds Environmental Economics To List Of STEM Fields

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Monday that foreign students on F-1 visas who earn degrees in environmental and natural resource economics can now seek up to three years of employment in the U.S. after graduation.

  • July 22, 2024

    Texas Wants Place In Fight Over Biden's Asylum Law

    The state of Texas is seeking to intervene in a D.C. federal court lawsuit challenging a new federal policy that restricts asylum at the southern border, saying that it does not trust the Biden administration to defend the executive authority used to issue the rule.

  • July 22, 2024

    Secret Service Ripped By Lawmakers For Trump Rally 'Failure'

    U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on Monday acknowledged a security failure during a July 13 campaign rally that ended in an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, as she was battered with resignation calls from a bipartisan group of lawmakers frustrated by her evasiveness during the investigation.

  • July 22, 2024

    RFK Jr. Says Atty Can't Fight Presidential Bid In NJ Court

    Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. urged a New Jersey state judge to throw out an election attorney's challenge to his candidacy in the Garden State, arguing the attorney failed to file an objection to Kennedy's petition to be on the ballot nor is he a candidate or representing a candidate for office.

Expert Analysis

  • To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef

    Author Photo

    To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • What Junk Fee Law Means For Biz In California And Beyond

    Author Photo

    Come July 1, companies doing business in California must ensure that the price of any good or service as offered, displayed or advertised is inclusive of all mandatory fees and other charges in compliance with S.B. 478, which may have a far-reaching impact across the country due to wide applicability, say Alexandria Ruiz and Amy Lally at Sidley Austin.

  • EPA Heavy-Duty Vehicle GHG Rules Face Bumpy Road Ahead

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for owners and operators of heavy-duty vehicles are facing opposition from both states and the transportation industry, and their arguments will mirror two pending cases challenging the EPA's authority, says Grant Laizer at Adams and Reese.

  • 8 Steps Companies Should Take After An Internal Investigation

    Author Photo

    Given the U.S. Department of Justice’s increasing focus on corporate compliance and remediation of misconduct, companies must follow through in several key ways after an internal investigation to ensure history does not repeat itself, say Jonathan Aronie and Joseph Jay at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?

    Author Photo

    Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

  • Opinion

    US Solar Import Probe's Focus On China Is Misguided

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Department of Commerce's recent anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigation focuses on the apparent Chinese ownership of solar device importers in four Southeast Asian countries — a point that is irrelevant under the controlling statute, says John Anwesen at Lighthill.

  • DC Circ. Ruling Heightens HHS Contract Pharmacy Challenges

    Author Photo

    The D.C. Circuit's recent ruling that the Section 340B program does not bar manufacturers from restricting deliveries of discounted drugs to contract pharmacies represents a second strike against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' current contract pharmacy policy and raises the stakes surrounding an upcoming Seventh Circuit ruling on the same issue, say attorneys at Foley Hoag.

  • Ohio Tax Talk: The Legislative Push For Property Tax Relief

    Author Photo

    As Ohio legislators attempt to alleviate the increasing property tax burden, four recent bills that could significantly affect homeowners propose to eliminate replacement property tax levies, freeze property taxes for longtime homeowners, adjust homestead exemptions annually for inflation, and temporarily expand the homestead exemption, say Raghav Agnihotri and Rachael Chamberlain at Frost Brown.

  • Aviation Watch: Mostly Smooth Landing For New FAA Law

    Author Photo

    The recently signed Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act enhances air safety in several key ways, including strengthened passenger rights and cockpit voice recorder requirements, but an expansion of slot exemptions at Reagan National Airport is a notable misstep, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

  • Series

    In The CFPB Playbook: Regulatory Aims Get High Court Assist

    Author Photo

    Newly emboldened after the U.S. Supreme Court last month found that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding is constitutional, the bureau has likely experienced a psychic boost, allowing its already robust enforcement agenda to continue expanding, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • NY Public Campaign Funding May Attract Scrutiny From Feds

    Author Photo

    The upcoming elections across New York this year will be the first under the state’s public campaign finance program — which may broaden federal prosecutors' purview to target state election fraud and corruption, says Jarrod Schaeffer at Abell Eskew.

  • FTC Theories Of Harm After Anesthesia Co. Ruling

    Author Photo

    As Federal Trade Commission litigation against U.S. Anesthesia Partners proceeds following a Texas federal court's recent decision to dismiss a private equity sponsor from the suit, the case attempts to incorporate and advance some of the commission's theories of competitive harm from the final 2023 Merger Guidelines, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • National Security And The Commercial Space Sector: Part 2

    Author Photo

    Strategy documents recently published by the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Space Force confirm the importance of the commercial space sector to the DOD, but say little about achieving the institutional changes needed to integrate commercial capabilities in support of national security in space, say Jeff Chiow and Skip Smith at Greenberg Traurig.

  • FTC Hearing On Fake Review Rule Stressed Compliance Costs

    Author Photo

    The Federal Trade Commission is likely to finalize its proposed rule to prohibit marketers from using deceptive practices in their product reviews after an informal hearing covered arguments over whether costs of implementing the rule, such as review moderation and software maintenance, would be minimal, says Jeffrey Edelstein at Manatt.

  • FTC Focus: Exploring The Meaning Of Orange Book Letters

    Author Photo

    The Federal Trade Commission recently announced an expansion of its campaign to promote competition by targeting pharmaceutical manufacturers' improper Orange Book patent listings, but there is a question of whether and how this helps generic entrants, say Colin Kass and David Munkittrick at Proskauer.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Public Policy archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!