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Public Policy
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June 24, 2024
High Court Won't Take Up Michigan Tribal Tag Dispute
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a petition by a Native American man seeking to overturn a Michigan Supreme Court order that denied him the chance to appeal his traffic stop convictions stemming from a dispute over tribal-licensed tags.
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June 24, 2024
AT&T Must Keep Basic Services Intact, Calif. Regulators Say
California regulators have required AT&T to maintain its commitment to basic phone service by denying its bid to withdraw as a "carrier of last resort," a decision that has prompted the company to pursue legislation that would maintain the designation only for rural communities that have limited options for telecom service.
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June 24, 2024
Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court
Amendments to Delaware's General Corporation Law topped the news out of the Court of Chancery again last week, as the hotly contested measure sailed through the state's legislature. Tesla and its shareholders continued their tug-of-war over attorney fees for Chancery litigation about Elon Musk's pay package, and new cases were filed involving biotechs, car rental companies, workout platforms, telecom towers, and a cargo ship fire in Brazil.
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June 24, 2024
GOP Rep. Seeks To Revive 'Inherent Contempt' For Garland
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., plans to bring up a resolution this week to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in inherent contempt of Congress, a "long dormant" procedure as Republicans continue their investigations of the president.
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June 24, 2024
US DOT Final Rule Ups Freight Rail Hazmat Disclosures
Freight railroads must provide more detailed, real-time information on trains transporting hazardous materials to state and local first responders, under a new U.S. Department of Transportation final rule announced Monday that was largely spurred by last year's fiery derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
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June 24, 2024
Justices' Removal Notice Decision Unwinds 3 Migrants' Wins
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent endorsement of multipart removal notices resulted in the Monday vacatur of three circuit court decisions offering migrants another chance at fighting deportation after receiving notices that initially omitted important information about their removal hearings.
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June 24, 2024
DOL Still Mulling Changes To Pension De-Risking Guidance
The U.S. Department of Labor told Congress in a new report Monday it hasn't ruled out changing guidance used by retirement plan managers when selecting an annuity provider for pension de-risking transactions, which involve the exchange of defined benefit pension plan liabilities for annuity insurance contracts.
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June 24, 2024
Landlord Says Insurer Botched Coverage For $1M State Deal
A Colorado landlord is accusing an insurance broker and carrier of secretly adding an endorsement to its policy to bar coverage for a $1 million settlement the landlord entered into to resolve a state investigation over alleged misuse of tenant funds.
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June 24, 2024
Google's Brin, Pichai Must Face Texas Ad Tech Depos
Google CEO Sundar Pichai is bound for the deposition chair for four hours of testimony while company co-founder Sergey Brin is facing two and a half hours after a Texas federal judge refused Friday to spare the executives from a state enforcer antitrust lawsuit targeting the search giant's digital advertising placement technology.
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June 24, 2024
Trump Mar-A-Lago Case Is Unlawfully Funded, Fla. Judge Told
An attorney defending Donald Trump against the federal government's accusation that he illegally retained classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House in 2021 told a Florida judge Monday the criminal indictment should be dismissed against the former president, saying that the case isn't lawfully funded.
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June 24, 2024
NM Sued Over Sustainable Building Credit Award Process
A New Mexico apartment complex alleges that the state violated its due process rights after it was denied sustainable building tax credits for most of its units, according to a complaint filed in federal court.
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June 24, 2024
Justices Pass On Conn. School Vaccine Mandate Fight
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a Second Circuit decision that largely upheld the dismissal of a suit challenging a Connecticut law passed during the COVID-19 pandemic that revoked religious exemptions to student vaccine mandates.
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June 24, 2024
Construction Super Says Name Was Secretly Used On Permits
A unit of construction engineering firm Structural Group Inc. improperly used the name of a licensed construction supervisor on at least half a dozen Massachusetts projects in which he was not involved, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Norfolk County Superior Court.
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June 24, 2024
GOP States Can't Freeze PWFA Regs During 8th Circ. Appeal
A coalition of Republican attorneys general can't pause implementation of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's fresh Pregnant Workers Fairness Act regulations while they appeal the dismissal of their suit, an Arkansas federal judge ruled, saying the states hadn't presented any new arguments to justify the respite.
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June 24, 2024
Paper Bag Imports Found To Have Harmed US Industry
The U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that paper shopping bags from eight countries harmed the domestic industry, providing the final green light for the U.S. Department of Commerce to enact countervailing and anti-dumping duties on the products.
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June 24, 2024
Justices Affirm 6th Circ. Decision Allowing Bump Stocks
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected the government's appeal of a Sixth Circuit decision blocking the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' ban on so-called bump stocks, after finding in a separate case that the ATF rule went beyond the agency's authority.
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June 24, 2024
Justices Pass On Rutgers COVID-19 Vax Mandate Case
The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to review a split Third Circuit ruling that Rutgers University students cannot challenge the school's COVID-19 vaccine policy because, under the high court's 1905 precedent in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, there is no fundamental right to refuse vaccinations.
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June 24, 2024
Blumenauer Predicts Cannabis Rescheduling Before Year-End
U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., a longtime champion of cannabis reform in Congress who is retiring this year, told cannabis attorneys on Monday that he was optimistic marijuana would be moved to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act before the end of the year.
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June 24, 2024
High Court To Review State Gender Care Bans
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review a Sixth Circuit decision that allowed Tennessee to keep in place a new ban on gender-affirming care for minors.
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June 24, 2024
Justices To Review If Ch. 7 Trustee Can Recover Tax Payments
The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it would review a Tenth Circuit decision that found that the Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee of a defunct Utah company could recover $145,000 in tax payments from the IRS.
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June 24, 2024
Justices Will Review Request To Rein In NEPA Requirements
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday granted seven Utah counties' request that it review a D.C. Circuit decision revoking federal approval of a rail line to transport crude oil from Utah.
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June 22, 2024
Disciplinary Judge Hesitant To Oust Embattled Colo. DA
A Colorado attorney disciplinary judge said Friday he was uncomfortable removing an elected local prosecutor facing various misconduct charges, telling the parties after closing arguments that voters' choices should carry some weight.
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June 21, 2024
Kaspersky Hit With Sanctions In Wake Of US Software Ban
The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Friday sanctioned a dozen AO Kaspersky Lab executives, just a day after the U.S. Department of Commerce prohibited the sale of the Russia-based company's antivirus software and cybersecurity products in the United States.
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June 21, 2024
DOL Says Union's Farm Wage Challenge Too Late
The U.S. Department of Labor has pushed back against a challenge to rules introduced in 2022 that a Washington union said are depressing farmworkers' wages, telling a federal judge Friday that the union should have objected during the rule-making period.
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June 21, 2024
Lawmakers Visit Imprisoned Ex-IRS Agent And Binance Exec
Rep. French Hill, R.-Ark., and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D.-Pa., reiterated their calls for the release of Binance executive and former IRS agent Tigran Gambaryan after visiting with him in the Nigerian prison where he's being detained on money laundering charges levied against his employer.
Expert Analysis
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'Beauty From Within' Trend Poses Regulatory Risks For Cos.
Companies capitalizing on the current trend in oral supplements touting cosmetic benefits must note that a product claim that would be acceptable for an externally applied cosmetic may draw much stronger scrutiny from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration when applied to a supplement, say Natalie Rainer and Katherine Staba at K&L Gates.
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Perspectives
Criminal Defendants Should Have Access To Foreign Evidence
A New Jersey federal court recently ordered prosecutors to obtain evidence from India on behalf of the former Cognizant Technology executives they’re prosecuting — a precedent that other courts should follow to make cross-border evidentiary requests more fair and efficient, say Kaylana Mueller-Hsia and Rebecca Wexler at UC Berkeley School of Law.
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How Cos. Can Prep For New Calif. Privacy Regulations
The California Privacy Protection Agency has been very active in the first quarter of 2024 and continues to exercise its rulemaking authority with proposed draft regulations, so retailers should prepare for California Consumer Privacy Act enforcement and figure out how best to comply, say attorneys at Dentons.
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Fed. Circ. Defines Foreign IP Damages, Raises New Questions
In Brumfield v. IBG, the Federal Circuit recently clarified which standard determines the extraterritoriality of the patent statute after the U.S. Supreme Court's WesternGeco decision, opening a new avenue of damages for foreign activities resulting from certain domestic activities while also creating some thorny questions, say Amol Parikh and Ian Howard at McDermott.
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EPA Chemical Safety Rule Raises Questions About Authority
Stakeholders should consider the practical and economic costs of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recently finalized rule imposing novel board reporting regulations for certain chemical plants and refineries, which signals that the agency may seek a role in regulating corporate governance, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Series
Being An Equestrian Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Beyond getting experience thinking on my feet and tackling stressful situations, the skills I've gained from horseback riding have considerable overlap with the skills used to practice law, particularly in terms of team building, continuing education, and making an effort to reset and recharge, says Kerry Irwin at Moore & Van Allen.
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Bracing For The CFPB's War On Mortgage Fees
As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau homes in on the legality of certain residential mortgage fees, the industry should consult the bureau's steady stream of consumer lending guidance for hints on its priorities, say Nanci Weissgold and Melissa Malpass at Alston & Bird.
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Deciding What Comes At The End Of WTO's Digital Tariff Ban
Companies that feel empowered by the World Trade Organization’s recent two-year extension of the ban on e-commerce tariffs should pay attention to current negotiations over what comes after the moratorium expires, as these agreements will define standards in international e-commerce for years to come, say Jan Walter, Hannes Sigurgeirsson and Kulsum Gulamhusein at Akin Gump.
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DOE Funding And Cargo Preference Compliance: Key Points
Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the U.S. Department of Energy will disburse more than $62 billion in financing for innovative energy projects — and recipients must understand their legal obligations related to cargo preference, so they can develop compliance strategies as close to project inception as possible, say attorneys at White & Case.
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Georgia's Foreign Lobbying Bill Is Not A FARA Copycat
Though a recently passed bill in Georgia aims to mirror the transparency goals of the federal Foreign Agents Registration Act by imposing state-specific disclosure requirements for foreign lobbyists, the legislation’s broad language and lack of exemptions could capture a wider swath of organizations, say attorneys at Holtzman Vogel.
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FTC Noncompete Ban Signals Rising Labor Focus In Antitrust
The Federal Trade Commission’s approval this week of a prohibition on noncompete agreements continues antitrust enforcers’ increasing focus on labor, meaning companies must keep employee issues top of mind both in the ordinary course of business and when pursuing transactions, say attorneys at Skadden.
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Breaking Down EEOC's Final Rule To Implement The PWFA
Attorneys at Littler highlight some of the key provisions of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's final rule and interpretive guidance implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which is expected to be effective June 18, and departures from the proposed rule issued in August 2023.
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4 Ways To Refresh Your Law Firm's Marketing Strategy
With many BigLaw firms relying on an increasingly obsolete marketing approach that prioritizes stiff professionalism over authentic connection, adopting a few key communications strategies to better connect with today's clients and prospects can make all the difference, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law.
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What 3rd Circ. Trust Ruling Means For Securitization Market
Mercedes Tunstall and Michael Gambro at Cadwalader break down the Third Circuit's March decision in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. National Collegiate Master Student Loan Trust, as well as predict next steps in the litigation and the implications of the decision for servicers and the securitization industry as a whole.
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Breaking Down DOJ's Individual Self-Disclosure Pilot Program
The U.S. Department of Justice’s recently announced pilot program aims to incentivize individuals to voluntarily self-disclose corporate misconduct they were personally involved in, complementing a new whistleblower pilot program for individuals not involved in misconduct as well as the government's broader corporate enforcement approach, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.