Public Policy

  • September 09, 2024

    Ore. Seeks Dismissal Of Psilocybin Disabilities Suit

    Oregon's health regulator has asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit challenging aspects of the state's pioneering regulated psilocybin treatment program, saying that the program's illegality under federal law makes the lawsuit untenable.

  • September 09, 2024

    White House Final Rule On Mental Health Parity Unveiled

    The White House released a final rule Monday meant to boost employer health plans' compliance with a federal law requiring coverage for mental health and substance use disorder treatments that's at the same level as physical health care.

  • September 06, 2024

    DC Circ. Considers Age Of Ex-Trump Aide's Surveillance Claims

    Even after more than an hour of argument, the D.C. Circuit didn't seem convinced Friday that ex-Trump 2016 campaign adviser Carter Page timely accused the Justice Department, the FBI and several individuals of various violations tied to their surveillance of him as they probed Russian election interference.

  • September 06, 2024

    ICE Is Failing Language Service Obligations, Report Says

    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has routinely violated internal standards for providing detainees with language services, leaving detainees unable to communicate severe medical conditions and being deported for missing simple filing requirements, according to a report from Yeshiva University's Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.

  • September 06, 2024

    Ft. Lauderdale Must Face 2020 Protest Suit, But Cops Get Win

    A Florida federal judge has ruled that several Fort Lauderdale police officers can't be sued by a protester who alleged that her civil rights were violated in a violent response to 2020 demonstrations over the death of George Floyd but said the city itself must still face various claims in her lawsuit.

  • September 06, 2024

    Texas Biz Court Will Be A Brave New World For Energy Cos.

    Energy companies gained a new forum to hash out their legal fights Sept. 1 when the Texas business court recently started hearing cases, but questions about the court and how it'll operate might give companies pause before they take the plunge. Here's what energy companies and energy attorneys should know as the new court gets up and running.

  • September 06, 2024

    Calif. Takes AI Reins With Looming Safety, Transparency Laws

    A pair of groundbreaking legislative proposals aimed at ensuring the safe and transparent deployment of artificial intelligence systems are headed to the California governor's desk, raising questions about whether lawmakers are taking the right approach to regulating the emerging technology and how the state's privacy regulator will respond. 

  • September 06, 2024

    TV Stations Fined $3.3M For Mixing Hot Wheels Shows And Ads

    The Federal Communications Commission on Friday confirmed fines totaling $3.33 million for Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. and 18 other broadcasters for violating the Children's Television Act and commission rules by running Hot Wheels toy commercials during a Hot Wheels show on the air.

  • September 06, 2024

    5th Circ. Urged To Act Fast On Green Card Rule Suit Appeal

    A nonprofit immigrant rights group has asked the Fifth Circuit to accelerate its challenge to a lower court's refusal to let them intervene in a Texas lawsuit against a program allowing noncitizen relatives of U.S. citizens to seek green cards, noting a bench trial could proceed soon without its participation.

  • September 06, 2024

    Arkema Calls Timing 'Suspect' In Bid To Lift NJ PFAS Suit Stay

    Chemical company Arkema Inc. is arguing that if rival Solvay is allowed to sue it, the litigation could upend an impending settlement worth up to $108 million it negotiated with the state of New Jersey that would end claims over "forever chemical" contamination at a facility both companies owned.

  • September 06, 2024

    Fed's Barr To Give Sneak Peek Of Revised Basel III Plan

    The Federal Reserve's vice chair for supervision will preview revisions to a scaled-back version of the controversial Basel III endgame plan to toughen big-bank capital requirements at a Brookings Institution event on Tuesday.

  • September 06, 2024

    2nd Circ. Won't Revive Solar Cos.' National Grid Tax Suit

    The Second Circuit declined to revive one of two proposed class actions brought by solar companies against National Grid alleging it illegally charged them for taxes in an effort to dampen competition from renewables, finding on Friday that the district court properly determined it lacked subject matter jurisdiction.

  • September 06, 2024

    JD Vance Can't Ax Campaign Spending Limits At 6th Circ.

    The full Sixth Circuit upheld coordinated campaign spending limits in the face of a challenge from Ohio senator and vice presidential hopeful J.D. Vance and Republican party organizations that sought to lift the restrictions.

  • September 06, 2024

    Ingersoll Rand Blocks Rival From Hiring Ex-Exec In NDA Fight

    A Colorado state court has preliminarily blocked the former chief executive of a company acquired by industrial products giant Ingersoll Rand Inc. from working for rival Avantor, finding Ingersoll Rand will likely win its claims that the executive specifically agreed not to work for Avantor as a condition of the acquisition.

  • September 06, 2024

    EPA Updates Public Engagement Plan For 1st Time In 20 Years

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is beefing up its public engagement policy to better communicate with community members, Native American tribes, businesses, trade groups and other parties with a stake in the EPA's programs and regulations.

  • September 06, 2024

    Amnesty International Calls For Indigenous Activist's Release

    Amnesty International is urging President Joe Biden to grant clemency to a Native American activist serving a life sentence for his conviction in the 1975 slayings of two FBI agents, saying he's approaching his 80th birthday, and his release is necessary in the interests of justice and mercy.

  • September 06, 2024

    DuPont Spinoff Must Explain Record Policy For Missing Docs

    A discovery referee for North Carolina's Business Court is ordering a DuPont spin-off to share its document retention policy with the attorney general after dozens of boxes of information the state wanted for a lawsuit over PFAS pollution were not made available from storage facilities.

  • September 06, 2024

    Justice Alito Reports Concert Tickets From Catholic Activist

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito accepted $900 concert tickets from a German princess and Catholic activist in 2023, but otherwise received no free trips or other gifts, according to his annual financial disclosure, which was made public Friday.

  • September 06, 2024

    Top Groups Lobbying The FCC

    The Federal Communications Commission heard from advocates more than 100 times in August on issues such as revamping the 4.9 gigahertz spectrum band, using high-power surveillance devices in already crowded Wi-Fi airwaves, fixing mobile "dead zones," stopping scam texts, and more.

  • September 06, 2024

    EU Antitrust Chief Charts Path Forward After Illumina Setback

    The European Union's top antitrust official said a recent ruling that found enforcers lacked authority to probe Illumina's $8 billion acquisition of Grail put an end to an important merger review tool and suggested legislation may be needed to plug the gap.

  • September 06, 2024

    Judge Signals She'll Delay Bribery Trial Of Sitting Ill. Senator

    An Illinois federal judge indicated Friday she was inclined to postpone a December trial on bribery charges against state Sen. Emil Jones III over objections by the government, which argued Jones was charged two years ago of accepting a bribe from a red-light camera company representative and has continued to receive a taxpayer-funded salary.

  • September 06, 2024

    Calif. Gov. Targets Hemp Intoxicants With Emergency Ban

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday announced emergency regulations banning products derived from industrial hemp that contain any intoxicating cannabinoids, and setting an age minimum of 21 years to purchase hemp products.

  • September 06, 2024

    CFPB's Zelle Scrutiny Leaves Banks Guessing On Next Moves

    As federal regulators turn up the heat on major banks over long-simmering complaints about fraud and scams on Zelle, the largest U.S. peer-to-peer payments platform, it remains unclear whether more banks could face scrutiny and what they can do to get ahead of it.

  • September 06, 2024

    'He Says, She Says' In Harvey Weinstein's America

    The controversial decision by New York's highest court to overturn Harvey Weinstein's sexual assault conviction has some lawmakers focusing intense new scrutiny on centuries-old legal jurisprudence barring evidence of a defendant's criminal propensity.

  • September 06, 2024

    3rd Circ. Follows Corner Post In Home Care OT Change Feud

    Three home care companies' challenge to an Obama-era rule expanding overtime eligibility for certain workers is back on track, the Third Circuit ruled Friday, saying that the U.S. Supreme Court's Corner Post decision mooted a Pennsylvania federal court's ruling that the entities' suit was late.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    CFPB's AI Stance Backslides On Innovation Issues

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent response to a Treasury Department's request for information about artificial intelligence in the financial services sector uses alarmist rhetoric about the technology's risks, ceding an opportunity to help shape this important discussion, says Mike Silver at Husch Blackwell.

  • Strategies To Defend Against Healthcare Nuclear Verdicts

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    The healthcare industry is increasingly the target of megaclaims, particularly those alleging medical malpractice, but attorneys representing providers can use a few tools to push back on flimsy litigation and reduce the likelihood of a nuclear verdict, says LaMar Jost at Wheeler Trigg.

  • 5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond

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    As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.

  • Opinion

    Portland's Gross Receipts Tax Oversteps City's Authority

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    Recent measures by Portland, Oregon, that expand the voter-approved scope of the Clean Energy Surcharge on certain retail sales eviscerate the common meaning of the word "retail" and exceed the city's chartered authority to levy tax, say Nikki Dobay at Greenberg Traurig and Jeff Newgard at Peak Policy.

  • Series

    After Chevron: SEC Climate And ESG Rules Likely Doomed

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    Under the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Loper Bright, without agency deference, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure and environmental, social and governance rules would likely be found lacking in statutory support and vacated by the courts, says Justin Chretien at Carlton Fields.

  • NYC Wage Info Bill Highlights Rise In Pay Transparency Laws

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    With New York City the latest to mull requiring companies to annually report employee wage data, national employers should consider adapting their compliance practices to comply with increasingly common pay transparency and disclosure obligations at state and local levels, says Kelly Cardin at Littler Mendelson.

  • Assessing Whether Jarkesy May Limit FINRA Prosecutions

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Jarkesy v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, holding that civil securities fraud defendants are entitled to jury trials, may cause unpredictable results when applied to Financial Industry Regulatory Authority prosecutions, say Barry Temkin and Kate DiGeronimo at Mound Cotton.

  • The Bank Preemption Ripple Effects After Cantero, Flagstar

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    The importance of federal preemption for financial institutions will only increase as technology-driven innovations evolve, which is why the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Cantero v. Bank of America and vacatur of Kivett v. Flagstar Bank have real modern-day significance for national banks, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Examining Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Of AI Inventions

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    In light of U.S. Patent and Trademark Office data showing that patent applications for artificial intelligence inventions are likelier to get rejected based on patent-ineligible subject matter, inventors seeking protection should be aware of the difficulties and challenges pertaining to patent eligibility, say Georgios Effraimidis at NERA and Joel Lehrer at Goodwin.

  • Series

    Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.

  • What Cos. Need to Know About Battery Labeling Law

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    With new labeling requirements for button cell battery packaging taking effect in September, manufacturers and importers must review compliance, testing procedures, and necessary paperwork as the consequences of noncompliance can lead to costly penalties and supply chain woes, says Aasheesh Shravah at CM Law.

  • What Drug Cos. Must Know About NY Price Transparency Law

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    Drug manufacturers must understand the contours of New York's recently implemented law requiring self-reporting of drug price increases, as well as best practices for compliance and challenges against similar laws in other states, say Elizabeth Bierut and Angie Garcia at Friedman Kaplan.

  • Navigating The Uncertain Landscape Of Solar Tariffs

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    Solar cell and module manufacturers, exporters and importers must navigate an uncertain compliance landscape, given ongoing challenges to U.S. Department of Commerce antidumping and countervailing duty determinations, which have been mounted both by U.S. and non-U.S. manufacturers, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Amid SEC Rule Limbo, US Cos. Subject To ESG Regs In EU

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    Though the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is facing legal challenges to its climate-disclosure rulemaking, the implementation of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive in the European Union will force U.S. companies to comply with exactly the kinds of ESG disclosures that are not yet mandated in the U.S., say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • Pros, Cons Of Disclosing Improper Employee Retention Credit

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    Employers considering the Internal Revenue Service’s second voluntary disclosure program, which allows companies to avoid penalties for erroneously claiming employee retention credits for the 2021 tax year by repaying the credits and naming the tax advisers who encouraged these abusive practices, should carefully weigh the program’s benefits against its potential drawbacks, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

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