Public Policy

  • July 08, 2024

    PAGA Reforms Mark New Era In Calif. Labor Law, Attys Say

    Recently enacted reforms to California's Private Attorneys General Act will likely curb the recent surge in multimillion-dollar PAGA settlements and help employers "stop the bleeding," legal experts told Law360, but the amendments are also likely to spur further litigation over newly created ambiguities in the novel Golden State statute.

  • July 08, 2024

    Mich. Justices Back Funeral Costs Imposed Years After Murder

    The Michigan Supreme Court said Monday that it is not unconstitutional to apply current restitution laws to old crimes, finding that restitution awards do not run afoul of constitutional prohibitions on retroactively making the consequences of a crime harsher.

  • July 08, 2024

    NJ Says State Temp Worker Law Doesn't Conflict With ERISA

    The State of New Jersey urged a federal judge to keep in place the equal benefits provision of its law codifying protections for temporary workers, arguing it is not superseded by ​the Employee Retirement Income Security Act because employers can satisfy the state law without altering ERISA plans.

  • July 08, 2024

    Delivery Hero Says It Could Face €400M Antitrust Fine

    International food ordering service Delivery Hero disclosed that it could be fined more than €400 million ($433.3 million) by European enforcers over alleged agreements with other online food delivery companies to split markets, share information and not hire workers from one another.

  • July 08, 2024

    HR Chief Says Conn. City Cut Pay Without Explanation

    Officials in the city of Derby, Connecticut, flouted the municipal human resources director's contractual and constitutional rights when they reduced her annual compensation in March without explanation, according to a lawsuit in federal court.

  • July 08, 2024

    Ex-Prosecutor Takes GC Role For Mass. Inspector General

    Eugenia M. "Genie" Carris, a veteran federal public corruption prosecutor, has jumped to the Massachusetts inspector general's office as general counsel, the agency announced Monday.

  • July 08, 2024

    House Hearing Postponed For Trump's NY Prosecutors

    The House Judiciary Committee's hearing with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and top prosecutor Matthew Colangelo on former President Donald Trump's conviction on 34 felony counts has been postponed.

  • July 08, 2024

    The Biggest Patent Rulings Of 2024: A Midyear Report

    The Federal Circuit issued its first en banc patent decision since 2018, a circuit judge's suspension was solidified and courts shed further light on foreign damages and skinny labels. Here's a look back at these rulings and other top patent decisions from the first half of 2024.

  • July 08, 2024

    Biden Says Reelection Crucial To Supreme Court Reform

    President Joe Biden told congressional Democrats his reelection is crucial to bringing about "real" reforms to the U.S. Supreme Court in a letter Monday rejecting calls for him to back out of the presidential race.

  • July 08, 2024

    Boeing To Plead Guilty, Pay $243M Fine In DOJ 737 Max Deal

    Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to defraud safety regulators about the 737 Max 8's development, avoiding a criminal trial over a pair of deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019, according to a U.S. Department of Justice court filing late Sunday.

  • July 05, 2024

    Judge Says Michigan Not Immune From Enbridge's Line 5 Suit

    A federal judge ruled on Friday that Michigan state officials can't quash a lawsuit from Enbridge Energy LP aimed at ending their efforts to shut down a U.S.-Canada pipeline that traverses the Great Lakes State.

  • July 05, 2024

    FTC Gears Up For Busy 2024 Merger Summer & Fall

    U.S. antitrust enforcers at the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission are gearing up for busy months ahead against multibillion-dollar mergers in the grocery and luxury handbags spaces, while also adjusting to a hospital loss turnaround and bracing for an important airlines deal appellate ruling.

  • July 05, 2024

    How Reshaped Circuit Courts Are Faring At The High Court

    Seminal rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court's latest term will reshape many facets of American society in the coming years. Already, however, the rulings offer glimpses of how the justices view specific circuit courts, which have themselves been reshaped by an abundance of new judges.

  • July 05, 2024

    Breaking Down The Vote: The High Court Term In Review

    The U.S. Supreme Court's lethargic pace of decision-making this term left the justices to issue a slew of highly anticipated and controversial rulings during the term's final week — rulings that put the court's ideological divisions on vivid display. Here, Law360 takes a data dive into the numbers behind this court term.

  • July 05, 2024

    High Court Flexes Muscle To Limit Administrative State

    The U.S. Supreme Court's dismantling of a 40-year-old judicial deference doctrine, coupled with rulings stripping federal agencies of certain enforcement powers and exposing them to additional litigation, has established the October 2023 term as likely the most consequential in administrative law history.

  • July 05, 2024

    The Sharpest Dissents From The Supreme Court Term

    The U.S. Supreme Court's session ended with a series of blockbuster cases that granted the president broad immunity, changed federal gun policy and kneecapped administrative agencies. And many of the biggest decisions fell along partisan lines.

  • July 05, 2024

    5 Moments That Shaped The Supreme Court's Jan. 6 Decision

    When the high court limited the scope of a federal obstruction statute used to charge hundreds of rioters who stormed the Capitol, the justices did not vote along ideological lines. In a year marked by 6-3 splits, what accounts for the departure? Here are some moments from oral arguments that may have swayed the justices.

  • July 05, 2024

    The Funniest Moments Of The Supreme Court's Term

    In a U.S. Supreme Court term teeming with serious showdowns, the august air at oral arguments filled with laughter after an attorney mentioned her plastic surgeon and a justice seemed to diss his colleagues, to cite just two of the term's mirthful moments. Here, we look at the funniest moments of the term.

  • July 05, 2024

    Full 5th Circ. Will Hear Book Ban Case After Split Panel Ruling

    The full Fifth Circuit will weigh in on a divisive battle between librarygoers and Llano County, Texas, officials who removed books dealing with racism and sexuality from the shelves, following a contentious split panel decision that had the majority call the minority "the true library police."

  • July 05, 2024

    Trade Groups Sue Denver Over Gas Stove Ban

    A coalition of trade groups representing the restaurant, home construction, rental housing and propane gas industries have claimed in Colorado federal court that two Denver ordinances that restrict the use of gas appliances can't be enforced because they're preempted by federal law.

  • July 05, 2024

    Walmart Again Gets FTC's Money Transfer Suit Trimmed

    An Illinois federal judge has again pared down the Federal Trade Commission's allegations that Walmart violated consumer protection laws by knowingly processing more than $200 million in fraudulent money transfers, dismissing the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule allegations but keeping intact other claims under the FTC Act.

  • July 05, 2024

    Colo. Appeals Court Invalidates Sheriff's ICE Agreement

    The Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled that a state law prohibits an agreement between the Teller County Sheriff's Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement permitting state and local law enforcement to arrest and detain noncitizens.

  • July 05, 2024

    SEC Issues Guidance On Confidential IPOs

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Corporation Finance Division has issued updated guidance explaining how companies can file confidential registration statements when preparing go-public transactions such as initial public offerings and blank check company mergers.

  • July 05, 2024

    Full 5th Circ. Urged To Revisit Fight Over CFPB Payday Rule

    Payday lender trade groups have formally asked the Fifth Circuit to take another look at parts of their long-running challenge to a payday loan regulation issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, filing a petition that seeks to reopen the case after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned their prior win.

  • July 05, 2024

    Justices Told Revoked Visa Petition Is Reviewable

    A woman whose visa petition for her Palestinian husband was revoked two years after being approved urged the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that courts can review secondary decisions, saying that lower courts' refusal to do so creates an irrational system in which only initial decisions can be reviewed.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    After Chevron: Various Paths For Labor And Employment Law

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    Labor and employment law leans heavily on federal agency guidance, so the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to toss out Chevron deference will ripple through this area, with future workplace policies possibly taking shape through strategic litigation, informal guidance, state-level regulation and more, says Alexander MacDonald at Littler.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • What NYC's Green Fast Track Means For Affordable Housing

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    New York City's Green Fast Track for Housing initiative, which went into effect last month, aims to speed up the environmental review process for modest residential developments and could potentially pave the way for similar initiatives in other cities, say Vivien Krieger and Rachel Scall at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Series

    After Chevron: No Deference, No Difference For SEC Or CFTC

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    The Chevron doctrine did not fundamentally alter the interplay between the courts and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the development of the securities and commodities laws — and its demise will not do so either, says Dan Berkovitz at Millennium Management.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    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.

  • Justices' Bribery Ruling: A Corrupt Act Isn't Necessarily Illegal

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    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.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    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.

  • Takeaways From New HHS Substance Use Disorder Info Rules

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    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.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Expect Few Changes In ITC Rulemaking

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    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.

  • Opinion

    Reform NEPA To Speed Mining Permits, Clean Energy Shift

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    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.

  • Series

    Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    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.

  • 6 PTAB Events To Know From The Last 6 Months

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    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.

  • Key Takeaways From High Court's Substitute Expert Decision

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    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.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

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    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.

  • How Generative AI May Aid Merger Clearance Process

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    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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