Public Policy

  • August 21, 2024

    USPTO Argues Not All New Rules Call For Public Comments

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office told the U.S. Supreme Court that forcing the agency to solicit public comments before instituting a new home address requirement for registering trademarks would be too much work.

  • August 21, 2024

    Judge Skeptical Ex-Murder Suspect Can Sue Embattled DA

    A Colorado federal judge appeared to have doubts Wednesday about the prospects of a malicious prosecution lawsuit brought by a man initially charged with the murder of his wife, asking how the lawsuit can defeat immunity for police and prosecutors.

  • August 21, 2024

    10th Circ. Says Ex-Prosecutor Still Hasn't Proven Immunity

    A Tenth Circuit panel on Wednesday said a former Denver deputy district attorney had not yet proven that she was entitled to qualified immunity in a malicious-prosecution case dating back more than a decade, the second time the appeals court has reversed a procedural win for the prosecutor.

  • August 21, 2024

    Signal Peak Can't Hasten DOI's Coal Mine Review, Judge Says

    A D.C. federal judge ruled Wednesday that it would be premature to order federal regulators to speed up their environmental review of Signal Peak Energy LLC's planned expansion of a Montana coal mine, saying the federal government still has time to make good on its deadlines.

  • August 21, 2024

    Prometheum Plans To Support Two More Crypto 'Securities'

    A cryptocurrency startup approved to safeguard crypto securities said Wednesday that it plans to support the tokens UNI and ARB when it launches in the fall, indicating it believes the digital assets implicate securities laws.

  • August 21, 2024

    Ga. City Asks Full 11th Circ. To Review Race Bias Suit Revival

    A southern Georgia city is urging the full Eleventh Circuit to reconsider a panel decision that revived a white city manager's lawsuit claiming it unlawfully fired him to hire a Black woman, arguing the panel improperly extended the alleged discriminatory intent of one Black city commissioner onto other Black commissioners.

  • August 21, 2024

    Dartmouth's Refusal To Bargain Is Illegal, Hoops Union Says

    The union representing men's basketball players at Dartmouth College accused the university of illegally refusing to negotiate, according to an unfair labor practice charge obtained by Law360 on Wednesday, as the school aims to challenge in federal court whether collegiate athletes are employees under federal labor law.

  • August 21, 2024

    Hunters, Breeder Want Puppy Import Ban Paused During Suit

    Hunting groups and a breeder urged a Michigan federal court Wednesday to pause a health policy that bars them from bringing puppies younger than six months old into the U.S., arguing the ban will harm them if it remains active during their legal challenge.

  • August 21, 2024

    Judge Bars DOD Policy Blocking HIV-Positive Enlistees

    A Virginia federal judge has struck down a U.S. Department of Defense policy barring HIV-positive people from joining the military, saying the DOD had failed to take current scientific evidence on HIV treatment and transmission into account.

  • August 21, 2024

    US Army Escapes Nebraska Tribe's Repatriation Suit

    A federal district court judge won't order the U.S. Army to repatriate the remains of two Native American children from a boarding school cemetery in Pennsylvania, saying provisions of a law designed to protect Indigenous burial sites don't apply to the 180 children entombed there for more than a century.

  • August 21, 2024

    Fla. High Court Rejects Petition Against Abortion Measure Info

    Florida's high court Wednesday rejected a petition from a group challenging the financial impact statement attached to a measure legalizing abortion up to 24 weeks that's slated to appear on the state's ballot in November, saying they never initially challenged a committee's authority to revise a statement they considered flawed.

  • August 21, 2024

    Split 5th Circ. Revives Cameroonian Anglophone's Asylum Bid

    A split Fifth Circuit has revived a Cameroonian nurse's asylum bid, saying in a published opinion that the Board of Immigration Appeals disregarded evidence he offered to prove that the Cameroonian military wanted him dead for purportedly being an English-speaking separatist.

  • August 21, 2024

    Ga. Strip Clubs Push High Court For Tax-Free Dances

    A coalition of Georgia strip clubs labored to convince the state's highest court Wednesday that a nearly decade-old tax on their businesses, used by the state to fund child trafficking prevention efforts, is unconstitutional by infringing upon their First Amendment rights to put on nude dances.

  • August 21, 2024

    Daughter Keeps $9.2M Win In Father's Med Mal Death Suit

    A Georgia appeals court affirmed a $9.2 million wrongful death verdict in favor of a woman whose father died of complications following surgery, rejecting the medical center's argument that the evidence couldn't support the verdict.

  • August 21, 2024

    Feds Chide Iowa's 'Implausible' Immigration Law Defense

    The Biden administration is urging the Eighth Circuit to reject Iowa's defense of a state law criminalizing the presence of previously deported noncitizens in the state, suggesting Iowa is mischaracterizing the law in an effort to skirt U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

  • August 21, 2024

    Minn. Justices OK Denial Of Homestead Tax Break

    A Minnesota property was correctly denied a homestead classification and property tax break because the owner did not live at the home as required, the state Supreme Court said Wednesday, affirming a state tax court decision.

  • August 21, 2024

    EPA Urges 8th Circ. Not To Delay Power Plant Effluent Rule

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and green groups on Tuesday asked the Eighth Circuit not to block the implementation of a rule that set new wastewater standards for coal-fired power plants, as utility companies, trade groups and nearly two dozen states that oppose the rule have urged.

  • August 21, 2024

    Dems At DNC Push For High Court Reform

    Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday made the case at an event adjacent to the Democratic National Convention that U.S. Supreme Court reform is an issue that everyday Americans should care about and championed the progress made thus far. 

  • August 21, 2024

    Oath Keepers Atty Pleads Guilty In Jan. 6 Case

    A former attorney for the far-right Oath Keepers group pled guilty Wednesday to charges connected to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, copping to entering restricted Capitol grounds and advising Oath Keepers affiliates to delete incriminating digital evidence following the riot.

  • August 21, 2024

    Paxton Issues Warrants To Texas Counties In Election Inquiry

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Wednesday that his office had executed multiple search warrants in Frio, Atascosa, and Bexar counties as part of an ongoing investigation into election integrity.

  • August 21, 2024

    Oregon Judge Grants EPA Partial Win In Water Pollution Suit

    An Oregon federal judge rejected a conservation group's contention that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must step in and act because Oregon has effectively submitted no total maximum daily load plans to set appropriate pollution limits for hundreds of impaired waterways, some of which have been considered impaired for decades.

  • August 21, 2024

    Ohio Justice Pulls Appeals Judge Into Party Label Challenge

    Ohio Court of Appeals Chief Judge Thomas J. Osowik is now ensnared in state Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner's challenge to a state law requiring candidates for Ohio's appellate courts to list their political party affiliation on the ballot, appearing as a defendant in a retooled version of her complaint.

  • August 21, 2024

    City Health Administrator Says Firing Flouted Constitution

    A former city of Bridgeport healthcare administrator says she learned via a one-page, hand-delivered letter at the close of business on April 1 that she was immediately losing her job, a move she says violated the 14th Amendment because she received neither a warning nor an opportunity for a hearing.

  • August 21, 2024

    Satanists Ask 1st Circ. To Rethink Boston's Prayer Scheme

    A satanic temple wants the full First Circuit to rehear its suit seeking to participate in a blessing at Boston City Council meetings, arguing in a petition that the city's discriminatory prayer selection practice is straight out of a George Orwell novel.

  • August 21, 2024

    Alaska Seeks Pause In Mining Row Suit With EPA

    The state of Alaska is calling on a district court judge to pause litigation accusing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of unlawfully prohibiting development of the Pebble mineral deposit in the southwestern region of the state, while the agency attempts to withhold documents from the public.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    After Chevron: Expect Limited Changes In USPTO Rulemaking

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling overturning Chevron deference will have limited consequences for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office given the USPTO's unique statutory features, but it is still an important decision for matters of statutory interpretation, especially those involving provisions of the America Invents Act, say Andrei Iancu and Cooper Godfrey at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • Preparing For CFPB 'Junk Fee' Push Into Mortgage Industry

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    As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau considers expanding its "junk fee" initiative into mortgage closing costs, mortgage lenders and third parties must develop plans now that anticipate potential rulemaking or enforcement activity in this space, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For Nationwide Race-Based Hair Protections

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    While 24 states have passed laws that prohibit race-based hair discrimination, this type of bias persists in workplaces and schools, so a robust federal law is necessary to ensure widespread protection, says Samone Ijoma and Erica Roberts at Sanford Heisler.

  • Series

    After Chevron: EEOC Status Quo Will Likely Continue

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    As the legal landscape adjusts to the end of Chevron deference, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s rulemaking authority isn’t likely to shift as much as some other employment-related agencies, says Paige Lyle at FordHarrison.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Impact On Indian Law May Be Muted

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    Agency interpretations of Indian law statutes that previously stood the test of judicial review ​are likely to withstand new challenges even after the end of Chevron deference, but litigation in the area is all but certain, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Opinion

    Trump Immunity Ruling Upends Our Constitutional Scheme

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s Trump v. U.S. decision elevates the president to imperial status and paves the way for nearly absolute presidential immunity from potential criminal prosecutions — with no constitutional textual support, says Paul Berman at the George Washington University Law School.

  • High Court Paves Middle Ground For Proceedings Obstruction

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Fischer sensibly leaves the door open for prosecutors to make more nuanced assessments as to whether defendants' actions directly or tangentially impair the availability or integrity of anything used in an official proceeding, without criminalizing acts such as peaceful demonstrations, say attorneys at Perry Law.

  • How High Court Approached Time Limit On Reg Challenges

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve Board effectively gives new entities their own personal statute of limitations to challenge rules and regulations, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh's concurrence may portend the court's view that those entities do not need to be directly regulated, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

  • Series

    Florida Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The second quarter of 2024 brought two notable bills that will affect Florida's banking and finance community across many issues, including virtual currency abandonment, cancellation of financial services on the basis of political opinions, and the exemption amount of motor vehicles, say Joshua Prever and Andrew Balthazor at Holland & Knight.

  • Series

    After Chevron: FTC's 'Unfair Competition' Actions In Jeopardy

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court's decision ending Chevron deference will have limited effect on the Federal Trade Commission's merger guidelines, administrative enforcement actions and commission decisions on appeal, it could restrict the agency's expansive take on its rulemaking authority and threaten the noncompete ban, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

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    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Opportunities For Change In FHFA Practices

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the Chevron doctrine should lead to better cooperation between the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Congress, and may give the FHFA a chance to embrace transparency and innovation and promote sustainable housing practices, says Mehdi Sinaki at Michelman & Robinson.

  • Constitutional Protections For Cannabis Companies Are Hazy

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    Cannabis businesses are subject to federal enforcement and tax, but often without the benefit of constitutional protections — and the entanglement of state and federal law and conflicting judicial opinions are creating confusion in the space, says Amber Lengacher at Purple Circle.

  • Supreme Court's ALJ Ruling Carries Implications Beyond SEC

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    In its recent Jarkesy opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court limited the types of cases that can be tried before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's in-house administrative law judges, setting the stage for challenges to the constitutionality of ALJs across other agencies, say Robert Robertson and Kimberley Church at Dechert.

  • Opinion

    A Tale Of 2 Trump Cases: The Rule Of Law Is A Live Issue

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this week in Trump v. U.S., holding that former President Donald Trump has broad immunity from prosecution, undercuts the rule of law, while the former president’s New York hush money conviction vindicates it in eight key ways, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

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