Public Policy

  • November 19, 2024

    Feds Defend BLM Authority In States' Methane Rule Challenge

    The Biden administration has urged a North Dakota federal court to grant it a summary judgment win in five states' lawsuit challenging a new rule aimed at cracking down on natural gas waste, defending the rule's creation as being well within the Bureau of Land Management's statutory authority.

  • November 19, 2024

    DOJ Effort To Force Google Chrome Sale Draws Criticism

    Google's regulatory chief and at least one trade group are blasting a reported push from the U.S. Department of Justice to seek expansive remedies and potentially force a sale of Google Chrome in an ongoing court battle with the tech giant.

  • November 19, 2024

    FCC To Vote On More Credit Options To Back Broadband Aid

    The Federal Communications Commission is poised to allow more financial institutions to issue letters of credit that broadband providers can rely on to secure federal funding for high-speed infrastructure projects.

  • November 19, 2024

    After Biden-Era Rebuild, EPA Staff Brace For Trump Term 2

    Many U.S. Environmental Protection Agency employees are gearing up for President-elect Donald Trump's second term with a promise to fight any efforts to dramatically reduce staffing levels and pointing to new union contract protections to bolster claims that they're prepared.

  • November 19, 2024

    SF Urges Calif. Panel To Rethink Waymo City Approval

    The city and county of San Francisco urged a California appellate court Tuesday to find the California Public Utilities Commission abused its discretion in allowing Waymo to operate self-driving vehicles on city streets without imposing requirements, arguing "there are no guardrails" even though the cars pose serious safety hazards.

  • November 19, 2024

    Senators Blast Visa And Mastercard, Promise Action On Fees

    A bipartisan group of Senate Judiciary Committee members blasted executives from Visa and Mastercard on Tuesday over swipe fees charged to merchants, promising to rein in what the lawmakers called the companies' monopoly on credit card payments if they do not change their practices.

  • November 19, 2024

    LA Waterkeeper Sues Union Pacific Over Pollution Controls

    The Los Angeles Waterkeeper slapped Union Pacific Railroad Co. with a complaint in California federal court, alleging the company's failure to implement pollution controls at four industrial facilities has led to hazardous discharges of heavy metals and oils into the San Jose Creek, San Gabriel River and other bodies of water.

  • November 19, 2024

    Pa. Candidates Launch Litigation Blitz To Settle Tight Race

    With Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick ahead of incumbent Democrat Bob Casey by fewer than 18,000 votes in Pennsylvania's unofficial count Tuesday, the candidates and their political parties have turned to filing lawsuits against individual counties over their decisions to include or exclude relatively small numbers of provisional ballots in their totals.

  • November 19, 2024

    Ga. Panel Says 190-Year-Old Marshland Grant Is Valid

    A Georgia appellate court has sided with a company seeking to retain ownership of 1,000 acres of Georgia coastal marshland by using an 1834 document in which the state granted the land to the company's predecessor-in-title.

  • November 19, 2024

    Utah Counties, Feds Ask Justices To Restore Rail Oil Project

    Utah counties and the federal government fired back at a Colorado county's attempt to affirm a D.C. Circuit ruling that overturned federal approval of a rail project intended to haul crude oil out of Utah's Uinta Basin, telling the U.S. Supreme Court in separate briefs the county's understanding of the National Environmental Policy Act is incorrect.

  • November 19, 2024

    NC Lt. Gov.'s Defamation Spat With CNN Tapped For Mediation

    North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a 2024 gubernatorial candidate who sued CNN over a story about his alleged posts on a porn site, is having his defamation case moved to mediation, according to a Tuesday filing.

  • November 19, 2024

    Chicago Transit Authority Hit With Genetic Privacy Lawsuit

    The Chicago Transit Authority is facing a new lawsuit in Illinois state court that was brought by job applicants, who allege the agency's questions about family medical histories violated an Illinois law barring employers from asking about genetic information and using it to make employment decisions.

  • November 19, 2024

    G20 To Cooperate On Soft Law For Taxing Ultra-Wealthy

    Leaders of the world's largest economies intend to cooperate on taxing "ultra-high-net-worth individuals" through soft law approaches such as exchanging best practices and creating model policies that address tax avoidance, according to a Group of 20 Nations declaration.

  • November 19, 2024

    Recount Underway In Tight NC Supreme Court Race

    The votes for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat that Democratic incumbent Justice Allison Riggs has clinched by a narrow margin will be recounted starting Wednesday, at the behest of her Republican opponent, according to the state Board of Elections.

  • November 19, 2024

    Claims Court Won't Toss $40B Ligado Spectrum Takings Case

    A Court of Federal Claims judge has allowed Ligado Networks' $40 billion suit against the federal government over an alleged unconstitutional taking of licensed 5G spectrum to move forward, saying the claims court had jurisdiction over the dispute.

  • November 19, 2024

    In 'Perplexing' Move, Ga. Appeals Court Cuts Trump Oral Args

    Attorneys described the Georgia Court of Appeals' decision this week to cancel oral arguments over whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be disqualified from the election interference case against former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants as "perplexing," saying it may be the result of Trump's recent reelection or simply having enough information already to make a decision.

  • November 19, 2024

    Caseload Too Large For Ally Visa Processing Plan, Feds Say

    The Biden administration told a D.C. federal judge Monday that a revised plan to process special visas for Afghan and Iraqi allies is unrealistic due to an uptick in applications it received following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

  • November 19, 2024

    Trump Taps Dr. Oz For CMS Head

    President-elect Donald Trump announced on Tuesday he will nominate TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz to be administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

  • November 19, 2024

    Ex-NJ Prosecutor Seeks To Revive Claims Over Resignation

    A former Garden State county prosecutor has asked a state court to rethink its dismissal of his claim that his resignation was involuntary, arguing the court only partially addressed one of the two legal theories raised.

  • November 19, 2024

    US Chamber, Biz Groups Back Halt Of Ill. Temp Worker Law

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other organizations backed a bid by a group of staffing associations and agencies to block enforcement of an Illinois law mandating benefits for long-term temporary workers, saying the amended law still distorts the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • November 19, 2024

    Senate Confirms Oregon Judge Following Many GOP Hurdles

    The Senate voted 51-44 on Tuesday to confirm Magistrate Judge Mustafa Taher Kasubhai to the District of Oregon following hours of Republicans' delay tactics the night before.

  • November 19, 2024

    DHS Says It Conducted Another Removal Flight To China

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it has conducted another chartered removal flight to China, marking the third time in six months that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has deported Chinese nationals via flight.

  • November 19, 2024

    1st Circ. Won't Pause Prison Phone Rate Caps

    The First Circuit said it won't stop the Federal Communications Commission from enforcing new caps on rates charged for prison phone calls while service providers challenge the rules in court.

  • November 19, 2024

    Unjust PJM Power Auction Rules Must Be Redone, FERC Told

    State consumer advocates want the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to rewrite the electricity capacity auction rules for the nation's largest regional grid operator, saying PJM Interconnection's existing rules unjustly saddle consumers with billions of dollars of extra costs.

  • November 19, 2024

    Trump Names Wall St. Exec For Chief Commerce Role

    Donald Trump will nominate longtime Wall Street financier Howard Lutnick to head up the U.S. Department of Commerce, the president-elect announced Tuesday, selecting a top member of his transition team to oversee a vast bureaucracy that grapples with key trade policies.

Expert Analysis

  • Legislation Most Likely To Pass In Lame Duck Session

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    As Congress begins its five-week post-election lame duck session, attorneys at Greenberg Traurig break down the legislative priorities and which proposals can be expected to pass.

  • Predicting Shareholder Activism Trends In New Trump Admin

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    While President-elect Donald Trump has promised tax policies, deregulation and lax antitrust enforcement — which all fuel shareholder activism — a closer look at his first administration's track record suggests that his second presidency might be a mixed bag for activist investors and companies alike, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • What Trump's 2nd Presidency Could Mean For Crypto Sector

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    Trump's second term will bring a fundamental shift from the Biden administration's approach to crypto-asset regulation and banking supervision, with the most significant changes likely taking effect in the first two quarters of 2025 and broader policy shifts emerging over the next year, say attorneys at Cahill.

  • Promoting Diversity In The Selection Of ADR Neutrals

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Choosing neutrals from diverse backgrounds is an important step in promoting inclusion in the legal profession, and it can enhance the legitimacy and public perception of alternative dispute resolution proceedings, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Opinion

    Preserving The FCA Is Crucial In Trump's 2nd Term

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    While the Trump administration may pursue weaker False Claims Act enforcement, it remains an essential tool in safeguarding public funds and maintaining corporate accountability, so now is not the time to undermine ethical behavior, or reduce protections and incentives for whistleblowers, says Adam Pollock at Pollock Cohen.

  • Series

    Playing Ultimate Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    In addition to being fun, ultimate Frisbee has improved our legal careers by emphasizing the importance of professionalism, teamwork, perseverance, enthusiasm and vulnerability, say Arunabha Bhoumik and Adam Bernstein at Regeneron. 

  • High Court 'Violent Crimes' Case Tangled Up In Hypotheticals

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    In Delligatti v. U.S., the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next week on whether attempted murder constitutes a crime of violence, and because the court’s interpretive approach thus far has relied on hairsplitting legal hypotheticals with absurd results, Congress should repeal the underlying statute, say attorneys at Patterson Belknap.

  • Dissecting New Circuit Split Over SEC's Proxy Adviser Rule

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    The Sixth Circuit recently upheld the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's partial rescission of enhanced conflict-of-interest disclosure requirements for proxy voting advice businesses, creating a circuit split over broader questions concerning the standard for assessing the legality of agency actions in general, say attorneys at Cahill Gordon.

  • Tracking The Slow Movement Of AI Copyright Cases

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    The tech community may be expecting a prompt resolution on whether products generated by artificial intelligence are a fair use of copyrighted works, but legal history shows that a response to this question — at the heart of over 30 pending cases — will take years, say attorneys at White & Case.

  • Federal Salary History Ban's Reach Is Limited

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    Though a newly effective Office of Personnel Management rule takes important steps by banning federal employers from considering job applicants' nonfederal salary histories, the rule's narrow applicability and overconfidence in the existing system's fairness will likely not end persistent pay inequities, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.

  • Call For Input Shows How Banks, Fintechs Can Address Risks

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    A recent request for information by federal banking regulators suggests that watchdogs are zeroing in on the bank-fintech partnerships they have long perceived as risky to consumers, but analyzing the publication can help companies anticipate regulators’ chief concerns and take steps to avoid becoming enforcement targets, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • How Property Insurance Coverage Shrank After The Pandemic

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    Insurers litigating property claims are leveraging rulings that provided relief in the COVID-19 context to reverse the former majority rule on physical loss or damage in all contexts, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • Considering Chevron's End Through A State Tax Lens

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    States took the lead in encouraging Chevron's demise, turning away from Chevron-type deference in state tax administration ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision, a trend likely to accelerate as courts take a more active role in interpreting tax laws, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • NYC Hotel Licensing Law's Costs May Outweigh Its Benefits

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    A hotel licensing bill recently approved by New York's City Council could lead to the loss of many nonunionized hotels that cannot afford to comply, says Stuart Saft at Holland & Knight.

  • The Unfolding Potential of Green Hydrogen In Brazil

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    A new federal law in Brazil establishing a legal framework for hydrogen development is the country's latest step toward creating a favorable environment for green hydrogen production, but significant challenges — including high production costs, technological hurdles and a lack of infrastructure — remain, says David Andrew Taylor at Almeida Advogados.

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