Public Policy

  • December 04, 2024

    Civil Atty Named Winner Over Judge For Wash. High Court Seat

    Civil attorney Sal Mungia has been elected to an open seat on Washington's highest court, edging out Seattle-area municipal judge Dave Larson by less than 1% of the vote, according results from the Nov. 5 election that were finalized on Wednesday.

  • December 04, 2024

    Solar Co. Targeted By Conn. AG Denies Deceiving Consumers

    Bright Planet Solar Inc. has denied the Connecticut attorney general's claims that it lured unsuspecting consumers into signing long-term contracts without adequate consent and performed unauthorized home improvements, telling a court that it acted in concert with "reasonable commercial practices."

  • December 04, 2024

    Trump Picks Ex-Congressman For IRS Commissioner

    President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday he has tapped a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives to lead the Internal Revenue Service during his coming second term.

  • December 04, 2024

    Live Nation Shields Legal Strategy Emails From DOJ Scrutiny

    A Manhattan federal judge rejected the U.S. Department of Justice's bid to see emails between Live Nation Entertainment Inc. lawyers and counsel for arena operator Oak View Group, holding Wednesday that these communications discussed a joint legal strategy for the government's antitrust investigation.

  • December 04, 2024

    Heritage Foundation Pitches More Immigration Curbs

    The Heritage Foundation has issued dozens of policy recommendations for the incoming Trump administration, including due process limitations for migrants, an end to birthright citizenship, and empowering judges to more quickly dismiss immigration claims.

  • December 04, 2024

    9th Circ. Keeps Block Of Idaho AG's Abortion Ban Stance

    The Ninth Circuit notched a win for Idaho doctors Wednesday, upholding a temporary block preventing Idaho's attorney general from enforcing his interpretation of the state's abortion ban that he said prohibits doctors from referring women across state lines to receive abortion care. 

  • December 04, 2024

    Jackson's 'Quite Worried' About Equal Protection Precedent

    The U.S. Supreme Court's Republican-appointed justices' apparent willingness Wednesday to rule that a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming healthcare for transgender minors didn't rely on sex-based classifications worried Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who warned that such a decision would undermine decades of the court's equal protection clause precedent.

  • December 04, 2024

    Colo. Co's Alleged Kickback Scheme Ends In $2M Settlements

    A Colorado neuromonitoring company, its founder and two others have agreed to pay more than $2 million to end a False Claims Act lawsuit alleging they participated in a kickback scheme to get surgeons to order neuromonitoring services covered by federal programs.

  • December 04, 2024

    CFTC Hits $17.1B Enforcement Record With FTX-Linked Deals

    The Commodity Futures Trading Commission secured a record annual enforcement haul of more than $17.1 billion in fiscal year 2024, including a historic $12.7 billion judgment against failed crypto exchange FTX and its affiliated trading firm Alameda Research, the agency announced Wednesday.

  • December 04, 2024

    DEA Judge Sets Pot Rescheduling Hearings

    The Drug Enforcement Administration will kick off six weeks of hearings in late January on the merits of the attorney general's proposal to loosen restrictions on marijuana, an agency administrative law judge said Wednesday.

  • December 04, 2024

    NY Judge Says ICE Must Open Files Over 'No Release' Policy

    A New York federal judge has ordered the U.S. government to produce files on eight noncitizens that the New York Civil Liberties Union says show the government is breaking its promise to stop preventing people suspected of civil immigration offenses from posting bail.

  • December 04, 2024

    9th Circ. Open To Reviving Wash. Profs' Email Privacy Suit

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday expressed support for two University of Washington professors who allege their constitutional rights were violated by a state ethics board probe of their emails, with one judge saying he was troubled by the state's contention the professors' claims were merely speculative.

  • December 04, 2024

    Building Contractor Agrees To End No-Hire Pacts

    Guardian Service Industries Inc. has agreed to stop enforcing no-hire agreements in its contracts that prevent building owners and managers from hiring the service contractor's employees after pressure from the Federal Trade Commission and state enforcers.

  • December 04, 2024

    RealPage Says DOJ's Antitrust Markets 'Hide The Ball'

    RealPage has urged a North Carolina federal court to throw out the government's antitrust case against it, arguing that enforcers have not shown that use of its software is raising rental rates in any part of the country and that landlords use it to offer competitive rents.

  • December 04, 2024

    Rep. Raskin's Judiciary Hopes Rise After Nadler Drops Out

    Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland is one step closer to becoming the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, after New York Rep. Jerry Nadler dropped his bid for the job on Wednesday.

  • December 04, 2024

    Hoopa Valley Tribe Wants In On Trinity River Water Row

    The Hoopa Valley Tribe is looking to intervene in a challenge to the Bureau of Reclamation over its operation of California's Trinity River water flows in an effort to dismiss the case, arguing that the litigation can't proceed without it, due to its federal property interests in the dispute.

  • December 04, 2024

    Frontier To Pay $288K FCC Fine Over Broadband Data

    Frontier Communications has agreed to pay almost $288,000 to end a Federal Communications Commission probe into a Wisconsin agency's claims that the internet service provider submitted inaccurate information to the FCC during a challenge to data used in mapping national broadband service, according to a consent decree made public Wednesday.

  • December 04, 2024

    Trump Nominates SpaceX Mission Leader As NASA Chief

    President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated Jared Isaacman, the commander of two landmark private space missions and CEO of a payment processing firm, as NASA's next administrator, saying Isaacman would "drive NASA's mission of discovery and inspiration."

  • December 04, 2024

    Uber Didn't Have To Collect Tax Pre-Wayfair, Court Told

    Uber was not required before the Wayfair decision to collect and remit millions in sales taxes on behalf of drivers and customers who use its app, an attorney for the ride-hailing company told a Georgia appellate panel Wednesday, urging the panel to overturn a trial court.

  • December 04, 2024

    Feds Say 5th Circ. Ruling Can't Save Iowa's Immigration Law

    The Biden administration told the Eighth Circuit on Wednesday that a recent Fifth Circuit decision barring federal border agents from removing Texas' wire barriers has no relevance to its challenge to Iowa's law criminalizing the presence of previously deported noncitizens.

  • December 04, 2024

    Ft. Lauderdale Agrees To $1.97M Deal With Floyd Protester

    Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has agreed to pay $1.97 million and implement a change in police department policies in a federal lawsuit brought by a protester who was shot in the face with a less-than-lethal projectile during a demonstration over the death of George Floyd in May 2020.

  • December 04, 2024

    SEC Taps New Co-Leaders For Crypto Enforcement Unit

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has promoted the assistant director of its crypto and cyber enforcement unit and a counsel to an outgoing Democratic commissioner to co-lead the regulator's crypto enforcement efforts ahead of a coming administration shake-up that could change the agency's approach to the digital asset industry.

  • December 04, 2024

    Outgoing FCC Chief Lacerates With A Grin At 'Telecom Prom'

    Lawyers who gathered for the telecom bar's marquee yearly dinner Tuesday were treated to the traditional night of sardonic wit as the outgoing head of the Federal Communications Commission took aim at the new power structure looming in Washington, D.C.

  • December 04, 2024

    Mass. Justices Probe Extent Of State Immunity In 2 Cases

    The Massachusetts high court on Wednesday mulled how far immunity extends for public employees and state agencies, with one justice questioning why the state is proposing that children in foster care should face the same legal standard as prison inmates.

  • December 04, 2024

    LPGA, USGA Restrict Trans Golfer Eligibility

    Golfers who were not "assigned female at birth" or who transitioned after going through male puberty have been banned from competition by the Ladies Professional Golf Association and the United States Golf Association under new policies governing transgender players announced by the organizations Wednesday.

Expert Analysis

  • Takeaways From DOJ's Intervention On Pricing Algorithm Use

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    A recent U.S. Justice Department amicus brief arguing that a Nevada federal judge wrongly focused on the nonbinding aspect of software company Cendyn Group's pricing algorithm underscores the growing challenge of determining when, if ever, pricing algorithms are legal, say attorneys at Rule Garza.

  • How Trump's 2nd Term May Alter The Immigration Landscape

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    Rhetoric from Donald Trump's campaign and his choice of hardline appointees indicate that a more restrictive and punitive approach to immigration is in our immediate future, especially in areas like humanitarian relief, nonimmigrant visa processing, and travel and green card eligibility, says John Quill at Mintz.

  • What New Calif. Law Means For Cannabis Lounges

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    With a recently enacted California law authorizing licensed cannabis retailers and microbusinesses to prepare and sell noncannabis food and beverages, the door opens for a more sustainable business model — but challenges related to costs and liability remain, says Tracy Gallegos at Duane Morris.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Reframing Document Review

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    For attorneys — new ones especially — there is much fulfillment to find in document review by reflecting on how important, interesting and pleasant it can be, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • A View Into NY's New Business Interruption Insurance Law

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    In response to businesses' economic challenges during the pandemic, New York recently allowed the issuance of stand-alone business interruption insurance coverage, and while pricing and insurer participation questions remain, the product stands to benefit business owners and the state economy, say attorneys at Saxe Doernberger.

  • Rank-And-File DOJ Attorneys Will Keep Calm And Carry On

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    Career prosecutors at the U.S. Department of Justice often pride themselves on their ability to remain apolitical in order to ensure consistency and keep the department’s mission afloat, and the incoming Trump administration is unlikely to upend this tradition, says Michael Landman at Bird Marella.

  • 7 Ways To Prepare For An I-9 Audit Or Immigration Raid

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    Because immigration enforcement is likely to surge under the upcoming Trump administration, employers should take steps to ensure their staff is trained in employment eligibility verification requirements and what to do in the event of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement I-9 audit or workplace raid, say attorneys at Littler.

  • Unpacking Arguments From High Court's Rural Hospital Case

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    During oral arguments in Advocate v. Becerra, the U.S. Supreme Court justices focused questions on the meaning of being "entitled to" supplementary security income assistance, and there's reason for optimism that the likely split decision will break in favor of hospitals, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • Args In 2 High Court Cases May Foretell Clarity For Employers

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    Mary Anna Brand at Maynard Nexsen examines possible employment implications of two cases argued before the Supreme Court this fall, including a higher bar for justifying employees as overtime exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and earlier grants of prevailing party status for employee-plaintiffs seeking attorney fees.

  • How Boards And Officers Should Prep For New Trump Admin

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    In anticipation of President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariffs and mass deportation campaign, company officers and board members should pursue proactive, comprehensive contingency planning to not only advance the best interests of the companies they serve, but to also properly exercise their fiduciary duty of care, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • Implementing Human Rights Due Diligence

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    The Bureau of Industry and Security’s recent removal of a Canadian surveillance provider from its export blacklist, after just eight months, illustrates the importance of integrating human rights due diligence into the vetting process by asking a few targeted questions, say attorneys at Cravath.

  • California Supreme Court's Year In Review

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    Attorneys at Horvitz & Levy highlight notable decisions on major questions from the California Supreme Court's last term, including voter initiatives, hostile work environment and the economic loss rule.

  • 3 Changes Community Banks Should Expect Under Trump

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    A second Trump administration promises a sea change for regional and community banks, including shifts in the regulatory environment, Community Reinvestment Act rules and the M&A landscape, say attorneys at Manatt.

  • DC Circ. Decision Opens Door To NEPA Regulation Litigation

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    A recent D.C. Circuit decision in Marin Audubon Society v. Federal Aviation Administration could open the door to more litigation over the White House Council on Environmental Quality's National Environmental Policy Act regulations, and could affect how many agencies conduct and interpret environmental assessments, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • The Challenges Of Abandoned Retirement Plans In Ch. 7

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    The Department of Labor's rule for unwinding retirement accounts when plan sponsors file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy was intended to alleviate trustees' administration issues, but practical challenges, like unresolved fee and identification matters, could hinder its implementation, say David Goodrich at Golden Goodrich and Nancy Simons at Stretto.

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