Public Policy

  • November 05, 2024

    Audio Worker Says Flagging Ethical Concerns Got Him Fired

    An audio series platform reneged on a promise to offer full-time employment to an independent contractor after he raised concerns about discriminatory content the company was producing and then abruptly fired him when he asked about his promised employment contract, a lawsuit filed in California state court said.

  • November 05, 2024

    States Say EPA 'Wants To Drive The Car' In CWA Row

    Idaho and a coalition of states are asking a North Dakota federal judge to strike down a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule requiring states to consider tribal treaty rights when they set their water quality standards, arguing the agency has no such power under the Clean Water Act.

  • November 05, 2024

    2nd Circ. Blocks Schizophrenic Immigrant's Removal Order

    The Second Circuit on Tuesday vacated an order for a man with schizophrenia to be removed to Jamaica, finding that an immigration judge had failed to adequately ensure that his court proceedings had safeguards to address his mental illness.

  • November 05, 2024

    Election Worker Allegedly Fired For Stewart Show Appearance

    A former polling center supervisor has alleged in Colorado federal court that she was fired by the Denver Clerk and Recorder's Office after appearing on "The Problem With Jon Stewart" in 2022 and expressing concerns about lack of training and threats against election officials.

  • November 05, 2024

    Amazon Bashes Wash. Supreme Court's Price-Gouging Ruling

    Amazon urged a Washington federal judge Monday to toss an updated proposed consumer class action alleging price gouging during the pandemic, saying the claims remain overly broad and the Washington Supreme Court's interpretation of the state's consumer protection law is unconstitutionally vague.

  • November 05, 2024

    Edge Providers Say Data Centers Key To Network Growth

    Data centers will be buzzing with ever more activity in the coming years, and edge providers like Netflix and Amazon want to make sure that U.S. agencies keep up with the network traffic flow, according to a new filing from their national trade group.

  • November 05, 2024

    Meta Ruling Will Fuel Class Actions, Chamber Warns Justices

    Business organizations are backing Meta's appeal of a Ninth Circuit ruling upholding damages class certification for a group of Meta advertisers claiming they were misled about Facebook's ad tools, with the industry outfits telling the U.S. Supreme Court that the Ninth Circuit is out of sync with other circuits on class questions.

  • November 05, 2024

    9th Circ. Rules Biden Couldn't Spike Federal Contractor Wage

    The Federal Property and Administrative Services Act didn't authorize President Joe Biden to mandate a $15 blanket minimum wage for federal contractors, a split Ninth Circuit panel ruled Tuesday, reviving a challenge four states lodged against the government.

  • November 05, 2024

    EPA's Superfund 'Blank Check' Dooms PFAS Rule, Groups Say

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wrote itself a legal "blank check" to increase the number of chemicals subject to required cleanups under federal Superfund law, industry advocates told the D.C. Circuit.

  • November 05, 2024

    Boeing Machinists Ratify New Contract, Ending Strike

    A majority of 33,000 Boeing employees represented by the Machinists union voted Monday to ratify a new labor contract that includes a 38% wage increase over four years, ending a nearly two-month strike that hampered Boeing's production and cash flow.

  • November 05, 2024

    GOP Sens. Say NTIA 'Distorting' US Broadband Access

    Senate Republicans are accusing Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris of "manipulating census data" to conceal the number of people using satellite internet, in their latest attack on the Biden administration and Harris, who they have dubbed the "broadband czar."

  • November 05, 2024

    1st Circ. Doubts Nantucket Has Immunity To Cap Rental Cars

    A First Circuit panel on Tuesday appeared open to reviving a challenge to a Nantucket bylaw that limits the number of licenses for rental cars on the vacation getaway, suggesting the policy is not immune under federal antitrust laws.

  • November 05, 2024

    On Election Eve, Trump Fights Reviving Nixed Charges In Ga.

    With voters set to decide on his bid to return to the White House, former President Donald Trump has urged a Georgia state appeals court to reject an attempt by the Fulton County District Attorney's Office to reinstate six criminal charges against him and five of his co-defendants in an election interference case.

  • November 05, 2024

    FERC Skimped On Pipeline Review, Environmental Groups Say

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission wrongly limited its review of a methane gas pipeline that crosses the U.S.-Mexico border to a 1,000-foot border facility, ignoring the 157-mile U.S.-based pipeline segment that cuts across Western Texas, environmental groups told the D.C. Circuit.

  • November 05, 2024

    Texas Deploys Legal Team Ahead Of Possible Election Fights

    The Texas Office of the Attorney General deployed what it called an "Election Day Rapid Response Legal Team" in several major counties to monitor election activity, preparing for potential legal battles arising the day of the election or in its immediate aftermath.

  • November 05, 2024

    NC Justices' Ruling Invites Judicial Bias, Former Clerk Argues

    A former county clerk of courts is trying to undo a recent North Carolina Supreme Court decision that she argues means that only one judge per county has authority to preside over court clerk removal petitions and that specified judges can't recuse themselves when there is a conflict.

  • November 05, 2024

    NJ Justices To Review Hospitals' Challenge To Charity Care

    The New Jersey Supreme Court has agreed to review a group of Garden State hospitals' challenge to a state law provision requiring hospitals to treat patients regardless of the patient's ability to pay, according to a court order.

  • November 05, 2024

    Conn. Politician Asks To Avoid Jail In Voter Fraud Conspiracy

    A former Connecticut city councilor has asked a federal judge to impose a "non-custodial sentence" after he admitted to a misdemeanor tied to a voter fraud conspiracy, citing his lack of criminal history and a need to support his family.

  • November 05, 2024

    Justices Probe HHS 'Dish' Payment Impact On Rural Hospitals

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday grappled with whether a change to a formula used to calculate billions of dollars in payments every year to hospitals treating a large share of low-income patients would lead to shutdowns of rural and "safety net" hospitals.

  • November 05, 2024

    Spousal Work Permit Rule Doesn't Need Rethink, Feds Say

    The government urged the DC Circuit to deny a full panel hearing to a group of ex-information technology workers challenging a visa work rule, saying the workers hadn't shown that the rule exceeds the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's authority.

  • November 05, 2024

    DOJ Says Ga. Poll Worker Arrested For Bomb Threat Letter

    The U.S. Department of Justice said a Georgia man was arrested on Tuesday after mailing a threatening letter to the superintendent of the Jones County election office in mid-October, a day after the man had served as a poll worker there.

  • November 05, 2024

    RNC Says Ga. Counties Can't Allow Late Absentee Ballots

    Seven Democratic-leaning counties in Georgia have been hit with a lawsuit from the Republican National Committee and its state counterpart trying to block the counties from continuing to accept hand-returned absentee ballots at the "eleventh hour" after the end of early voting last week.

  • November 05, 2024

    Dems Push Insurance Regulators To Tackle Hurricane Fraud

    Three Democrats on the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, including ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, sent letters to insurance regulators in the states hit by hurricanes Helene and Milton urging them to do more to prevent fraud and dishonesty from insurers looking to avoid covering damages.

  • November 05, 2024

    On The Ground: How Attorneys Safeguarded The Election

    Attorneys worked tirelessly Tuesday to support citizens and election workers on the final day of voting in one of history's most contentious presidential contests.

  • November 05, 2024

    Abortion Ballot Tracker: 7 States Add Protections As Fla. Effort Fails

    Residents in seven states voted to enshrine abortion rights in their state constitutions Tuesday while similar efforts failed in three other states, including Florida, where a closely watched and hotly contested ballot issue couldn't muster enough support.

Expert Analysis

  • The Complex Challenges Facing Sustainable Food Packaging

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    More and more states are requiring recycled content to be used in product packaging, creating complex technological and regulatory considerations for manufacturers who must also comply with federal food safety requirements, say Peter Coneski and Natalie Rainer at K&L Gates.

  • Navigating HHS' New Reproductive Healthcare Privacy Rule

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    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' new final rule regarding protections for the privacy of reproductive health information will require regulated entities to grapple with difficult questions about whether to comply with state law requirements or federal privacy prohibitions, says Christine Chasse at Spencer Fane.

  • Illinois May Be Gearing Up To Ban E-Verify

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    Recently passed amendments to the Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act appear to effectively ban the use of E-Verify in the state, but ambiguity means employers will have to weigh the risks of continued use while also taking note of other work authorization requirements imposed by the updates, say Julie Ratliff and Elizabeth Wellhausen at Taft.

  • Int'l Agreements Are Key For Safe Nuclear Waste Disposal

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    By replacing fossil fuels, nuclear energy has the potential to offer a major contribution to the global fight against climate change — but ensuring that nuclear power is safe and sustainable will require binding, multinational agreements for safe nuclear waste disposal, say Ryan Schermerhorn and Christopher Zahn at Marshall Gerstein.

  • Mental Health Parity Rules: Tips For Plans And Issuers

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    Following federal agencies' release of final mental health parity rules, plan sponsors and health insurance issuers should develop protocols for preparing compliant nonquantitative treatment limitation comparative analyses, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Series

    Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.

  • 5th Circ. Shows Admin Rules Can Survive Court Post-Chevron

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    The Fifth Circuit's textual analysis of the Fair Labor Standards Act, contributing to its recent affirming of the U.S. Department of Labor’s authority to set an overtime exemption salary threshold, suggests administrative laws can survive post-Chevron challenges, say Jessi Thaller-Moran and Erin Barker at Brooks Pierce.

  • Applying High Court's Domestic Corruption Rulings To FCPA

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the domestic corruption statutes in three decisions over the past year and a half, it’s worth evaluating whether these rulings may have an impact on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, and if attorneys can use the court’s reasoning in international bribery cases, says James Koukios at MoFo.

  • Proposed Mortgage Assistance Rule: Tips For Servicers

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent proposal to alter Regulation X mortgage servicing procedures to broadly construe requests for assistance, and stay foreclosure proceedings during loss mitigation review, will, if finalized, require mortgage servicers to make notable procedural changes to comply, says Louis Manetti at Locke Lord.

  • How Multifamily Property Owners Can Plan For The EV Future

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    As the electric vehicle market expands, and federal and state incentives and mandates intended to promote EV use come into effect, owners and operators of multifamily residential properties should be prepared to meet the growing demand for onsite EV charging infrastructure, say Sydney Tucker and Andreas Wokutch at Frost Brown.

  • New Law May Move Calif. Toward Fashion Sustainability

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    California’s recently signed Responsible Textile Recovery Act seeks to increase sustainability innovation in the fashion industry, but it could also create compliance hurdles for brands, especially smaller fashion houses that do not have ample resources, say Warren Koshofer and Maggie Franz at Michelman & Robinson.

  • Antitrust In Retail: Why FTC Is Studying 'Surveillance Pricing'

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    The Federal Trade Commission's decision to study targeted "surveillance pricing" should provide greater clarity into the nature of the data aggregation industry, but also raises several issues, including whether these practices are in fact illegal under any established interpretations of U.S. antitrust law, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys

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    Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.

  • Licensing And Protections For Voice Actors In The Age Of AI

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    While two recently enacted California laws and other recent state and federal legislation largely focus on protecting actors and musicians from the unauthorized use of their digital likenesses by generative artificial intelligence systems, the lesser-known community of professional voice actors also stands to benefit, says attorney Scott Mortman.

  • Series

    Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

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    In the third quarter of the year, California continued to be at the forefront of banking regulation as it enacted legislation on unfair banking practices and junk fees, and the state Department of Financial Protection and Innovation notably initiated enforcement actions focused on crypto-assets and student loan debt relief, say Stuart Richter and Eric Hail at Katten.

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