Public Policy

  • November 14, 2024

    Gaetz's Slim Legal Resume Raises Concerns Over AG Role

    Having never served as a prosecutor and with minimal experience practicing law, Matt Gaetz would have the thinnest legal resume of any attorney general in recent history and would face a steep learning curve, including daunting leadership challenges, if he were to take up the reins of the U.S. Department of Justice, experts say.

  • November 14, 2024

    Australia Bill Seeks To Expand Rules On Reporting Ownership

    Australia's government wants to fight tax avoidance by making owners of equity derivatives disclose significant owners to regulators and investors, expanding access to that information and giving securities regulators new powers to issue freezing orders for noncompliance, the Australian Treasury said Thursday.

  • November 14, 2024

    RNC, McCormick Say Pa. Counties Counting Ineligible Votes

    Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick and the Republican National Committee have filed separate lawsuits in Pennsylvania, claiming that multiple counties are improperly counting mail-in votes that state courts have previously held should have been disqualified.

  • November 14, 2024

    'We'll Leave It To Others': SEC's Gensler Hints At Exit

    U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler gave a lengthy speech Thursday about his legacy and what remains to be done on regulations related to investors' climate, artificial intelligence and crypto concerns.

  • November 14, 2024

    Judiciary Chair Calls For Release Of Gaetz Ethics Report

    A day after President-elect Donald Trump announced former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz as his pick for attorney general, questions linger on whether the potentially damaging House Ethics Committee report on his alleged sexual misconduct will see the light of day now that he resigned.

  • November 14, 2024

    Trump Picks RFK Jr. To Lead Health & Human Services

    President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent anti-vaccination activist and former presidential candidate, is his nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

  • November 14, 2024

    4th Circ. Nomination Sent To Full Senate With NC Senator's Ire

    The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced on Thursday the nomination of Ryan Young Park, solicitor general of North Carolina, to the Fourth Circuit, with one Republican senator repeating his warning that Park does not have the votes.

  • November 14, 2024

    9th Circ. Says Immigration Board Flubbed Priest's Asylum Bid

    The Ninth Circuit revived a Salvadoran priest's asylum bid, ruling that the Board of Immigration Appeals overlooked the connection between his alleged persecution and his refusal to use his influence as a church leader to support a major political party's agenda.

  • November 14, 2024

    Mass. Justices Open Show-Cause Hearings In Brothel Case

    Massachusetts' highest court said Thursday that the public may access hearings that will determine whether criminal charges will be brought against as-yet unidentified customers of a high-end brothel, a group that potentially includes public officials, corporate executives and individuals with security clearances.

  • November 14, 2024

    NY Contractor Cops To Aiding Theft In Commercial Bribe Case

    A New York contractor pled guilty on Thursday in the Manhattan district attorney's commercial bribery case alleging dozens of construction industry defendants conspired to steal from developers in a sprawling kickback scheme involving $100 million in contracts.

  • November 14, 2024

    DC Circ. Won't Rethink Denial Of Church Tax Exemption

    The D.C. Circuit rejected a request to reconsider the tax status of an Iowa church that used a psychedelic drug in its rites, letting stand its decision that because the church uses a federally illegal drug, it isn't entitled to tax-exempt status.

  • November 14, 2024

    Capri, Tapestry Kill $8.5B Handbag Deal Amid FTC Battle

    Capri Holdings Ltd. and Tapestry Inc. have called off their $8.5 billion merger following an extended regulatory battle with the Federal Trade Commission, with the companies mutually agreeing to terminate the deal because it is "unlikely" to obtain the regulatory approvals needed to close on time, Capri said Thursday.

  • November 13, 2024

    Trump's Card Rate Cap Idea Could See Red State Pushback

    In a glimpse of potential future fault lines between red-state officials and the next Trump administration, West Virginia's top state attorney on Wednesday suggested litigation could be on the table if the White House bucks regulatory restraint to push ideas like capping credit card interest rates.

  • November 13, 2024

    Telecom Co. Lumen's Contract Breach Suit Survives, For Now

    A Colorado federal judge on Tuesday ruled that an engineering consulting firm is liable to telecommunications company Lumen Technologies for damages caused by a subcontractor's faulty structural analysis, but said she couldn't yet rule on whether Florida law and a two-year statute of limitation barred Lumen's claims against the firm.

  • November 13, 2024

    Chinese Hackers Stole Call Data From Telecom Cos., Feds Say

    The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency announced Wednesday that they have identified individuals associated with the Chinese government who have hacked into the networks of multiple telecommunications companies in search of private communications of people involved in government and political activity.

  • November 13, 2024

    UNC Tennis Player Narrows Prize-Money Suit Against NCAA

    A University of North Carolina tennis player is taking another swing at NCAA rules stopping college athletes from accepting prize money in outside tournaments, this time limiting the proposed class action to Division I tennis players rather than athletes in a slew of non-revenue generating college sports.

  • November 13, 2024

    Tempur Sealy Has 'Keys' To Merger, Mattress Firm CEO Says

    Mattress Firm's CEO told a Houston judge Wednesday that he has not had any involvement in Tempur Sealy's post-acquisition agreements with mattress suppliers, testifying that Tempur's board chairman and CEO is the one "driving" the deal.

  • November 13, 2024

    7th Circ. Won't Halt Ind. Gender-Affirming Care For Minors Ban

    A split Seventh Circuit reversed a lower court's preliminary injunction order Tuesday that stopped an Indiana law prohibiting its physicians from providing gender-affirming care through medication to minors, finding the plaintiff's view on the law would result in allowing parents to decline to take a seriously injured child to the hospital.

  • November 13, 2024

    Republic Bank's 'Dysfunction' Enabled Its Failure, FDIC Says

    The former Republic First Bank failed because of its inability to hold certain debt securities, its insufficient liquidity and an ineffective board and management team, according to a post-mortem review issued Wednesday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s watchdog.

  • November 13, 2024

    Wash. Attys Expect Gov. And AG Will Keep Them Busy

    Despite President-elect Donald Trump's anticipated de-emphasis of regulatory enforcement, Washington state antitrust and consumer protection attorneys are still expecting plenty of work in the coming years, as the new Democratic governor-attorney general duo are expected to step up local enforcement.

  • November 13, 2024

    Defenders, Prosecutors Clash On Proposed Wash. Case Caps

    As public defenders called on the Washington Supreme Court on Wednesday to adopt lightened caseload standards to stem the exodus of attorneys from the indigent defense field, prosecutors chalked up those concerns to career dissatisfaction and cautioned the court the updated rules would catapult local governments into budgetary crisis.

  • November 13, 2024

    Transport Co. Wants To End Calif. Family Separation Suit

    Transportation services provider MVM Inc. urged a California federal judge to toss a proposed class action by a father and son who were separated after crossing the border, arguing Tuesday the Trump-era separation policy was enacted by the U.S. government, and that MVM was simply executing its contractual duties.

  • November 13, 2024

    DOJ Doc Pushes For Strong Antitrust Compliance Programs

    Companies hoping antitrust compliance programs will mitigate or even eliminate U.S. Department of Justice criminal prosecution for bid-rigging, price-fixing and market allocation schemes need strong monitoring, remediation, oversight and responsibility, according to new guidance released Tuesday.

  • November 13, 2024

    Md. Electricity 'Greenwashing' Law Is A Muzzle, Judge Told

    A Maryland law attempting to crack down on electricity suppliers' "greenwashing" claims unconstitutionally mandates companies speak about their product in a way that conforms to what the state considers "sustainable energy," a renewable energy company and an advocacy organization argued in Maryland federal court.

  • November 13, 2024

    Cox Eyes Federal Suit After RI Court Tosses BEAD Case

    Cox Communications has signaled that it may sue in federal court after a Rhode Island state judge tossed on jurisdictional grounds its complaint accusing state officials of botching the rollout of federal broadband deployment dollars.

Expert Analysis

  • The State Law Landscape After Justices' Social Media Ruling

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    Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent NetChoice ruling on social media platforms’ First Amendment rights, it’s still unclear if state content moderation laws are constitutional, leaving online operators to face a patchwork of regulation, and the potential for the issue to return to the high court, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • What's Next For Federal Preemption In Financial Services

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    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's review of its preemption interpretations and growing pressure from state regulators signal potential changes ahead for preemption in U.S. financial services, and the path forward will likely involve a reevaluation of the entire framework, say attorneys at Clark Hill.

  • Avoiding Corporate Political Activity Pitfalls This Election Year

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    As Election Day approaches, corporate counsel should be mindful of the complicated rules around companies engaging in political activities, including super PAC contributions, pay-to-play prohibitions and foreign agent restrictions, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Opinion

    Congress Must Do More To Bolster ERISA Protections

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    As the Employee Retirement Income Security Act turns 50 this month, we applaud Congress for championing a statute that protects worker and retiree rights, but further action is needed to ban arbitration clauses in plan provisions and codify regulations imperiled by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Chevron ruling, say Michelle Yau and Eleanor Frisch at Cohen Milstein.

  • Increased Scrutiny Raises Int'l Real Estate Transaction Risks

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    Recently proposed regulations expanding the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States' oversight, a White House divestment order and state-level legislative efforts signal increasing scrutiny of real estate transactions that may trigger national security concerns, say Luciano Racco and Aleksis Fernández Caballero at Foley Hoag.

  • Navigating Cybersecurity Rule Changes For Gov't Contractors

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    As federal contractors evaluate the security of their IT systems, they should keep in mind numerous changes to the Federal Acquisition Regulations and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement recently promulgated to meet new cyber threats, says William Stowe at KBR.

  • Financial Incentives May Alleviate Affordable Housing Crisis

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    There is a wide array of financial incentives and assistance that the government can provide to both real estate developers and individuals to chip away at the housing affordability problem from multiple angles, say Eric DeBear and Madeline Williams at Cozen.

  • How Fund Advisers Can Limit Election Year Pay-To-Play Risks

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    With Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz now the Democratic candidate for vice president, politically active investment advisers should take practical steps to avoid triggering strict pay-to-play rules that can lead to fund managers facing mutli-year timeouts from working with public funds after contributing to sitting officials, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • FTC Focus: What Access To Patent Settlements Would Mean

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    Settling parties should adopt a series of practice tips, including specifying rationales to support specific terms, as the Federal Trade Commission seeks to expand its access to settlements before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, say Shannon McGowan and David Munkittrick at Proskauer.

  • Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles

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    Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.

  • How NJ Temp Equal Pay Survived A Constitutional Challenge

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    The Third Circuit recently gave the New Jersey Temporary Workers' Bill of Rights a new lease on life by systematically dismantling multiple theories of the act's unconstitutionality brought by staffing agencies hoping to delay their new equal pay and benefits obligations, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

  • Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.

  • Opinion

    CFPB's AI Stance Backslides On Innovation Issues

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent response to a Treasury Department's request for information about artificial intelligence in the financial services sector uses alarmist rhetoric about the technology's risks, ceding an opportunity to help shape this important discussion, says Mike Silver at Husch Blackwell.

  • Strategies To Defend Against Healthcare Nuclear Verdicts

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    The healthcare industry is increasingly the target of megaclaims, particularly those alleging medical malpractice, but attorneys representing providers can use a few tools to push back on flimsy litigation and reduce the likelihood of a nuclear verdict, says LaMar Jost at Wheeler Trigg.

  • 5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond

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    As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.

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