Public Policy

  • June 28, 2024

    High Court Bends, But Doesn't Break, FERC Enforcement

    The U.S. Supreme Court's new limits on administrative law judge powers has injected fresh uncertainty into how the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission conducts its enforcement process, but the justices haven't upended the agency's reliance on its in-house court system, FERC watchers say.

  • June 28, 2024

    Calif. Panel Won't Toss Trial Win By AT&T's Cricket

    Cricket Communications Inc. won't have to worry about a 2018 jury trial win being kiboshed after a California appeals court ruled that when it overturned a pretrial ruling because a previous judge failed to disclose that he owned AT&T stock, it didn't mean the entire trial should be undone.

  • June 28, 2024

    Shifting Legal Positions Behind High Court Abortion Punt

    Rapid developments in Idaho abortion law paved the way for a fractured U.S. Supreme Court decision that leaves doctors in the state in murky legal waters around providing abortions to patients in medical crisis.

  • June 28, 2024

    Biden Extends Deportation Protections For 309K Haitians

    The Biden administration on Friday expanded a humanitarian immigration program to provide temporary deportation relief to roughly 309,000 Haitians currently living in the U.S. who can't safely return to their war-torn Caribbean nation where gang violence has escalated in recent months.

  • June 28, 2024

    Top Delaware Court Tosses Voting Law Challenge

    Delaware's Supreme Court on Friday reversed a Superior Court strike-down of two state statutes on voting procedures, finding that the plaintiffs had no standing to sue because they hadn't shown any "imminent, particularized" harm.

  • June 28, 2024

    NC Justices Revive Black Property Owners' Bias Suit

    The North Carolina Supreme Court vacated a lower court's dismissal of discrimination claims brought by Black property owners against the city of Kinston alleging that the city targeted Black-owned buildings for condemnation while preserving white-owned buildings as historical, ruling Friday that the lower court applied the wrong legal standard.

  • June 28, 2024

    Buttigieg Says Rescheduling Pot Would Not Alter DOT Policy

    If the U.S. Department of Justice were to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana as it has proposed, it would not affect the U.S. Department of Transportation's authority to screen for the drug, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told members of Congress.

  • June 28, 2024

    House Passes Contentious $833B Defense Spending Bill

    The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed an $833 billion bill funding the Pentagon for 2025, amid a veto threat over contentious issues such as cutting funding for Ukraine and a bar on gender-affirming care.

  • June 28, 2024

    Chevron Reversal's Impact In Trade Cases Likely Limited

    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision on Friday overturning Chevron deference is expected to have wide-ranging impacts, but its effect may be less harsh on international trade litigation where the field is virtually clear of cases invoking the now-defunct standard.  

  • June 28, 2024

    Patent Office Asks For Comments On 'Experimental Use'

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has indicated that it wants to hear what attorneys think about the current state of the "experimental use exception," which permits individuals to infringe a patent when the use is for "philosophical," not commercial, pursuits.

  • June 28, 2024

    Condo Seeks Bar On Enforcement Of Corp. Transparency Act

    A Boston condominium association has asked a federal judge to shield it and other Massachusetts condo boards from enforcement of an anti-money laundering measure, saying the requirement to submit personal information to a government database creates an undue and unnecessary burden on volunteer organizations.

  • June 28, 2024

    DC Circ. Panel Rejects Mich. Tribe's Casino Land Trust Bid

    A D.C. appellate court panel on Friday rejected a Michigan tribe's bid to compel the federal government to take land into trust for a casino venture outside Detroit, saying the court is not convinced that the tribe's proposal to channel a portion of the profits into the tribal community's unmet needs is lawful.

  • June 28, 2024

    More Legal Aid Attys Move To Addiction Epidemic Frontlines

    Aided in part by an influx of settlement money from opioid litigation, a growing number of legal aid groups are offering programs aimed at individuals and families hurt by the addiction crisis, helping them navigate civil legal issues like driver’s license reinstatements, custody and domestic violence issues, and navigating public health benefits.

  • June 28, 2024

    DC Access To Justice Leader On Making Courts User-Friendly

    Erin Larkin, the first director of the D.C. Courts’ newly created Access to Justice unit, recently spoke with Law360 about plans to boost efforts to connect people with legal services and make the courts more accessible.

  • June 28, 2024

    IRS Finalizes Broker Rules For Digital Asset Sales

    Brokers of digital assets such as cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens will face tax reporting requirements for the first time similar to those for brokers of securities and other financial instruments under final regulations issued Friday by the Internal Revenue Service.

  • June 28, 2024

    Tulsa Fights Prisoners' Bids To Join Jurisdiction Row

    The city of Tulsa is fighting bids by nearly a dozen people incarcerated within the Oklahoma Department of Corrections to intervene in a challenge by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation over tribal jurisdiction, arguing that the federal district court first must consider the municipality's motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

  • June 28, 2024

    Jan. 6 Ruling May Help Accused Rioters, But Not Trump

    Experts said Friday that while the U.S. Supreme Court's decision narrowing the use of obstruction of Congress charges could have implications for hundreds of people accused of storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the same count against former president Donald Trump remains buoyed by facts alleged in his election interference indictment.

  • June 28, 2024

    EPA Coal Ash Rules Are Nothing New, DC Circ. Rules

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was enforcing existing rules rather than illegally issuing new ones when it rejected requests by power companies to extend a deadline to comply with regulations governing the cleanup of coal-ash waste facilities, a D.C. Circuit panel ruled Friday.

  • June 28, 2024

    3 Biggest Benefits Policy Developments From 2024's 1st Half

    The U.S. Department of Labor and other agencies finalized significant changes to regulations affecting employee benefits in the first half of 2024. Here are three policy moves that benefits attorneys should have on their radar.

  • June 28, 2024

    Satellite Cos. Call For More Detail On FCC's Space Debris Plan

    Satellite companies are telling the Federal Communications Commission that more work needs to be done before it moves forward on an accidental explosion probability threshold for satellites, with several arguing in recent weeks that the agency needs more comment to establish a clear metric.

  • June 28, 2024

    ITC Advances Probe Into Chinese Disposable Containers

    The U.S. International Trade Commission on Friday advanced an investigation into Chinese imports of disposable aluminum containers, pans, trays and lids after finding that the imports were potentially injuring domestic manufacturing.

  • June 28, 2024

    Texas Judge Who Axed DACA To Retire In January 2025

    U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen — a controversial Republican appointee best known for twice ruling against President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration policy — has announced that he will take senior status on Jan. 2, 2025, allowing the next president to name his replacement.

  • June 28, 2024

    EU Wraps Antitrust Probe Of Microsoft's OpenAI Stake

    The European antitrust authorities have ended their probe into tech giant Microsoft's control of authority in artificial intelligence-powered chatbot ChatGPT's owner OpenAI, but are switching the angle of the investigation in the partnership that could lead to a formal competition probe.

  • June 28, 2024

    Eric Trump Can Shield Most Docs In Ex-Aide's Retaliation Suit

    Eric Trump can assert attorney-client privilege to avoid turning over most of a batch of emails sought by Trump 2016 campaign aide Arlene "AJ" Delgado in her pregnancy retaliation suit claiming she was banished from former President Donald Trump's orbit after a fellow staffer got her pregnant.

  • June 28, 2024

    GOP Rep. Says 'Inherent Contempt' Vote Coming After Recess

    The Republican lawmaker spearheading a new inherent contempt effort for Attorney General Merrick Garland said it has the backing of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and would occur after the July 4 congressional recess.

Expert Analysis

  • To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef

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    To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • What Junk Fee Law Means For Biz In California And Beyond

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    Come July 1, companies doing business in California must ensure that the price of any good or service as offered, displayed or advertised is inclusive of all mandatory fees and other charges in compliance with S.B. 478, which may have a far-reaching impact across the country due to wide applicability, say Alexandria Ruiz and Amy Lally at Sidley Austin.

  • EPA Heavy-Duty Vehicle GHG Rules Face Bumpy Road Ahead

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for owners and operators of heavy-duty vehicles are facing opposition from both states and the transportation industry, and their arguments will mirror two pending cases challenging the EPA's authority, says Grant Laizer at Adams and Reese.

  • 8 Steps Companies Should Take After An Internal Investigation

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    Given the U.S. Department of Justice’s increasing focus on corporate compliance and remediation of misconduct, companies must follow through in several key ways after an internal investigation to ensure history does not repeat itself, say Jonathan Aronie and Joseph Jay at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?

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    Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

  • Opinion

    US Solar Import Probe's Focus On China Is Misguided

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    The U.S. Department of Commerce's recent anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigation focuses on the apparent Chinese ownership of solar device importers in four Southeast Asian countries — a point that is irrelevant under the controlling statute, says John Anwesen at Lighthill.

  • DC Circ. Ruling Heightens HHS Contract Pharmacy Challenges

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    The D.C. Circuit's recent ruling that the Section 340B program does not bar manufacturers from restricting deliveries of discounted drugs to contract pharmacies represents a second strike against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' current contract pharmacy policy and raises the stakes surrounding an upcoming Seventh Circuit ruling on the same issue, say attorneys at Foley Hoag.

  • Ohio Tax Talk: The Legislative Push For Property Tax Relief

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    As Ohio legislators attempt to alleviate the increasing property tax burden, four recent bills that could significantly affect homeowners propose to eliminate replacement property tax levies, freeze property taxes for longtime homeowners, adjust homestead exemptions annually for inflation, and temporarily expand the homestead exemption, say Raghav Agnihotri and Rachael Chamberlain at Frost Brown.

  • Aviation Watch: Mostly Smooth Landing For New FAA Law

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    The recently signed Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act enhances air safety in several key ways, including strengthened passenger rights and cockpit voice recorder requirements, but an expansion of slot exemptions at Reagan National Airport is a notable misstep, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

  • Series

    In The CFPB Playbook: Regulatory Aims Get High Court Assist

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    Newly emboldened after the U.S. Supreme Court last month found that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding is constitutional, the bureau has likely experienced a psychic boost, allowing its already robust enforcement agenda to continue expanding, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • NY Public Campaign Funding May Attract Scrutiny From Feds

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    The upcoming elections across New York this year will be the first under the state’s public campaign finance program — which may broaden federal prosecutors' purview to target state election fraud and corruption, says Jarrod Schaeffer at Abell Eskew.

  • FTC Theories Of Harm After Anesthesia Co. Ruling

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    As Federal Trade Commission litigation against U.S. Anesthesia Partners proceeds following a Texas federal court's recent decision to dismiss a private equity sponsor from the suit, the case attempts to incorporate and advance some of the commission's theories of competitive harm from the final 2023 Merger Guidelines, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • National Security And The Commercial Space Sector: Part 2

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    Strategy documents recently published by the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Space Force confirm the importance of the commercial space sector to the DOD, but say little about achieving the institutional changes needed to integrate commercial capabilities in support of national security in space, say Jeff Chiow and Skip Smith at Greenberg Traurig.

  • FTC Hearing On Fake Review Rule Stressed Compliance Costs

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    The Federal Trade Commission is likely to finalize its proposed rule to prohibit marketers from using deceptive practices in their product reviews after an informal hearing covered arguments over whether costs of implementing the rule, such as review moderation and software maintenance, would be minimal, says Jeffrey Edelstein at Manatt.

  • FTC Focus: Exploring The Meaning Of Orange Book Letters

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    The Federal Trade Commission recently announced an expansion of its campaign to promote competition by targeting pharmaceutical manufacturers' improper Orange Book patent listings, but there is a question of whether and how this helps generic entrants, say Colin Kass and David Munkittrick at Proskauer.

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