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Public Policy
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October 02, 2024
NC's Med Mal Damages Cap Is Constitutional, Panel Told
North Carolina's cap on compensatory damages in medical negligence suits does not impede a citizen's right to a jury trial and is in line with the state's constitution, according to an attorney appointed to defend the law against a woman seeking to collect her full $7.5 million jury verdict stemming from the loss of her unborn baby.
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October 02, 2024
3rd Firearms Co. Settles Conn. AG's 'Ghost Gun' Suit
Another firearm firm has settled with Connecticut Attorney General William Tong to resolve his claims it was selling "ghost gun" components unlawfully in a deal that involves the company dissolving itself, handing over its web domain and deleting all of its social media, Tong announced Wednesday.
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October 02, 2024
Feds Can Back ND Tribes In 8th Circ. Legislative Privilege Row
The federal government can participate in arguments later this month before an Eighth Circuit panel in support of two North Dakota tribes in a discovery dispute over legislative privilege in an already-decided Voting Rights Act case, the appellate court says.
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October 02, 2024
Ranking House Dems Urge Swift DEA Action On Pot Reform
A pair of House Democratic committee ranking members have urged the Drug Enforcement Administration to act quickly to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana and suggested that federal agencies should consider descheduling the drug altogether.
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October 02, 2024
Madigan Can't Duck Bribery Claims After High Court Ruling
An Illinois federal judge on Wednesday declined to dismiss bribery charges against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan after the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling limiting the reach of a bribery statute that once criminalized gratuities, while also refusing to sever his case from his co-defendant's.
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October 02, 2024
EPA Settles Suit Over Washington Aquatic Cyanide Rules
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agreed to evaluate Washington state's water quality standards for cyanide pollution, resolving a lawsuit that accused the agency of maintaining lax standards that threaten wildlife.
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October 02, 2024
DC Circ. Says Election Betting Contracts Can Go Live
The D.C. Circuit on Wednesday allowed betting on election outcomes to move forward after finding that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission hasn't shown that KalshiEx's listing of election-based event contracts would likely harm the public while the regulator challenges a ruling that gave the trading platform the green light to offer such services.
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October 02, 2024
Trump 'Resorted To Crimes' To Cling To Power, Feds Say
Donald Trump's alleged scheme to subvert the 2020 election results was "fundamentally a private one," special counsel Jack Smith told a D.C. federal judge in a newly unsealed brief that vies to prove that the former president is not immune from charges of election interference.
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October 02, 2024
USCIS Updates Guidance Evidence Standards For EB-1 Visas
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Wednesday issued new guidance to clarify the types of evidence the agency will weigh in considering applications for EB-1 extraordinary ability visas for individuals at the top of certain fields.
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October 02, 2024
Justices Asked To Short-Circuit Mass. Offshore Wind Project
Massachusetts residents are telling the U.S. Supreme Court it's the last hope for endangered North Atlantic right whales that were overlooked when the federal government approved a large offshore wind energy project in the waters off of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.
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October 02, 2024
Georgia Moves To Block, Appeal Ruling Against Abortion Ban
The Georgia attorney general's office, as promised earlier this week, moved swiftly Tuesday to halt and appeal a Fulton County judge's decision that struck down for the second time the state's so-called heartbeat abortion ban, which prohibits most abortions after six weeks.
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October 02, 2024
MSU Halted Paying Legal Bills After Critical Report, Firm Says
Michigan State University stopped paying outside counsel to defend its board of trustees chair after an investigative report appeared to support claims the chair bullied colleagues, the counsel said, filing a state complaint seeking two months' worth of fees.
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October 02, 2024
Progressive Group Staffs Up For Judicial Nominee Fights
With a little over a month until Election Day, a progressive organization announced a slate of new hires to prepare for judicial confirmation battles and fight for court reform on Wednesday.
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October 02, 2024
Maine's First Female Federal Judge To Take Semiretired Status
U.S District Judge Nancy Torresen, the first woman to hold a federal judgeship in Maine, will take semiretired status next year.
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October 02, 2024
SEC's Top Cop Departing After Record-Breaking Tenure
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Wednesday that enforcement director Gurbir Grewal will be leaving the agency next week following a three-year tenure, during which the agency brought in record penalties and frequently clashed with crypto industry participants objecting to a string of lawsuits brought under Grewal's leadership.
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October 02, 2024
Justice Roberts Names Judicial Conference Committee Chairs
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has reshuffled the leadership of the U.S. Judicial Conference, naming five new committee chairs and extending the terms of five current chairs by one year.
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October 02, 2024
DC Circ. Urged To Scrap EPA Mercury Rule For Coal Plants
States and industry groups fighting a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule curbing mercury and other toxic metal emissions at some coal-fired power plants told the D.C. Circuit it would impose exorbitant and unjustifiable costs for no public health benefit, and is actually aimed at forcing plants to retire to advance climate goals.
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October 02, 2024
Cozen O'Connor Lobbying Shop Adds De Blasio Vet In NY
Cozen O'Connor Public Strategies, the international law firm's public affairs and lobbying arm, has grown with the addition of a veteran lobbyist who previously worked in New York City government, including with Mayor Bill de Blasio's office.
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October 02, 2024
NYC Mayor Adams May Face More Charges, Feds Say
Prosecutors told a Manhattan federal judge Wednesday it was "possible" they would charge New York City Mayor Eric Adams with additional crimes in his corruption case, indicating they have evidence he told witnesses to lie to the FBI.
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October 01, 2024
CFPB Warns On Collecting 'Invalid,' Unverified Medical Debt
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday cautioned debt collectors about significant potential compliance risks when working in the medical debt market, issuing guidance that identified a number of practices as illegal and capable of triggering "strict liability" under federal law.
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October 01, 2024
Trump Cries Voter Interference As Immunity Brief Hits Docket
Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday slammed special counsel Jack Smith's bid to publicize some evidence in a voluminous filing over Trump's presidential immunity to election interference charges, reiterating allegations that it's a "politically motivated manifesto" aimed at influencing voters on the eve of the 2024 election.
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October 01, 2024
From AI To Enviro: The Top Biz Bills Calif. Gov. Inked Into Law
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed hundreds of bills into law ahead of an Oct. 1 deadline, meaning major changes are on the horizon for employers, tech companies, healthcare providers and others doing business in the Golden State.
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October 01, 2024
Oxygenation Doesn't Show Water Quality, Texas Justices Hear
Texas Supreme Court justices prodded the Save Our Springs Alliance's argument that a permit to release treated wastewater would degrade water quality, questioning whether the advocacy organization's argument that a drop in levels of dissolved oxygen shows water degradation during oral arguments Tuesday.
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October 01, 2024
Bribe-Laundering Gets Ecuador Ex-Official 10 Years In Prison
A Florida federal judge on Tuesday sentenced Ecuador's former comptroller to 10 years in prison after a jury earlier this year convicted him on multiple counts related to laundering millions of dollars in bribe money he received in exchange for eliminating fines connected to a defective hydroelectric dam and other projects.
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October 01, 2024
Data Brokers Decry 'Ill-Tailored' NJ Judicial Privacy Law
Data brokers such as Equifax, Thomson Reuters and Zillow urged a New Jersey federal judge Tuesday to toss a suit accusing them of violating Daniel's Law, arguing the state's judicial privacy measure is unconstitutionally broad and unevenly applied.
Expert Analysis
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Assessing The Practicality Of Harris' Affordable Housing Plan
Vice President Kamala Harris' proposed "Build the American Dream" plan to tackle housing affordability issues takes solid recommendations into account and may fare better than California's unsuccessful attempt at a similar program, but the scope of the problem is beyond what a three-point plan can solve, says Brooke Miller at Sheppard Mullin.
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Philly Project Case Renews Ongoing Fraud Theory Tug-Of-War
In its upcoming term, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Kousisis v. U.S., a case involving wire fraud convictions related to Philadelphia bridge repair projects, and may once again further rein in prosecutorial attempts to expand theories of fraud beyond core traditional property rights, say Jonathan Halpern and Kyra Rosenzweig at Holland & Knight.
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Opinion
Proposed Law Would Harm NYC Hospitality Industry
A recently proposed New York City Law that would update hotel licensing and staff coverage requirements could give the city commissioner and unions undue control over the city's hospitality industry, and harm smaller hotels that cannot afford full-time employees, says Stuart Saft at Holland & Knight.
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Opinion
Litigation Funding Disclosure Key To Open, Impartial Process
Blanket investor and funding agreement disclosures should be required in all civil cases where the investor has a financial interest in the outcome in order to address issues ranging from potential conflicts of interest to national security concerns, says Bob Goodlatte, former U.S. House Representative for Virginia.
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Regulators Are Revamping Use Of Bank Service Company Act
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Though the Bank Service Company Act was written six decades ago, banks and service providers should be alert to the evolving ways financial regulators are using the law as a tool for scrutinizing bank-fintech partnerships and third-party service providers that could put consumers at risk, say James Bergin and Paul Lim at Arnold & Porter.
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Series
After Chevron: What To Expect In Consumer Protection At FTC
Although the Federal Trade Commission's bread-and-butter consumer protection law enforcement actions are unlikely to be affected, the Loper Bright decision may curb the FTC's bolder interpretations of the statutes it enforces, says Mary Engle at BBB National Programs.
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Carbon Offset Case A Win For CFTC Enviro Fraud Task Force
An Illinois federal court's decision in Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Ikkurty — earning the CFTC a sizeable monetary award that will likely incentivize similar enforcement pursuit — shows the impact of the commission's Environmental Fraud Task Force, say attorneys at Steptoe.
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RealPage Suit Shows Growing Algorithm, AI Pricing Scrutiny
The U.S. Department of Justice's suit against RealPage for helping fix rental rates, filed last week, demonstrates how the use of algorithmic and artificial intelligence tools to assist with pricing decisions is drawing increasing scrutiny and action across government agencies, and specifically at the Federal Trade Commission and the DOJ, say Andre Geverola and Leah Harrell at Arnold & Porter.
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Whistleblowers Must Note 5 Key Differences Of DOJ Program
The U.S. Department of Justice’s recently unveiled whistleblower awards program diverges in key ways from similar programs at other agencies, and individuals must weigh these differences and look first to programs with stronger, proven protections before blowing the whistle, say Stephen Kohn and Geoff Schweller at Kohn Kohn.
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What NFL Draft Picks Have In Common With Lateral Law Hires
Nearly half of law firm lateral hires leave within a few years — a failure rate that is strikingly similar to the performance of NFL quarterbacks drafted in the first round — in part because evaluators focus too heavily on quantifiable metrics and not enough on a prospect's character traits, says Howard Rosenberg at Baretz+Brunelle.
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Calif. Ruling Clarifying Paystub Compliance Is Win For Cos.
In rare good news for California employers, the state Supreme Court recently clarified that workers couldn’t win extra penalties in wage and hour cases by claiming their employer intentionally violated state paystub law if the employer believed it had complied in good faith, say Drei Munar and Kirk Hornbeck at Hunton.
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Considering Noncompete Strategies After Blocked FTC Ban
A Texas district court's recent decision in Ryan v. Federal Trade Commission to set aside the new FTC rule banning noncompetes does away with some immediate compliance obligations, but employers should still review strategies, attend to changes to state laws and monitor ongoing challenges, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.
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Open Questions 3 Years After 2nd Circ.'s Fugitive Ruling
The Second Circuit’s 2021 decision in U.S. v. Bescond, holding that a French resident indicted abroad did not meet the legal definition of a fugitive, deepened a circuit split on the fugitive disentitlement doctrine, and courts continue to grapple with the doctrine’s reach and applicability, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert.
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Replacing The Stigma Of Menopause With Law Firm Support
A large proportion of the workforce is forced to pull the brakes on their career aspirations because of the taboo surrounding menopause and a lack of consistent support, but law firms can initiate the cultural shift needed by formulating thoughtful workplace policies, says Barbara Hamilton-Bruce at Simmons & Simmons.
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Series
After Chevron: The Future Of AI And Copyright Law
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to overrule the Chevron doctrine, leaders in the artificial intelligence industry may seek to shift the balance of power to courts to exercise more independent statutory interpretation without constraints from the U.S. Copyright Office, says Greg Derin at Signature Resolution.