Public Policy

  • November 13, 2024

    SEC's Uyeda Says Limits On Private Funds Need Review

    Smaller private and venture capital funds could benefit from less-stringent registration requirements, a Republican member of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told an advisory panel Wednesday, saying the time is ripe to review whether existing thresholds still make sense.

  • November 13, 2024

    Trump Picks Former Democrat Gabbard For Intelligence Chief

    President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday that he had chosen former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as his nominee for director of national intelligence, also confirming he had chosen Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., as his secretary of state.

  • November 13, 2024

    Trump's Choice Of Matt Gaetz For AG Hints At Cannabis Policy

    President-elect Donald Trump's announcement Wednesday that he would nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., one of the relatively few Republican proponents of cannabis legalization, to be the next U.S. attorney general marks an early sign of how his administration will consider marijuana policy.

  • November 13, 2024

    NC Wetlands Developer Wants 4th Circ. To Revive Projects

    A North Carolina landowner has urged the Fourth Circuit to block a new rule defining the scope of the Clean Water Act, arguing that the new rule saddles him with "extraordinary compliance costs" for wetland development projects and goes beyond the law's actual scope.

  • November 13, 2024

    Incoming Wash. AG Keeps State's Veteran Solicitor General

    Washington state Attorney General-elect Nick Brown said Wednesday he will keep in place the same solicitor general who's held the role since 2013, attorney Noah Purcell.

  • November 13, 2024

    Denver Voters OK Sales Tax Hike For Hospital

    Denver will boost its total local sales tax rate by 0.34 of a percentage point under Issue 2Q, which voters passed, with the revenue from the tax slated for city hospital Denver Health.

  • November 13, 2024

    4th Circ. Won't Rethink Ex-Development Director's Wage Case

    The Fourth Circuit declined Wednesday to reconsider its decision affirming a North Carolina city's win on a former development director's claims for unpaid overtime, turning down the former employee's argument that the record did not make clear that she was classified as exempt under federal law.

  • November 13, 2024

    Menendez Prosecutors Admit Evidence Gaffe But Deny Harm

    Prosecutors in former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez's corruption case told a federal judge Wednesday they accidentally violated a court order when they gave jurors nine exhibits containing information that should have been redacted, but said the error played no part in the guilty verdict.

  • November 13, 2024

    Texas Fights Contractor Wage Hike After 9th Circ. Ruling

    The recent Ninth Circuit decision deeming President Joe Biden's increase of federal contractors' hourly minimum wage unlawful clarified that the government's position that it could mandate the hike is absurd, the state of Texas told the Fifth Circuit in its case also challenging the wage hike.

  • November 13, 2024

    Allow Robotexts And Calls To Customers, Verizon Urges FCC

    Verizon is calling on the Federal Communications Commission to exempt wireless providers from new rules making it easier for consumers to back out of telemarketing robocall and text consent, saying that including the providers would lead to consumers opting out of communications they actually need.

  • November 13, 2024

    FERC Tells 9th Circ. It Properly Rescinded PG&E Grid Perk

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has told the Ninth Circuit it correctly yanked a grid incentive for Pacific Gas & Electric Co. for voluntarily belonging to a regional transmission organization, noting California now mandates the state's major utilities join an RTO.

  • November 13, 2024

    Connecticut Banking Dept. Can Fine Legal Funder, Judge Says

    The Connecticut Department of Banking has jurisdiction over a legal funding company under the state's Small Loan Act, a state judge ruled in dismissing an administrative appeal linked to a $25,000 fine that the regulator imposed.

  • November 13, 2024

    1st Circ. Punts Pandemic Retail Antitrust Case To Puerto Rico

    A divided First Circuit has ruled that local Puerto Rico courts, not federal courts, should hear an unfair-competition suit by local merchants accusing major big-box retailers Costco and Walmart of violating executive orders during the pandemic by continuing to sell "non-essential" goods.

  • November 13, 2024

    What's Next For Court Reform In This New Political Climate?

    Advocates are not holding out hope for bills that would firm up a code of ethics for the U.S. Supreme Court, impose term limits on justices or give judiciary employees antidiscrimination job protections, saying Republican control of the federal government will likely stall any progress that's been made with court reform efforts.

  • November 13, 2024

    Mass. AG Ready To Reprise Office's Role As Trump Foil

    Taking a page from her predecessor's book, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell told Law360 she is hoping to work with the incoming Trump administration, but the Democrat said she is nevertheless prepared to use her office's "significant tools and power" to challenge actions she feels are at odds with her constituents' interests.

  • November 13, 2024

    Trump Taps DOJ Critic Matt Gaetz For Attorney General

    President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated Rep. Matt Gaetz to be the next U.S. attorney general, seeking to elevate a close political ally to lead a Justice Department that the Florida lawmaker has sharply criticized and that last year declined to charge him in a sex-trafficking investigation.

  • November 13, 2024

    EPA Effluent Rule Is Fatally Flawed, 8th Circ. Told

    Republican-led states, utilities and industry groups called on the Eighth Circuit to vacate the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rule setting new wastewater limitations for coal-fired power plants, saying it is based on economically unavailable technologies in an effort to further the Biden administration's goal of shuttering coal plants.

  • November 13, 2024

    Senate Fills Another Illinois Judge Seat

    The U.S. Senate voted 50-46 on Wednesday to confirm U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Hawley for a district judgeship for the Central District of Illinois.

  • November 13, 2024

    New Medical Exams No Longer Needed For Afghan Allies

    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said Wednesday that Afghans who arrived as part of Operation Allies Welcome won't need to get new medical exams when they apply for their green cards.

  • November 13, 2024

    NLRB Outlaws Captive Audience Meetings

    The National Labor Relations Board issued an eagerly awaited decision Wednesday curbing a go-to tactic for employers battling union drives, holding that so-called captive audience meetings violate federal labor law. 

  • November 13, 2024

    Gibson Dunn 'Titan,' Ex-Solicitor General Theodore Olson Dies

    Theodore B. Olson, the founder of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP's appellate and constitutional law practice group and a former U.S. solicitor general, died Wednesday, the law firm announced.

  • November 12, 2024

    Ex-FDIC Head Urges Banks To 'Push Back' Against Examiners

    A former top Trump banking regulator on Tuesday called for bank executives to show "backbone" and push back when they are challenged with bad exam findings from their regulators, urging resistance as an antidote to perceived excesses in bank oversight.

  • November 12, 2024

    Trump Taps Elon Musk To Head New 'Gov't Efficiency' Dept.

    President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a newly created "Department in Government Efficiency" for his administration come January.

  • November 12, 2024

    Idaho Says Any Health Risk Could Be Used To Justify Abortion

    In his opening statement Tuesday in a trial weighing whether Idaho's abortion bans are forcing women to carry dangerous, nonviable pregnancies to term, a state attorney hypothetically quipped that to abortion rights advocates, even stepping on a "rusty nail" could be considered a health risk that could require an abortion.

  • November 12, 2024

    Future of Anti-Deepfake Federal Law Is Murky, Panel Says

    Panelists at a Los Angeles intellectual property conference that included attorneys and representatives of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the U.S. Copyright Office and Microsoft agreed Tuesday that any federal legislation on deepfake technology must strike the difficult balance of punishing bad actors without stifling innovation.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

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    In a relatively light few months for banking legal updates in New York, the state Department of Financial Services previewed its views on banking sector artificial intelligence use via insurer guidance, and an anti-money laundering enforcement action underscored the importance of international monitoring processes, say Eric McLaughlin and Dana Bayersdorfer at Davis Polk.

  • Series

    Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.

  • Plan Sponsors Must Prep For New Mental Health, Drug Rules

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    To comply with newly published health insurance rules requiring parity between access to mental health and substance use services compared to medical and surgical services, employers with self-insured plans will need to update third-party administrator agreements and collect data, among other compliance steps, say attorneys at Kilpatrick.

  • The Trade And Tax Issues Behind US-Canada Digital Tax Clash

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    The new Canadian digital services tax recently went into effect despite objections from the U.S., a controversy that represents an unusual mix of trade and tax policy, and many companies have been pondering how it will affect their e-commerce businesses, says Damon Pike at BDO.

  • Aviation Watch: Boeing Plea Agreement May Not Serve Public

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    The proposed plea agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice and Boeing — the latest outgrowth of the company's 737 Max travails — is opposed by crash victims' families, faces an uncertain fate in court, and may ultimately serve no beneficial purpose, even if approved, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

  • Opinion

    Bill Is Key To Protecting US Economy From Patent Piracy

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    It is critical that Congress pass a recently introduced bill that would protect U.S. investors from intellectual property theft by restoring court-ordered injunctions as the default remedy in patent infringement cases to ensure inventors get the justice they deserve, says Andrei Iancu at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • Managing Sanctions Defense Across Multiple Jurisdictions

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    Companies called before multiple regulators to account for the same conduct in this era of increased global sanctions and import-control enforcement should consider national differences in law and policy, and proactively coordinate their responses in certain key areas, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Series

    Colorado Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

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    In the third quarter of 2024, Colorado's banking and financial services sector faced both regulatory updates and changes to state law due to recent federal court decisions — with consequences for local governments, mortgage lenders, state-chartered trust companies and federally chartered lenders serving Colorado consumers, says Sarah Auchterlonie at Brownstein Hyatt.

  • Building US-Japan Relationships In The M&A Market

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    The prospect of U.S.-Japanese mergers and acquisitions presents stronger competition to U.S. investors in the global M&A markets, while also opening up an additional exit route for sellers looking to offload strategic assets, says Nick Wall at A&O Shearman.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

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    About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • 4 Ways To Prepare For DOD Cyber Certification Rule

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    Given the U.S. Department of Justice's increased scrutiny of contractor compliance with cybersecurity requirements, it is critical that contractors take certain steps now in response to the U.S. Department of Defense's proposed Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification implementation rule, say Townsend Bourne and Lillia Damalouji at Sheppard Mullin.

  • FTC Focus: How Scrutiny Of PBMs And Insulin May Play Out

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    Should Express Scripts' recent judicial challenge to the Federal Trade Commission succeed, any new targets could add litigation and choice of forum to their playbooks, and potential FTC court action on insulin could be forced to parallel venues as the issues between the commission and PBMs evolve, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Opinion

    AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys

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    The thing that’s so powerful about artificial intelligence is also what’s most scary about it — its ability to detect patterns may curtail young attorneys’ chance to practice the lower-level work of managing cases, preventing them from ever honing the pattern recognition skills that undergird creative lawyering, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.

  • A Look At How De Minimis Import Rules May Soon Change

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    The planned implementation of executive actions focused on the de minimis rule as it applies to shipments means companies should use this interval to evaluate the potential applicability and impact of Section 301, Section 201 or Section 232 duties on their products, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Key Takeaways From DOJ's New Corp. Compliance Guidance

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s updated guidance to federal prosecutors on evaluating corporate compliance programs addresses how entities manage new technology-related risks and expands on preexisting policies, providing key insights for companies about increasing regulatory expectations, say attorneys at Debevoise.

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