Public Policy

  • September 30, 2024

    Missouri Drops Appeal Intended To Save ESG Regulations

    Missouri has asked the Eighth Circuit to dismiss its appeal of a federal judge's decision finding that the state's anti-environmental, social and governance regulations for brokers and advisers violate the First Amendment and are preempted by federal laws.

  • September 30, 2024

    T-Mobile To Pay $31.5M In FCC Data Breach Settlement

    T-Mobile has agreed to settle a group of Federal Communications Commission data breach cases for $31.5 million, the agency announced Monday.

  • September 30, 2024

    AT&T Exec Seeks Bribery Acquittal After Mistrial

    Former AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza asked a federal judge Friday to acquit him outright on charges that he illegally influenced ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan to support legislation that would have benefited the telecommunications giant, days after a jury deadlocked and a mistrial was declared in his bribery case.

  • September 30, 2024

    Ex-UNC Prof Claims Admin Tapped Classroom In Firing Suit

    A Native American former professor at the University of North Carolina has taken the school to federal court for allegedly recording his lectures without his consent and terminating him in retaliation for his public comments criticizing what he says is a lack of proper diversity initiatives at the university.

  • September 30, 2024

    FTC Withdraws From Feds' Merger Review Labor Pact

    The Federal Trade Commission is withdrawing from an agreement signed in August with the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board that's meant to increase collaboration when looking at labor issues in mergers.

  • September 30, 2024

    Texas Says 5th Circ. Border Buoy Ruling Is No Court Split

    The federal government and the state of Texas are at odds over how much weight a Fifth Circuit en banc opinion that halted the removal of a 1,000-foot buoy barrier in the Rio Grande should carry, with the Lone Star State rebuking the assertion that the en banc proceedings produced a nine-nine, non-precedential split.

  • September 30, 2024

    Insurer Says Miami Can't Toss Retaliation Coverage Dispute

    An insurer for the city of Miami sought to maintain its action seeking reimbursement of $5 million for expenses incurred in defending the city and one of its commissioners against underlying lawsuits alleging political retaliation, arguing that it didn't "commingle" claims regarding its potential defense and indemnification obligations.

  • September 30, 2024

    DC Circ. Urged To Revisit Retroactive FARA Registration

    The U.S. Department of Justice is pressing the D.C. Circuit to reconsider a ruling that barred the federal government from suing to compel former foreign agents to register their onetime foreign influence efforts, arguing that the precedent behind the ruling wrongly hamstrings the DOJ's ability to enforce the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

  • September 30, 2024

    Calif. Gov. Signs Bill To Allow Cannabis Cafes

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday approved a bill that would pave the way for cannabis retailers to sell food and drink for on-site consumption — akin to the cannabis cafes found in Amsterdam — as well as host live events on their premises.

  • September 30, 2024

    Smart Car Equipment Makers Call For C-V2X rules

    High-tech automakers are pushing the Federal Communications Commission to finalize cellular vehicle-to-everything rules, telling the commission that the wait for clear regulation has delayed the technology's rollout.

  • September 30, 2024

    DC Ethics Hearing Starts For 3 Attys Over 2020 Election Suits

    Three attorneys "essentially weaponized their law licenses" to subvert the will of voters and undermine public confidence in elections when they worked on lawsuits challenging the results of the 2020 presidential contest, a lawyer with the D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel told an ethics committee in the nation's capital on Monday.

  • September 30, 2024

    Ga. Dems Drop Election Law Challenge After Failed Injunction

    Georgia's Democratic Party has agreed to drop — for now — a suit challenging a state law that allows certain political candidates to sidestep campaign contribution limits after a federal judge denied the party's bid for an injunction blocking the statute earlier this month.

  • September 30, 2024

    NJ Justices Will Take Up Jersey City Gerrymandering Case

    The New Jersey Supreme Court has agreed to weigh in on whether the ward maps in the state's second-largest city, which were redrawn after the 2020 census, were properly laid out for compactness or were configured in violation of voters' civil rights.

  • September 30, 2024

    Alaska Seeks Toss Of Challenge To New Hemp Regulations

    The state of Alaska is asking a federal court to throw out a bid by a hemp industry group to block enforcement of regulations prohibiting the sale of intoxicating hemp products, saying the regulations are not preempted by federal law.

  • September 30, 2024

    Red States Urge Justices To Take Up $15 Min. Wage Dispute

    Conservative-led states told the U.S. Supreme Court that President Joe Biden's administration misused the Procurement Act when it hiked federal contractors' hourly minimum wage to $15, throwing their support behind two outdoor groups hoping to overturn a Tenth Circuit ruling in favor of the federal government.

  • September 30, 2024

    Steward Health CEO Sues Senate Panel After Contempt Vote

    The outgoing CEO of embattled Steward Health Care on Monday sued members of Congress who voted earlier this month to hold him in contempt for defying their subpoena to testify at a hearing into the downfall of the bankrupt hospital chain he heads.

  • September 30, 2024

    Chevron-Hess 2nd Oil Merger To Get FTC OK With CEO Ban

    A divided Federal Trade Commission signed off Monday on a deal allowing Chevron to buy Hess, permitting the $53 billion megamerger on the condition that Hess CEO John B. Hess be banned from Chevron's board, in the second such CEO-banning deal the FTC has inked in the last year.

  • September 30, 2024

    Adams Asks To Toss Bribery Charge, Citing Top Court Ruling

    New York City Mayor Eric Adams moved swiftly to dismiss the bribery charge from his federal indictment on Monday, arguing that evidence of Turkish officials' gifts to curry favor with him fails to meet a high legal standard laid out by the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • September 29, 2024

    Hunter Biden's Tax Privacy Case Can Proceed, Judge Says

    Hunter Biden can move forward with his lawsuit against the federal government alleging the unauthorized disclosure of his tax return information by special agents and their attorneys who talked publicly about an investigation that culminated in Biden's copping to criminal tax charges, a D.C. federal judge ruled.

  • September 27, 2024

    Texas AG Wants Austin's Abortion Travel Fund Shut Down

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday accused the city of Austin of illegally using taxpayer funds to cover travel costs for people traveling out of the Lone Star State to get abortions, claiming that the city is misappropriating the funds in violation of the state constitution.

  • September 27, 2024

    Homeowners Can Use Reservation Roads During Tribal Fight

    A Wisconsin federal judge has ruled that non-Indian homeowners in the town of Lac du Flambeau may continue to drive on four roads within a Chippewa reservation as the U.S. government joins the tribe in its fight against the town over their respective rights to access.

  • September 27, 2024

    New Orleans Inspector Indicted For Bribing Top City Official

    A New Orleans resident and his home inspection company were indicted in Louisiana federal court Friday on charges that he operated a yearslong scheme of taking bribes to let unlicensed electricians work on hundreds of homes and bribing top city officials to look the other way.

  • September 27, 2024

    Osage Nation Says DOI Can't Avoid Its $4.9M Funding Suit

    The Osage Nation is fighting a bid by the U.S. Department of the Interior to bring the tribe's $4.9 million lawsuit over self-determination to a quick end, telling a D.C. federal judge that he has the jurisdiction to rule on the case.

  • September 27, 2024

    SEC Drops Case Against Marcum CPA After High Court Ruling

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission quietly dropped an in-house proceeding Friday against a Marcum LLP accountant whose case was called into question by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that curtailed the agency's use of its administrative courts.

  • September 27, 2024

    Conn. Justice Can't Stomach Insurer's 'Omelet' Of Notices

    The Connecticut Supreme Court on Friday seemed skeptical of workers' compensation carrier Ace American Insurance Co.'s assertion that one of two allegedly contradictory letters to a roofing contractor functioned as a legally sufficient policy cancellation notice one month before a worker's injury.

Expert Analysis

  • 15 Areas That Would Change Under Health Data Rule Proposal

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    If finalized, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's proposed rule will significantly progress its efforts to advance interoperability, respond to stakeholder concerns and clarify compliance with the health IT certification program, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • The Road Ahead For Regulation Of Digital Twins In Healthcare

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    Digital replicas of cells, organs and people — known as digital twins — can facilitate clinical trials for new drugs by reducing the number of patients required, but data limitations can create logistical hurdles and regulatory efforts addressing digital twins are still in early stages, say consultants at Keystone Strategy.

  • A Guide To Long-Term, Part-Time Employee Determinations

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    With final regulations under the Secure Act requiring 401(k) retirement benefits for long-term, part-time employees expected soon, Amy Sheridan and David Guadagnoli at Sullivan & Worcester look at how the proposed rules would shift the risk-reward calculus on excluding categories of employees, and what plan sponsors would need to consider when designing retirement plans.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Delegation Of Authority And Tax Regulators

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    The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service will face higher standards following Loper Bright’s finding that courts should determine whether agency rules meet the best possible interpretation of the tax code, as well as the scope of the authority delegated by Congress, says Edward Froelich at McDermott.

  • Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act

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    As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.

  • Decoding CFPB Priorities Amid Ramp-Up In Nonbank Actions

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    Based on recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enforcement actions and press releases about its supervisory activities, the agency appears poised to continue increasing its scrutiny over nonbank entities — particularly with respect to emerging financial products and services — into next year, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • Series

    After Chevron: What Loper Bright Portends For The NLRB

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court has a long history of deferring to the National Labor Relations Board's readings of federal labor law, the court's Loper Bright v. Raimondo decision forces courts to take a harder look at the judgment of an agency — and the NLRB will not be immune from such greater scrutiny, says Irving Geslewitz at Much Shelist.

  • PE Firms Should Prepare For Increased False Claims Scrutiny

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    The impact private equity firms may have over medical decisions and care is increasingly attracting potential liability under the False Claims Act and attention from states and the federal government, so investors should follow best practices including conducting due diligence both before and after acquisitions, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Series

    After Chevron: NRC Is Shielded From Loper Bright's Effects

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Loper Bright v. Relentless decision brought an end to Chevron deference, Congress' unique delegation of discretionary authority to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will likely insulate it from the additional judicial scrutiny that other federal agencies will face, say Ryan Lighty and Scott Clausen at Morgan Lewis.

  • Opinion

    Unclear Intellectual Property Laws Are Stifling US Innovation

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    U.S. intellectual property law’s lack of predictability means far less job-creating investments for companies that need patent protection to compete, and Congress must step in with legislation like the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act to help address the problem, says Michael Gulliford at Soryn IP Capital Management.

  • Pros And Cons Of 2025 NDAA's Space Contracting Proposal

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    The introduction of a Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve fleet in the pending 2025 National Defense Authorization Act presents a significant opportunity for space and satellite companies — despite outstanding questions, and potential risks, for operators, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • How 3rd Circ. Raised Bar For Constitutional Case Injunctions

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    The Third Circuit's decision in Delaware State Sportsmen's Association v. Delaware Department of Safety & Homeland Security, rejecting the relaxed preliminary injunction standards many courts have used when plaintiffs allege constitutional harms, could portend a shift in such cases in at least four ways, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • New Russia Sanctions Law: Bank Compliance Insights

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    Financial institutions must familiarize themselves with the new reporting obligations imposed by the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act, a recent law that authorizes seizures of Russian sovereign assets under U.S. jurisdiction, say attorneys at Seward & Kissel.

  • Opinion

    Dreamer Green Card Updates Offer Too Little For Too Few

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    Despite the Biden administration’s good intentions in announcing a new pathway for college-educated Dreamers to receive green cards, the initiative ultimately does little to improve the status quo for most beneficiaries, and could even leave applicants in a worse position, says Adam Moses at Harris Beach.

  • 3 Healthcare FCA Deals Provide Self-Disclosure Takeaways

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    Several civil False Claims Act settlements of alleged healthcare fraud violations over the past year demonstrate that healthcare providers may benefit substantially from voluntarily disclosing potential misconduct to both the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, say Brian Albritton and Raquel Ramirez Jefferson at Phelps Dunbar.

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