Public Policy

  • November 21, 2024

    Ill. Justices Give Marathon Chance To Avoid $15M Fuel Tax

    Marathon Petroleum presented enough evidence to rebut claims by officials of an Illinois county that it owed about $15 million in fuel taxes on transactions stemming from cash settlements for delivery contracts, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday, reversing an appellate court.

  • November 21, 2024

    Howmet Accuses Wash. DOL Of Muscling Into Worker's Suit

    Howmet Aerospace slammed the Washington state labor department on Thursday for "interjecting" into a dispute with a former smelter employee who claims he developed cancer from asbestos exposure, urging the state's highest court not to relax the standard for workers to sue over job-related illnesses.

  • November 21, 2024

    Louisiana Defends New Hemp Law From Industry Challenge

    A Cannabis industry-led lawsuit seeking to block Louisiana from imposing new restrictions on consumables infused with hemp-derived THC should be squashed, the state told a federal judge, saying the legal theories the suit presents "have been tried and failed elsewhere."

  • November 21, 2024

    California Tribe Looks To Increase Trinity River Water Flows

    The Yurok Tribe slapped the Bureau of Reclamation with a complaint in California federal court, alleging its operation of the Trinity River Division provides only minimum flows to the Trinity River in the winter and early spring, modifying and harming salmon habitat and population.

  • November 21, 2024

    Nurse Staffing Exec Can't Trim Fraud Charge In Antitrust Case

    A Nevada federal court has refused to dismiss fraud charges against a home healthcare staffing executive accused of fixing nurses' wages and hiding a probe of the scheme when selling the business, and also refused to exclude statements the executive made during an FBI interview.

  • November 21, 2024

    Justices Urged To Uphold Alaska Beachfront Boundary Ruling

    Alaska and an Alaskan property owner told the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold an Alaska Supreme Court ruling that determined that the boundary between two beachfront properties owned by feuding neighbors is set by where a shoreline ended up in 1938.

  • November 21, 2024

    Calif. Politics Ace Joins McGuireWoods' Gov't Affairs As VP

    McGuireWoods LLP's consulting arm has brought on as vice president a former legislative director who worked for multiple members of the California State Assembly, the consulting firm announced this week.

  • November 21, 2024

    Data Co. Gets Remand Of Suits Over Judicial Privacy

    A federal judge sent 39 lawsuits alleging violations of a New Jersey judicial privacy law back to state courts, finding the district lacks subject matter jurisdiction.

  • November 21, 2024

    Feds Outline Next Steps For Colo. River Basin Agreement

    The U.S. Department of the Interior released five proposed alternatives for the Colorado River's post-2026 operations aimed at ensuring the long-term stability of the drought-stricken Colorado River Basin for the communities and habitats that rely on it. 

  • November 21, 2024

    Calif. Judge Says Dormant Commerce Inapplicable To Pot

    A California federal judge on Thursday tossed an out-of-state entrepreneur's challenge to Sacramento's cannabis social equity licensure program, asserting that the dormant commerce clause does not apply to federally illegal marijuana.

  • November 21, 2024

    Senate Deal Halts 4 Circuit Court Nominations

    Democrats and Republicans cut a deal Wednesday night to advance district court nominees before the year ends, while dropping four circuit court picks from confirmation efforts, Law360 has confirmed.

  • November 21, 2024

    New FCC Rules Pave Way For More FM Station Geotargeting

    The Federal Communications Commission adopted rules Thursday meant to make it easier for FM booster stations to broadcast brief segments of hyper-local content every hour.

  • November 21, 2024

    House Appropriations Deputy Staff Director Moves To H&K

    An attorney who most recently worked as the deputy staff director, budget director and counsel to the House Committee on Appropriations has joined Holland & Knight LLP's public policy and regulation group as a partner, the firm announced Thursday.

  • November 21, 2024

    Senate Approves Honeywell GC For Arizona Judge Seat

    The Senate voted 82-12 on Thursday to confirm Sharad H. Desai, a vice president and general counsel for Honeywell International, for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

  • November 21, 2024

    Ex-Congressman And Other Judicial Nominees Advance

    Judicial nominees for U.S. district courts in New York, New Mexico, Georgia and Pennsylvania were sent to the full Senate on Thursday, after being approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, all along party lines.

  • November 21, 2024

    House Panel Seeks Info On DOL Agreements With Law Firms

    The U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Thursday pressed the U.S. Department of Labor for details about its information-sharing agreements with plaintiffs law firms after discovery in a proposed class action revealed a pact between the agency and Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC.

  • November 21, 2024

    Defamation Suit Against Ga. Election Chief Likely To Proceed

    A federal judge said Thursday that she was likely to allow a Texas attorney to continue with her defamation suit against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger over comments that suggested she presented "doctored" evidence to state senators in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

  • November 21, 2024

    Connecticut Politician Gets Probation In Ballot Fraud Case

    A former city councilor in Bridgeport, Connecticut, will serve probation for his role in a ballot fraud scheme that affected four elections from 2017 to 2018, prosecutors in his federal criminal case said Thursday.

  • November 21, 2024

    New SEC 'Dealer' Rule Tossed In Win For Hedge Funds, Crypto

    A Texas federal judge on Thursday overturned a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule that expanded the definition of "dealer" to include proprietary trading firms, some hedge funds and crypto firms, saying the agency overstepped its authority when it adopted the rule.

  • November 21, 2024

    SEC Chair Gensler To Step Down When Trump Takes Office

    U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler said Thursday that he will be leaving the agency on Jan. 20, clearing the way for new leadership under an incoming Trump administration that is expected to dismantle Gensler's climate disclosure regulation and open the SEC's door to more crypto-friendly policies.

  • November 21, 2024

    House Dems Tell Gorsuch To Recuse Over NEPA Case Conflict

    A group of House Democrats has called for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch to recuse himself from a dispute over federal environmental review requirements, arguing the court's decision could directly benefit a Colorado billionaire and former client who campaigned for the justice's first judicial appointment.

  • November 21, 2024

    Gaetz Ends AG Bid, Citing 'Distraction' To Trump Transition

    Former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration Thursday as President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general amid allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use.

  • November 21, 2024

    Biden's FCC Chair Stepping Down From Agency Jan. 20

    The Democratic head of the Federal Communications Commission said Thursday she will be leaving the agency on Jan. 20.

  • November 21, 2024

    CFPB Wraps Rule To Pull Big Payment Apps Into Supervision

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Thursday that it has finalized a measure to bring providers of major digital payment apps under its supervisory umbrella, expanding the reach of its oversight deeper into the technology sector and drawing fresh calls to reverse course.

  • November 21, 2024

    DOJ Urges Chrome, Android Sales In Google Case

    The U.S. Department of Justice late Wednesday formally asked a Washington, D.C., federal judge to order a range of steps to end Google's monopolization of general search services and the text ads shown alongside search results, most notably by forcing the company to spin off the Chrome browser.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan

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    Characters in the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan break the rules of good lawyering by shamelessly throwing responsible critical thought to the wind, providing hilarious lessons for lawyers and judges on how to avoid a surfeit of traps and tribulations, say acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits and law student Tara Scown.

  • California's AI Safety Bill Veto: The Path Forward

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    California Gov. Gavin Newsom's veto of a bill that sought to impose stringent regulations on advanced artificial intelligence model development has sparked a renewed debate on how best to balance innovation with safety in the rapidly evolving AI landscape, say Bobby Malhotra and Carson Swope at Winston & Strawn.

  • Staying Off The CFPB's Financial Services Offender Registry

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's soon-to-launch registry of financial services companies that have faced public enforcement orders is designed to ratchet up long-term scrutiny of entities that could become repeat offenders, so companies should take their new compliance and filing requirements seriously, say Andrea Mitchell and Chris Napier at Mitchell Sandler.

  • New TCPA Rule Faces Uncertain Future Post-Loper Bright

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    The Federal Communications Commission's new rule aiming to eliminate lead generators' use of unlawful robocalls is now in doubt with the U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision, and the Eleventh Circuit's Insurance Marketing Coalition v. FCC is poised to be a test case of the agency's ability to enforce the Telephone Consumer Protection Act post-Chevron, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • A Look At Calif.'s New AI Law For Health Insurers

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    A newly enacted California law prohibits artificial intelligence tools from making medical necessity determinations for healthcare service plans or disability insurers, addressing core questions that have arisen around AI's role in coverage decisions, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • New HHS Research Misconduct Rules Bring Seismic Changes

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    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' new rule regarding research misconduct investigations brings significant changes that focus on remediation, appeals and confidentiality, while other changes could result in institutions causing undue harm to scientists accused of such misconduct, say attorneys at Cohen Seglias.

  • To Report Or Not To Report Others' Export Control Violations

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    A recent Bureau of Industry and Security enforcement policy change grants cooperation credit to those that report violations of the Export Administration Regulations committed by others, but the benefits of doing so must be weighed against significant drawbacks, including the costs of preparing and submitting a report, says Megan Lew at Cravath.

  • Earned Wage Access Laws Form A Prickly Policy Patchwork

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    Conflicting earned wage access laws across the country, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recently issued rule, mean providers must adopt a proactive compliance approach and adjust business models where needed, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • What FDIC Expansion Of Change In Bank Control Could Mean

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    A recent Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. proposal pertaining to the Change in Bank Control Act has the potential to create uncertainty around investments by mutual fund complexes in banking organizations, which represent a stable source of capital for the banking industry, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • HSR Amendments Intensify Merger Filing Burdens, Data Risk

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    The antitrust agencies' long-awaited changes to premerger notification rules under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act stand to significantly increase the time and cost involved in preparing an initial HSR notification, and will require more proactive attention to data issues, says Andrew Szwez at FTI Technology.

  • Deadline Extension Highlights PFAS Reporting Complexities

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent extension of reporting and recordkeeping timelines for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances under the Toxic Substances Control Act offers relief to the regulated community, but the unprecedented volume of data required means that businesses must remain diligent in their data collection efforts, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Can SEC's Consolidated Audit Trail Survive Post-Chevron?

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is currently in a showdown at the Eleventh Circuit over its authority to maintain a national market system and require that the industry spend billions to maintain its consolidated audit trail, a case that is further complicated by the Loper Bright decision, says Daniel Hawke at Arnold & Porter.

  • What's Inside Feds' Latest Bank Merger Review Proposals

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    Recent bank merger proposals from a trio of federal agencies highlight the need for banks looking to grow through acquisition to consider several key issues much earlier in the planning process than has historically been necessary, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

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    Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.

  • Cos. Should Focus On State AI Laws Despite New DOL Site

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    Because a new U.S. Department of Labor-sponsored website about the disability discrimination risks of AI hiring tools mostly echoes old guidance, employers should focus on complying with the state and local AI workplace laws springing up where Congress and federal regulators have yet to act, say attorneys at Littler.

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