Public Policy

  • December 19, 2024

    Atkins-Tied Crypto Group Lays Out Its Priorities For New SEC

    Crypto industry group The Digital Chamber, which counts U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chair nominee Paul Atkins as an advisory board member, has urged the Wall Street regulator to "reset its historically troubled relationship" with the crypto industry by rolling back certain rule proposals and resolving non-fraud suits against crypto firms soon after President-elect Donald Trump takes office next year.

  • December 19, 2024

    Feds Fight Calif. Tribe's Bid To Block Casino Trust Order

    The federal government is fighting a bid by a California tribe to block the U.S. Department of the Interior from approving a casino project on its historic homelands, arguing that it has not yet identified any irreparable harm that would justify a temporary restraining order.

  • December 19, 2024

    PhRMA Wins Bid To Halt W.Va. Drug Discount Expansion Law

    The country's biggest pharmaceutical lobbying group has won preliminary injunctions against a West Virginia law that the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America claims unconstitutionally expands a federal drug discount program, with a federal judge finding that the law threatens to create a situation where "the fox guards the henhouse."

  • December 19, 2024

    FTC Says PBMs Can't Get Preliminary Block In Insulin Case

    The Federal Trade Commission urged a Missouri federal judge Thursday not to temporarily block its in-house case accusing pharmacy benefits managers of artificially inflating insulin prices through unfair rebate schemes, arguing Congress clearly empowered such in-house adjudications and the officials who handle them.

  • December 19, 2024

    Groups Say CARB Fuel Program Will Spur Environmental Harms

    Environmental groups sued the California Air Resources Board in California state court on Wednesday, saying amendments to the state's low carbon fuel standard program will only further spur the expansion of factory farms, increasing environmental degradation in the San Joaquin Valley.

  • December 19, 2024

    Bank Groups Seek Halt Of CFPB's $5 Overdraft Fee Rule

    Bank groups have asked a Mississippi federal judge to put an interim hold on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new rule establishing a $5 overdraft fee cap at larger banks and credit unions, arguing that the agency is trying to unwind more than a half-century of regulatory interpretation at a great potential cost to the industry.

  • December 19, 2024

    New Jersey AG Can Run Paterson Police Dept. During Appeal

    The day after a New Jersey appellate panel ruled that state Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin's takeover of a Garden State police department was unlawful, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart J. Rabner granted the prosecutor's bid to stay the decision temporarily and directed the parties to file briefs.

  • December 19, 2024

    Vape Cos. Challenge Iowa Law Banning Many E-Cigarettes

    Iowan vape interests are looking to stop state officials from enforcing a new law prohibiting the sale of many e-cigarettes, claiming in a federal lawsuit that the statute was pushed by "Big Tobacco" company Reynolds American Inc. and targets products that help people quit smoking.

  • December 19, 2024

    4th Circ. Says Temporary BIA Judges Can Be Reappointed

    Judges can be temporarily appointed to the Board of Immigration Appeals for a term "not to exceed six months," but they can also be reappointed as many times as the attorney general sees fit, the Fourth Circuit has ruled in a case that challenges the seating of such a judge.

  • December 19, 2024

    FERC Chair Plays Coy On Impact Of LNG Export Study

    Willie Phillips, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, wouldn't say on Thursday how the agency would incorporate a recently released federal study on the economic and environmental effects of liquefied natural gas exports into its reviews of proposed export terminals, and cited limits on FERC's authority.

  • December 19, 2024

    Visa Sponsorship Form Needs Clarity, Ombudsman Says

    A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services watchdog is urging the agency to revise a form used to sponsor noncitizen relatives, saying it has caused confusion and imposed extra costs and delays on people trying to reunite with family members.

  • December 19, 2024

    House Rejects 3-Month Funding Bill Despite Trump Support

    The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday rejected a three-month temporary funding deal that would have staved off a government shutdown and had been hastily introduced after President-elect Donald Trump criticized an earlier proposed continuing resolution.

  • December 19, 2024

    Bill Aimed At IHS Recruitment, Retention Heads To House

    A bill designed to make it easier for the Indian Health Service to recruit and retain medical workers is headed for the U.S. House of Representatives for consideration after easily passing the U.S. Senate this week.

  • December 19, 2024

    FCC Told No Way To Network-Level Scan Of Calls For AI

    Consumer advocacy groups have come together to tell the Federal Communications Commission that they hate spam calls as much as anyone else, but they can't support a plan that would allow calls to be scanned for artificial intelligence at the network level.

  • December 19, 2024

    $1.1B Diablo Canyon Award Challenge Meets Skeptical Judge

    A California federal judge appeared skeptical Thursday that an environmental group has standing to challenge the U.S. Department of Energy's award of $1.1 billion to help Pacific Gas & Electric Co. continue operating the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.

  • December 19, 2024

    McKesson Urges Justices To Keep Hobbs Act's 'Exclusivity'

    McKesson Corp. is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to preserve circuit courts' "exclusive" jurisdiction for Federal Communications Commission orders, warning that regulatory consistency nationwide could be undermined if lower courts are allowed to step in.

  • December 19, 2024

    2nd Circ. Mulls Dormant Commerce Applicability To Marijuana

    A Second Circuit panel appeared conflicted Thursday on whether the dormant commerce clause applies to federally illegal marijuana and, if so, whether New York cannabis regulators still had an interest in ensuring that some cannabis licenses went to locals.

  • December 19, 2024

    Fed, OCC 'Asleep At Wheel' On Merger Policy, Warren Says

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday accused top federal bank regulators of blowing off calls for tougher merger scrutiny and leaving the financial system exposed to dangerous megadeals, blasting them as "asleep at the wheel" as the Capital One-Discover merger inched closer to approval.

  • December 19, 2024

    Feds Could Pay $1.1M To Settle WWII Refinery Waste Fight

    A Valero Energy Corp. unit is asking a Michigan federal judge to sign off on a deal that would have the U.S. government pay it $1.1 million for cleanup costs allegedly stemming from the government's wartime operations at a refinery in Houston.

  • December 19, 2024

    Generic-Drug Cos. Get State AGs' Trial Order Flipped

    A Connecticut federal court has sided with the generic-drug makers accused of price-fixing by state-level enforcers and will allow a narrower case involving 15 drugs to move ahead prior to a much broader case involving more than 100 medications.

  • December 19, 2024

    CMA Issues Guidance For New Digital Competition Rules

    Britain's Competition and Markets Authority released guidance Thursday laying out how the agency intends to use its new powers to impose rules and obligations on large technology companies, ahead of the regime's launch next year.

  • December 19, 2024

    Outgoing Wash. Gov. Proposes Wealth Tax In Budget

    Washington state would levy a 1% tax on residents with worldwide wealth of more than $100 million and increase taxes on businesses under a budget proposal from outgoing Gov. Jay Inslee.

  • December 19, 2024

    Ex-AT&T Exec Gets New Bribery Trial Date After Jury Deadlock

    The former head of AT&T's Illinois division, who is accused of bribing ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, will be tried again in June after his case resulted in a hung jury earlier this year, a federal court judge said Thursday.

  • December 19, 2024

    NJ Unclaimed Property Law Targeted In Class Claims

    A Chilean citizen on Thursday filed proposed class claims challenging the constitutionality of New Jersey's unclaimed property law, alleging that the state often auctions or sells off abandoned real estate without any prior notice to owners — which purportedly include pop superstar Taylor Swift — and keeps the proceeds for its own use.

  • December 19, 2024

    The Top 5 Immigration Cases Of 2024: Year In Review

    The Biden administration settled several lawsuits over family separations that happened under the Trump-era zero tolerance policy and persuaded courts that three state immigration laws infringe on federal authority over immigration enforcement. Here, Law360 looks back at five significant litigation developments in 2024 that bear on immigration policy.

Expert Analysis

  • The Future Of GLP-1 Policy After Drug Shortage Ends

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    If and when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration determines that GLP-1 RA drugs are no longer in short supply, regulators will face questions of how to balance access to GLP-1 RAs with statutory and policy considerations applicable to compounded drugs, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Gov't Scrutiny Of Workplace Chat Apps Set To Keep Growing

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    The incoming Trump administration and Republican majorities in Congress are poised to open numerous investigations that include increasing demands for entities to produce communications from workplace chat apps, so companies must evaluate their usage and retention policies, say attorneys at Orrick.

  • Del. Dispatch: The 2024 Corporate Cases You Need To Know

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    The Delaware Court of Chancery in 2024 issued several decisions that some viewed as upending long-standing corporate practices, leading to the amendment of the Delaware General Corporation Law and debates at some Delaware corporations about potentially reincorporating to another state, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • 2024 Regulatory Developments For Bank-Fintech Partnerships

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    Joseph Silvia at Duane Morris reviews a handful of particularly noteworthy 2024 updates regarding bank-fintech partnerships, including federal banking agencies issuing a number of important pieces of guidance that reiterate and update previous guidance in the area of third-party risk management.

  • 2025's Midmarket M&A Terrain May Hold A Few Bright Spots

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    Attorneys at Stoel Rives assess middle-market merger and acquisition trends, and explain why many dealmakers have turned cautiously optimistic about the sector's 2025 prospects, despite potential inflation and new Federal Trade Commission rules.

  • Top 10 Whistleblowing And Retaliation Events Of 2024

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    From a Florida federal court’s ruling that the False Claims Act’s qui tam provision is unconstitutional to a record-breaking number of whistleblower tips filed with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, employers saw significant developments in the federal and state whistleblower landscapes this year, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • The Implications Of 2024's AI Rules And Regs For Patent Attys

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    Christina Huang, John Smith and Devin Stein at Faegre Drinker review this year's new rules and regulations on the development and use of artificial intelligence — from the Biden administration, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the American Bar Association and various states — as they apply to patent attorneys.

  • When US Privilege Law Applies To Docs Made Outside The US

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    As globalization manifests itself in disputes over foreign-created documents, a California federal court’s recent trademark decision illustrates nuances of both U.S. privilege frameworks and foreign evidentiary protections that attorneys must increasingly bear in mind, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • How Texas Bill Would Transform Noneconomic Damages

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    Large noneconomic damage awards in personal injury cases have grown exponentially in Texas in recent years, but newly introduced legislation would cap such damages, likely requiring both the plaintiff and defense bars to recalibrate their litigation strategies, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • Changes To Expect From SEC Under Trump Nominee

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    President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of Paul Atkins for U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chair will likely lead to significant shifts in the Division of Enforcement's priorities, likely focused on protecting retail investors and the stability of the capital markets, say attorneys at Morrison Foerster.

  • Executive Orders That Could Affect Financial Services In 2025

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    The incoming Trump administration is likely to quickly revive or update a number of prior executive orders, and possibly issue new ones, that could affect financial services by emphasizing market discipline rather than regulatory initiatives to drive change in the industry, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • The State Of USPTO Rulemaking At The End Of Vidal's Term

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    As U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director, Kathi Vidal placed a particular emphasis on formal rulemaking — so as she returns to private practice this week, attorneys at Irell take stock of which of her proposals made it across the finish line, and where the rest stand on the cusp of a new administration.

  • How New Merger Filing Rules Will Affect Economic Advocacy

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    New rules from the antitrust agencies significantly change the Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger notification process and will necessitate rigorous economic analysis earlier in the merging process as the information provided in the filings reflects important antitrust considerations, says Andrea Asoni at Charles River.

  • What Loper Bright And Trump 2.0 Mean For New Transpo Tech

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, combined with the incoming Trump administration's deregulatory agenda, will likely lead to fewer new regulations on emerging transportation technologies like autonomous vehicles — and more careful and protracted drafting of any regulations that are produced, say attorneys at Venable.

  • 'Minimal Participant' Bar Is Tough To Clear For Whistleblowers

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    Under the U.S. Department of Justice’s corporate whistleblower pilot program, would-be whistleblowers will find it tough to show that they only minimally participated in criminal misconduct while still providing material information, but sentencing precedent shows how they might prove their eligibility for an award, say attorneys at MoloLamken.

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