Expert Analysis

• The OIG Report: Bad Timing For FEC To Be Underresourced

  

  With less than two weeks to the election, the Federal Election Commission’s job has never been more urgent, but a report from its Office of the Inspector General earlier this year found that the agency is facing a resource squeeze that will only get worse without corrective action, says Diana Shaw at Wiley.

• What To Know About New Employment Laws In Fla.

  

  Florida employers should familiarize themselves with recent state laws, and also federal legislation, on retirement benefits, teen labor and heat exposure, with special attention to prohibitions against minors performing dangerous tasks, as outlined in the Fair Labor Standards Act, say Katie Molloy and Cayla Page at Greenberg Traurig.

• The Key To Solving High Drug Costs Is Understanding Causes

  

  One-sided views on who or what contributes to the high cost of pharmaceuticals render possible solutions much harder to discover and implement, and a better approach would be to examine history and learn why costs have increased and what legislation has and hasn't helped, says Nancy Linck at NJ Linck Consulting.

• Election Unlikely To Overhaul Antitrust Enforcers' Labor Focus

  

  Although the outcome of the presidential election may alter the course of antitrust enforcement in certain areas of the economy, scrutiny of labor markets by the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice is likely to remain largely unaffected — with one notable exception, say Jared Nagley and Joy Siu at Sheppard Mullin.

• How Immigration Attys Should Prep For A 2nd Trump Term

  

  In light of the possibility of a drastic policy shift under a second Trump administration, immigration lawyers must review what Trump did during his first term, assess who would be most affected if those policies return and develop legal strategies to safeguard their clients' interests, says Adam Moses at Harris Beach.

• Anticipating Jarkesy's Effect On Bank Agency Enforcement

  

  Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, federal courts may eventually issue decisions on banking law principles and processes that could fundamentally alter the agencies' enforcement action framework, and the relationship between banks and examiners, says Brendan Clegg at Luse Gorman.

• CFTC Anti-Fraud Blitz Is A Warning To Carbon Credit Sellers

  

  With its recent enforcement actions against a carbon offset project developer and its senior executives for reporting false information about the energy savings of the company's projects, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is staking out its position as a primary regulator in the voluntary carbon credit market, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

• Unpacking State AG Approaches To Digital Asset Enforcement

  

  Attorneys at Cozen O'Connor survey recent digital asset enforcement by attorneys general nationwide driven by concerns over regulatory gaps where technological developments and market changes have outpaced legislation.

• Opinion

  Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits

  

  With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.

• Peeling Back The Layers Of SEC's Equity Trading Reforms

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently adopted amendments lowering the tick sizes for stock trading and reducing access fee caps will benefit investors and necessitate broad systems changes — if they can first survive judicial challenges, say attorneys at Sidley.

• 5th Circ. DOL Tip Decision May Trigger Final 80/20 Rule Fight

  

  A recent Fifth Circuit decision concerning a Labor Department rule that limits how often tipped employees can be assigned non-tip-producing duties could be challenged in either historically rule-friendly circuits or the Supreme Court, but either way it could shape the future of tipped work, says Kevin Johnson at Johnson Jackson.

• How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program

  

  During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.

• Series

  Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.

• CFPB School Lunch Focus Could Expand E-Payment Scrutiny

  

  The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent spotlight on payment processing systems used to add funds to school lunch accounts shows its continued ambitions to further expand its supervisory power in the payments industry, all the way down to the school lunch market, says Tom Witherspoon at Stinson.

• A Narrow Window Of Opportunity To Fix Energy Transmission

  

  A post-election effort of the coming lame-duck congressional session may be the only possibility to pass bipartisan legislation to solve the national grid's capacity deficiencies, which present the greatest impediment to realizing state and federal energy transition and emissions reduction goals, says David Smith at Manatt.