Public Policy

  • November 01, 2024

    Kroger Blasts 'Food Desert' Fears From Wash. Nonprofits

    Kroger and Albertsons said the trial judge in Washington's bid to block a $24.6 billion merger should reject amicus briefs from two cities, a food bank and a poverty nonprofit, saying their assertions that the deal would inflate grocery prices and create food deserts in some communities rehash claims by activists and the media.

  • November 01, 2024

    FEMA Finalizes Rule Allowing Monthly NFIP Bill Payments

    National Flood Insurance Program policyholders will be able to pay their premiums on a monthly basis starting next year, under a rule finalized Friday that is meant to incentivize greater and continued participation in the nation's largest provider of flood insurance.

  • November 01, 2024

    Colo. To Boost Services To End Feds' ADA Discrimination Suit

    Colorado has agreed to implement new housing and support practices to ensure adults with physical disabilities have adequate help to leave nursing facilities and receive services in their own homes, as part of a settlement announced Friday to end a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit.

  • November 01, 2024

    Health Data Co. Urges 4th Circ. To Keep Access Open

    Nursing home data analytics company Real Time Medical Systems urged the Fourth Circuit on Friday to keep in place an order that stops electronic medical records company PointClickCare from using unsolvable captcha prompts to block access to patient records.

  • November 01, 2024

    Ga. Judge Won't Fast Track GOP Poll Worker Suit

    A Georgia judge refused Friday to consider a lawsuit alleging Fulton County's election director wrongly denied Republicans' efforts to place poll workers for the November election because there are issues of fact that must be considered by a jury during the next term of court. 

  • November 01, 2024

    High Court Leaves Pa. Fix For Nixed Mail Ballots In Place

    The U.S. Supreme Court left in place Friday a ruling from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court allowing voters in the battleground state whose mail-in ballots are rejected as defective to submit provisional ballots on Election Day as replacements.

  • November 01, 2024

    DOI Invests $82M For Clean Drinking Water Projects For Tribes

    The U.S. Department of the Interior unveiled a nearly $82 million investment for 23 projects aimed at bringing clean, safe drinking water to Tribal communities in the Western United States.

  • November 01, 2024

    DOJ, Navarro Spar Over White House Emails Turnover

    The legal team representing former Trump administration adviser Peter Navarro argued in D.C. federal court Friday that some 300 emails from Navarro's time at the White House are purely personal and should stay out of the hands of the National Archives.

  • November 01, 2024

    Enviro Groups, Tribes Sue Over Nev. Lithium Mine Approval

    Environmental and tribal groups slapped the U.S. Department of the Interior with a complaint in Nevada federal court seeking to upend the agency's authorization of the Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Mine, arguing the project will drive a rare wildflower into extinction.

  • November 01, 2024

    Army Allies Slam Bid To Trim Visa Case For Pending Plan

    Afghan and Iraqi military translators slammed U.S. immigration officials' efforts to trim their lawsuit challenging delays with their visa applications, telling a D.C. federal court that the Biden administration's plan to streamline visa processing is not yet final.

  • November 01, 2024

    Judge Skeptical Of NYC Mayor's Bid To Dismiss Bribery Count

    A Manhattan federal judge on Friday voiced skepticism of New York City Mayor Eric Adams' motion to dismiss his bribery charge, and set an April trial date in a case accusing the mayor of taking travel perks from Turkish officials in exchange for official favors.

  • November 01, 2024

    Conn. Ballot Measure Nixes Need For Absentee Vote Excuses

    Connecticut voters will decide Tuesday whether to enshrine no-excuse absentee voting in the state constitution, a measure supported by Democrats and the American Civil Liberties Union but opposed by Republicans.

  • November 01, 2024

    Nonprofit Urges Miss. Judge To Uphold H-2A Worker Rule

    A nonprofit supporting migrant workers' rights filed an amicus brief Friday urging a Mississippi federal court to deny the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's bid to stay a regulation allowing H-2A migrant farmworkers to organize, saying the rule falls well within the authority of the U.S. Department of Labor.

  • November 01, 2024

    Wash. Man Gets 4 Years For Killing And Selling Eagles

    A Washington man who conspired to hunt and kill thousands of bald and golden eagles and hawks on a Montana reservation to sell on the black market will serve nearly four years in federal prison following a plea agreement in which prosecutors dropped nearly a dozen charges.

  • November 01, 2024

    Oil Group, Enviro Orgs Clash Over Offshore Drilling Plan

    Environmental groups and the American Petroleum Institute filed sparring briefs in an appeal before the D.C. Circuit over the U.S. Department of the Interior's 2024-2029 offshore oil and gas leasing program, each arguing that the agency wasn't legally obligated to satisfy the other's demands.

  • November 01, 2024

    What Happens To Ga. Election Case If Trump Wins?

    The fate of the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump is on the ballot this November, according to legal experts, who told Law360 that a Trump victory would likely mean any trial would have to wait until he completes his term in office.

  • November 01, 2024

    Ohio Makes Play To Enter Cleveland Browns' Stadium Suit

    Ohio asked to join Cleveland as a defendant in a suit filed by the Cleveland Browns alleging that a state law impeding the NFL team's plan to move to another city within the state is unconstitutional.

  • November 01, 2024

    Electric Co-Ops Urge NTIA To 'True Up' Broadband Funding

    Electric cooperatives want the U.S. Commerce Department to implement a "true-up" process to ensure that only locations still in need of reliable broadband match well with federal funds available under a $42.5 billion spending program to deploy service in unserved areas.

  • November 01, 2024

    4 Appellate Arguments Benefits Attys Should Watch In Nov.

    The Second Circuit will weigh battles over retirement plan fees and union benefit contributions, teachers will ask the Ninth Circuit to revive their suit over interest they say is owed on their retirement accounts and the Eleventh Circuit will mull a constitutional challenge to a Florida gender-affirming care ban. Here are four upcoming arguments that benefits lawyers should have on their radar.

  • November 01, 2024

    College Athletes' Attorney Rebuffs NIL Settlement Critics

    A key architect of the landmark antitrust settlement forcing the National Collegiate Athletic Association to pay over $2.7 billion and set up a revenue-sharing system for athletes defended the deal against a slew of objectors Friday, explaining that the arrangement delivers a windfall for the athletes as quickly as possible.

  • November 01, 2024

    FERC In Position To Ride Out Any Election Day Upheaval

    The ongoing work of a reloaded Federal Energy Regulatory Commission isn't likely to be disturbed by a new president in the White House next year, although FERC watchers say concerns that a Trump administration could challenge the agency's historic independence can't be brushed off.

  • November 01, 2024

    Up Next At High Court: Fed Funds And Securities Risks

    The U.S. Supreme Court will return to the bench Monday for its November arguments session, which will start off with a debate over whether the Federal Communications Commission telecom subsidy program involves federal funds subject to the False Claims Act, and on Tuesday how Medicare funding should be calculated for hospitals that serve large numbers of low-income patients.

  • November 01, 2024

    2024 Election Could Be Crossroads For Clean Energy Funding

    Election Day will present a multibillion-dollar fork in the road for the energy industry and its reliance on the federal government to help fund its decarbonization efforts, energy attorneys say.

  • November 01, 2024

    US Must Revamp Spectrum Policy To Compete, Org. Says

    The U.S. is on the verge of a "great strategic blunder" by allowing its spectrum auction authority to lapse and setting aside too much spectrum for short-range unlicensed wireless use, risking the loss of its competitive edge to China, a think tank says.

  • November 01, 2024

    Pennsylvania's Attorney General Race: Four Things To Know

    In the race for Pennsylvania attorney general, a former county prosecutor and a two-term auditor general are facing off for the chance to be the Keystone State's top lawyer — both with ties to York, Pennsylvania, and Widener University Commonwealth Law School in Harrisburg. But whether they'd be more at home in the office's criminal prosecution or civil litigation roles depends on the candidate.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    To Lower Drug Prices, Harris Must Address Patent Thickets

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    If Vice President Kamala Harris is serious about her pledge to address high drug prices, she must begin by closing loopholes that allow pharmaceutical companies to develop patent thickets that can deter generic or biosimilar companies from entering the market, says Tahir Amin at the Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge.

  • How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations

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    Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.

  • ESA Ruling May Jeopardize Gulf Of Mexico Drilling Operations

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    A Maryland federal court's recent decision in Sierra Club v. National Marine Fisheries Service, vacating key Endangered Species Act analyses of oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico, may create a gap in guidance that could expose operators to enforcement risk and even criminal liability, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • The State Law Landscape After Justices' Social Media Ruling

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    Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent NetChoice ruling on social media platforms’ First Amendment rights, it’s still unclear if state content moderation laws are constitutional, leaving online operators to face a patchwork of regulation, and the potential for the issue to return to the high court, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • What's Next For Federal Preemption In Financial Services

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    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's review of its preemption interpretations and growing pressure from state regulators signal potential changes ahead for preemption in U.S. financial services, and the path forward will likely involve a reevaluation of the entire framework, say attorneys at Clark Hill.

  • Avoiding Corporate Political Activity Pitfalls This Election Year

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    As Election Day approaches, corporate counsel should be mindful of the complicated rules around companies engaging in political activities, including super PAC contributions, pay-to-play prohibitions and foreign agent restrictions, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Opinion

    Congress Must Do More To Bolster ERISA Protections

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    As the Employee Retirement Income Security Act turns 50 this month, we applaud Congress for championing a statute that protects worker and retiree rights, but further action is needed to ban arbitration clauses in plan provisions and codify regulations imperiled by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Chevron ruling, say Michelle Yau and Eleanor Frisch at Cohen Milstein.

  • Increased Scrutiny Raises Int'l Real Estate Transaction Risks

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    Recently proposed regulations expanding the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States' oversight, a White House divestment order and state-level legislative efforts signal increasing scrutiny of real estate transactions that may trigger national security concerns, say Luciano Racco and Aleksis Fernández Caballero at Foley Hoag.

  • Navigating Cybersecurity Rule Changes For Gov't Contractors

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    As federal contractors evaluate the security of their IT systems, they should keep in mind numerous changes to the Federal Acquisition Regulations and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement recently promulgated to meet new cyber threats, says William Stowe at KBR.

  • Financial Incentives May Alleviate Affordable Housing Crisis

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    There is a wide array of financial incentives and assistance that the government can provide to both real estate developers and individuals to chip away at the housing affordability problem from multiple angles, say Eric DeBear and Madeline Williams at Cozen.

  • How Fund Advisers Can Limit Election Year Pay-To-Play Risks

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    With Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz now the Democratic candidate for vice president, politically active investment advisers should take practical steps to avoid triggering strict pay-to-play rules that can lead to fund managers facing mutli-year timeouts from working with public funds after contributing to sitting officials, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • FTC Focus: What Access To Patent Settlements Would Mean

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    Settling parties should adopt a series of practice tips, including specifying rationales to support specific terms, as the Federal Trade Commission seeks to expand its access to settlements before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, say Shannon McGowan and David Munkittrick at Proskauer.

  • Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles

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    Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.

  • How NJ Temp Equal Pay Survived A Constitutional Challenge

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    The Third Circuit recently gave the New Jersey Temporary Workers' Bill of Rights a new lease on life by systematically dismantling multiple theories of the act's unconstitutionality brought by staffing agencies hoping to delay their new equal pay and benefits obligations, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

  • Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.

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