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Public Policy
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August 02, 2024
Kilpatrick Adds Government Relations Adviser In DC
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP has hired a former Cox Communications government and public affairs senior specialist, who joined the firm as a government relations adviser, to advise clients on federal funding and navigating state and federal grant programs.
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August 02, 2024
FCC Beefs Up Compensation For Phone Caption Services
The Federal Communications Commission has agreed to a five-year plan that raises compensation for internet-enabled phone caption providers, although Republican commissioners balked at details of the plan and one called on the FCC to move toward greater use of automation technologies.
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August 02, 2024
DOJ Sues TikTok For Sweeping Children's Privacy Breaches
The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday hit TikTok and its parent company with a highly anticipated lawsuit accusing the short-form video app of engaging in "widespread" violations of children's privacy law by collecting a "wide variety" of personal information from kids under 13 without parental consent.
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August 01, 2024
More 'Equitable' Banking? This Ex-Biden Official Has A Plan
A former Biden U.S. Treasury Department official on Thursday outlined a progressive policy agenda that could provide a road map for bank regulators in the next administration, saying there's more that can and should be done to make the banking system stronger and fairer.
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August 01, 2024
Monsanto Wants Wash. Justices To Deny PCB Tort Petition
Monsanto Co. has urged Washington state's highest court to deny three schoolteachers' request for review of a recent appellate court decision overturning their $185 million win in a chemical poisoning trial, saying the plaintiffs haven't met their burden to show the case warrants the justices' attention.
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August 01, 2024
Texas Biz Court Costs Unlikely To Be Prohibitive, Experts Say
The Texas business court's fee schedule is unlikely to price potential litigants out, but many questions remain about the efficiency of the new venue's fee schedule, experts told Law360.
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August 01, 2024
Mich. Justices Uphold Tighter Manure Discharge Regs
A split Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld state regulators' increased protective permit conditions for animal feeding operations and said challengers to those conditions must fully exhaust administrative appeals before they can bring the issue to court.
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August 01, 2024
DOJ Unveils Whistleblower Pilot, But Garners Atty Criticism
The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday officially launched its pilot program to reward whistleblowers who alert prosecutors to significant corporate misconduct, although some whistleblower attorneys decried the program's award caps and what they described as its lack of enforceability.
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August 01, 2024
Calif. AG Says States Opposing 'Clean Fleets' Law Tout EVs
California's Attorney General Rob Bonta looked to slam the brakes Wednesday on a legal challenge brought by 16 states against the Golden State's Advanced Clean Fleets regulation, saying the complaint must be dismissed for lack of standing because the states themselves are encouraging electric vehicle production.
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August 01, 2024
Conservation Groups Take Aim At ESA Regs
Conservation groups are asking a California federal judge to throw out Endangered Species Act regulations put forward earlier this year, claiming federal agencies shortchanged their environmental review duties and moved ahead with changes that will harm the imperiled plants and animals the statute is supposed to protect.
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August 01, 2024
Feds Say Farmworkers Should Have Sued State Over Wages
The U.S. Department of Labor has urged a Washington federal court to toss a farmworker union's challenge to policies governing the prevailing wage, saying the union's issues actually stem from how state officials interpreted federal rules governing the wage rate.
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August 01, 2024
Google Beats RNC's Claims It Censored Fundraising Emails
A California federal judge on Wednesday tossed the Republican National Committee's lawsuit accusing Google of being politically motivated and violating the state's Unfair Competition Law by sending RNC fundraising emails to Gmail users' spam folders, finding the conduct may be unfair in a "colloquial" sense, but is not illegal.
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August 01, 2024
Apple Says DOJ Is Looking For 'Judicial Redesign' Of IPhone
Apple Inc. urged a New Jersey federal judge Thursday to throw out the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust lawsuit, calling claims of restricted app access meant to lock users into the iPhone as a government effort to control protocols the company contends are needed to ensure security and reliability.
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August 01, 2024
Bill To Vet Cos. Seeking Broadband Aid Advances In Senate
A U.S. Senate panel has moved legislation that would put tighter controls on approval of companies that apply for federal aid to assist with broadband network deployment.
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August 01, 2024
House Workforce Chair Wants Mental Health Parity Regs Axed
The Republican chairwoman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee told the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday it should not finalize regulations that aim to encourage employer compliance with a law requiring equitable mental health and substance use disorder treatments coverage, stating the rule burdens businesses.
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August 01, 2024
Mich. Regulators Sue Co. For Bringing In Out-of-State THC
A Michigan-based maker of edibles, vapes and other cannabinoid goods is in hot water with state regulators, which filed a complaint accusing the business of incorrectly reporting shipments of 130,000 grams of cannabis concentrate brought in from outside the state.
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August 02, 2024
Meet The 4 Washington Supreme Court Hopefuls
A career civil litigator, Seattle-area municipal judge, Naval officer-turned-tax attorney and solo family law practitioner are all vying this month for an open seat on Washington state's high court.
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August 01, 2024
Justices Uphold Chancery Toss Of Church COVID Suit
Two religious leaders in Delaware who sued over restrictions the state imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic waited too long to file the case and have no standing to proceed with their claims, Delaware's Supreme Court ruled Thursday, upholding dismissals by both the Superior and Chancery courts.
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August 01, 2024
Pirate Broadcaster Hit With Max Fine For Ignoring FCC
If the FCC could have fined the pirate radio station that it says has been operating out of the Bronx for years a penny more, it would have, but the agency ended up levying the maximum fine of just over $2.3 million against the operator of the station.
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August 01, 2024
6th Circ. Puts Net Neutrality Rule On Ice During Appeals
The Sixth Circuit on Thursday granted industry groups' bid to put a hold on the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules while appellate court challenges play out, saying there is a strong chance that internet service providers will eventually prevail.
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August 01, 2024
EU Approves $18B Grain Deal With Asset Sales
European enforcers on Thursday approved grain and seed supplier Bunge Ltd.'s plan to buy global grain trader Viterra Ltd. in an $18 billion deal, conditioned on the sale of Viterra's oilseed businesses in Hungary and Poland.
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August 01, 2024
Nokia Backs Expanded Broadband Use In 900 MHz Band
Nokia is joining the chorus of voices calling on the Federal Communications Commission to open up the 900 megahertz band of spectrum to other types of networks, a move they say will help utilities and other critical private enterprises.
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August 01, 2024
Groups Say DC Circ.'s Toss Of FERC OK Boosts Their Case
Conservation groups and the city of Port Isabel, Texas, told the D.C. Circuit that its recent decision to vacate the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's approval of a Northeast pipeline expansion supports their challenge of the commission's decision to approve two Texas liquefied natural gas facilities.
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August 01, 2024
Texas Juvenile Detention Centers Rife With Abuse, DOJ Says
A U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the Texas Juvenile Justice Department found a widespread pattern of physical and mental abuse and sexual exploitation at state-run facilities, with a report released Thursday calling for widespread reforms in juvenile detention institutions.
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August 01, 2024
Utah High Court Upholds Pause On State Abortion Ban
The Utah Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a pause on the state's near-total abortion ban while a constitutional challenge to the law proceeds, agreeing with a lower court's conclusion that the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah had standing to bring its challenge.
Expert Analysis
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Deciphering SEC Disgorgement 4 Years After Liu
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Liu v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to preserve SEC disgorgement with limits, courts have continued to rule largely in the agency’s favor, but a recent circuit split over the National Defense Authorization Act's import may create hurdles for the SEC, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Opinion
California Has A Duty To Curtail Frivolous CIPA Suits
As plaintiffs increasingly file class actions against companies for their use of website tracking cookies and pixels, the Legislature should consider four options to amend the California Invasion of Privacy Act and restore the balance between consumer privacy and business operational interests, say Steven Stransky and Jennifer Adler at Thompson Hine and Glenn Lammi at the Washington Legal Foundation.
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Updates To CFTC Large Trader Report Rules Leave Questions
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's updated large trader position reporting rules for futures and options is a much-needed change that modernizes a rule that had gone largely untouched since the 1980s, but the updates leave important questions unanswered, say Katherine Cooper and Maggie DePoy at BCLP.
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Series
Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer
There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.
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State Procurement Could Be Key For Calif. Offshore Wind
A recent ruling from the California Public Utilities Commission highlights how the state's centralized electricity procurement mechanism could play a critical role in the development of long lead-time resources — in particular, offshore wind — by providing market assurance to developers and reducing utilities' procurement risks, say attorneys at Wilson Sonsini.
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Key FCC Enforcement Issues In AT&T Location Data Appeal
AT&T’s decision to challenge a $57 million fine from the Federal Communications Commission for its alleged treatment of customer location information highlights interesting and fundamental issues about the constitutionality of FCC enforcement, say Patrick O’Donnell and Jason Neal at HWG.
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Calif. Budget Will Likely Have Unexpected Tax Consequences
A temporary suspension of net operating loss deductions and business incentive tax credits, likely to be approved on June 15 as part of California’s next budget, may create unanticipated tax liabilities for businesses that modeled recently completed transactions on current law, says Myra Sutanto Shen at Wilson Sonsini.
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How SEC Could Tackle AI Regulations On Brokers, Advisers
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission held an open meeting of its Investor Advisory Committee on June 6 to review the use of artificial intelligence in investment decision making, showing that regulators are being careful not to stifle innovation or implement rules that will quickly be made irrelevant after their passage, says Brian Korn at Manatt Phelps.
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Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians
Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Biden Admin Proposals May Facilitate US, UK, Australia Trade
Recent proposals that create exceptions to U.S. export licensing requirements for defense trade with Australia and the U.K. would remove hurdles that have hindered trade among the three countries, and could enable smaller companies in the sector to greatly expand their trade horizons, say Keil Ritterpusch and Grace Welborn at Buchanan Ingersoll.
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What To Know As CFPB Late Fee Rule Hangs In Limbo
Though the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's final credit card late fee rule faces an uncertain future due to litigation involving injunctions, emergency petitions and now a venue dispute, card issuers must understand how to navigate the interim period and what to do if the rule takes effect, say attorneys at Steptoe.
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Short-Term Takeaways From CMS' New Long-Term Care Rules
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' new final rule on nursing home staffing minimums imposes controversial regulatory challenges that will likely face significant litigation, but for now, stakeholders will need to prepare for increased staffing expectations and more specialized facility assessments without meaningful funding, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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What TikTok's Race Against The Clock Teaches Chinese Firms
The Biden administration's recent divestiture deadline on TikTok parent ByteDance provides useful information for other China-based companies looking to do business in the U.S., including the need to keep products for each market separate and implement firewalls at the design stage, says Richard Lomuscio at Stinson.
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Updated Federal Rules Can Improve Product Liability MDLs
The recent amendment of a federal evidence rule regarding expert testimony and the proposal of a civil rule on managing early discovery in multidistrict legislation hold great promise for promoting the uniform and efficient processes that high-stakes product liability cases particularly need, say Alan Klein and William Heaston at Duane Morris.
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Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent
As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.