Public Policy

  • July 30, 2024

    Texas' Meta Deal Signals Future Data Privacy Actions

    While the announcement of an "astronomical" $1.4 billion settlement between Texas and Meta Platforms Inc. on Tuesday won't lead to a flood of consumer suits, it's "absolutely" a signal of future enforcement actions by the Lone Star State in the data privacy sphere, experts told Law360.

  • July 30, 2024

    FTC Seeks Temporary Kroger-Albertsons Block In Oregon

    The Federal Trade Commission is formally seeking a temporary block against Kroger's proposed purchase of Albertsons, arguing in an Oregon federal court brief unsealed Tuesday that the planned divestiture of 579 stores to a "failed" supermarket boss won't adequately protect consumers or union labor facing dramatically increased concentration.

  • July 30, 2024

    SEC Ruling Calls For FCC Revamp, Ex-Agency Lawyer Says

    Although the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling that civil defendants must be allowed jury trials to contest government fines was focused on securities law, the ruling will also upend the Federal Communications Commission's in-house enforcement and require new legislation, warns an appellate lawyer and former FCC attorney.

  • July 30, 2024

    Prosecutors Say Bribery Ruling Won't Disrupt Madigan Trial

    Prosecutors accusing former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan of corruption said Monday night his case is unaffected by the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling limiting the reach of a bribery statute that once criminalized gratuities, saying the government's allegations do not rely on gratuities, so "this dog will not hunt."

  • July 30, 2024

    Miami Must Face Ex-Police Chief's Retaliation Suit

    A Florida federal judge has denied Miami officials' bids to toss a retaliation lawsuit brought by the city's former police chief, rejecting claims that he hadn't exhausted his administrative remedies before filing his complaint and saying his attempts to do so would be considered futile.

  • July 30, 2024

    FTX Exec Gets Prison Report Date Delayed After Dog Attack

    A New York federal judge on Tuesday allowed ex-FTX executive Ryan Salame to delay his surrender date to begin his prison term from August to October, as he was forced to undergo medical treatment and surgery after being mauled by a German shepherd while visiting a friend's house last month.

  • July 30, 2024

    Colo. Justices Step Into Boulder Climate Change Case

    The Colorado Supreme Court has ordered a trial court to defend its decision greenlighting the bulk of municipalities' attempts to make Suncor subsidiaries and Exxon pay for damages allegedly caused by climate change.

  • July 30, 2024

    Sens. Look To Break Down Federal Barriers To Broadband

    Three senators think they have the solution for speeding up the broadband permitting process in the form of a bill that they say will cut red tape and ensure applications are dealt with within the nine-month window the federal government has to do so.

  • July 30, 2024

    Senate Sends Kids' Online Safety, Privacy Bills To House

    The U.S. Senate on Tuesday easily approved a pair of bipartisan bills claiming to put more responsibility on social media platforms to ensure children's safety online and enhance data privacy protections for teens, although one of the proposals continues to face First Amendment opposition from consumer advocates as the measures move to the House.

  • July 30, 2024

    Judge OKs Deal Ending Asylum Seekers' Work Eligibility Suit

    A Washington federal court signed off Tuesday on a preliminary settlement resolving asylum seekers' claims that federal immigration agencies have forced them to wait longer than the 180-day waiting period to apply for work permits.

  • July 30, 2024

    Sidney Powell Settles Dominion Exec's Election Lies Suit

    Sidney Powell, a former attorney to Donald Trump, has settled a defamation lawsuit brought by a former executive for Dominion Voting Systems accused of taking part in unfounded 2020 election conspiracy theories.

  • July 30, 2024

    NYC Loses Injunction Bid In Texas Migrant Busing Suit

    A New York state judge has denied New York City's bid to bar charter bus companies from transporting migrants from Texas, saying the state law the city leaned on is "essentially identical" to one the U.S. Supreme Court struck down in 1941.

  • July 30, 2024

    DC Circ. Finds NIH's Comment Restrictions Unconstitutional

    The National Institutes of Health violated the First Amendment when the agency used keyword filters to hide comments from animal rights activists on its official Facebook and Instagram pages, a D.C. Circuit panel ruled Tuesday.

  • July 30, 2024

    Army Bug Repellent Case Heads To Mediation

    A qui tam case in which the government alleges a North Carolina maker of bug-repellent clothing skimped on the amount of insect control chemicals it applied to combat uniforms will go to mediation, with a former federal magistrate judge serving as mediator, according to an order issued Tuesday.

  • July 30, 2024

    DC Circ. Must Block EPA Mercury Rule, Challengers Say

    Challengers of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new rule tightening mercury and other toxic metal emission standards for some coal-fired power plants are hitting back against arguments by the agency and its supporters that their requested stay of the rule isn't warranted.

  • July 30, 2024

    Monsanto PCB Plaintiffs Say Expert Can Survive Appeals Loss

    A group of families suing Monsanto alleging chemical poisoning urged a Washington state judge on Monday to reject the company's bid to derail their case nearing trial, arguing testimony from an exposure expert cannot be ruled out just because an appellate court struck some of his opinions in a different case.

  • July 30, 2024

    High Court Ruling Dooms EPA Smog Plan, DC Circ. Told

    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to halt the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's plan to reduce smog-forming emissions across several states is reason enough for the D.C. Circuit to invalidate the rule, several states, industry groups and energy companies argued.

  • July 30, 2024

    10th Circ. Shields Feds From Fire Mismanagement Suit

    The U.S. Forest Service doesn't have to face allegations it mismanaged the response to two Utah wildfires in 2018, the Tenth Circuit said Tuesday.

  • July 30, 2024

    Legalization Foes Mount New Challenge To NY Pot Program

    A group of anti-cannabis activists renewed their challenge to New York's proposal to use public funds to help marijuana retailers launch their businesses, alleging in a new state court lawsuit that the policy violates federal law.

  • July 30, 2024

    Student Loan Borrower Takes Debt Fight To High Court

    A borrower is seeking the U.S. Supreme Court's review of the dismissal of his lawsuit alleging a state student-loan-servicing agency's misrepresentations ended a loan forgiveness opportunity, arguing a circuit court decision that shielded the agency from the suit conflicts with the prior rulings.

  • July 30, 2024

    Exxon Loses Bid For Avangrid Docs In Mass. Climate Suit

    ExxonMobil will not gain access to potentially millions of documents from wind energy company Avangrid as part of the Massachusetts attorney general's long-running climate change suit, after a state court judge found it "inconceivable" that the sought-after material could be relevant to the case.

  • July 30, 2024

    Low-Power TV Stations Seek More Latitude From FCC

    Low-power television stations believe it's time for the Federal Communications Commission to allow them to start operating at higher levels of power as long as they remain in their service contours.

  • July 30, 2024

    Ohio Bill Would Create Credit For Property Tax, Rent

    Ohio would allow homeowners and renters to claim a refundable property tax credit or rebate if their property tax or rent-equivalent tax exceeds 5% of their household income under a bill introduced in the House of Representatives.

  • July 30, 2024

    DC Circ. Tosses FERC's OK Of Northeast Pipeline Expansion

    The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday threw out the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's approval of a Northeast pipeline expansion, ruling that the agency overlooked the project's "enormous" greenhouse gas emissions and failed to properly consider the lack of market need for the added natural gas capacity.

  • July 30, 2024

    Boston's Ex-Top Cop Says Abuse Claims Lack Corroboration

    A terminated Boston Police commissioner argued to a federal judge Tuesday that he was unconstitutionally denied a public forum to clear his name after the city released a report citing decades-old domestic abuse claims made by his ex-wife.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism

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    As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Piercing FEMA Authority Is Not Insurmountable

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    While the Federal Emergency Management Agency's discretionary authority continues to provide significant protection from claims under the Administrative Procedure Act, Loper Bright is a blow to the argument that Congress gave FEMA unfettered discretion to administer its own programs, says Wendy Huff Ellard at Baker Donelson.

  • What Happens After Hawaii Kids' Historic Climate Deal

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    Implications of the Hawaii Department of Transportation's first-of-its-kind settlement with youth plaintiffs over constitutional climate claims may be limited, but it could incite similar claims, says J. Michael Showalter and Robert Middleton at ArentFox Schiff.

  • How Tech Trackers May Implicate HIPAA After Hospital Ruling

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    A recent Texas federal court order in American Hospital Association v. Becerra adds a legal protection on key data, clarifying when tracking technologies implicate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, so organizations should ensure all technology used is known and accounted for, say John Howard and Myriah Jaworski at Clark Hill.

  • The Show Must Go On: Noncompete Uncertainty In Film, TV

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    The Federal Trade Commission has taken action to ban noncompetes while the entertainment industry is in the midst of a massive shift away from traditional media, so it is important for studio heads and content owners alike to understand the fate of the rule and their options going forward, say Christopher Chatham and Douglas Smith at Manatt.

  • A Refresher On Calculating Political Advertising Costs

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    With election season well underway, it is important for broadcasters, political candidates, time buyers and others concerned with how the cost of broadcast political advertising is determined to know what the Federal Communications Commission factors into lowest unit calculations, and how the commission has defined "commercial advertisers," says Gregg Skall at Telecommunications Law Professionals.

  • 'Outsourcing' Ruling, 5 Years On: A Warning, Not A Watershed

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    A New York federal court’s 2019 ruling in U.S. v. Connolly, holding that the government improperly outsourced an investigation to Deutsche Bank, has not undercut corporate cooperation incentives as feared — but companies should not completely ignore the lessons of the case, say Temidayo Aganga-Williams and Anna Nabutovsky at Selendy Gay.

  • Series

    Serving In The National Guard Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My ongoing military experience as a judge advocate general in the National Guard has shaped me as a person and a lawyer, teaching me the importance of embracing confidence, balance and teamwork in both my Army and civilian roles, says Danielle Aymond at Baker Donelson.

  • Big Business May Come To Rue The Post-Administrative State

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    Many have framed the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions overturning Chevron deference and extending the window to challenge regulations as big wins for big business, but sand in the gears of agency rulemaking may be a double-edged sword, creating prolonged uncertainty that impedes businesses’ ability to plan for the future, says Todd Baker at Columbia University.

  • Reading Between The Lines Of Justices' Moore Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Moore v. U.S. decision, that the Internal Revenue Code Section 965 did not violate the 16th Amendment, was narrowly tailored to minimally disrupt existing tax regimes, but the justices' various opinions leave the door open to future tax challenges and provide clues for what the battles may look like, say Caroline Ngo and Le Chen at McDermott.

  • Series

    After Chevron: A Sea Change For Maritime Sector

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    The shipping industry has often looked to the courts for key agency decisions affecting maritime interests, but after the U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright ruling, stakeholders may revisit important industry questions and coordinate to bring appropriate challenges and shape rulemaking, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Opinion

    Post-Chevron, Good Riddance To The Sentencing Guidelines

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of the Chevron doctrine may signal the end of the U.S. sentencing guidelines, which is good news given that they have accomplished the opposite of Congress’ original intent to bring certainty, proportionality and uniformity to sentencing, say attorneys Mark Allenbaugh, Doug Passon and Alan Ellis.

  • Opinion

    Proposed Terminal Disclaimers Rule Harms Colleges, Startups

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    Universities and startups are ill-suited to follow the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s recently proposed rule on terminal disclaimers due to their necessity of filing patent applications early prior to contacting outside entities for funds and resources, say attorneys at Sterne Kessler.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Impact On CFPB May Be Limited

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo is likely to have a limited impact on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's regulatory activities, and for those who value due process, consistency and predictability in consumer financial services regulation, this may be a good thing, says John Coleman at Orrick.

  • A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates

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    Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.

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