Public Policy

  • July 15, 2024

    Waste Site Ruling Must Be Undone, Nuke Group Tells Justices

    The main trade group for the U.S. nuclear industry on Friday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a Fifth Circuit decision that barred the federal government from licensing a temporary nuclear waste storage facility in Texas, saying the erroneous ruling threatens to upend the industry.

  • July 15, 2024

    LendingTree Urges FCC To Narrow Lead Consent Rule

    Loan marketplace LendingTree is asking the Federal Communications Commission to add an exception to its new "lead generator" consent rule, saying that as it's currently constructed, the rule disadvantages small businesses competing with larger brand names.

  • July 15, 2024

    US Co. Says Feds Ignored Sales Issues To Lift Chemical Duty

    A chemical manufacturer that convinced the U.S. Department of Commerce to levy tariffs on an Austrian corrosion-inhibiting pigment in 2019 has sued the department for its recent decision to lift the tariffs, claiming Commerce overlooked an importer's influence over its U.S. customers.

  • July 15, 2024

    Coca-Cola Docs Would Clarify Soda Risk, Mexican Group Says

    A Mexican consumer advocacy group has asked a Georgia federal judge to force the Coca-Cola Company to hand over internal documents about the company's alleged efforts to manufacture scientific research that misled soda buyers about the dangerous health effects of sugary beverages.

  • July 15, 2024

    EEOC Commissioner Sonderling To Depart Agency

    EEOC Commissioner Keith Sonderling announced Monday he will leave the agency in August when his term ends, wrapping up a seven-year tenure with the federal government to return to the private sector.

  • July 15, 2024

    Trump Classified Docs Case Canned Over Special Counsel Law

    A Florida federal judge on Monday tossed the criminal case against former President Donald Trump over his allegedly illegal retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, ruling that the appointment of a special prosecutor for the case is unconstitutional.

  • July 12, 2024

    Law360 Names 2024's Top Attorneys Under 40

    Law360 is pleased to announce the Rising Stars of 2024, our list of 158 attorneys under 40 whose legal accomplishments belie their age.

  • July 12, 2024

    House GOP Wants Push For Special Counsel Tapes Sped Up

    U.S. House Judiciary Committee Republicans asked a D.C. federal judge on Friday to order U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to hand over audiotapes of President Joe Biden's and his ghostwriter's interviews with special counsel Robert Hur in Biden's classified documents investigation, saying "the clock on the 118th Congress [is] ticking."

  • July 12, 2024

    Mississippi Judge Benches Favre's NY Atty In Fraud Suit

    A Mississippi judge found Thursday that retired quarterback Brett Favre's New York-based defense attorney in a massive welfare fraud lawsuit routinely violated the state's civil procedure codes and barred him and other non-local counsel from making any more filings.

  • July 12, 2024

    Loper Bright Is Shaking Up Dozens Of Regulatory Fights

    In the two weeks since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference, the landmark decision has emerged as a live issue in dozens of administrative challenges, with federal courts already pausing agency regulations expanding LGBTQ+ rights in education and healthcare and with a wave of parties seeking to use the new decision to win their cases.

  • July 12, 2024

    DHS Says Recent High Court Rulings Doom CBP App Claims

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Friday that a pair of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings addressing the issue of standing mean that two organizations lack the standing to challenge its requirement that migrants use a smartphone app to submit applications.

  • July 12, 2024

    NC Justices Asked To Take Up 'Double Odor' Pot Test Appeal

    Police should not be able to establish probable cause to search a vehicle based on the smell of cannabis and a perceived "cover scent," such as cologne, according to a petition filed to the North Carolina Supreme Court which described this kind of conduct as a "stealthy encroachment" on constitutional rights.

  • July 12, 2024

    FirstEnergy Denied 6th Circ. Appeal In Doc Dispute

    Scandal-plagued utility company FirstEnergy Corp. lost another attempt to shield internal investigation documents from a class of investors as well as its former CEO on Friday when an Ohio federal judge denied the company's request to appeal the dispute to the Sixth Circuit on a "logically fallacious" premise.

  • July 12, 2024

    Texas Courts Block Protections For Transgender Students

    Two Texas federal judges have blocked the U.S. Department of Education from enforcing protections for transgender students in Lone Star State schools while lawsuits against the rules are litigated, with one judge saying the measures provide "extra privileges to the transgender student based on subjective feelings of discomfort."

  • July 12, 2024

    Red State AGs Slam SEC 'Overreach' In Crypto Co. Challenge

    Seven Republican state attorneys general have told a Texas federal judge that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's alleged crypto policy of "rulemaking by district court enforcement action" threatens their ability to protect consumers as the court weighs a yet-to-launch crypto exchange's preemptive challenge to the securities regulator.

  • July 12, 2024

    FCC Says Rural Areas Get New Funds After Charter Defaults

    Charter is going to be dropping some of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund census blocks it took responsibility for and taking the fines that come with doing so, according to the FCC, which says the good news is that those blocks are now open for more federal funding for another provider.

  • July 12, 2024

    CFPB Takes Its 5th Circ. Lumps To Advance Late Fee Rule Suit

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has told the Fifth Circuit that it won't appeal a three-judge panel's decision forcing it defend its $8 credit card late fee rule in Texas rather than Washington, D.C., a move that could expedite the agency's efforts to free the rule from a lower-court injunction.

  • July 12, 2024

    Texas DA Tells 5th Circ. He's Immune In Border Law Fight

    Texas District Attorney Bill Hicks told the Fifth Circuit its June decision finding another district attorney immune from a suit over changes to the state's election code means he should be shielded from a challenge to the Lone Star State's migrant arrest law.

  • July 12, 2024

    DC Circ. Upholds FCC Approval Of SpaceX Satellite Plan

    A D.C. Circuit panel Friday affirmed a Federal Communications Commission license authorizing SpaceX to deploy thousands of its Starlink satellites, rejecting challenges from satellite TV provider Dish Network LLC and advocacy group DarkSky International.

  • July 12, 2024

    MoneyLion Cites High Court Rulings In Bid To Toss CFPB Suit

    MoneyLion Technologies Inc. told a New York federal judge on Friday that two recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings, including the reversal of the so-called Chevron deference doctrine, support the challenge to military lending regulations it is accused of violating in a lawsuit by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

  • July 12, 2024

    Colo. Prisoners Seek Class Cert. In Slave Labor Suit

    A pair of Colorado prisoners have asked a state judge to grant class certification for their suit alleging the state is illegally using them for slave labor, detailing their experiences of punishment like extensive isolation for refusing to work.

  • July 12, 2024

    Feds Join Voting Rights Suit Over Georgia Election Law

    The federal government has joined a suit against Georgia officials over their 2021 voting law after a federal judge allowed it to intervene in wide-ranging litigation against the measure, saying state lawmakers intend to deny Black Georgians and other people of color the right to vote because of their race.

  • July 12, 2024

    Texas Lethal Injections Criminal Matter, Says Appeals Court

    A split Texas appeals court panel found that a state district court should have dismissed two death row inmates' suit because it did not have jurisdiction, with the majority saying Friday that any case seeking an injunction that could stay an execution falls under the jurisdiction of criminal courts.

  • July 12, 2024

    Texas Panel Revives Woman's Acupuncture Burn Suit

    A Texas court of appeals revived a suit accusing an acupuncturist of providing negligent suction cup treatment that left a woman with second-degree burns, finding the woman should be provided additional time to fix her deficient medical expert report.

  • July 12, 2024

    Tire Cos. Can't Pause Fish-Harming Chemical Suit

    A California federal judge rejected a group of tire companies' efforts to stay an Endangered Species Act suit accusing the companies of killing fish on the West Coast with their use of a rubber additive, saying that waiting for a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rulemaking on the additive "makes little sense."

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    It's Time For Nationwide Race-Based Hair Protections

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    While 24 states have passed laws that prohibit race-based hair discrimination, this type of bias persists in workplaces and schools, so a robust federal law is necessary to ensure widespread protection, says Samone Ijoma and Erica Roberts at Sanford Heisler.

  • Series

    After Chevron: EEOC Status Quo Will Likely Continue

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    As the legal landscape adjusts to the end of Chevron deference, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s rulemaking authority isn’t likely to shift as much as some other employment-related agencies, says Paige Lyle at FordHarrison.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Impact On Indian Law May Be Muted

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    Agency interpretations of Indian law statutes that previously stood the test of judicial review ​are likely to withstand new challenges even after the end of Chevron deference, but litigation in the area is all but certain, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Opinion

    Trump Immunity Ruling Upends Our Constitutional Scheme

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s Trump v. U.S. decision elevates the president to imperial status and paves the way for nearly absolute presidential immunity from potential criminal prosecutions — with no constitutional textual support, says Paul Berman at the George Washington University Law School.

  • High Court Paves Middle Ground For Proceedings Obstruction

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Fischer sensibly leaves the door open for prosecutors to make more nuanced assessments as to whether defendants' actions directly or tangentially impair the availability or integrity of anything used in an official proceeding, without criminalizing acts such as peaceful demonstrations, say attorneys at Perry Law.

  • How High Court Approached Time Limit On Reg Challenges

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve Board effectively gives new entities their own personal statute of limitations to challenge rules and regulations, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh's concurrence may portend the court's view that those entities do not need to be directly regulated, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

  • Series

    Florida Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The second quarter of 2024 brought two notable bills that will affect Florida's banking and finance community across many issues, including virtual currency abandonment, cancellation of financial services on the basis of political opinions, and the exemption amount of motor vehicles, say Joshua Prever and Andrew Balthazor at Holland & Knight.

  • Series

    After Chevron: FTC's 'Unfair Competition' Actions In Jeopardy

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court's decision ending Chevron deference will have limited effect on the Federal Trade Commission's merger guidelines, administrative enforcement actions and commission decisions on appeal, it could restrict the agency's expansive take on its rulemaking authority and threaten the noncompete ban, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

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    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Opportunities For Change In FHFA Practices

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the Chevron doctrine should lead to better cooperation between the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Congress, and may give the FHFA a chance to embrace transparency and innovation and promote sustainable housing practices, says Mehdi Sinaki at Michelman & Robinson.

  • Constitutional Protections For Cannabis Companies Are Hazy

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    Cannabis businesses are subject to federal enforcement and tax, but often without the benefit of constitutional protections — and the entanglement of state and federal law and conflicting judicial opinions are creating confusion in the space, says Amber Lengacher at Purple Circle.

  • Supreme Court's ALJ Ruling Carries Implications Beyond SEC

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    In its recent Jarkesy opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court limited the types of cases that can be tried before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's in-house administrative law judges, setting the stage for challenges to the constitutionality of ALJs across other agencies, say Robert Robertson and Kimberley Church at Dechert.

  • Opinion

    A Tale Of 2 Trump Cases: The Rule Of Law Is A Live Issue

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this week in Trump v. U.S., holding that former President Donald Trump has broad immunity from prosecution, undercuts the rule of law, while the former president’s New York hush money conviction vindicates it in eight key ways, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • USPTO Disclaimer Rule Would Complicate Patent Prosecution

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's proposed changes to terminal disclaimer practice could lead to a patent owner being unable to enforce a valid patent simply because it is indirectly tied to a patent in which a single claim is found anticipated or obvious in view of the prior art, say attorneys at Sterne Kessler.

  • 2nd Circ. ERISA Ruling May Help Fight Unfair Arb. Clauses

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    The Second Circuit recently held that a plaintiff seeking planwide relief under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act cannot be compelled to individual arbitration, a decision that opens the door to new applications of the effective vindication doctrine to defeat onerous and one-sided arbitration clauses, say Raphael Janove and Liana Vitale at Janove.

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