Public Policy

  • August 02, 2024

    5th Circ. Tosses 1988 Case In Galveston Voting Rights Ruling

    Multiple minority groups cannot "combine forces" to bring vote dilution claims under a portion of the Voting Rights Act that prohibits race discrimination, the Fifth Circuit said, overruling a decades-old case in a blockbuster decision regarding Galveston County's voting districts.

  • August 02, 2024

    US Cannabis Policy Thwarts Research, Health Officials Say

    A recent report from federal health regulators confirms what cannabis reform advocates have long said, that placing marijuana in the most restrictive tier under the federal Controlled Substances Act has hindered researchers' ability to study the drug's potential benefits and risks.

  • August 02, 2024

    Ill. Gov. Pritzker Signs BIPA Reform Into Law

    Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed biometric privacy reform legislation into law on Friday, significantly reducing companies' potential liability for collecting or sharing individuals' fingerprint and other biometric data without informed consent.

  • August 02, 2024

    Panel Says Co. Forfeited $12.7M Claim Over Rail Project

    A Colorado Court of Appeals panel has found that a construction company overstated how much it was owed from a public project to build a new Denver rail line and can't seek any remedy for that $12.7 million claim, according to an opinion that applied provisions of a public works law for the first time.

  • August 02, 2024

    Public Interest Groups Back ISP Bulk Billing Opt-Out

    More than 30 public interest groups urged the Federal Communications Commission to allow consumers in multitenant environments to "escape" bulk billing for broadband service but quickly saw pushback from an industry group that calls the arrangements beneficial.

  • August 02, 2024

    DOJ, LA County Settle Disabled Voter Discrimination Suit

    The County of Los Angeles has settled the federal government's suit alleging it discriminated against people with disabilities who were trying to vote during recent elections and has agreed to work with an accessibility expert for three years to ensure its voting centers are accessible or can be made accessible.

  • August 02, 2024

    Wells Fargo's AML, Sanctions Programs Facing Investigation

    Wells Fargo & Co. has said it is facing scrutiny from "government authorities" over issues with its anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance programs, further noting it is in talks with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle an investigation into its investment account cash sweep offerings.

  • August 02, 2024

    Nonprofit Presses 5th Circ. To Keep 'Life-Saving' Parole Policy

    A Massachusetts community group called on the Fifth Circuit Friday to maintain an embattled immigration program allowing Haitian nationals to be paroled into the U.S., arguing the policy's critics haven't shown the program harms them.

  • August 02, 2024

    Ex-Dropbox Exec Says JPMorgan Can't Block Arbitration

    A billionaire co-founder of the file sharing platform Dropbox has asked a California federal court to declare that he can take a JPMorgan wealth management unit to arbitration for more than $225 million in damages he says he suffered at the hands of an investment adviser who previously worked for units of First Republic Bank that JPMorgan acquired last year.

  • August 02, 2024

    Shuttered Paper Mill Says NC Can't Claw Back $12M Incentive

    Food and beverage packaging company Pactiv Evergreen has said it shouldn't have to repay the state of North Carolina $12 million in economic incentives after it shut down a local mill, arguing the underlying agreement is contradictory and the state is purely out for punishment.

  • August 02, 2024

    Challengers To Ga. Utility Panel Elections Want Another Shot

    The plaintiffs behind a lawsuit that initially succeeded in challenging the allegedly discriminatory method for electing Georgia's Public Service Commission on Thursday asked a federal judge for permission to amend their complaint after the Eleventh Circuit refused to revisit an earlier panel decision upholding the electoral system.

  • August 02, 2024

    Boston Marathon Bomber Wants Trial Judge Off Case

    Convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev wants a different judge to handle his remanded motion to strike two jurors at his sentencing trial over potential bias, his lawyers told the court in a letter Friday.

  • August 02, 2024

    Conn. AG Probes Solar Site's 'False' Social Media Ads

    A company running social media ads that claim the government will "cover the cost" of installing solar products is deceiving Connecticut residents and leaving them with a false sense of urgency to claim a benefit that doesn't exist, the state attorney general's office said Friday in announcing an investigation.

  • August 02, 2024

    Boeing's New CEO To Steer Daunting Safety Culture Rebound

    Boeing's selection of an engineer and longtime aerospace industry executive as its next CEO demonstrates an eagerness to correct course amid daunting legal and regulatory troubles, as victims' families relentlessly press for Boeing to face a criminal trial over the two 737 Max 8 crashes.

  • August 02, 2024

    Commerce Rejects Vietnam's Bid For Market Economy Status

    The U.S. Department of Commerce said Friday that it has rejected Vietnam's request to lift its status as a non-market economy, which would have altered how antidumping duties are calculated on Vietnamese exports.

  • August 02, 2024

    Navajo Restrict Radioactive Transport On Reservation Lands

    For the next six months, no radioactive material can be transported across the Navajo Nation's reservation without prior agreement with the country's largest federally recognized tribe, according to an executive order signed by President Buu Nygren.

  • August 02, 2024

    Ousted USA Badminton CEO Fights SafeSport Suspension

    A former Olympic badminton player who recently lost her position as CEO of USA Badminton has filed a lawsuit in Colorado federal court as part of her bid to undo a five-year suspension by the U.S. Center for SafeSport, upheld in arbitration, over allegations that she failed to report sexual misconduct and retaliated against someone who did.

  • August 02, 2024

    Colo. Appeals Panel Rejects Lower Tax Rate For Hospital

    A Colorado rehabilitation hospital should be classified as a commercial property for tax purposes because it was predominantly designed for its services and not for residency, a state appeals court said, reversing a state assessment board.

  • August 02, 2024

    Dollar Tree To Pay $190K Over Heavy Metals In Kids Products

    The Washington state attorney general has announced that Greenbrier International Inc., importer and purchaser for sister company Dollar Tree Stores Inc., has agreed to pay $190,000 and bolster its testing to resolve a probe that the attorney general said found heavy metals in children's school supplies.

  • August 02, 2024

    Mich. Court Won't Remove Detroit Judges From Ballot

    Two long-serving Detroit judges won't have their reelection bids dashed by alleged missteps in their filing paperwork, the Michigan Court of Claims has ruled.

  • August 02, 2024

    Family Separation Trial Paused For Settlement

    A California federal court has paused a lawsuit from three families separated at the southwestern border under the Trump-era zero tolerance policy as they finalize a settlement with the Biden administration to resolve the suit.

  • August 02, 2024

    ABA Taskforce Urges Attys To Step Up Election Volunteering

    The American Bar Association's Task Force for American Democracy, launched last year, published a 12-page report Friday outlining the importance of lawyers knowing their state's election laws and encouraging them to volunteer their time to bolster faith in elections.

  • August 02, 2024

    Privacy & Cybersecurity Midyear Report: 4 Areas To Watch

    New York and Colorado shook up the data privacy landscape by enacting groundbreaking laws protecting children online and clamping down on high-risk uses of artificial intelligence during the first half of 2024, and both states and the federal government are expected to devote considerable attention to these areas in the coming months. 

  • August 02, 2024

    Manhattan DA Slams Trump's 'Regurgitated' Recusal Bid

    The Manhattan district attorney pilloried Donald Trump's renewed request for the judge overseeing his hush money case to recuse himself, branding it a "regurgitated" attempt to rehash issues the court already decided without any new facts — besides Kamala Harris' presidential bid.

  • August 02, 2024

    Akin Debuts AI Law & Regulation Info Tracker

    Global BigLaw firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP launched a tracker to help monitor changing policies related to artificial intelligence in various fields including intellectual property, data privacy, health and national security.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • What NYC's Green Fast Track Means For Affordable Housing

    Author Photo

    New York City's Green Fast Track for Housing initiative, which went into effect last month, aims to speed up the environmental review process for modest residential developments and could potentially pave the way for similar initiatives in other cities, say Vivien Krieger and Rachel Scall at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Series

    After Chevron: No Deference, No Difference For SEC Or CFTC

    Author Photo

    The Chevron doctrine did not fundamentally alter the interplay between the courts and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the development of the securities and commodities laws — and its demise will not do so either, says Dan Berkovitz at Millennium Management.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • Justices' Bribery Ruling: A Corrupt Act Isn't Necessarily Illegal

    Author Photo

    In its Snyder v. U.S. decision last week, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a bribery law does not criminalize gratuities, continuing a trend of narrowing federal anti-corruption laws and scrutinizing public corruption prosecutions that go beyond obvious quid pro quo schemes, say Carrie Cohen and Christine Wong at MoFo.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Roundup

    After Chevron

    Author Photo

    In the month since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 26 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

  • Takeaways From New HHS Substance Use Disorder Info Rules

    Author Photo

    A new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rule continues the agency's efforts to harmonize complex rules surrounding confidentiality provisions for substance use disorder patient records, though healthcare providers will need to remain mindful of different potentially applicable requirements and changes that their compliance structures may require, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Expect Few Changes In ITC Rulemaking

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's opinion overruling the Chevron doctrine will have less impact on the U.S. International Trade Commission than other agencies administering trade statutes, given that the commission exercises its congressionally granted authority in a manner that allows for consistent decision making at both agency and judicial levels, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

  • Opinion

    Reform NEPA To Speed Mining Permits, Clean Energy Shift

    Author Photo

    It is essential to balance responsible regulatory oversight with permit approvals for mining projects that are needed for the transition to renewable energy — and with the National Environmental Policy Act being one of the leading causes of permit delays, reform is urgently needed, say Ana Maria Gutierrez and Michael Miller at Womble Bond.

  • Series

    Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

    Author Photo

    The second quarter of 2024 in California, which saw efforts to expand consumer protection legislation and enforcement actions in areas of federal focus like medical debt and student loans, demonstrated that the state's role as a trendsetter in consumer financial protection will continue for the foreseeable future, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 6 PTAB Events To Know From The Last 6 Months

    Author Photo

    The first half of 2024 brought a flurry of Patent Trial and Appeal Board developments that should be considered in post-grant strategies, including proposed rules on discretionary denial and director review, and the first decisions of the Delegated Rehearing Panel, say attorneys at Fish & Richardson.

  • Key Takeaways From High Court's Substitute Expert Decision

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Smith v. Arizona decision, holding that the confrontation clause generally bars prosecutors’ use of a substitute expert witness at trial, will have the most impact in narcotics and violent crime cases, but creative defense lawyers may find it useful in white collar cases, too, say Joshua Naftalis and Melissa Kelley at Pallas Partners.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

    Author Photo

    The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.

  • How Generative AI May Aid Merger Clearance Process

    Author Photo

    Generative artificial intelligence capable of analyzing and searching large datasets stands to revolutionize the merger clearance process, including by significantly reducing the time and effort required to respond to Hart-Scott-Rodino second requests, say Kenneth Koch and Brian Blush at BDO USA.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Public Policy archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!