Public Policy

  • July 02, 2024

    Immigration Attys Cautiously Optimistic After Chevron Ruling

    The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that courts no longer have to defer to federal agencies' interpretations of ambiguous statutes could help some immigrants fight removal orders while serving as a buffer against partisan challenges to executive immigration actions.

  • July 02, 2024

    IT Workers Say Chevron's End Dooms Spouse Work Permits

    Ex-information technology workers told the D.C. Circuit that the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning decades-old precedent instructing judges about when they can defer to federal agencies' interpretations of law buoys their challenge to an Obama-era program allowing work permits for some spouses of highly skilled foreign workers.

  • July 02, 2024

    Tribal Nations Want In On Red States' Water Rule Dispute

    Seven tribal nations are asking a North Dakota federal court for permission to intervene in a group of red states' challenge to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule revision that considers tribal rights in addressing water quality standard regulations, arguing that their rights to aquatic resources could be harmed should the law be overturned.

  • July 02, 2024

    Apple Says It's Too Early For Discovery In DOJ Antitrust Case

    There's no need to get the ball rolling on discovery in the U.S. Department of Justice's case accusing Apple of monopolizing the smartphone market until the New Jersey federal court overseeing the case decides if it's going to dismiss it entirely, the tech giant argued.

  • July 02, 2024

    Wash. Court OKs Anti-Masker's School Recall Sanctions

    Washington appellate judges said Tuesday an Evergreen State man waited too long to appeal $30,000 in sanctions and ruled the trial court was justified in pinning most of the blame on him — instead of his attorneys — for filing baseless recall petitions to dissuade school board members from complying with a state COVID-19 mask mandate. 

  • July 02, 2024

    Chamber, Pharma Slam Colorado Drug Price Controls

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a prominent pharmaceutical industry group have urged a Colorado federal court to bar a state review board from setting price controls on prescription drugs, arguing that the practice is "irreconcilable" with federal patent law.

  • July 02, 2024

    Ga. Justices Say COVID Order Tolls Med Mal Repose Statute

    The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday said that a judicial emergency order handed down during the COVID-19 pandemic can be used to toll the state's five-year medical malpractice statute of repose.

  • July 02, 2024

    Charter Justified Firing Of Lactating Worker, 10th Circ. Says

    A Tenth Circuit panel on Tuesday sided with Charter Communications over an employee who alleged she was fired for seeking reasonable accommodations to pump breast milk at work, with the panel finding Charter supplied a legitimate reason for her termination.

  • July 02, 2024

    'Idle' Ga. Election Officials Holding Up Suit, Judge Told

    Lawyers for an array of plaintiffs challenging portions of Georgia's 2021 election overhaul law attempted with one hand to convince a federal judge Tuesday not to scuttle their claims before a trial, while with the other urged the court to put the suit on ice until "dysfunctional" elections officials get their act together.

  • July 02, 2024

    4th Circ. Won't Rethink Google Ad Subpoena Decision

    The Fourth Circuit denied a request on Tuesday to reconsider its ruling finding that a South Carolina agency must respond to Google's document request for a case accusing the tech giant of monopolizing key digital advertising technology.

  • July 02, 2024

    NCDOT, Motorist On Hook For $38M In Crosswalk Crash Case

    A North Carolina state court jury has awarded $38 million to a motorist who suffered paralysis after she was hit by a car, in a suit accusing the North Carolina Department of Transportation of causing the collision by improperly designing a crosswalk.

  • July 02, 2024

    Gig Drivers' Union Rights Make It To Mass. Ballot

    Massachusetts voters will decide in November whether to give app-based drivers the right to unionize after supporters of a proposed ballot initiative submitted a batch of signatures to the state Tuesday, the Service Employees International Union announced. 

  • July 02, 2024

    Georgia Wants 11th Circ. To Undo Blocks On Election Law

    The state of Georgia has urged the Eleventh Circuit to undo the enjoining of two provisions of the state's controversial 2021 election law, including a ban on handing out food and drinks to voters waiting in line that the state called a "prophylactic" against electoral interference.

  • July 02, 2024

    Calif. Tribe Members Say Racial Ancestry Case Is Valid

    Family members seeking control of the California Valley Miwok Tribe have told a federal court that the U.S. Department of the Interior wrongly claims they must submit to a process designed to determine their racial ancestry, even though the process is unregulated.

  • July 02, 2024

    Paxton Slammed For 'Intolerable' Bid To Shutter El Paso Org

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's efforts to shut down a Catholic nonprofit he has accused of smuggling and harboring migrants is "outrageous and intolerable," an El Paso County judge ruled Tuesday, blasting him for using his administrative power to push "his own personal beliefs or political agenda."

  • July 02, 2024

    Captioning Providers Worried About FCC Rate Cuts

    Companies that provide captioned telephone service for people with hearing and speech disabilities are criticizing a Federal Communications Commission proposal to reduce rates paid to providers, saying that successive rate cuts could jeopardize their credit lines and diminish their ability to raise capital if the agency doesn't change course.

  • July 02, 2024

    House Dems Urge More F-16 Training For Ukrainian Pilots

    Fifteen House Democrats implored the U.S. Department of Defense on Monday to support Ukraine's request to train 10 additional pilots on F-16 fighter jets this year.

  • July 02, 2024

    Court Must Toss Customs Broker's Unripe Suit, Feds Say

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection pushed to dismiss a customs broker's suit over its allegedly unlawful removal from two programs that expedite import entries at the border, saying its decisions were not final and are, therefore, not ready for judicial review.

  • July 02, 2024

    ​​​​​​​Top Groups Lobbying The FCC

    The Federal Communications Commission heard from advocates nearly 150 times in June on issues including broadband map accuracy, next-generation 911, prison phone rates, a new missing-persons code and rules to restrict bulk billing in apartment buildings.

  • July 02, 2024

    Turkish Co. Says Feds Mistook Tax Exemptions For Subsidies

    A Turkish steel company challenged new countervailing duties on steel concrete rebar, telling the U.S. Court of International Trade that the federal government allegedly misidentified a widely available tax exemption as a subsidy providing an unfair market advantage.

  • July 02, 2024

    Gov't Urged To Gauge TransDigm Deals' Effect On Defense Biz

    Three Democratic lawmakers are pressing the U.S. Department of Defense and antitrust enforcers to review an aerospace company's recent acquisition of two other companies, citing antitrust and price gouging concerns.

  • July 02, 2024

    Colo. City Housing Authority Says Board Can't Be Fired At Will

    A Colorado city's ordinance violates state law because it gives the mayor the power to replace the commissioners of the city's housing authority without just cause, the housing authority has claimed in Colorado state court.

  • July 02, 2024

    Pharma Co. Scores Exit In Investor Suit Over Primate Imports

    A Massachusetts federal judge tossed every claim in a proposed class action claiming that pharmaceutical company Charles River Laboratories and its executives concealed their involvement in the illegal importation of nonhuman primates for research, ruling that the disputed statements are not false or misleading.

  • July 02, 2024

    DOL Sends Final Rule On Mental Health Parity To White House

    The U.S. Department of Labor transmitted a final rule to the White House for review designed to boost employer health plans' compliance with a law requiring equal coverage of mental health and substance use disorder treatments compared to physical care, according to a regulatory filing posted online.

  • July 02, 2024

    CFPB's Founding Fair Lending Chief Heads For Exit

    Patrice Ficklin, the longtime top fair lending official at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is leaving the agency later this month after more than a decade leading its efforts to oversee the financial industry's compliance with federal laws banning credit discrimination.

Expert Analysis

  • 2 Regulatory Approaches To Psychedelic Clinical Trials

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    Comparing the U.S. and Canada's regulatory frameworks for clinical trials of psychedelic drugs can be useful for designing trial protocols that meet both countries' requirements, which can in turn help diversify patient populations, bolster data robustness and expedite market access, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell and Sabrina Ramkellawan at AxialBridge.

  • Why Jurors Balk At 'I Don't Recall' — And How To Respond

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    Jurors often react negatively to a witness who responds “I don’t remember” because they tend to hold erroneous beliefs about the nature of human memory, but attorneys can adopt a few strategies to mitigate the impact of these biases, say Steve Wood and Ava Hernández at Courtroom Sciences.

  • How Federal And State Microfiber Pollution Policy Is Evolving

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    Growing efforts to address synthetic microfiber pollution may create compliance and litigation issues for businesses in the textile and apparel industries, so companies should track developing federal and state legislation and regulation in this space, and should consider associated greenwashing risks, says Arie Feltman-Frank at Jenner & Block.

  • Series

    Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge​​​​​​​ at Robinson Bradshaw.

  • Best Practices For Responding To CBP's Solar Questionnaire

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    U.S. Customs and Border Protection's recently introduced questionnaire to solar importers imposes significant burdens, with the potential for supply chain disruptions and market consolidation, but taking certain steps can assist companies in navigating the new requirements, say Carl Valenstein and Katelyn Hilferty at Morgan Lewis.

  • Exploring Alternatives To Noncompetes Ahead Of FTC Ban

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    Ahead of the Sept. 4 effective date for the Federal Trade Commission's noncompete ban, employers should seek new ways to protect their proprietary and other sensitive information, including by revising existing confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements, says Harvey Linder at Culhane.

  • Parsing Controversial Del. General Corporation Law Proposals

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    In response to issues raised in three recent high-profile Delaware Court of Chancery decisions, many amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law were quickly proposed that, if enacted, would bring significant changes likely to be hotly debated — and litigated — for the foreseeable future, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • A Look At US-EU Consumer Finance Talks' Slow First Steps

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    The unhurried and informal nature of planned discussions between the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the European commissioner for justice and consumer protection suggests any coordinated regulatory action on issues like AI and "buy now, pay later" services is still a ways off, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • Opinion

    It's Time To Defuse The Ticking Time Bomb Of US Landfills

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    After recent fires at landfills in Alabama and California sent toxic fumes into surrounding communities, it is clear that existing penalties for landfill mismanagement are insufficient — so policymakers must enact major changes to the way we dispose of solid waste, says Vineet Dubey at Custodio & Dubey.

  • 5th Circ. Venue-Transfer Cases Highlight Mandamus Limits

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    Three ongoing cases filed within the Fifth Circuit highlight an odd procedural wrinkle that may let district courts defy an appellate writ: orders granting transfer to out-of-circuit districts, but parties opposing intercircuit transfer can work around this hurdle to effective appellate review, says Charles Fowler at McKool Smith.

  • A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence

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    The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.

  • To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef

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    To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • What Junk Fee Law Means For Biz In California And Beyond

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    Come July 1, companies doing business in California must ensure that the price of any good or service as offered, displayed or advertised is inclusive of all mandatory fees and other charges in compliance with S.B. 478, which may have a far-reaching impact across the country due to wide applicability, say Alexandria Ruiz and Amy Lally at Sidley Austin.

  • EPA Heavy-Duty Vehicle GHG Rules Face Bumpy Road Ahead

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for owners and operators of heavy-duty vehicles are facing opposition from both states and the transportation industry, and their arguments will mirror two pending cases challenging the EPA's authority, says Grant Laizer at Adams and Reese.

  • 8 Steps Companies Should Take After An Internal Investigation

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    Given the U.S. Department of Justice’s increasing focus on corporate compliance and remediation of misconduct, companies must follow through in several key ways after an internal investigation to ensure history does not repeat itself, say Jonathan Aronie and Joseph Jay at Sheppard Mullin.

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