Public Policy

  • August 07, 2024

    Okla. Wants Justices To Step Into Title X Funding Cut Fight

    Oklahoma has filed an emergency application with the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from withholding millions of dollars of Title X funding from the state because of its refusal to refer family planning patients for abortions.

  • August 07, 2024

    Texas Flags Judge's Comments In Barrier Fight To 5th Circ.

    The state of Texas has raised concern to the Fifth Circuit about comments attributed to U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra that question whether the appeals court's recent opinion vacating his preliminary injunction requiring the state to relocate its 1,000-foot antimigrant buoy barrier in the Rio Grande is precedential.

  • August 07, 2024

    DC Circ. Declines To Block EPA Mercury Air Toxics Rule

    The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday refused to stay the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new rule tightening mercury and other toxic metal emission standards for some coal-fired power plants as a legal challenge filed by states and industry groups plays out.

  • August 07, 2024

    High Court Urged To Put Hold On NY Broadband Price Cap

    A half-dozen trade groups asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block New York officials from enforcing a state law that sets a maximum price for consumer broadband, reigniting a federal appeals court fight over the limits of rate regulation.

  • August 07, 2024

    Green Groups Say Export-Import Bank Is Harming Climate

    Environmental and animal rights groups on Wednesday asked the U.S. Department of State to order the Export-Import Bank to stop helping fund projects they said are contributing to climate change.

  • August 07, 2024

    A Harris-Walz Win Would Also Make History In Minnesota

    A November win for the presumed Democratic presidential ticket would not just land another historical first for the nation, it would also be a double score for Minnesota as Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan would become both its first female governor and Native American woman to lead a state.

  • August 07, 2024

    Dems Push For Scrutiny On Fox, ESPN, Warner Bros. JV

    Three Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday urged the Federal Communications Commission and U.S. Department of Justice to investigate a proposed joint venture between Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Disney subsidiary ESPN that would create a new streaming service called Venu Sports, arguing the partnership would lead to higher prices and fewer choices for consumers.

  • August 07, 2024

    FCC Seeks To Help Consumers Identify AI-Generated Calls

    The Federal Communications Commission proposed Wednesday to more precisely define "AI generated call" as it seeks to expand consumers' ability to opt out of receiving robocalls and texts that use artificial intelligence.

  • August 07, 2024

    Mich. Insurance Agency Pushes Carriers To Safeguard AI Use

    The Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services urged insurance companies Wednesday to establish a program for the responsible use of artificial intelligence systems to comply with state laws barring unfair practices and discrimination in underwriting.

  • August 07, 2024

    Gun Cos. Exit Mexico's Suit As Judge Cites 'Thin' Mass. Ties

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Wednesday dismissed six U.S. gun companies from a suit over Mexican cartel violence after finding the alleged conduct has virtually no ties to the Bay State.

  • August 07, 2024

    DOL's Legacy Online Labor Certification System To Sunset Dec. 1

    The federal government's legacy online system for providing public access to permanent labor certification applications and final determinations will retire in December and migrate users to a newer system that rolled out in 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor said Wednesday.

  • August 07, 2024

    Ohio AG Cites Search Ruling In Google Common Carrier Suit

    Ohio's attorney general pointed a state court judge Wednesday to a recent D.C. federal court decision declaring Google an illegal search monopolist, arguing the U.S. Department of Justice's win underscores why the internet giant should be banned from self-preferential treatment as a "common carrier."

  • August 07, 2024

    7th Circ. Keeps 3M PFAS Pollution Suit In State Court

    The Seventh Circuit on Wednesday rejected 3M's bid to send back to federal court a lawsuit brought by the state of Illinois alleging that the company polluted local waters with toxic "forever chemicals," saying a federal government contractor defense would be "wholly irrelevant" to the state's case.

  • August 07, 2024

    Colo. Justices To Hear Child Abuse Hotline Records Suit

    The Colorado Supreme Court has agreed to hear a dispute over records from a child abuse hotline sought by a news station, taking up an appeal from the state's Department of Human Services arguing that the information could identify children at risk.

  • August 07, 2024

    1st Circ. Backs Boston Prayer Policy With Political Warning

    The First Circuit rejected a satanic temple's challenge to the Boston City Council's practice of inviting local leaders to pray at its meetings, but warned that the practice could conceivably cross constitutional red lines if it became a vehicle to curry favor with voters.

  • August 07, 2024

    NJ AG, Data Biz Say Judicial Privacy Law Is Constitutional

    The New Jersey Office of Attorney General stepped in to defend the judicial privacy measure Daniel's Law this week, arguing alongside a data privacy company in federal court that a group of data brokers accused of violating it are relying on "hypotheticals and edge cases" to claim the law is unconstitutional.

  • August 07, 2024

    Tax Court's Economic Substance Foray May Clarify Limits

    A U.S. Tax Court judge plans to address an ill-defined provision governing the relevance of the economic substance doctrine in a microcaptive insurance case, offering the courts another chance to clarify an anti-abuse tool the IRS has been deploying more often.

  • August 07, 2024

    Split 7th Circ. Axes Forced Labor Suit Against Salvation Army

    A group of former participants in the Salvation Army's rehabilitation programs didn't show how the work they performed for the organization represented forced labor, a split Seventh Circuit panel ruled, keeping an Illinois federal court's decision tossing their suit.

  • August 07, 2024

    CFPB Backs Homeowners In Nationstar Mortgage Fee Suit

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau asked a Washington federal court to allow it to file a brief in support of a proposed class action accusing Nationstar Mortgage of illegally charging fees whenever homeowners request payoff statements for their loans.

  • August 07, 2024

    FERC Defends Rejection Of Grid Operator's Project Cost Plan

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is asking the D.C. Circuit to deny two electricity cooperatives' petitions challenging its decision to reject a Southwest Power Pool plan to regionally allocate the costs of some transmission projects within the grid operator's 14-state footprint.

  • August 07, 2024

    Quinn, Jenner Attys Tapped For Trump Shooting Inquiry

    The Republican staff on the newly formed bipartisan task force to investigate the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump includes Capitol Hill and legal veterans, among them attorneys from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP and Jenner & Block LLP.

  • August 07, 2024

    Missouri Voters Reject Exemption For Child Care Facilities

    Missouri will not allow local governments to exempt child care facilities from property tax after a constitutional amendment was rejected by voters Wednesday. 

  • August 07, 2024

    Pennsylvania Legislation Passed In 2024: A Midyear Report

    Despite a divided legislature in Pennsylvania — the parties have been trading a narrow majority in the House of Representatives and Republicans compose most of the state Senate — lawmakers have managed to send dozens of bills to Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro's desk in the first half of 2024, including tighter controls on a veterinary drug showing up in heroin, changes to business registrations with the state, and adding arbitration to the tools for family courts.

  • August 07, 2024

    Singapore's Carbon Tax Is Revenue-Neutral, Minister Says

    Singapore's carbon tax is expected to have a neutral impact on tax revenues over the next decade, even after accounting for a recent hike in the rate to SG$25 ($18.81) per metric ton of emissions, the country's environment minister said.

  • August 06, 2024

    Ex-US Atty, Mayor Poised To Face Off In Wash. AG Race

    Seattle's former U.S. attorney and an Eastern Washington mayor who's also a gun rights advocate were leading the statewide primary Tuesday night to become the state's next attorney general.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Series

    After Chevron: 7 FERC Takeaways From Loper Bright

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    Following the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the Chevron doctrine, it's likely that the majority of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's orders will not be affected, but the commission has nonetheless lost an important fallback argument and will have to approach rulemaking more cautiously, says Norman Bay at Willkie Farr.

  • Opinion

    Discount Window Reform Needed To Curb Modern Bank Runs

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    We learned during the spring 2023 failures that bank runs can happen extraordinarily fast in light of modern technology, especially when banks have a greater concentration of large deposits, demonstrating that the antiquated but effective discount window needs to be overhauled before the next crisis, says Cris Cicala at Stinson.

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