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Public Policy
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August 06, 2024
Energy Dept. Awards $2.2B For 8 Grid Upgrade Projects
The U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday awarded $2.2 billion of congressional funding for an eight-pack of electric grid projects, including $700 million for a transmission line that would create a new link between the western and eastern portions of the U.S. grid.
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August 05, 2024
Ex-Trump Atty Ellis To Cooperate In Ariz. Fake Electors Case
Jenna Ellis, former legal adviser to Donald Trump, has agreed to cooperate with Arizona prosecutors' case alleging allies of the former president made efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election, the Arizona Attorney General's Office announced Monday.
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August 05, 2024
DOJ Wants Google Held Accountable For Deleted Chats
The U.S. Department of Justice has told the Virginia federal court overseeing the government's case accusing Google of monopolizing key digital advertising technology the company needs to be held accountable for implementing policies that destroyed evidence.
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August 05, 2024
Trucking Co. Moves To Nix DOL Independent Contractor Rule
A trucking company that regularly hires owner-operator truck drivers has urged a New Mexico federal judge to vacate a new U.S. Department of Labor rule for classifying independent contractors, arguing in a motion for summary judgment that the rule makes classifying workers more confusing.
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August 05, 2024
CFPB's Buy-Now, Pay-Later Policy In House GOP Crosshairs
Republican members of Congress have taken aim again at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent guidance requiring that some of the protections provided to credit card users be applied to buy-now, pay-later loans, putting forward a new measure that would overturn what the lawmakers argue is a "destructive," overreaching policy.
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August 05, 2024
Chamber Tells Pa. Justices To Keep Gov't Suit Damages Cap
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has urged the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to uphold the constitutionality of a $250,000 damages cap for personal injury suits against state agencies, saying to not do so would "foist an uncapped tort liability scheme" with a "ruinous financial impact" on the Keystone State.
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August 05, 2024
TikTok Tells DC Circ. That Feds Can't Keep Filings Secret
TikTok told the D.C. Circuit on Monday that the U.S. government shouldn't be allowed to conceal its court filings in litigation over a federal law that could ban the popular social media platform in the United States.
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August 05, 2024
Coinbase Broke Campaign Finance Laws, Crypto Critics Say
Crypto exchange Coinbase violated campaign finance laws when it donated $25.5 million to political action committees while negotiating a federal contract, prominent crypto critics told a federal election watchdog — a claim the firm's legal chief has staunchly denied.
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August 05, 2024
Wis. Bank Settles Tribal Group's Bias Suit Over Peyote Use
A local Wisconsin bank and Native American company Medicine Fireplace have jointly told a federal judge they've resolved a lawsuit claiming that the financial institution denied service to the nonprofit firm, whose members use the hallucinogenic peyote plant in their religious ceremonies.
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August 05, 2024
GSA Makes First Tribal Carbon-Free Electricity Purchase
A Seneca Nation holding company is the first tribal majority-owned business to be awarded a bid from the U.S. General Services Administration to sell carbon pollution-free electricity to the federal agency, a move that's been in the works since at least April.
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August 05, 2024
GOP Sens. Urge Biden To Lift 'Partial Arms Embargo' On Israel
Nearly all Republican lawmakers in the U.S. Senate urged President Joe Biden to "use every available emergency authority" to swiftly deliver weapons to Israel, criticizing what they called a partial arms embargo that flouted the "will of Congress."
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August 05, 2024
Conn. Gunmaker Says Mass Shooting Cases Belong In Colo.
Connecticut-based gunmaker Sturm Ruger & Co. Inc. wants two lawsuits surrounding a March 2021 mass shooting at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, dismissed from Connecticut state court, arguing that Connecticut is an inconvenient place to litigate a massacre that occurred two time zones away.
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August 05, 2024
Insurers Can't Escape Coverage For Russian-Seized Aircraft
A group of insurers can't escape covering one of the largest aircraft lessors for aircraft seized by the Russian government, a California state court ruled, agreeing with the company that even a temporary seizure of its property constitutes physical loss for coverage purposes.
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August 05, 2024
Ex-Virgin Islands Premier Gets 11 Years For Drug Conspiracy
A Florida federal judge on Monday sentenced the former premier of the British Virgin Islands to more than 11 years in prison after a jury convicted him of charges related to a conspiracy to smuggle cocaine from South America to the U.S. following a trial earlier this year.
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August 05, 2024
Indivior Accused Of Overstating Prospects Of 3 Opioid Drugs
Drugmaker Indivior PLC has been hit with a proposed investor class action in Virginia federal court over claims it overstated the financial prospects of its drugs used to treat opioid use disorders and the company's ability to forecast such financial projections.
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August 05, 2024
SEC, Other Regulators Propose Joint Data Standards
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and six other regulators are crafting joint standards required by bipartisan legislation aiming to modernize the collection and publication of those agencies' financial data, the SEC announced Friday.
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August 05, 2024
Music, Movie Orgs. Address Deepfake Proposals
Representatives from the music, movie and video game industries were among the speakers Monday at a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office roundtable regarding what legislation may be needed to address the explosion of deepfakes created with the growing power of artificial intelligence.
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August 05, 2024
Top Groups Lobbying The FCC
The Federal Communications Commission heard from advocates nearly 180 times in July on issues ranging from rural broadband to Wi-Fi hot spots for schools and libraries, new payment rates for phone call captioning, spectrum for the electric grid, and more.
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August 05, 2024
FTC Looks To End Noncompete Ban Challenge In Texas
The Federal Trade Commission defended its noncompete ban to a Texas federal judge, arguing in a new motion for summary judgment that its rule is well within the bounds of the FTC Act's plain language.
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August 05, 2024
Marriott Says NYC Hotels' Housing Of Migrants Violated Deal
Marriott International Inc. has accused a hotel company in Jamaica, Queens, of breaching a contract by repurposing two properties for migrant housing while refusing to "de-identify" itself with the global hotel brand.
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August 05, 2024
Mich. Says HHS Can't Get Back $195M Medicaid Payments
The state of Michigan is asking a D.C. federal judge to bar the federal government from seeking repayment for $195 million in Medicaid payouts made to two state-operated hospitals that provided psychiatric services to state criminal defendant inmates, saying the government's payment withdrawal decision was made years too late and without proper notice.
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August 05, 2024
Tribe Says DOI Must Finalize New Recognition Rule
A Michigan tribe wants a D.C. federal district court to enforce a Nov. 1 deadline on the U.S. Department of the Interior to complete the process for a new rule that would address eligibility to reapply for federal recognition or otherwise hold Secretary Deb Haaland in contempt.
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August 05, 2024
AT&T Chief Pushes FCC To Make FirstNet 4.9 GHz Manager
AT&T Inc. CEO John Stankey met with Federal Communications Commission members to lobby for the company's first responder network to lead the national public safety band, despite band users' concerns that AT&T could control the band for its own self-serving interests.
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August 05, 2024
Mich. AG Defends Judge's Block Of Abortion Waiting Period
A Michigan judge's suspension of several state abortion regulations should be upheld, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel told appellate judges, saying the restrictions don't pass constitutional muster because they don't serve to protect women's health.
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August 05, 2024
GOP Bill Would Claw Back Broadband Funds For Local Areas
When a company defaults on millions in Rural Digital Opportunity Fund money, those funds should go to the state to redistribute for broadband projects as it sees fit, according to a Republican senator who has introduced a bill that would do just that.
Expert Analysis
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A Timeline Of Antisemitism Legislation And What It Means
What began as hearings in the House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce has expanded to a House-wide effort to combat antisemitism and related issues, with wide-ranging implications for education, finance and nonprofit entities, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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California Adds A Novel Twist To State Suits Against Big Oil
California’s suit against Exxon Mobil Corp., one of several state suits that seek to hold oil and gas companies accountable for climate-related harms, is unique both in the magnitude of the alleged claims and its use of a consumer protection statute to seek disgorgement of industry profits, says Julia Stein at UCLA School of Law.
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Criminal Enforcement Considerations For Gov't Contractors
Government contractors increasingly exposed to criminal liability risks should establish programs that enable detection and remediation of employee misconduct, consider voluntary disclosure, and be aware of the potentially disastrous consequences of failing to make a mandatory disclosure where the government concludes it was required, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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Opinion
States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions
Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.
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New La. Managing Agent Law May Portend Growing Scrutiny
Recent amendments to Louisiana’s managing general agent regulations impose expansive new obligations on such agents and their insurer partners, which may be a sign of heightened regulatory, commercial and rating agency scrutiny, say attorneys at McDermott.
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Trending At The PTAB: Multiple Petitions In IPRs
Recent Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions and a proposed rulemaking indicate the board’s intention to continue to take a tougher stance on multiple inter partes review petitions challenging the same patent, presenting key factors for petitioners to consider, like the necessity of parallel filings and serial petitions, say Yinan Liu and Cory Bell at Finnegan.
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FERC Rule Is A Big Step Forward For Transmission Planning
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's recent electric transmission system overhaul marks significant progress to ensure the grid can deliver electricity at reasonable prices, with a 20-year planning requirement and other criteria going further than prior attempted reforms, say Tom Millar and Gwendolyn Hicks at Winston & Strawn.
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Series
After Chevron: Rethinking Agency Deference In IP Cases
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent overturning of Chevron deference could make it simpler to challenge the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s proposed rule on terminal disclaimers and U.S. International Trade Commission interpretations, says William Milliken at Sterne Kessler.
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Tricky Venue Issues Persist In Fortenberry Prosecution Redo
Former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry was recently indicted for a second time after the Ninth Circuit tossed his previous conviction for improper venue, but the case, now pending in the District of Columbia, continues to illustrate the complexities of proper venue in "false statement scheme" prosecutions, says Kevin Coleman at Covington.
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Series
Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.
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1st Gender Care Ban Provides Context For High Court Case
The history of Arkansas' ban on gender-affirming medical care — the first such legislation in the U.S. — provides important insight into the far-reaching ramifications that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti next term will have on transgender healthcare, says Tyler Saenz at Baker Donelson.
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CFPB's New Registration Rule Will Intensify Nonbank Scrutiny
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recently finalized nonbank registration rule aimed at cracking down on repeat offenders poses significant compliance challenges and enforcement risks for nonbank financial firms, and may be particularly onerous for smaller firms, say Ketan Bhirud and Emily Yu at Cozen O'Connor.
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Series
After Chevron: FCC And Industry Must Prepare For Change
The Chevron doctrine was especially significant in the communications sector because of the indeterminacy of federal communications statutes, so the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the doctrine could have big implications for those regulated by the Federal Communications Commission, bringing both opportunities and risks for companies, say Thomas Johnson and Michael Showalter at Wiley.
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Series
After Chevron: Uniform Tax Law Interpretation Not Guaranteed
The loss of Chevron deference will significantly alter the relationship between the IRS, courts and Congress when it comes to tax law, potentially precipitating more transparent rulemaking, but also provoking greater uncertainty due to variability in judicial interpretation, say Michelle Levin and Carneil Wilson at Dentons.
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Series
After Chevron: Environmental Law May Face Hurdles
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling overturning Chevron deference could prove to be as influential as the original 1984 decision, with far-reaching implications for U.S. environmental laws, including rendering recently promulgated regulations more vulnerable to challenges, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.