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Public Policy
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November 18, 2024
Texas Appeals Court Finds Telecom Laws Violate Gift Rules
A state appellate court handed dozens of Texas cities a clean-sweep victory in their fight against statewide bargains for telecommunications providers, finding Friday a state law dealing with the fees municipalities can charge telecom companies runs counter to the Texas Constitution.
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November 18, 2024
Treasury Finalizes Tougher Foreign Investment Law Penalties
The Treasury Department on Monday finalized a rule sharpening its enforcement authority to stop or demand additional information regarding foreign-investment deals that the U.S. deems potential threats to national security.
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November 18, 2024
Mich. Justices Spurn Restaurant Group's COVID Appeal
The Michigan Supreme Court has turned down an appeal from a bar and restaurant association seeking to recoup its members' lost profits from the state's enforcement of COVID-19 public health measures, after tossing individual restaurants' claims earlier this year.
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November 18, 2024
Justices Urged To Review Landlords' COVID Eviction Ban Suit
A group of trade associations and a nonprofit urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to grant a review petition filed by landlords claiming they lost $100 million as a result of Los Angeles' COVID-19 eviction moratorium, which ended in January.
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November 18, 2024
Asylum-Seekers Say Updated DHS Border Directive Is Still Illegal
Immigrant rights groups and asylum-seekers challenging the Biden administration's directive curtailing asylum at the southern border told a D.C. federal judge that the superseding rule the administration issued in September is just as illegal as its June predecessor.
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November 18, 2024
EPA Has No Choice But To Rethink Smog Rule, DC Circ. Told
U.S. Steel Corp. told the D.C. Circuit that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was obligated to reconsider its so-called "good neighbor" smog emissions rule after it was partially invalidated by a court, arguing the agency's own brief confirms that its refusal to do so was improper.
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November 18, 2024
Colo. Justices Should Plug Damages Cap 'Loophole,' Co. Says
A construction company has urged Colorado's justices to find that a subcontractor's claim over a workplace fall is subject to a $15,000 damages cap, arguing in a petition that the sole proprietor opted out of workers' compensation benefits and can't make a "loophole" to sue for millions.
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November 18, 2024
Medical Group Wants Justices To Review IP Safe Harbor Fight
A medical device trade group has said the U.S. Supreme Court should take up an appeal of a Federal Circuit decision Edwards Lifesciences said broadened a drug-development safe harbor to avoid patent infringement, saying the circuit court misread the provision.
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November 18, 2024
Feds Delay Rule That Hemp Be Tested At DEA-Licensed Labs
Laboratories certified by the federal government to measure THC concentration in hemp aren't able to meet the demand, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has said, so the agency is allowing growers to once again get their products tested by unregistered labs.
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November 18, 2024
Alstom Wants Injunction In Dispute Over 'Buy America' Waiver
Train manufacturer Alstom has urged a D.C. federal judge to block a pending federal disbursement for a $12 billion high-speed rail project, saying the payment could "irrevocably" allow the project to use trainsets that violate federal "Buy America" requirements.
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November 18, 2024
Dispute Over Biden Admin Voting Access Order Paused
A Texas federal district court judge has paused a dispute over an executive order from the Biden administration that promotes easier access to voting after a conservative think tank said President-elect Donald J. Trump is likely to overturn the directive.
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November 18, 2024
Colo. Rugby Coach Cries Foul Over City's Revoked Job Offer
A man who says he was "poached" for an assistant coaching position with the American Raptors professional rugby team near Denver has filed a breach of contract lawsuit alleging he was fired before he even began, without cause, and cheated out of his early termination payment.
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November 18, 2024
Friedman Kaplan Name Partner Larry Robbins Dies At 72
Larry Robbins, a name partner at Friedman Kaplan Seiler Adelman & Robbins LLP known for counseling high-profile congressional witnesses like Marie Yovanovitch and Christine Blasey Ford through their Senate and House committee appearances, died earlier this month at age 72, the firm announced.
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November 18, 2024
5th Circ. Says Texas County Wrong To Close Court Hearings
A Fifth Circuit panel has upheld a trial court's ruling that a Texas county improperly blocked the press and public from attending criminal pretrial proceedings known as magistrate hearings, finding that the practice violates the First Amendment and harms the two news outlets and an advocacy group that brought the lawsuit.
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November 18, 2024
Neb. Officials Urge Court To Void Medical Pot Legalization
Nebraska officials are urging a state judge to void ballot measures to legalize and regulate medical marijuana after a decisive majority of voters approved them, saying that reformers' signature-verification methods were critically hampered by malfeasance and fraud.
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November 18, 2024
Snyder Aide Expands Suit Over Flint Water Crisis Prosecution
An adviser to former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has been permitted to add new allegations to his lawsuit against the state's attorney general and special prosecutors over their handling of charges brought against him surrounding the Flint water crisis, while the judge delayed ruling on prosecutors' immunity.
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November 18, 2024
DC Judges, Council Urge Confirmation Of City's Bench Picks
District of Columbia council members and chief judges are calling on the Senate to confirm the D.C. judicial nominees pending on the floor by the end of the year as the court system has repeatedly called attention to a vacancy crisis.
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November 18, 2024
11th Circ. Shelves Peanut Truck Co.'s Excise Tax Refund
The Eleventh Circuit has overturned a decision awarding an excise tax refund to a manufacturer for selling wagons that dry and carry peanuts, saying the refund is reserved for vehicles that are specially designed for off-highway transportation — a test the peanut wagons failed.
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November 18, 2024
Justices Reject SC Agency's Appeal Of Google Subpoena
The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to take up a South Carolina state agency's appeal of a Fourth Circuit decision requiring its compliance with a Google subpoena in a case accusing the tech giant of monopolizing key digital ad technology.
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November 17, 2024
Trump Names FCC's Carr As New Agency Chair
President-elect Donald Trump has picked Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, as the agency's next chair, selecting a former general counsel of the agency and frequent critic of the current administration to lead the telecom regulator.
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November 15, 2024
Eli Lilly Says HHS Ignores Drug Discount Double-Dipping
Eli Lilly & Co. claims the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is unlawfully blocking its efforts to crack down on hospitals the company alleges are double-dipping on medication discounts that are meant to benefit low-income patients, according to a lawsuit filed in D.C. federal court.
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November 15, 2024
Big Banks Still Need To Beef Up Controls, Fed Report Says
The Federal Reserve said Friday that even as the banking system has remained "sound and resilient," large banks continue to grapple with governance and controls issues, while regional and small banks have seen increases in outstanding supervisory findings.
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November 15, 2024
DC Circ.'s White House NEPA Upheaval Sends Shockwaves
The D.C. Circuit's recent decision declaring the White House Council on Environmental Quality lacks the authority to issue legally binding regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act shocked environmental attorneys and has the potential to ignite federal agency chaos, experts say.
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November 15, 2024
Jordan Says DOJ, FTC, CFTC Teed Up Actions Ahead Of Trump
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, lambasted three federal departments and their leaders, accusing them of either trying to push out enforcement actions or make last-minute hires during President Joe Biden's final days in office.
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November 15, 2024
Evian Wins Ax Of False Ad Suit As NY Judge Reverses Self
A New York federal judge tossed, for now, a putative class action alleging Danone Waters of America deceptively labeled its Evian water bottles as "carbon-neutral," reversing his earlier decision that the representation could be misleading and ruling Thursday that Danone's website provided further explanation of what the term meant.
Expert Analysis
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Staying Off The CFPB's Financial Services Offender Registry
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's soon-to-launch registry of financial services companies that have faced public enforcement orders is designed to ratchet up long-term scrutiny of entities that could become repeat offenders, so companies should take their new compliance and filing requirements seriously, say Andrea Mitchell and Chris Napier at Mitchell Sandler.
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New TCPA Rule Faces Uncertain Future Post-Loper Bright
The Federal Communications Commission's new rule aiming to eliminate lead generators' use of unlawful robocalls is now in doubt with the U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision, and the Eleventh Circuit's Insurance Marketing Coalition v. FCC is poised to be a test case of the agency's ability to enforce the Telephone Consumer Protection Act post-Chevron, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.
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A Look At Calif.'s New AI Law For Health Insurers
A newly enacted California law prohibits artificial intelligence tools from making medical necessity determinations for healthcare service plans or disability insurers, addressing core questions that have arisen around AI's role in coverage decisions, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
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New HHS Research Misconduct Rules Bring Seismic Changes
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' new rule regarding research misconduct investigations brings significant changes that focus on remediation, appeals and confidentiality, while other changes could result in institutions causing undue harm to scientists accused of such misconduct, say attorneys at Cohen Seglias.
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To Report Or Not To Report Others' Export Control Violations
A recent Bureau of Industry and Security enforcement policy change grants cooperation credit to those that report violations of the Export Administration Regulations committed by others, but the benefits of doing so must be weighed against significant drawbacks, including the costs of preparing and submitting a report, says Megan Lew at Cravath.
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Earned Wage Access Laws Form A Prickly Policy Patchwork
Conflicting earned wage access laws across the country, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recently issued rule, mean providers must adopt a proactive compliance approach and adjust business models where needed, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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What FDIC Expansion Of Change In Bank Control Could Mean
A recent Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. proposal pertaining to the Change in Bank Control Act has the potential to create uncertainty around investments by mutual fund complexes in banking organizations, which represent a stable source of capital for the banking industry, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.
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HSR Amendments Intensify Merger Filing Burdens, Data Risk
The antitrust agencies' long-awaited changes to premerger notification rules under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act stand to significantly increase the time and cost involved in preparing an initial HSR notification, and will require more proactive attention to data issues, says Andrew Szwez at FTI Technology.
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Deadline Extension Highlights PFAS Reporting Complexities
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent extension of reporting and recordkeeping timelines for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances under the Toxic Substances Control Act offers relief to the regulated community, but the unprecedented volume of data required means that businesses must remain diligent in their data collection efforts, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
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Can SEC's Consolidated Audit Trail Survive Post-Chevron?
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is currently in a showdown at the Eleventh Circuit over its authority to maintain a national market system and require that the industry spend billions to maintain its consolidated audit trail, a case that is further complicated by the Loper Bright decision, says Daniel Hawke at Arnold & Porter.
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What's Inside Feds' Latest Bank Merger Review Proposals
Recent bank merger proposals from a trio of federal agencies highlight the need for banks looking to grow through acquisition to consider several key issues much earlier in the planning process than has historically been necessary, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape
Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.
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Cos. Should Focus On State AI Laws Despite New DOL Site
Because a new U.S. Department of Labor-sponsored website about the disability discrimination risks of AI hiring tools mostly echoes old guidance, employers should focus on complying with the state and local AI workplace laws springing up where Congress and federal regulators have yet to act, say attorneys at Littler.
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How Biden Admin Has Used Antitrust Tools, And What's Next
The last four years have been marked by an aggressive whole-of-government approach to antitrust enforcement using a broad range of tools, and may result in lasting change regardless of the upcoming presidential election result, say attorneys at Norton Rose.
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Cos. Face Increasing Risk From Environmental Citizen Suits
Environmental citizen suits stepping in to fill the regulatory vacuum concerning consumer goods waste may soon become more common, and the evolving procedural landscape and changes to environmental law may contribute to companies' increased exposure, say J. Michael Showalter and Bradley Rochlen at ArentFox Schiff.