Public Policy

  • June 04, 2024

    Khan, Kanter Say There's Bipartisan Will To Stop 'Coercion'

    The federal government's top antitrust enforcers said Tuesday their aggressive scrutiny of mergers and acquisitions is changing the way businesses approach consolidation at the start of the process, and that's good for consumers and workers alike.

  • June 04, 2024

    Senate Energy Panel Advances Trio Of FERC Nominees

    A U.S. Senate energy panel on Tuesday advanced a trio of nominees to fill vacant commissioner slots at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, with the panel's chairman hinting that new energy infrastructure permitting legislation is also on the horizon.

  • June 04, 2024

    Bracewell Adds Energy Pro From Dentons In DC

    Even before becoming an attorney and government affairs professional specializing in the energy and environmental sectors, Andrew Shaw was interested in environmental issues.

  • June 04, 2024

    Paxton Asks Texas Justices To End Bar's Political 'Lawfare'

    The Texas bar's ethics lawsuit against Attorney General Ken Paxton over his challenge to the 2020 presidential election violates the state constitution's separation of powers and is barred by sovereign immunity, Paxton told the state Supreme Court on Tuesday, calling the case "politically motivated lawfare" in an announcement.

  • June 04, 2024

    Buchanan Ingersoll Denies Deceit Over Harrisburg Incinerator

    Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC didn't give Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, bad advice when it set up a debt deal that allowed construction to continue on a controversial incinerator project that sent the state capital into financial distress, an attorney for the firm told the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on Tuesday.

  • June 04, 2024

    NJ Pitches Rule To Clarify Disparate Impact Bias Ban

    New Jersey's civil rights agency proposed a rule laying out the standards for the state's prohibitions on workplace policies that have a disproportionate impact on people in protected classes.

  • June 04, 2024

    Sens. Offer Stark Takes On Abortion Two Years Post-Dobbs

    Republican and Democratic members of the Senate health committee on Tuesday offered two different views of abortion in America two years after the Dobbs Decision overturned the federal right to the procedure.

  • June 04, 2024

    Biden Halts Noncitizens' Entry At Southern Border

    President Joe Biden announced executive measures on Tuesday to temporarily suspend the entry of noncitizens at the Southern border and bar asylum claims from those crossing illegally — measures that the American Civil Liberties Union immediately vowed to challenge in court.

  • June 04, 2024

    11th Circ. Affirms Nix Of IRS Easement Disclosure Guidance

    The Eleventh Circuit affirmed Tuesday that an Internal Revenue Service notice imposing reporting requirements on potentially abusive conservation easements was invalid because the agency failed to solicit the public feedback required by administrative law.

  • June 04, 2024

    MLB Player Banned For Life For Betting Violations

    Major League Baseball has permanently banned San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano, and handed down a one-year ban to Oakland Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly and three minor leaguers, for betting on baseball, according to a Tuesday statement.

  • June 03, 2024

    MLB Says Padres Star May Have Breached Betting Rules

    San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano is being investigated for allegedly placing bets on baseball games last season while he was playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates, a Major League Baseball spokesperson confirmed Monday.

  • June 03, 2024

    Hooters Can't Yet Ditch Ex-Workers' Sex Harassment Claims

    A California appellate court has refused to undo a lower court's decision finding that Hooters of America must continue to fight former servers' allegations that they were harassed and abused at work, ruling that Hooters hasn't met its burden of showing that it was entitled to summary adjudication.

  • June 03, 2024

    11th Circ. Backs Freeze Of Grants For Black Women Only

    In a split decision Monday, the Eleventh Circuit said that a Georgia federal judge should have blocked a Black-led venture capital firm from awarding grants to businesses owned only by Black women, opining that the practice was "substantially likely" to violate federal law barring racial discrimination in the writing of contracts.

  • June 03, 2024

    Substitute Teacher Co. Says Colo. Classification Rule Illegal

    An independent platform said that an upcoming Colorado rule requiring it to consider employees the substitute teachers it helps schools find will hurt its business, urging a Colorado state court to halt the new policy going into effect on July 1.

  • June 03, 2024

    Ft. Lauderdale Sued Over Police Response To Floyd Protests

    Several people who participated in the 2020 George Floyd protests have brought a proposed class action in Florida federal court against Fort Lauderdale officials, alleging their civil rights were violated by the police department's violent response to the peaceful demonstrations.

  • June 03, 2024

    USDA Proposes Another Rule To Protect Chicken Farmers

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed a rule Monday to make changes to the way poultry farmers are compensated, as the agency looks to address alleged abuses by the large processing companies that also supply the chickens.

  • June 03, 2024

    Enviro Groups Ask 9th Circ. To Affirm Blocked Logging Plan

    Several environmental groups have urged the Ninth Circuit to uphold a Montana federal judge's decision halting a large logging operation in the Kootenai National Forest over concerns about the project's effect on grizzly bears and old-growth trees.

  • June 03, 2024

    Colo. Gov Signs Compromise Bill Raising Damages Caps

    Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Monday signed a law that will increase statutory caps on noneconomic damages for wrongful death and injury claims, as part of a deal to avoid a ballot-box fight between medical providers and personal injury lawyers.

  • June 03, 2024

    Justices Won't Review Contempt Sanctions Against Drug Co.

    The U.S. Supreme Court won't hear Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals' challenge to the Federal Trade Commission's $40 million judgment against it for misrepresenting weight-loss drugs and violating an injunction.

  • June 03, 2024

    Kroger, Albertsons Can't Get More Info On FTC Markets

    An Oregon federal judge denied Kroger and Albertsons' requests for more information on the markets at issue in the Federal Trade Commission's ongoing attempt to block their merger, saying the companies' request is premature and excessively broad.

  • June 03, 2024

    Defense Cos. Seek Looser Export Controls In AUKUS Rule

    Defense companies and industry groups have urged the State Department to expand export licensing exemptions included in a proposed rule intended to help implement the AUKUS agreement or risk undermining the intent of the trilateral defense cooperation deal.

  • June 03, 2024

    FTC Gets Backing Against Noncompete Rule Challenge

    The Federal Trade Commission has received backing against a challenge of its new rule banning noncompete clauses, with a labor group, local lawmakers and others urging a Texas federal court not to prevent the rule from taking effect in September.

  • June 03, 2024

    Exxon Fights Activist Investor's 'Toothless' Dismissal Bid

    Exxon Mobil Corp. is not backing away from a Texas lawsuit accusing investment adviser Arjuna Capital of improperly meddling in its business affairs by backing a proposal to reduce the company's greenhouse gas emissions, calling promises not to resubmit similar proposals in the future "toothless" in the wake of activist shareholder pressure to change the company's climate policy.

  • June 03, 2024

    Clear Rate Faces 4 New FCC Complaints Over 'Slamming'

    Michigan-based Clear Rate Communications is yet again in the Federal Communications Commission's crosshairs over allegations of "slamming," with the commission ordering the company to wipe new customers' charges for the third time this year.

  • June 03, 2024

    Ex-Official Says Menendez Sparked Fear Of Ag Industry 'Harm'

    A former U.S. Department of Agriculture official conceded under cross-examination Monday that a phone call he received from U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez about an acquaintance's certification business for meat exported to Egypt was like dozens he received from lawmakers advocating for their constituents, but he said it still left him worried for the industry. 

Expert Analysis

  • Best Practices For Space Security In Our Connected World

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    NASA's recently published space security guide is another indication that cyber-resilience has become a global theme for the space and satellite sector, as well as a useful reference for companies and organizations reviewing their cybersecurity frameworks or looking to partner with the U.S. agency, says Hayley Blyth at Bird & Bird.

  • Opinion

    SEC Doesn't Have Legal Authority For Climate Disclosure Rule

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    Instead of making the required legal argument to establish its authority, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related disclosure rule hides behind more than 1,000 references to materiality to give the appearance that its rule is legally defensible, says Bernard Sharfman at RealClearFoundation.

  • What 100 Federal Cases Suggest About Changes To Chevron

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    With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn or narrow its 40-year-old doctrine of Chevron deference, a review of 100 recent federal district court decisions confirm that changes to the Chevron framework will have broad ramifications — but the magnitude of the impact will depend on the details of the high court's ruling, say Kali Schellenberg and Jon Cochran at LeVan Stapleton.

  • FTC Noncompete Rule May Still Face Historical Hurdles

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    The Federal Trade Commission's final rule banning noncompetes might face challenges that could have been avoided with more cautious consideration of the commission's long history of failed lawsuits that went beyond the agency's statutory authority, as well as the mountain of judicial precedent justifying noncompete agreements in employment contracts, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • A Look At Subchapter V As Debt Limit Expiration Looms

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    If proposed legislation to extend Subchapter V’s debt eligibility ceiling sunset date in June is passed, bankruptcy professionals can seek ways to work with their local jurisdictions to advocate for code changes and guidance that bring more efficiencies and clarity to the process, say Matthew Brash at Newpoint Advisors and Melinda Bennett at Stretto.

  • Opinion

    SEC Should Be Allowed To Equip Investors With Climate Info

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule to require more climate-related disclosures will provide investors with much-needed clarity, despite opponents' attempts to challenge the rule with misused legal arguments, say Sarah Goetz at Democracy Forward and Cynthia Hanawalt at Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change.

  • 8 Fla. Statutes That Construction Cos. Should Prepare For

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    In this article, Jason Lambert at Hill Ward discusses a number of recent bills out of the Florida Legislature targeting construction companies in the Sunshine State that have been sent to the governor for signature, at least some of which will have broad impacts that affected companies should prepare for ahead of the July 1 effective date.

  • Game-Changing Decisions Call For New Rules At The NCAA

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    From a newly formed college players union to coaches transferring at the drop of a hat, the National College Athletic Association needs an overhaul, including federal supervision, says Frank Darras at DarrasLaw.

  • End Of Acquitted Conduct Sentencing Can Spark More Reform

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    The U.S. Sentencing Commission’s recent end to factoring acquitted conduct into federal sentences could signal the start of a more constitutionally sound advisory scheme, but Congress and the Supreme Court must first authorize the commission to resolve two constitutional errors baked into its guidelines, say Mark Allenbaugh at SentencingStats.com and Alan Ellis at the Law Offices of Alan Ellis.

  • Manufacturers Should Pay Attention To 'Right-To-Repair' Laws

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    Oregon’s recently passed "right-to-repair" statute highlights that the R2R movement is not going away, and that manufacturers of all kinds need to be paying attention to the evolving list of R2R statutes in various states and consider participating in the process, says Courtney Sarnow at Culhane.

  • Opinion

    Viral Deepfakes Of Taylor Swift Highlight Need For Regulation

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    As the nation grapples with addressing risk from artificial intelligence use, the recent circulation of AI-generated pornographic images of Taylor Swift on the social platform X highlights the need for federal legislation to protect nonconsenting subjects of deepfake pornography, say Nicole Brenner and Susie Ruiz-Lichter at Squire Patton.

  • Opinion

    Time To Fix NYC's Broken Property Assessment System

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    A New York appellate court's decision to revive Tax Equity Now New York v. City of New York may force the city to revamp its outdated and unfair real estate tax assessment system, which could be fixed with a couple of simple changes, says Seth Feldman at Romer Debbas.

  • New Federal Bill Would Drastically Alter Privacy Landscape

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    While the recently introduced American Privacy Rights Act would eliminate the burdensome patchwork of state regulations, the proposed federal privacy law would also significantly expand compliance obligations and liability exposure for companies, especially those that rely on artificial intelligence or biometric technologies, says David Oberly at Baker Donelson.

  • How Cos. Can Comply With New PFAS Superfund Rule

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new rule designating two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances as "hazardous substances" under the Superfund law will likely trigger additional enforcement and litigation at sites across the country — so companies should evaluate any associated reporting obligations and liability risks, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • How EB-5 Regional Centers Can Prepare For USCIS Audits

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    In response to the recently announced U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services guidelines that require EB-5 regional center audits every five years to verify their compliance with immigration and securities laws, regional centers should take steps to facilitate a seamless audit process, say Jennifer Hermansky and Miriam Thompson at Greenberg Traurig.

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