Public Policy

  • November 25, 2024

    Ad Tech Judge Says Google 'Completely Different' From Amex

    The Virginia federal judge weighing the fate of Google's display advertising placement business cast doubt Monday on a key element of the company's defense, asserting during closing arguments that the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Amex decision, requiring consideration of two-sided markets, is far removed from Google's ad tech stack.

  • November 25, 2024

    Cruz Calls Digital Equity Program Rules 'Unlawful'

    Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is criticizing the U.S. Commerce Department's grant program created to encourage broadband use among minorities, saying it unlawfully discriminates based on race in distributing broadband funds.

  • November 25, 2024

    Gov't Defends EB-5 Rule That Hikes Up Petition Fees

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and its U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency pushed for an early win in Texas federal court against a suit challenging increases for filing fees for petitions related to USCIS' EB-5 immigrant investor program.

  • November 25, 2024

    Informant Says He Brought Developers To Madigan's Law Firm

    An ex-Chicago alderman who wore a wire to meetings with former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was back on the stand Monday describing how he arranged a meeting with developers of a Chicago apartment building at Madigan's law office, with jurors hearing a call in which Madigan said to "go ahead and process" a zoning change for that project after the alderman asked if the developer gave him legal work.

  • November 25, 2024

    Swinomish Tribe Wants In On Tidegate Opinion Fight

    The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community has asked a Washington federal judge to let it intervene in a lawsuit by a county dike district against a U.S. government biological opinion that finds that a proposed tidegate project endangers salmon.

  • November 25, 2024

    Colo. Law Could Imperil Dual Banking System, 10th Circ. Told

    Texas, Utah and other Republican-led states have joined industry calls for the Tenth Circuit to affirm a court-ordered hold on a Colorado law targeting higher-cost online lending, warning the measure could lead to the unraveling of the dual banking system.

  • November 25, 2024

    FHWA Says Rule Doesn't 'Compel' States To Lower Emissions

    The Federal Highway Administration defended a new rule calling on states to set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from federally funded highway projects, telling the Fifth Circuit in a Friday brief the rule doesn't actually compel states to lower their emissions.

  • November 25, 2024

    Colo. Judge Won't Keep SJSU Trans Athlete From Tournament

    A Colorado federal judge on Monday refused to prohibit a San Jose State University transgender volleyball athlete from competing, shutting down a bid from a group of female players in the sport hoping to secure a preliminary injunction against the Mountain West Conference.

  • November 25, 2024

    Legal YouTuber Files FOIA Suit To Get Trump Cases Docs

    Popular legal YouTuber Legal Eagle has filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit asking for a court order forcing the federal government to expeditiously process requests for documents related to the prosecutions of Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., and Florida that special counsel Jack Smith is now seeking to dismiss.

  • November 25, 2024

    DEA And Anti-Pot Group Reject Accusations Of Collusion

    The Drug Enforcement Administration and a leading anti-cannabis-legalization advocacy group on Monday each pushed back against allegations that they colluded with each other in the run-up to administrative law judge hearings on a proposal to loosen federal restrictions on pot.

  • November 25, 2024

    Spectrum, Rip And Replace Are Top FCC Priorities, Carr Says

    Congress needs to focus next year on restoring the Federal Communications Commission's authority to auction spectrum bands and figure out how to pay for adequate telecom cybersecurity, says Brendan Carr, the agency's upcoming Republican chair.

  • November 25, 2024

    Kalshi's Election Contracts Are Here To Stay, DC Circ. Told

    Prediction market advocates and legal scholars have told the D.C. Circuit that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission stretched existing statutes too far in its bid to block KalshiEx's election wagering market, and now that the votes are in, the agency's concerns that the markets would threaten election integrity have not borne out.

  • November 25, 2024

    FCC To Bar Fla. Telecom From Aid After Fraud Conviction

    The Federal Communications Commission is looking to block a Florida-based wireless service provider from participating in any universal service programs for at least three years after it was convicted of conspiring to defraud the federal government through the agency's Lifeline Program for low-income phone users.

  • November 25, 2024

    Hemp Sellers Say Conn. Cannabis Laws Violate Constitution

    A dozen Connecticut hemp retailers filed a federal lawsuit against the governor and attorney general challenging a number of state laws meant to regulate so-called high-THC hemp products, claiming the statutes are so vague they are unconstitutional.

  • November 25, 2024

    Calif. Gov. Promises EV Tax Credit If Trump Axes Federal

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday said that he's preparing to save electric vehicle tax credits — at least for residents of his state — if the Trump administration and a Republican Congress eliminate federal ones.

  • November 25, 2024

    TMX Moves For Emergency Block On $52M Pa. Fine Hearing

    An affiliate of TMX Finance asked a Texas federal court to pause Pennsylvania regulators' efforts to enforce the state's anti-usury laws against it, claiming it faced a "Hobson's choice" of responding to an enforcement proceeding whose legality was being questioned, or waiving its arguments and facing a $52.7 million fine.

  • November 25, 2024

    Colo. Justices Take Up Political Donor Secrecy Case

    The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider whether election officials were allowed to fine a conservative political group for refusing to disclose its donors after it spent millions of dollars on state ballot questions in 2020.

  • November 25, 2024

    Calif. Board Seeks Comment On AI Rules Amid Pushback

    The California Privacy Protection Agency on Friday opened the public comment period for its latest rulemaking package proposing expansive draft rules regulating technologies fueled by artificial intelligence — including in the employment, education, healthcare, consumer protection, banking and insurance contexts — which business groups have already criticized as being overly broad and burdensome.

  • November 25, 2024

    Judge Vacates Minnesota Mediation Order In Land Dispute

    A federal district court judge on Monday vacated a mediation order in a dispute over more than 3,000 acres of land taken into trust for a Minnesota tribe after parties involved in the litigation said any settlement would require compromise on their legal positions or a voluntary remand.

  • November 25, 2024

    NJ Judge Allows Nonprofit To Join Affordable Housing Fight

    A New Jersey nonprofit is aligned with the state's government in a challenge to a new affordable housing obligation framework it adopted, but that alignment of goals does not mean the nonprofit should not also be allowed to intervene on the case, a Garden State judge said in an order.

  • November 25, 2024

    5th Circ. Upholds Miss. Ban On Medical Pot Ads

    Marijuana dispensaries do not have protections under the First Amendment to advertise their products because the drug is still illicit under federal law, the Fifth Circuit ruled, tossing a lawsuit that sought to upend the state's tight regulations on cannabis ads.

  • November 25, 2024

    4th Circ. Stands By HELOC 'Offset' Ruling Against PNC

    The full Fourth Circuit has declined to reconsider a panel decision that extended protections under the Truth In Lending Act by barring banks from dipping into a cardholder's deposit account to cover outstanding payments on a home equity line of credit without the borrower's consent.

  • November 25, 2024

    Commerce Limits Nuclear Program-Tied Exports To Pakistan

    The U.S. Department of Commerce on Monday issued a final rule imposing new licensing requirements on exports, reexports and transfers of certain items intended for Pakistan that the Middle Eastern country may be able to use for its nuclear weapons program.

  • November 25, 2024

    DC Circ. Won't Rehear Allowing H-1B Spousal Work Permits

    The District of Columbia Circuit has denied a petition to reconsider its decision upholding an Obama-era program allowing some spouses of highly skilled foreign workers to obtain work permits.

  • November 25, 2024

    Payments To Exxon Unit Taxable, Australian Panel Says

    Exxon Mobil unit Esso is liable for tax on monthly payments it received for processing its Australian business partners' petroleum and on an AU$23.4 million ($15.5 million) lump sum payment, a panel at the Federal Court of Australia said, overturning an earlier judgment at the same court.

Expert Analysis

  • Managing Sanctions Defense Across Multiple Jurisdictions

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    Companies called before multiple regulators to account for the same conduct in this era of increased global sanctions and import-control enforcement should consider national differences in law and policy, and proactively coordinate their responses in certain key areas, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Series

    Colorado Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

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    In the third quarter of 2024, Colorado's banking and financial services sector faced both regulatory updates and changes to state law due to recent federal court decisions — with consequences for local governments, mortgage lenders, state-chartered trust companies and federally chartered lenders serving Colorado consumers, says Sarah Auchterlonie at Brownstein Hyatt.

  • Building US-Japan Relationships In The M&A Market

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    The prospect of U.S.-Japanese mergers and acquisitions presents stronger competition to U.S. investors in the global M&A markets, while also opening up an additional exit route for sellers looking to offload strategic assets, says Nick Wall at A&O Shearman.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

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    About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • 4 Ways To Prepare For DOD Cyber Certification Rule

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    Given the U.S. Department of Justice's increased scrutiny of contractor compliance with cybersecurity requirements, it is critical that contractors take certain steps now in response to the U.S. Department of Defense's proposed Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification implementation rule, say Townsend Bourne and Lillia Damalouji at Sheppard Mullin.

  • FTC Focus: How Scrutiny Of PBMs And Insulin May Play Out

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    Should Express Scripts' recent judicial challenge to the Federal Trade Commission succeed, any new targets could add litigation and choice of forum to their playbooks, and potential FTC court action on insulin could be forced to parallel venues as the issues between the commission and PBMs evolve, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Opinion

    AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys

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    The thing that’s so powerful about artificial intelligence is also what’s most scary about it — its ability to detect patterns may curtail young attorneys’ chance to practice the lower-level work of managing cases, preventing them from ever honing the pattern recognition skills that undergird creative lawyering, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.

  • A Look At How De Minimis Import Rules May Soon Change

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    The planned implementation of executive actions focused on the de minimis rule as it applies to shipments means companies should use this interval to evaluate the potential applicability and impact of Section 301, Section 201 or Section 232 duties on their products, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Key Takeaways From DOJ's New Corp. Compliance Guidance

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s updated guidance to federal prosecutors on evaluating corporate compliance programs addresses how entities manage new technology-related risks and expands on preexisting policies, providing key insights for companies about increasing regulatory expectations, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • What's In The Cards For CFTC's Election Betting Case

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    A D.C. federal judge's Sept. 12 ruling, allowing KalshiEx to offer derivative contracts trading on the outcome of the U.S. congressional elections over objections from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, could mark a watershed moment in the permissibility of election betting if upheld on appeal, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • What To Know About Latest Calif. Auto-Renewal Law Update

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    While businesses have about nine months to prepare before the recently passed amendment to California's automatic renewal law takes effect, it’s not too early to begin working on compliance efforts, including sign-up flow reviews, record retention updates and marketing language revisions, say Gonzalo Mon and Beth Chun at Kelley Drye.

  • The Key Changes In Revised FDIC Hiring Regulations

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    Attorneys at Ogletree break down the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s new rule, effective Oct. 1, that will ease restrictions on financial institutions hiring employees with criminal histories, amend the FDIC's treatment of minor offenses and clarify its stance on expunged or dismissed criminal records.

  • FDIC's Cautious Approach To Industrial Banks, Reaffirmed

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    Although the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. recently approved an industrial loan company's deposit insurance application and proposed new rules regarding parent companies, these developments do not represent a liberalization or modernization of the FDIC's regulatory framework, say Max Bonici and Andrew Bigart at Venable.

  • How Lucia, Jarkesy Could Affect Grocery Merger Challenge

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    While the Federal Trade Commission is taking a dual federal court and administrative tribunal approach to block Kroger's merger with Alberstons, Kroger's long-shot unconstitutionality claims could potentially lead to a reevaluation of the FTC's reliance on administrative processes in complex merger cases, say attorneys at Saul Ewing.

  • How NLRB Memo Balances Schools' Labor, Privacy Concerns

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    Natale DiNatale at Robinson & Cole highlights the recent National Labor Relations Board advice memorandum that aims to help colleges reconcile competing obligations under the National Labor Relations Act and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act as university students flock toward unionization.

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