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Public Policy
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December 16, 2024
Court Culture Seen As Barrier To Workplace Misconduct Fixes
The federal judiciary's internal system for resolving workplace misconduct allegations has gone through a six-year overhaul that officials tout as evidence of sustained progress, but some experts say the tight bonds that unite court personnel may still be an impediment to meaningful change.
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December 16, 2024
3rd Circ. Nominee Decries 'Broken' Confirmation Process
Adeel Mangi, the nominee for the Third Circuit who would have been the first federal Muslim appellate judge if confirmed, sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Monday saying the selection process for federal judges is "broken."
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December 16, 2024
Justices Won't Hear 3rd Circ. CFPB Student Loan Trust Case
The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it would leave in place a lower court decision allowing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to sue securitization trusts over their servicers' treatment of borrowers, declining to take up a challenge to the scope of the agency's enforcement authority.
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December 16, 2024
Justices Preserve Calif. Vehicle Emissions Autonomy
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review whether the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to allow California to set its own greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles, a power red states had challenged as unconstitutional.
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December 14, 2024
IRS Criminal Probes On Worker Retention Cases Still Early
The Internal Revenue Service's criminal arm is still in the early stage of investigating the most extremely fraudulent claims of a tax credit intended to reward businesses for retaining employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, an official said Saturday.
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December 13, 2024
3 Pa. Counties Urge Justices To Review Ballot Date Rule
The election boards of Pennsylvania's three most populous counties have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to determine whether the state's requirement that mail-in ballots have handwritten dates on their outer envelopes violates the materiality provision of the Civil Rights Act, arguing that a Third Circuit panel interpreted the provision too narrowly.
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December 13, 2024
Feds Suggest Protections For Salamander, Mussels Habitat
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed protections for the eastern hellbender salamander as well as for the habitats of several species of endangered freshwater mussels, according to a pair of recent announcements.
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December 13, 2024
Texas Panel Prods Harrison County About Tank Leakage
A Texas appeals court judge on Friday questioned whether Harrison County is seizing on a legal ambiguity to avoid required testing of underground storage tanks, saying its loose interpretation of the word "year" in a state law "doesn't sound like a very good idea."
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December 13, 2024
Advocacy Group Has Change Of Heart On SEC Reg Challenge
An investor advocacy organization that sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over its recently adopted "tick size" rule has said it will let others take the reins of the lawsuit because it is worried that the incoming administration will not propose the stronger stock market regulations it wants.
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December 13, 2024
YSL Defendant Sues Sheriff Over Fulton Co. Jail Conditions
One of the defendants in the recently wrapped Young Slime Life racketeering and gang trial is now leading a class action against Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat and the county's chief jailer John Jackson over allegations that the two allowed unconstitutional conditions at the jail that violated detainees' Eighth and 14th amendment rights.
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December 13, 2024
SEC Sued In 9th Circ. To Move On Accredited Investor Petition
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is facing a Ninth Circuit lawsuit seeking to force it to address a proposal that would change the definition of "accredited investor" so that lower and middle-income Americans can invest in the private markets.
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December 13, 2024
NJ Town Fights DuPont Bid To Pause $1B Pollution Suit
A small New Jersey township's billion-dollar suit against Chemours and E.I. du Pont de Nemours should continue without delay, the municipality argued, saying the companies "in their effort to race to" an appeal failed to follow proper court protocol.
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December 13, 2024
5th Circ. Revives Challenge To Dallas Flood Project
A Texas federal judge jumped the gun dismissing two Dallas property owners' claims that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has failed to fully analyze the potential impacts of a flood control project in the city, a Fifth Circuit panel said Friday.
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December 13, 2024
IoT Trade Group Opposes Geolocation Plan At FCC
A trade group that advocates for the development of the Internet of Things is not a fan of a geolocation company's plan to license a chunk of the lower 900 megahertz to launch a network that will provide mobile broadband and back up the Global Positioning System.
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December 13, 2024
DC Judge Questions DOT On Rail Line 'Buy America' Waiver
A D.C. federal judge Friday scrutinized the Federal Railroad Administration's rolling stock grant for Brightline's high-speed rail line from the Los Angeles area to Las Vegas, questioning whether a waiver of "Buy America" mandates was justified for Siemens trainsets with competitor Alstom claiming some components could be made domestically.
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December 13, 2024
ND Judge Speeds Up Review Of DACA Health Coverage Block
A North Dakota federal judge agreed Friday to expedite the federal government's request to halt an order blocking the enforcement of a regulation that extends health coverage to immigrants brought to the U.S. as children without authorization.
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December 13, 2024
SEC's Corporation Finance Director Gerding To Step Down
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Friday that the head of its Division of Corporation Finance, who oversaw the finalization of controversial new rules covering environmental disclosures and share repurchases, will leave the agency at the end of the year.
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December 13, 2024
DC Circ. Declines To Disturb Law That Could Ban TikTok
The D.C. Circuit on Friday rejected TikTok's request for a preliminary injunction delaying implementation of a law requiring the app to split with its Chinese parent company ByteDance Ltd. or face a nationwide ban, saying that TikTok wants to block "the enforcement of a presumptively valid act of Congress."
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December 13, 2024
10th Circ. Leans Against Spiking Colo. Air Plan
A Tenth Circuit panel appeared inclined Friday to order the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider its approval of a Colorado air emissions permitting program that a green group challenged as too permissive.
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December 13, 2024
FCC Says It Won't Look At Telecom's SIM Card Beef Again
The FCC isn't going to rethink its contention that it has no say over a Haitian mobile carrier's decision to deactivate a bunch of SIM cards that were brought into the United States to trick the carrier into thinking calls from the U.S. were coming from the Caribbean country.
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December 13, 2024
EPA Mandates More Worker Safety For Carbon Tetrachloride
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule this week on carbon tetrachloride exposure, requiring "robust" employee safety planning on worksites but continuing to allow for its use as a feedstock for refrigerants.
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December 13, 2024
9th Circ. Says Feds Can't Sub For Tribe In Wash. Betting Row
The Ninth Circuit refused on Friday to revive a casino company's challenge to Washington state gambling compacts giving Native American tribes exclusive rights in the sports betting industry, concluding the company could not avoid involving an immune tribe in the litigation under a theory that its interests were represented by the federal government.
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December 13, 2024
Supreme Court To Review Wis. Catholic Charity Tax Case
The U.S. Supreme Court plans to examine whether a group of Catholic charities is exempt from Wisconsin's unemployment tax, agreeing Friday to review a state Supreme Court finding that the organizations are not operated primarily for religious purposes.
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December 13, 2024
Bipartisan Bills Target US Dependence On Chinese Minerals
A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced three new pieces of legislation aimed at helping address what it said was America's "deep reliance" on the Chinese Communist Party for critical minerals, after spending months evaluating the issue.
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December 13, 2024
IRS To Wrap Up Worker Retention Credits In 2025, Werfel Says
The Internal Revenue Service plans to wrap up processing next year for thousands of claims for tax credits meant to provide incentives for businesses that retained employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, agency Commissioner Daniel Werfel said Friday.
Expert Analysis
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7 Ways To Prepare For An I-9 Audit Or Immigration Raid
Because immigration enforcement is likely to surge under the upcoming Trump administration, employers should take steps to ensure their staff is trained in employment eligibility verification requirements and what to do in the event of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement I-9 audit or workplace raid, say attorneys at Littler.
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Unpacking Arguments From High Court's Rural Hospital Case
During oral arguments in Advocate v. Becerra, the U.S. Supreme Court justices focused questions on the meaning of being "entitled to" supplementary security income assistance, and there's reason for optimism that the likely split decision will break in favor of hospitals, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
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Args In 2 High Court Cases May Foretell Clarity For Employers
Mary Anna Brand at Maynard Nexsen examines possible employment implications of two cases argued before the Supreme Court this fall, including a higher bar for justifying employees as overtime exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and earlier grants of prevailing party status for employee-plaintiffs seeking attorney fees.
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How Boards And Officers Should Prep For New Trump Admin
In anticipation of President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariffs and mass deportation campaign, company officers and board members should pursue proactive, comprehensive contingency planning to not only advance the best interests of the companies they serve, but to also properly exercise their fiduciary duty of care, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.
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Implementing Human Rights Due Diligence
The Bureau of Industry and Security’s recent removal of a Canadian surveillance provider from its export blacklist, after just eight months, illustrates the importance of integrating human rights due diligence into the vetting process by asking a few targeted questions, say attorneys at Cravath.
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California Supreme Court's Year In Review
Attorneys at Horvitz & Levy highlight notable decisions on major questions from the California Supreme Court's last term, including voter initiatives, hostile work environment and the economic loss rule.
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3 Changes Community Banks Should Expect Under Trump
A second Trump administration promises a sea change for regional and community banks, including shifts in the regulatory environment, Community Reinvestment Act rules and the M&A landscape, say attorneys at Manatt.
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DC Circ. Decision Opens Door To NEPA Regulation Litigation
A recent D.C. Circuit decision in Marin Audubon Society v. Federal Aviation Administration could open the door to more litigation over the White House Council on Environmental Quality's National Environmental Policy Act regulations, and could affect how many agencies conduct and interpret environmental assessments, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.
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The Challenges Of Abandoned Retirement Plans In Ch. 7
The Department of Labor's rule for unwinding retirement accounts when plan sponsors file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy was intended to alleviate trustees' administration issues, but practical challenges, like unresolved fee and identification matters, could hinder its implementation, say David Goodrich at Golden Goodrich and Nancy Simons at Stretto.
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How CFIUS' Updated Framework Affects Global Investors
The recent change to the monitoring and enforcement regulations governing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States will broaden administrative practices around nonnotified transaction investigations, increase the scope of information demands from the committee and accelerate its ability to impose mitigation on parties, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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5 Ways SEC's Crypto Approach Could Change Under Trump
Given the Trump campaign's procrypto stance, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could take a number of different approaches to crypto policy in the next administration, including pausing registration-only enforcement actions and proposing tailored rules that take into account the differences between crypto-assets and traditional securities, say attorneys at WilmerHale.
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Health Policy Predictions For Trump's Second Administration
As President-elect Donald Trump's nominations for health policy and enforcement heads work their way through the confirmation process, healthcare organizations can look at nominee backgrounds, campaign statements and actions from Trump's previous presidency to predict incoming priorities, say attorneys at McDermott.
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Opinion
FTC Actions In Oil Cases Go Against Its Own Rulemaking
Two recent Federal Trade Commission actions concerning the oil and gas industry appear to defy its own merger guidelines, with allegations that fall far short of the commission's own standard — raising serious questions about the agency's current approach, say attorneys at Clifford Chance.
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How Global Data Center Regs May Influence US Policies
As regulators around the world react to the growth of data centers, and their increasing consumption of energy, water and land, international policies in this area may influence how the incoming U.S. administration regulates data centers in this country, say attorneys at HWG.
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Series
Flying Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Achieving my childhood dream of flying airplanes made me a better lawyer — and a better person — because it taught me I can conquer difficult goals when I leave my comfort zone, focus on the demands of the moment and commit to honing my skills, says Ivy Cadle at Baker Donelson.