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Public Policy
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December 05, 2024
Providers' $2.8B BCBS Antitrust Deal Gets Judge's Initial OK
An Alabama federal judge has given his initial approval for a $2.8 billion settlement inked between Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and a proposed class of medical providers in a more than 12-year-old antitrust case targeting association rules.
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December 05, 2024
Gov't Efficiency Push Is A 'New Day,' House Speaker Says
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., spoke excitedly Thursday about the new government efficiency operation helmed by billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and touted the budding bipartisan lineup of a congressional caucus that will work with it.
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December 05, 2024
Amazon Says Section 230 Shields Against Casino App Suit
Amazon said Wednesday a federal judge should toss a proposed class action accusing the e-commerce giant of promoting and selling "social casino" apps that enable illegal gambling, arguing the company is immune under a federal law regulating internet content because it did not create the games.
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December 05, 2024
Man Says NC Failed To Prove He Had Cannabis, Not Hemp
A North Carolina man is appealing his conviction for possession and intent to distribute cannabis, saying the state failed to show evidence that the material they seized from him was cannabis as opposed to legal hemp.
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December 05, 2024
Colo. Sheriff Says County Worker Rights Law Can't Touch Him
A Colorado sheriff is suing the state to challenge application of a collective bargaining law to him, arguing in a complaint filed Wednesday in Denver District Court that applying the law to sheriffs interferes with their legal authority and independence.
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December 05, 2024
Okla. Court Says Tulsa Can Prosecute Indian Country Crime
An Oklahoma Criminal Appeals Court will not dismiss a challenge by the city of Tulsa that questions its jurisdictional rights on reservation lands, saying the municipality's ability to prosecute crimes is centered in a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said states can prosecute non-Indians for crimes against Indians on tribal land.
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December 05, 2024
3rd Circ. Unsure Pa. Regulator Had Right To Deny Project
Third Circuit judges appeared wary on Thursday of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission's argument that its take on the necessity of a transmission project trumps a federal agency's determination, at one point questioning how any such project could be completed if the court accepted its argument.
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December 05, 2024
Wash. Gov.'s Executive Order Backs Tribal Salmon Initiative
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has, in an executive order, directed state agencies to cooperate with four sovereign tribal nations and Oregon to fulfill commitments to the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative, which aims to protect salmon and steelhead populations.
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December 05, 2024
Utah Defends Effort To Wrest Land From Feds At High Court
Utah told the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday that its proposed lawsuit accusing the government of unconstitutionally hoarding and profiting from public lands in the state belongs before the justices and that the government's recent response strengthens its case.
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December 05, 2024
NC Town Sues Duke Energy Over Climate Change 'Deception'
A small town in North Carolina is suing Duke Energy for what officials characterized as a decades-long "deception campaign" about climate change, including allegedly misleading residents about the dangerous effects of fossil fuels and delaying the transition to cleaner energy.
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December 05, 2024
Detroit Needs More Evidence In Census Row, Judge Says
A Michigan federal judge gave the city of Detroit another chance Thursday to prove the U.S. Census Bureau undercounted the city's population and negatively impacted its federal funding, telling the city it wouldn't have standing to sue the federal government without such evidence.
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December 05, 2024
Migrants Told 'Asylum No Longer Exists,' Report Says
U.S. border agents are mistreating asylum-seeking families under President Joe Biden's June border restrictions, denying them access to asylum and returning them to Mexico in violation of domestic and international law, Human Rights Watch said Thursday in a new report.
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December 05, 2024
US Trade Gap Fell By $10B In Oct. As Imports And Exports Dipped
The United States' trade deficit for goods and services trade dropped $10 billion from September to October, with imports decreasing more than exports, according to a Bureau of Economic Analysis report released Thursday.
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December 05, 2024
Sens. Urge DOD To Beef Up Telecom Security After Cyberattack
The U.S. Department of Defense may not be doing enough to protect unclassified information from being intercepted by foreign spies, a bipartisan pair of U.S. senators have said.
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December 05, 2024
NCAA's NIL Settlement 'Illegal' In Many States, Lawmakers Say
The National Collegiate Athletic Association's $2.78 billion settlement with athletes over name, image and likeness compensation, now awaiting final court approval, would be "illegal" in several states because of their current NIL laws, a group of current and former lawmakers said Thursday.
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December 05, 2024
Charter Settles For $1.1M After FCC Emergency Alert Probe
Charter has agreed to pay $1.1 million to end an investigation by the Federal Communications Commission into whether the cable giant failed to properly keep emergency alert devices online during an FCC test of the system last fall.
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December 05, 2024
Covington Helps Take Calif. Court Reporter Shortage To Court
Covington & Burling LLP is among the counsel for groups petitioning the California Supreme Court to address the state's court reporter shortage by mandating the use of electronic recording when court reporters are unavailable.
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December 05, 2024
Boies Tells 1st Circ. Cannabis Precedent Is Outdated
The premises undergirding a 19-year-old U.S. Supreme Court precedent on cannabis policy have changed so dramatically in the intervening years that its holdings no longer apply to the current marijuana landscape, litigator David Boies told a First Circuit panel during oral arguments Thursday.
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December 05, 2024
Carriers Must Shield Networks From Attacks, FCC Chair Says
The head of the Federal Communications Commission called Thursday for "urgent action" from U.S. telecom carriers to protect their networks in the wake of the recent Salt Typhoon cyberattack, and said the agency could soon rule that telecoms are affirmatively required under law to try to prevent such intrusions.
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December 05, 2024
Ga. Judge Tosses GOP Election Suit Against Fulton County
A Georgia state court judge has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to make Fulton County hire Republican poll workers for last month's general election because the plaintiffs failed to show at a court appearance earlier this week.
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December 05, 2024
Disgruntled Dems Move On From Appellate Noms Deal
While some Democrats have gripes about the deal Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer made with Republicans before Thanksgiving on judicial confirmations, they grudgingly concede the deal helps them fill as many seats as possible even if it means leaving choice circuit seats for President-elect Donald Trump to fill.
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December 05, 2024
Sentencing Judge Wants Jail Healthcare Info In Threats Case
Saying he needed additional briefs on mental health treatments in federal prisons, a Connecticut federal judge on Thursday postponed sentencing a man who pled guilty to mailing more than 150 threatening letters to U.S. Supreme Court justices, state and federal judges, other officials and journalists.
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December 05, 2024
Police Commissioners Want Officers' Withheld OT Suit Tossed
Current and former Philadelphia Police Department commissioners and human resources directors urged a Pennsylvania federal court to throw out a proposed class action by ranking officers alleging that the department failed to alert them of their overtime eligibility, saying the case was brought too late.
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December 05, 2024
Feds Invest $849M For Water Infrastructure Improvements
An $849 million investment from the Biden administration will support 77 water infrastructure development projects throughout the country's western states and tribal communities that are located along major river basins in an effort to restore canal capacity, sustain treatment, replace aging hydropower production equipment and provide maintenance to older project buildings.
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December 05, 2024
Airbnb Customers Drop 'Assistance Fee' Suit Against Insurers
A proposed class of Airbnb customers permanently dropped a suit accusing two of the company's insurance providers of violating Washington state law by charging an "assistance fee" when selling travel coverage.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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How BIS' Rule Seeks To Encourage More Voluntary Disclosure
Updated incentives, penalties and enforcement resources in the Bureau of Industry and Security's recently published final rule revising the Export Administration Regulations should help companies decide how to implement export control compliance programs and whether to disclose possible violations, say attorneys at Freshfields.
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Series
Florida Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3
With the implementation of H.B. 989, the third quarter of 2024 has been transformative for banking law and regulation in Florida, and this new law places a strong emphasis on fair access to banking, and prohibits ideologically or politically motivated decisions by financial institutions, says Sha’Ron James at Gunster.