Public Policy

  • November 01, 2024

    Conn. Ballot Measure Nixes Need For Absentee Vote Excuses

    Connecticut voters will decide Tuesday whether to enshrine no-excuse absentee voting in the state constitution, a measure supported by Democrats and the American Civil Liberties Union but opposed by Republicans.

  • November 01, 2024

    Nonprofit Urges Miss. Judge To Uphold H-2A Worker Rule

    A nonprofit supporting migrant workers' rights filed an amicus brief Friday urging a Mississippi federal court to deny the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's bid to stay a regulation allowing H-2A migrant farmworkers to organize, saying the rule falls well within the authority of the U.S. Department of Labor.

  • November 01, 2024

    Wash. Man Gets 4 Years For Killing And Selling Eagles

    A Washington man who conspired to hunt and kill thousands of bald and golden eagles and hawks on a Montana reservation to sell on the black market will serve nearly four years in federal prison following a plea agreement in which prosecutors dropped nearly a dozen charges.

  • November 01, 2024

    Oil Group, Enviro Orgs Clash Over Offshore Drilling Plan

    Environmental groups and the American Petroleum Institute filed sparring briefs in an appeal before the D.C. Circuit over the U.S. Department of the Interior's 2024-2029 offshore oil and gas leasing program, each arguing that the agency wasn't legally obligated to satisfy the other's demands.

  • November 01, 2024

    What Happens To Ga. Election Case If Trump Wins?

    The fate of the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump is on the ballot this November, according to legal experts, who told Law360 that a Trump victory would likely mean any trial would have to wait until he completes his term in office.

  • November 01, 2024

    Ohio Makes Play To Enter Cleveland Browns' Stadium Suit

    Ohio asked to join Cleveland as a defendant in a suit filed by the Cleveland Browns alleging that a state law impeding the NFL team's plan to move to another city within the state is unconstitutional.

  • November 01, 2024

    Electric Co-Ops Urge NTIA To 'True Up' Broadband Funding

    Electric cooperatives want the U.S. Commerce Department to implement a "true-up" process to ensure that only locations still in need of reliable broadband match well with federal funds available under a $42.5 billion spending program to deploy service in unserved areas.

  • November 01, 2024

    4 Appellate Arguments Benefits Attys Should Watch In Nov.

    The Second Circuit will weigh battles over retirement plan fees and union benefit contributions, teachers will ask the Ninth Circuit to revive their suit over interest they say is owed on their retirement accounts and the Eleventh Circuit will mull a constitutional challenge to a Florida gender-affirming care ban. Here are four upcoming arguments that benefits lawyers should have on their radar.

  • November 01, 2024

    College Athletes' Attorney Rebuffs NIL Settlement Critics

    A key architect of the landmark antitrust settlement forcing the National Collegiate Athletic Association to pay over $2.7 billion and set up a revenue-sharing system for athletes defended the deal against a slew of objectors Friday, explaining that the arrangement delivers a windfall for the athletes as quickly as possible.

  • November 01, 2024

    FERC In Position To Ride Out Any Election Day Upheaval

    The ongoing work of a reloaded Federal Energy Regulatory Commission isn't likely to be disturbed by a new president in the White House next year, although FERC watchers say concerns that a Trump administration could challenge the agency's historic independence can't be brushed off.

  • November 01, 2024

    Up Next At High Court: Fed Funds And Securities Risks

    The U.S. Supreme Court will return to the bench Monday for its November arguments session, which will start off with a debate over whether the Federal Communications Commission telecom subsidy program involves federal funds subject to the False Claims Act, and on Tuesday how Medicare funding should be calculated for hospitals that serve large numbers of low-income patients.

  • November 01, 2024

    2024 Election Could Be Crossroads For Clean Energy Funding

    Election Day will present a multibillion-dollar fork in the road for the energy industry and its reliance on the federal government to help fund its decarbonization efforts, energy attorneys say.

  • November 01, 2024

    US Must Revamp Spectrum Policy To Compete, Org. Says

    The U.S. is on the verge of a "great strategic blunder" by allowing its spectrum auction authority to lapse and setting aside too much spectrum for short-range unlicensed wireless use, risking the loss of its competitive edge to China, a think tank says.

  • November 01, 2024

    Pennsylvania's Attorney General Race: Four Things To Know

    In the race for Pennsylvania attorney general, a former county prosecutor and a two-term auditor general are facing off for the chance to be the Keystone State's top lawyer — both with ties to York, Pennsylvania, and Widener University Commonwealth Law School in Harrisburg. But whether they'd be more at home in the office's criminal prosecution or civil litigation roles depends on the candidate.

  • November 01, 2024

    10 More NJ Counties Settle Over Use Of 'County Line' Ballot

    Ten more New Jersey counties have agreed or tentatively agreed to stop using the Garden State's long-standing "county line" ballot design in primary elections, according to a flurry of recent filings, signaling the end of Rep. Andy Kim's challenge to the controversial ballot design.

  • November 01, 2024

    Danish Tax Agency To Settle With Atty In $2.1B Tax Fraud Suit

    Denmark's tax authority has agreed to settle with an attorney whom it has accused of helping clients claim fraudulent tax refunds in a sprawling $2.1 billion case, according to a letter by its attorney in New York federal court.

  • November 01, 2024

    Off The Bench: Horse Racing Ruling Halted, Fla. Betting Deal

    In this week's Off The Bench, supporters of the organization overseeing federal horse-racing laws got a helping hand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the feud between a Florida tribe and state casino interests ends in a truce, and the NBA wants the details of its disputed media rights deal kept out of the public eye.

  • November 01, 2024

    GOP Gains Could Prompt Push For Endowment Tax Hike

    If Republicans make significant gains in the upcoming elections, it could clear the way for GOP lawmakers to push to boost taxes on the endowments of some private colleges and universities.

  • November 01, 2024

    Ga. Justices Uphold Toss Of Lawmakers' Capitol Protest Suit

    The Georgia Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a former state lawmaker, a current state lawmaker and several others who argued that a law used to justify their arrests while protesting at the state Capitol was unconstitutionally overbroad.

  • November 01, 2024

    Michigan's Supreme Court Tosses Pandemic Powers Ruling

    The Michigan Supreme Court on Friday cast aside a ruling that invalidated a public health law used during the COVID-19 pandemic to curb gatherings and close restaurants, saying the issue is moot because orders issued under the law expired years ago.

  • November 01, 2024

    4 States To Vote On Expanding Cannabis Or Psychedelics

    On Tuesday, voters in Florida, North Dakota and South Dakota will decide whether to legalize cannabis for adult recreational use, while Massachusetts — where marijuana is already fully legal — will decide whether to decriminalize and regulate certain psychedelics.

  • October 31, 2024

    Trump Sues CBS For $10B Over 'Doctored' Harris Interview

    Former President Donald Trump on Thursday lodged a $10 billion "election and voter interference" suit against CBS News in Texas federal court, accusing the network of deceptively doctoring Vice President Kamala Harris' answer to a question concerning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from a "60 Minutes" interview earlier this month.

  • October 31, 2024

    Ex-Trump Atty Chesebro's Law License Suspended In NY

    Kenneth Chesebro's law license was suspended in New York State on Thursday over his role supporting former President Donald Trump's alleged efforts to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results, with the suspension a result of his guilty plea last year for conspiracy to commit filing false documents.

  • October 31, 2024

    GOP Groups Urge 11th Circ. To Restore Ga. Election Law

    National and Georgia state Republican political committees have pressed the Eleventh Circuit to overturn a lower court's order that paused controversial portions of a Peach State election bill, arguing the law is legal and needed to ensure secure elections.

  • October 31, 2024

    2nd Circ. Says Naturalized Citizens Owed Adequate Counsel

    The full Second Circuit determined Thursday that a naturalized U.S. citizen considering whether to enter a guilty plea has a constitutional right to be advised by counsel that they may lose their citizenship as a result.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    To Lower Drug Prices, Harris Must Address Patent Thickets

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    If Vice President Kamala Harris is serious about her pledge to address high drug prices, she must begin by closing loopholes that allow pharmaceutical companies to develop patent thickets that can deter generic or biosimilar companies from entering the market, says Tahir Amin at the Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge.

  • How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations

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    Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.

  • ESA Ruling May Jeopardize Gulf Of Mexico Drilling Operations

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    A Maryland federal court's recent decision in Sierra Club v. National Marine Fisheries Service, vacating key Endangered Species Act analyses of oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico, may create a gap in guidance that could expose operators to enforcement risk and even criminal liability, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • The State Law Landscape After Justices' Social Media Ruling

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    Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent NetChoice ruling on social media platforms’ First Amendment rights, it’s still unclear if state content moderation laws are constitutional, leaving online operators to face a patchwork of regulation, and the potential for the issue to return to the high court, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • What's Next For Federal Preemption In Financial Services

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    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's review of its preemption interpretations and growing pressure from state regulators signal potential changes ahead for preemption in U.S. financial services, and the path forward will likely involve a reevaluation of the entire framework, say attorneys at Clark Hill.

  • Avoiding Corporate Political Activity Pitfalls This Election Year

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    As Election Day approaches, corporate counsel should be mindful of the complicated rules around companies engaging in political activities, including super PAC contributions, pay-to-play prohibitions and foreign agent restrictions, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Opinion

    Congress Must Do More To Bolster ERISA Protections

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    As the Employee Retirement Income Security Act turns 50 this month, we applaud Congress for championing a statute that protects worker and retiree rights, but further action is needed to ban arbitration clauses in plan provisions and codify regulations imperiled by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Chevron ruling, say Michelle Yau and Eleanor Frisch at Cohen Milstein.

  • Increased Scrutiny Raises Int'l Real Estate Transaction Risks

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    Recently proposed regulations expanding the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States' oversight, a White House divestment order and state-level legislative efforts signal increasing scrutiny of real estate transactions that may trigger national security concerns, say Luciano Racco and Aleksis Fernández Caballero at Foley Hoag.

  • Navigating Cybersecurity Rule Changes For Gov't Contractors

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    As federal contractors evaluate the security of their IT systems, they should keep in mind numerous changes to the Federal Acquisition Regulations and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement recently promulgated to meet new cyber threats, says William Stowe at KBR.

  • Financial Incentives May Alleviate Affordable Housing Crisis

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    There is a wide array of financial incentives and assistance that the government can provide to both real estate developers and individuals to chip away at the housing affordability problem from multiple angles, say Eric DeBear and Madeline Williams at Cozen.

  • How Fund Advisers Can Limit Election Year Pay-To-Play Risks

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    With Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz now the Democratic candidate for vice president, politically active investment advisers should take practical steps to avoid triggering strict pay-to-play rules that can lead to fund managers facing mutli-year timeouts from working with public funds after contributing to sitting officials, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • FTC Focus: What Access To Patent Settlements Would Mean

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    Settling parties should adopt a series of practice tips, including specifying rationales to support specific terms, as the Federal Trade Commission seeks to expand its access to settlements before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, say Shannon McGowan and David Munkittrick at Proskauer.

  • Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles

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    Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.

  • How NJ Temp Equal Pay Survived A Constitutional Challenge

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    The Third Circuit recently gave the New Jersey Temporary Workers' Bill of Rights a new lease on life by systematically dismantling multiple theories of the act's unconstitutionality brought by staffing agencies hoping to delay their new equal pay and benefits obligations, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

  • Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.

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