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Public Policy
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November 15, 2024
Oil Terminal Co. Offers $2M To End Falsified-Inspection Claims
A Gulf Oil successor has offered to pay the state of Connecticut $2 million to settle accusations the company failed to secure new construction permits and spent years fabricating and falsifying inspection reports for existing bulk gasoline terminal tanks along New Haven Harbor in Long Island Sound, court filings show.
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November 15, 2024
Texas Judge Asked To Bar Biden Policies, Restart Border Wall
Texas counties and a rancher urged a Lone Star State federal judge Thursday to preliminarily block Biden administration immigration policies they allege run afoul of Congress' goal to have "zero illegal entries" at the U.S.-Mexico border and require the federal government to resume building a wall along the border.
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November 15, 2024
Grassley To Take 'Traditional Approach' To Blue Slips
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the incoming chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is signaling he will keep the process in place for home state senators' approval of district court nominees, although in the past he has claimed discretion to move forward when he thinks there's no good reason to block a nominee.
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November 15, 2024
Former ADA Notches Bias Win Against Georgia Prosecutor
A federal judge cast aside the "incredulous" defenses of a Georgia district attorney accused of denying a female attorney a promotion, finding her liable for sex discrimination after previously hitting the DA with a default order for her attempts to dodge being deposed.
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November 15, 2024
Visa Says European Commission Investigating 'Acquirer' Fees
Visa is telling investors that European competition regulators are looking into its merchant fees, disclosing in its annual report this week that the European Commission has been investigating it since August.
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November 15, 2024
Texas Justices Say Subpoena Can't Pause Roberson Death
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday said that a group of bipartisan Lone Star State legislators can't use its committee's subpoena power to pause the execution of a man convicted based on a "shaken baby syndrome" diagnosis.
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November 15, 2024
Biden Withdraws Cohen Weiss Atty's PBGC Nomination
President Joe Biden has withdrawn his nomination of a Cohen Weiss & Simon LLP attorney to lead the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., four months after putting her name forward and less than two weeks after former President Donald Trump secured a return to the White House.
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November 14, 2024
Trump Picks ND Gov. To Lead Interior Dept.
President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday evening that he has chosen North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to lead the U.S. Department of the Interior, a Republican who has been a staunch supporter of the fossil fuel industry.
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November 14, 2024
Volleyball Players, Coach Sue To Ban SJSU Trans Athlete
Female college volleyball players and a suspended San Jose State University coach urged a Colorado federal court on Wednesday to ban a transgender athlete from competition, alleging in a new suit that the Mountain West Conference and others discriminated against female athletes by keeping the outside hitter on SJSU's roster.
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November 14, 2024
DC Circ. Doubts Standing In Challenge To Grid Project Perk
A D.C. Circuit panel expressed skepticism Thursday that a coalition of energy consumers have standing to challenge the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's grant of an abandonment incentive to the developer of an Iowa transmission project.
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November 14, 2024
Trump's RFK Jr. Pick For HHS Draws Its Share Of Critics
The nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — well-known for his opposition to vaccines — as the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is President-elect Donald Trump's latest controversial pick for his administration, and one that could disrupt the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and its mission.
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November 14, 2024
DHS, ICE Accused Of Not Making Detainee Records Available
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's withholding of documents used to assess the treatment of individuals in immigration custody is frustrating the University of Washington's "legislatively mandated mission" of expanding human rights education, the university alleged Wednesday in Washington federal court.
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November 14, 2024
Student Loan Servicer Wants CFPB Deal Paused Amid Appeal
The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency has asked a Pennsylvania federal judge to pause its obligation to pay more than $3.2 million as a part of a settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that is being challenged in the Third Circuit by a third party.
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November 14, 2024
Florida AG Says FEMA Failed Trump Supporters After Storms
The Florida Attorney General's Office announced Thursday it has launched a federal lawsuit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency's administrator and a fired agency official over an alleged directive instructing hurricane relief workers to avoid homes displaying signs in support of President-elect Donald Trump.
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November 14, 2024
Trade Groups Back Red States In EPA Water Rule Dispute
A slew of trade groups have joined a dozen red states in urging a North Dakota federal judge to strike down a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule requiring all states in the nation to consider tribal treaty rights when they set their water quality standards.
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November 14, 2024
Biden Admin Backs Controversial Alaskan Land Swap, Road
The Biden administration is backing a federal land swap that will allow a road to be built through Alaska's Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, while conservation groups and tribes say the move will cause major impacts to the area's migratory birds and cut off a food source for Indigenous communities.
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November 14, 2024
5th Circ. Judge Pummels Judicial Integrity Critics
Fifth Circuit Judge Edith H. Jones co-opted a panel discussion Thursday to denounce the rise in criticism over purported judge shopping, especially in relation to Texas judges who handled a large portion of lawsuits challenging Biden administration policies, and called on legal groups to do more to defend the judiciary's integrity.
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November 14, 2024
CFPB Orders Prison Telecom, Payment Provider To Pay $3M
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Thursday it has instructed one of the largest prison service providers to pay $3 million to settle claims tied to the company's money transfer and telecommunications businesses, including a claim alleging it froze and drained incarcerated individuals' accounts.
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November 14, 2024
Split 5th Circ. Axes Student's Bias Suit Over Right-Wing Beliefs
An equally divided en banc Fifth Circuit on Thursday refused to revive a high school student's race discrimination suit against his Texas school district, finding that most of the bullying the student allegedly experienced was based on his support of President-elect Donald Trump and conservative viewpoints, not his race.
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November 14, 2024
DOD Wants Contractors To Report Foreign Code Sharing
The U.S. Department of Defense issued a proposed rule on Thursday requiring technology and weapons vendors to reveal whether they share source code with foreign governments, in an effort to curb potential cybersecurity risks.
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November 14, 2024
Crypto And Private Fund Groups Push SEC On Dealer Rule
Crypto industry groups and private fund associations tag-teamed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday during a hearing over two cases relating to the agency's expanded definition of securities dealers, telling a Texas federal court that the new rule marked a dramatic overreach by the regulator.
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November 14, 2024
Judge Floats Musk Hypo As AT&T Exec Seeks Acquittal
An Illinois federal judge posed a hypothetical to federal prosecutors Thursday asking whether it would be a bribery violation if Elon Musk donated heavily to support a presidential candidate who would likely reward him if he wins, as he weighs a former AT&T executive's attempt to avoid a retrial on charges he bribed ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
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November 14, 2024
FCC Extends Freeze On Rate Of Return Carrier Cost Rules
A long-running freeze on a wireline cost allocation regime has been extended by the Federal Communications Commission for another six years, with the agency saying that it's finally time to explore making the fix permanent after nearly a quarter century of temporary freezes.
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November 14, 2024
Biden's Final Options To Fortify Immigration System
The incoming Trump administration, poised to cull legal immigration programs, has immigration advocates hoping President Joe Biden will act quickly to extend work permits, firm up proposed changes to the H-1B visa program, and otherwise fortify the system against future changes.
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November 14, 2024
NYC Speeds Away From Taxi Drivers' RICO Claim
New York City and its transportation officials have escaped a racketeering suit filed by New York cabdrivers that accused them of artificially pumping the value of taxi licenses, a federal judge ruled, saying that drivers failed to show that awarding them money would prevent others from becoming victims of the same allegedly "fraudulent scheme."
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys
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.
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A Look At How De Minimis Import Rules May Soon Change
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.
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Key Takeaways From DOJ's New Corp. Compliance Guidance
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.
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What's In The Cards For CFTC's Election Betting Case
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.
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What To Know About Latest Calif. Auto-Renewal Law Update
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.
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The Key Changes In Revised FDIC Hiring Regulations
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.
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FDIC's Cautious Approach To Industrial Banks, Reaffirmed
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.
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How Lucia, Jarkesy Could Affect Grocery Merger Challenge
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.
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How NLRB Memo Balances Schools' Labor, Privacy Concerns
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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Taking Stock Of FCC's New Spectrum Rule For Drones
While an order recently adopted by the Federal Communications Commission is intended to provide drones with rapid access to a limited amount of spectrum in the 5030-5091 megahertz band, the commission envisions an incremental approach to full usage that will play out over the course of the coming months and years, say attorneys at Wiley.
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Basel Endgame Rules: A Change Is Coming
The Federal Reserve Board's recently announced recalibration of the Basel endgame proposal begins a critical chapter in the evolution of not only the safety and soundness of U.S. banks, but also of banks' abilities to lend and support American businesses and consumers, say attorneys at Davis Wright.
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Ruling On Foreign Dividend Break Offers 2 Tax Court Insights
In Varian v. Commissioner, the U.S. Tax Court allowed a taxpayer's deduction for dividends from foreign subsidiaries, providing clarity on how the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision may affect challenges to Treasury regulations, and revealing a potential disallowance of foreign tax credits, say attorneys at Davis Polk.
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How Loper Bright Is Affecting Pending FCC Litigation
Pending challenges against Federal Communications Commission orders at the Sixth and Eleventh Circuits following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright highlight that counsel must be familiar with the statutes, regulations and precedent relevant to the FCC to best navigate the rapidly changing compliance landscape, say attorneys at Davis Wright.
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What PCOAB's Broadened Liability Rule Means For Auditors
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent vote agreeing to lower the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's liability standard, allowing the board to charge individual auditors whose mere negligence leads firms into PCOAB violations, may erode inspection cooperation, shrink the talent pool and have anticompetitive outcomes, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.
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USPTO Guidance Suggests 2 Strategies For AI Inventions
Analyzing the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent guidance, it appears that there are at least two paths for establishing that an artificial intelligence invention is eligible for protection, and that which strategy to use may turn on how broadly the invention is applied, says William Morriss at Frost Brown.