Public Policy

  • August 05, 2024

    Dems Unearth Another Thomas Trip Paid For By Harlan Crow

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas took a previously undisclosed trip between Hawaii and New Zealand on a billionaire Republican donor's private jet in 2010, lawmakers revealed in a letter Monday that offered the donor a "final opportunity" to explain how that trip and others don't constitute a tax fraud scheme.

  • August 05, 2024

    Transportation Policies To Watch: Midyear 2024 Review

    Rail and aviation safety reforms following recent incidents, stricter vehicle emission standards guiding automakers' gradual pivot to electrification, and the integration of new automation and drone technology are some of the transportation industry's top regulatory priorities to watch in the second half of 2024.

  • August 05, 2024

    US Chamber Backs Rail Co. Challenge To Crew Size Rule

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is backing railroad companies' argument that the Federal Railroad Administration overstepped by implementing a rule that requires trains to be operated by at least two people, telling the Eleventh Circuit the rule was imposed without adequate justification or consideration of companies' interests.

  • August 05, 2024

    Dems Urge CFTC To Finalize Elections Trading Ban

    A group of Democratic lawmakers urged the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday to finalize and implement its proposed rule to ban trading on the outcome of elections.

  • August 05, 2024

    Pennsylvania Legislation To Watch In 2024: A Midyear Report

    The Pennsylvania Legislature is following other jurisdictions striving to make social media safer while preserving free speech, and putting stricter limits on "forever chemicals" that had been widely used in firefighting applications and products for resisting stains and stickiness. Here, Law360 looks at some of the Pennsylvania bills attorneys are watching in 2024.

  • August 05, 2024

    9th Circ. Denies Rehearing Bid In ESA Fish Protection Suit

    The Ninth Circuit denied conservation groups' request to rehear a ruling affirming the federal government's approval of water supply contracts for the Central Valley Project in California.

  • August 02, 2024

    5th Circ. Upholds Challenge To Surprise Medical Billing Rule

    The Fifth Circuit on Friday affirmed wins for plaintiffs challenging provisions of a federal surprise medical billing rule that relate to payment fights between out-of-network providers and health insurers, agreeing with a Texas federal judge that the rule places "a thumb on the scale" in insurers' favor.

  • August 02, 2024

    CFPB Takes Fintech Flak Over Credit Card-Like BNPL Policy

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is facing fresh industry pushback to its guidance that aims to extend more credit card-like protections to the fintech-dominated market for buy-now, pay-later loans, with key providers arguing it is trying to squeeze a square peg into a round hole.

  • August 02, 2024

    Fla.'s Trans Healthcare Ban Violates Title VII, Judge Says

    A Florida federal judge has ruled the state's Department of Management Services illegally excluded gender-affirming treatment for transgender employees under state-sponsored health benefits plans, finding the state's exclusion only applies to trans individuals and is facially discriminatory under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

  • August 02, 2024

    Uber Legal Chief Takes Leave To Aid Kamala Harris' Campaign

    Uber Technologies' Tony West, who has served as its chief legal officer since 2017, will take a leave of absence to volunteer for his sister-in-law Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign, a representative of the ride-share company confirmed Friday.

  • August 02, 2024

    Connecticut City Gets Ex-Cop's Arbitration Win Vacated

    In a legally rare decision, a Connecticut state judge vacated an arbitration panel's determination that forced a city to reinstate a fired police lieutenant, ruling the arbiters were wrong to ignore an earlier court order banning the lieutenant from coming within 100 yards of the city's police chief.

  • August 02, 2024

    BigLaw Insurer Calls FirstEnergy Ruling Threat To Privilege

    The Attorneys' Liability Assurance Society and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce threw their support Friday behind FirstEnergy's call for the Sixth Circuit to block investors' access to internal investigative documents produced by two BigLaw firms after a $1 billion bribery scandal became public.

  • August 02, 2024

    OT Rule Exceeds DOL's Authority, Red States Argue

    A group of 14 red states joined Texas in calling for a federal court to strike down the U.S. Department of Labor's rule raising salary thresholds for a federal overtime exemption, claiming in a brief that the new rule would hit their states particularly hard.

  • August 02, 2024

    Dems Launch Bill To Expand Zelle, Venmo Fraud Protections

    U.S. Senate and House Democrats on Friday proposed revisions to the Electronic Fund Transfer Act aimed at bolstering protections for consumers who fall victim to scams perpetrated by means such as mobile wallets, payment apps and wire transfers.

  • August 02, 2024

    Unnamed Auditor Suing PCAOB Ordered To Disclose Identity

    A Washington, D.C., federal judge has ordered an anonymous auditor to disclose their identity in their constitutional challenge attacking the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board amid their disciplinary proceedings, ruling Friday disclosure won't reveal any sensitive information and won't have a chilling effect deterring future litigants from suing the board.

  • August 02, 2024

    Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action

    In this inaugural edition of Wheeling & Appealing, Law360 recaps recent appellate opinions that made waves, quizzes readers about a new word for judicial grievances, and previews August arguments in circuit courts over controversial wage rules and a seven-figure attorney fee award after a digital age intellectual property trial.

  • August 02, 2024

    5th Circ. Remands FDA's E-Cigarette Product Denials

    The Fifth Circuit has once again said that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration acted unlawfully when the agency denied a number of requests from e-cigarette manufacturers seeking permission to sell their flavored vapes.

  • August 02, 2024

    Iowa, ND Move For Win In NEPA Rule Fight

    States led by Iowa and North Dakota are asking a federal judge to scrap a Council on Environmental Quality rule they say threatens to turn the National Environmental Policy Act into an "action-forcing" process to advance the Biden administration's climate and environmental justice goals.

  • August 02, 2024

    Supporters Of TikTok Ban Make Case To DC Circ.

    Federal lawmakers, state governments, former U.S. national security officials, human rights nonprofits and antimonopoly advocates all urged the D.C. Circuit to uphold Congress' TikTok sale-or-ban law Friday, the final day for amici briefs to be filed in the Chinese company's challenge.

  • August 02, 2024

    British Air Parent Drops Air Europa Deal Due To EU Scrutiny

    British Airways' parent company has abandoned its €400 million ($436 million) plan to buy the rest of Air Europa from Spanish tourism company Globalia amid pushback from European competition authorities, telling investors that the merger was "no longer probable."

  • August 02, 2024

    5th Circ. Tosses 1988 Case In Galveston Voting Rights Ruling

    Multiple minority groups cannot "combine forces" to bring vote dilution claims under a portion of the Voting Rights Act that prohibits race discrimination, the Fifth Circuit said, overruling a decades-old case in a blockbuster decision regarding Galveston County's voting districts.

  • August 02, 2024

    US Cannabis Policy Thwarts Research, Health Officials Say

    A recent report from federal health regulators confirms what cannabis reform advocates have long said, that placing marijuana in the most restrictive tier under the federal Controlled Substances Act has hindered researchers' ability to study the drug's potential benefits and risks.

  • August 02, 2024

    Ill. Gov. Pritzker Signs BIPA Reform Into Law

    Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed biometric privacy reform legislation into law on Friday, significantly reducing companies' potential liability for collecting or sharing individuals' fingerprint and other biometric data without informed consent.

  • August 02, 2024

    Panel Says Co. Forfeited $12.7M Claim Over Rail Project

    A Colorado Court of Appeals panel has found that a construction company overstated how much it was owed from a public project to build a new Denver rail line and can't seek any remedy for that $12.7 million claim, according to an opinion that applied provisions of a public works law for the first time.

  • August 02, 2024

    Public Interest Groups Back ISP Bulk Billing Opt-Out

    More than 30 public interest groups urged the Federal Communications Commission to allow consumers in multitenant environments to "escape" bulk billing for broadband service but quickly saw pushback from an industry group that calls the arrangements beneficial.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • What NYC's Green Fast Track Means For Affordable Housing

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    New York City's Green Fast Track for Housing initiative, which went into effect last month, aims to speed up the environmental review process for modest residential developments and could potentially pave the way for similar initiatives in other cities, say Vivien Krieger and Rachel Scall at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Series

    After Chevron: No Deference, No Difference For SEC Or CFTC

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    The Chevron doctrine did not fundamentally alter the interplay between the courts and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the development of the securities and commodities laws — and its demise will not do so either, says Dan Berkovitz at Millennium Management.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • Justices' Bribery Ruling: A Corrupt Act Isn't Necessarily Illegal

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    In its Snyder v. U.S. decision last week, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a bribery law does not criminalize gratuities, continuing a trend of narrowing federal anti-corruption laws and scrutinizing public corruption prosecutions that go beyond obvious quid pro quo schemes, say Carrie Cohen and Christine Wong at MoFo.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Roundup

    After Chevron

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    In the month since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 26 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

  • Takeaways From New HHS Substance Use Disorder Info Rules

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    A new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rule continues the agency's efforts to harmonize complex rules surrounding confidentiality provisions for substance use disorder patient records, though healthcare providers will need to remain mindful of different potentially applicable requirements and changes that their compliance structures may require, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Expect Few Changes In ITC Rulemaking

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's opinion overruling the Chevron doctrine will have less impact on the U.S. International Trade Commission than other agencies administering trade statutes, given that the commission exercises its congressionally granted authority in a manner that allows for consistent decision making at both agency and judicial levels, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

  • Opinion

    Reform NEPA To Speed Mining Permits, Clean Energy Shift

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    It is essential to balance responsible regulatory oversight with permit approvals for mining projects that are needed for the transition to renewable energy — and with the National Environmental Policy Act being one of the leading causes of permit delays, reform is urgently needed, say Ana Maria Gutierrez and Michael Miller at Womble Bond.

  • Series

    Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The second quarter of 2024 in California, which saw efforts to expand consumer protection legislation and enforcement actions in areas of federal focus like medical debt and student loans, demonstrated that the state's role as a trendsetter in consumer financial protection will continue for the foreseeable future, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 6 PTAB Events To Know From The Last 6 Months

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    The first half of 2024 brought a flurry of Patent Trial and Appeal Board developments that should be considered in post-grant strategies, including proposed rules on discretionary denial and director review, and the first decisions of the Delegated Rehearing Panel, say attorneys at Fish & Richardson.

  • Key Takeaways From High Court's Substitute Expert Decision

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Smith v. Arizona decision, holding that the confrontation clause generally bars prosecutors’ use of a substitute expert witness at trial, will have the most impact in narcotics and violent crime cases, but creative defense lawyers may find it useful in white collar cases, too, say Joshua Naftalis and Melissa Kelley at Pallas Partners.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

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    The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.

  • How Generative AI May Aid Merger Clearance Process

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    Generative artificial intelligence capable of analyzing and searching large datasets stands to revolutionize the merger clearance process, including by significantly reducing the time and effort required to respond to Hart-Scott-Rodino second requests, say Kenneth Koch and Brian Blush at BDO USA.

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