Public Policy

  • November 14, 2024

    Wash. Justices Seem Split On Cannabis Co. Wage Suit

    The Washington State Supreme Court wrestled Thursday with whether the state labor department jumped the gun on filing an unpaid-wages suit against a marijuana company, with one justice questioning if the department exceeded its powers and another expressing concern that lax enforcement would allow companies to skip payments for years.

  • November 14, 2024

    All Merger Fixes 'Should Be On Table,' FTC's Holyoak Says

    One of the Federal Trade Commission's Republican members on Thursday signaled a significant softening of the Biden era's tough stance against merger remedies meant to fix otherwise problematic mergers is likely once the GOP takes the majority at the agency.

  • November 14, 2024

    FTC's Holyoak Says New Comment Portal Shows Merger Bias

    Federal Trade Commissioner Melissa Holyoak said Thursday the design of a new portal allowing the public to comment on pending deals shows signs of the current leadership's view that all mergers are bad.

  • November 14, 2024

    Senate Panel Delays Votes On Patent Eligibility And PTAB Bills

    The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday postponed planned votes on legislation aimed at reducing decisions that inventions are ineligible for patents and setting new limits on Patent Trial and Appeal Board challenges, but approved a bill to let the patent office collect demographic data on inventors.

  • November 14, 2024

    Split 5th Circ. Affirms SEC's Kroger Proxy Decision

    A divided Fifth Circuit on Thursday rejected a "purely theoretical" challenge brought by conservative shareholders unhappy that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission greenlighted the exclusion of a shareholder proposal from Kroger Co.'s 2023 ballot, noting that the case was moot since the company authorized a vote on the proposal anyway.

  • November 14, 2024

    EEOC Says Texas, Think Tank Can't Scrap Bostock Guidance

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission urged a federal court to shoot down Texas' challenge to workplace harassment guidance the agency issued based on the U.S. Supreme Court's Bostock decision, arguing the state failed to demonstrate that the guidelines had caused them any harm.

  • November 14, 2024

    Emergency Medical Providers Oppose $2.8B BCBS Deal

    A group of emergency clinic medical providers objected to the $2.8 billion settlement a broader class of medical providers reached with the Blue Cross Blue Shield network of insurers last month, as attorneys for the overall class boasted that the settlement would transform the insurers and bring historic payouts.

  • November 14, 2024

    Red State AGs Sue SEC Over Crypto Policy

    A coalition of 18 Republican attorneys general led by Kentucky sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday for allegedly treading on the states' authority through a "regulatory landgrab" into the cryptocurrency industry.

  • November 14, 2024

    Webex 'Disrupters' Posing As Colo. Judges Force Tech Swap

    Colorado's chief justice said Thursday that a growth in "digital court disrupters" has prompted the state judicial department to start looking for a new software platform for hosting online court hearings, saying bad actors had started posing as justices to gain admittance to virtual courtrooms.

  • November 14, 2024

    Broadband Groups See Ally In Incoming GOP Leader Thune

    Telecom industry groups view the Senate's next majority leader, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., as keenly interested in the sector's needs, but it's not yet clear what his selection could mean for specific critical issues like building out rural internet service and removing barriers to broadband deployment.

  • November 14, 2024

    NY Gov. Brings Back Manhattan Congestion Pricing Plan

    The resurrection of New York City's plan to charge all vehicles a fee for entering Manhattan's busiest corridor demonstrates a mad dash in the final months of the Biden administration to expedite infrastructure projects perceived as political lightning rods before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

  • November 14, 2024

    Trump Names Solicitor General, SDNY Picks

    President-elect Donald Trump announced on Thursday he is tapping for solicitor general the lawyer who represented him before the U.S. Supreme Court and will name his former chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to be U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

  • November 14, 2024

    DC Council Issues Housing Tax Break Emergency Resolution

    The District of Columbia Council approved an emergency resolution to enact legislation to implement a competitive process for the provision of tax abatements for housing developments while a recently passed measure to permanently authorize that process faces congressional review before it becomes law.

  • November 14, 2024

    EPA Expands List of Solvent Risks, Targets Tire Chem Rules

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday said a chemical commonly used in solvents presents health risks to humans in more ways than had previously been stated, and said it's researching whether to regulate a chemical used in tire production that has been shown to kill salmon.

  • November 14, 2024

    Ga. Sheriff Accused Of Censoring Critics After Burger Scandal

    A metro Atlanta sheriff elected to another four-year term last week has been sued by his vanquished Republican opponent, who alleged in Atlanta federal court that the sheriff censored comments on his office's social media accounts that were critical of his use of deputies in a flap over a burger order.

  • November 14, 2024

    Cherokee Nation Can't Get Ark. Casino Amendment Blocked

    An Arkansas amendment that revokes the casino gaming license of a Cherokee Nation tribal entity has taken effect after a federal district court judge denied a bid to block the measure while also dismissing the state and its racing commission as defendants in the litigation.

  • November 14, 2024

    Trump Taps His Criminal Defense Lawyer For Deputy AG

    President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday picked his personal defense attorney Todd Blanche to serve as second-in-command at the U.S. Department of Justice as deputy attorney general.

  • November 14, 2024

    DOJ Deputy Says Biden Stance Led To Fewer Harmful Mergers

    The deputy head of the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division offered a full-throated defense Thursday of the Biden administration's aggressive competition enforcement record, arguing, with a Republican takeover imminent, that "more demanding standards" for transaction remedies prompted real change by merging companies seeking to avoid a merger challenge.

  • November 14, 2024

    Notice Ruling For Mich. Claims Not Retroactive, Panel Says

    A Michigan Supreme Court ruling enforcing a notice requirement for lawsuits filed against the state government does not apply retroactively to cases filed in the last few years because it "reflected a 180-degree change in the law," a Michigan Court of Appeals panel said Wednesday. 

  • November 14, 2024

    47 AGs Support FCC's Robocall Database Reforms

    A bipartisan coalition of 47 attorneys general encouraged the Federal Communications Commission to implement new rules aimed at improving the effectiveness of the Robocall Mitigation Database, or RMD, writing in a comment letter that the database is "currently one of the most important sources of information available for anti-robocall enforcement actions."

  • November 14, 2024

    Would-Be Citizens Need Only Show Lawful Admission Once

    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued new policy guidance on Thursday indicating that individuals applying to become citizens only need to show that they were lawfully admitted for permanent residence upon their initial entry, regardless of any subsequent reentries.

  • November 14, 2024

    Gaetz's Slim Legal Resume Raises Concerns Over AG Role

    Having never served as a prosecutor and with minimal experience practicing law, Matt Gaetz would have the thinnest legal resume of any attorney general in recent history and would face a steep learning curve, including daunting leadership challenges, if he were to take up the reins of the U.S. Department of Justice, experts say.

  • November 14, 2024

    Australia Bill Seeks To Expand Rules On Reporting Ownership

    Australia's government wants to fight tax avoidance by making owners of equity derivatives disclose significant owners to regulators and investors, expanding access to that information and giving securities regulators new powers to issue freezing orders for noncompliance, the Australian Treasury said Thursday.

  • November 14, 2024

    RNC, McCormick Say Pa. Counties Counting Ineligible Votes

    Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick and the Republican National Committee have filed separate lawsuits in Pennsylvania, claiming that multiple counties are improperly counting mail-in votes that state courts have previously held should have been disqualified.

  • November 14, 2024

    'We'll Leave It To Others': SEC's Gensler Hints At Exit

    U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler gave a lengthy speech Thursday about his legacy and what remains to be done on regulations related to investors' climate, artificial intelligence and crypto concerns.

Expert Analysis

  • Building US-Japan Relationships In The M&A Market

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    The prospect of U.S.-Japanese mergers and acquisitions presents stronger competition to U.S. investors in the global M&A markets, while also opening up an additional exit route for sellers looking to offload strategic assets, says Nick Wall at A&O Shearman.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

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    About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • 4 Ways To Prepare For DOD Cyber Certification Rule

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    Given the U.S. Department of Justice's increased scrutiny of contractor compliance with cybersecurity requirements, it is critical that contractors take certain steps now in response to the U.S. Department of Defense's proposed Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification implementation rule, say Townsend Bourne and Lillia Damalouji at Sheppard Mullin.

  • FTC Focus: How Scrutiny Of PBMs And Insulin May Play Out

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    Should Express Scripts' recent judicial challenge to the Federal Trade Commission succeed, any new targets could add litigation and choice of forum to their playbooks, and potential FTC court action on insulin could be forced to parallel venues as the issues between the commission and PBMs evolve, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Opinion

    AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys

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    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.

  • A Look At How De Minimis Import Rules May Soon Change

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    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.

  • Key Takeaways From DOJ's New Corp. Compliance Guidance

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    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.

  • What's In The Cards For CFTC's Election Betting Case

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    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.

  • What To Know About Latest Calif. Auto-Renewal Law Update

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    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.

  • The Key Changes In Revised FDIC Hiring Regulations

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    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.

  • FDIC's Cautious Approach To Industrial Banks, Reaffirmed

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    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.

  • How Lucia, Jarkesy Could Affect Grocery Merger Challenge

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    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.

  • How NLRB Memo Balances Schools' Labor, Privacy Concerns

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    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.

  • Taking Stock Of FCC's New Spectrum Rule For Drones

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    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.

  • Basel Endgame Rules: A Change Is Coming

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    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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