Public Policy

  • June 24, 2024

    Judge Blocks Part Of DOL Construction Prevailing Wage Rule

    A Texas federal judge on Monday blocked parts of a U.S. Department of Labor rule changing how prevailing wages are determined for federally funded construction projects from going into effect, saying the department had overstepped its authority under the Davis-Bacon Act.

  • June 24, 2024

    Broadband Advocates Urge FCC To Revisit Subsidy Fees

    Advocates for broadband expansion are asking the Federal Communications Commission to revisit an April decision that exempted internet service providers, at least for now, from contributions to the FCC's telecom subsidy program.

  • June 24, 2024

    IRS Finalizes Limits To Partnership Conservation Easements

    The Internal Revenue Service finalized rules Monday that curb the conservation easement tax deduction claimed by certain partnerships, with some changes to last year's proposed version, such as limiting the opportunity for entities to adjust their tax returns to avoid the new restrictions.

  • June 24, 2024

    Fintech Exec Gets 45 Months For Crypto Market Manipulation

    A Florida federal judge on Monday sentenced the CEO of fintech company Hydrogen Technology Corp. to more than three years in prison for his role in a conspiracy to manipulate the market for Hydrogen's digital assets.

  • June 24, 2024

    Red Roof Ignored Years Of Trafficking, Victim Tells Ga. Jurors

    The corporate owners of two metro Atlanta Red Roof Inn locations knew about and ignored trafficking at the hotels, a woman who said she had been trafficked at the two hotels and others in the surrounding area for six years told Georgia federal jurors Monday.

  • June 24, 2024

    NC Justice's Politician Dad Doesn't Merit DQ, Lawmakers Say

    North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Phil Berger Jr. should not recuse himself from a constitutional challenge concerning the governor's appointment powers merely because his father is president pro tem of the state Senate, top lawmakers argue.

  • June 24, 2024

    OCC Eyes Post-SVB Revamp To Recovery Planning Standards

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency moved Monday to beef up its enforceable guidelines on recovery planning for large banks, issuing a set of proposed changes that would include extending them to banks in the same size range as Silicon Valley Bank and other lenders that failed last year.

  • June 24, 2024

    High Court Won't Take Up Michigan Tribal Tag Dispute

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a petition by a Native American man seeking to overturn a Michigan Supreme Court order that denied him the chance to appeal his traffic stop convictions stemming from a dispute over tribal-licensed tags.

  • June 24, 2024

    AT&T Must Keep Basic Services Intact, Calif. Regulators Say

    California regulators have required AT&T to maintain its commitment to basic phone service by denying its bid to withdraw as a "carrier of last resort," a decision that has prompted the company to pursue legislation that would maintain the designation only for rural communities that have limited options for telecom service.

  • June 24, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Amendments to Delaware's General Corporation Law topped the news out of the Court of Chancery again last week, as the hotly contested measure sailed through the state's legislature. Tesla and its shareholders continued their tug-of-war over attorney fees for Chancery litigation about Elon Musk's pay package, and new cases were filed involving biotechs, car rental companies, workout platforms, telecom towers, and a cargo ship fire in Brazil.

  • June 24, 2024

    GOP Rep. Seeks To Revive 'Inherent Contempt' For Garland

    Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., plans to bring up a resolution this week to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in inherent contempt of Congress, a "long dormant" procedure as Republicans continue their investigations of the president.

  • June 24, 2024

    US DOT Final Rule Ups Freight Rail Hazmat Disclosures

    Freight railroads must provide more detailed, real-time information on trains transporting hazardous materials to state and local first responders, under a new U.S. Department of Transportation final rule announced Monday that was largely spurred by last year's fiery derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

  • June 24, 2024

    Justices' Removal Notice Decision Unwinds 3 Migrants' Wins

    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent endorsement of multipart removal notices resulted in the Monday vacatur of three circuit court decisions offering migrants another chance at fighting deportation after receiving notices that initially omitted important information about their removal hearings.

  • June 24, 2024

    DOL Still Mulling Changes To Pension De-Risking Guidance

    The U.S. Department of Labor told Congress in a new report Monday it hasn't ruled out changing guidance used by retirement plan managers when selecting an annuity provider for pension de-risking transactions, which involve the exchange of defined benefit pension plan liabilities for annuity insurance contracts.

  • June 24, 2024

    Landlord Says Insurer Botched Coverage For $1M State Deal

    A Colorado landlord is accusing an insurance broker and carrier of secretly adding an endorsement to its policy to bar coverage for a $1 million settlement the landlord entered into to resolve a state investigation over alleged misuse of tenant funds.

  • June 24, 2024

    Google's Brin, Pichai Must Face Texas Ad Tech Depos

    Google CEO Sundar Pichai is bound for the deposition chair for four hours of testimony while company co-founder Sergey Brin is facing two and a half hours after a Texas federal judge refused Friday to spare the executives from a state enforcer antitrust lawsuit targeting the search giant's digital advertising placement technology.

  • June 24, 2024

    Trump Mar-A-Lago Case Is Unlawfully Funded, Fla. Judge Told

    An attorney defending Donald Trump against the federal government's accusation that he illegally retained classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House in 2021 told a Florida judge Monday the criminal indictment should be dismissed against the former president, saying that the case isn't lawfully funded.

  • June 24, 2024

    NM Sued Over Sustainable Building Credit Award Process

    A New Mexico apartment complex alleges that the state violated its due process rights after it was denied sustainable building tax credits for most of its units, according to a complaint filed in federal court.

  • June 24, 2024

    Justices Pass On Conn. School Vaccine Mandate Fight

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a Second Circuit decision that largely upheld the dismissal of a suit challenging a Connecticut law passed during the COVID-19 pandemic that revoked religious exemptions to student vaccine mandates.

  • June 24, 2024

    Construction Super Says Name Was Secretly Used On Permits

    A unit of construction engineering firm Structural Group Inc. improperly used the name of a licensed construction supervisor on at least half a dozen Massachusetts projects in which he was not involved, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Norfolk County Superior Court.

  • June 24, 2024

    GOP States Can't Freeze PWFA Regs During 8th Circ. Appeal

    A coalition of Republican attorneys general can't pause implementation of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's fresh Pregnant Workers Fairness Act regulations while they appeal the dismissal of their suit, an Arkansas federal judge ruled, saying the states hadn't presented any new arguments to justify the respite.

  • June 24, 2024

    Paper Bag Imports Found To Have Harmed US Industry

    The U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that paper shopping bags from eight countries harmed the domestic industry, providing the final green light for the U.S. Department of Commerce to enact countervailing and anti-dumping duties on the products.

  • June 24, 2024

    Justices Affirm 6th Circ. Decision Allowing Bump Stocks

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected the government's appeal of a Sixth Circuit decision blocking the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' ban on so-called bump stocks, after finding in a separate case that the ATF rule went beyond the agency's authority.

  • June 24, 2024

    Justices Pass On Rutgers COVID-19 Vax Mandate Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to review a split Third Circuit ruling that Rutgers University students cannot challenge the school's COVID-19 vaccine policy because, under the high court's 1905 precedent in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, there is no fundamental right to refuse vaccinations.

  • June 24, 2024

    Blumenauer Predicts Cannabis Rescheduling Before Year-End

    U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., a longtime champion of cannabis reform in Congress who is retiring this year, told cannabis attorneys on Monday that he was optimistic marijuana would be moved to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act before the end of the year.

Expert Analysis

  • Manufacturers Should Pay Attention To 'Right-To-Repair' Laws

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    Oregon’s recently passed "right-to-repair" statute highlights that the R2R movement is not going away, and that manufacturers of all kinds need to be paying attention to the evolving list of R2R statutes in various states and consider participating in the process, says Courtney Sarnow at Culhane.

  • Opinion

    Viral Deepfakes Of Taylor Swift Highlight Need For Regulation

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    As the nation grapples with addressing risk from artificial intelligence use, the recent circulation of AI-generated pornographic images of Taylor Swift on the social platform X highlights the need for federal legislation to protect nonconsenting subjects of deepfake pornography, say Nicole Brenner and Susie Ruiz-Lichter at Squire Patton.

  • Opinion

    Time To Fix NYC's Broken Property Assessment System

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    A New York appellate court's decision to revive Tax Equity Now New York v. City of New York may force the city to revamp its outdated and unfair real estate tax assessment system, which could be fixed with a couple of simple changes, says Seth Feldman at Romer Debbas.

  • New Federal Bill Would Drastically Alter Privacy Landscape

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    While the recently introduced American Privacy Rights Act would eliminate the burdensome patchwork of state regulations, the proposed federal privacy law would also significantly expand compliance obligations and liability exposure for companies, especially those that rely on artificial intelligence or biometric technologies, says David Oberly at Baker Donelson.

  • How Cos. Can Comply With New PFAS Superfund Rule

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new rule designating two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances as "hazardous substances" under the Superfund law will likely trigger additional enforcement and litigation at sites across the country — so companies should evaluate any associated reporting obligations and liability risks, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • How EB-5 Regional Centers Can Prepare For USCIS Audits

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    In response to the recently announced U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services guidelines that require EB-5 regional center audits every five years to verify their compliance with immigration and securities laws, regional centers should take steps to facilitate a seamless audit process, say Jennifer Hermansky and Miriam Thompson at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Social Media Free Speech Issues Are Trending At High Court

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision examining what constitutes state action on social media can be viewed in conjunction with oral arguments in two other cases to indicate that the court sees a need for more clarity regarding how social media usage implicates the First Amendment, say attorneys at Kean Miller.

  • Opinion

    CFPB Could, And Should, Revise Open Banking Rulemaking

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    In light of continued global developments in open banking, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should evaluate whether it actually should use its proposed rule on Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act to amplify personal financial data rights in the U.S., says Brian Fritzsche at the Consumer Bankers Association.

  • How Cos. Can Protect IP In Light Of FTC Noncompete Rule

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    While several groups are challenging the Federal Trade Commission’s recently approved rule banning noncompetition agreements, employers should begin planning other ways to protect their valuable trade secrets, confidential information and other intellectual property, says Thomas Duston at Marshall Gerstein.

  • Understanding The IRC's Excessive Refund Claim Penalty

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    Taxpayers considering protective refund claims pending resolution of major questions in tax cases like Moore v. U.S., which is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, should understand how doing so may also leave them vulnerable to an excessive refund claim penalty under Internal Revenue Code Section 6676, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Why RWI Insurers Should Consider Excluding PFAS

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    As regulation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances escalates, carriers providing representations and warranties insurance should reconsider providing PFAS coverage on a case-by-case basis, say Dave Bartoletti and Ina Avalon at Taft Stettinius.

  • Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert

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    As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

  • Don't Fall On That Hill: Keys To Testifying Before Congress

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    Because congressional testimony often comes with political, reputational and financial risks in addition to legal pitfalls, witnesses and their attorneys should take a multifaceted approach to preparation, walking a fine line between legal and business considerations, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Takeaways From FDIC's Spring Supervisory Highlights

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    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s spring 2024 consumer compliance supervisory report found that relatively few institutions had significant consumer compliance issues last year, but the common thread among those that did were inadequacies or failures in disclosures to consumers, says Matthew Hanaghan at Nutter.

  • Online Portal Helps Fortify Feds' Unfair Health Practices Fight

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    The Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently launched an online portal where the public can report potentially unfair healthcare practices, effectively maximizing enforcers' abilities to police anti-competitive actions that can drive up healthcare costs and chill innovation, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

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