Public Policy

  • July 30, 2024

    Trade Court OKs Erasure Of Duties On Chinese Xanthan Gum

    The U.S. Court of International Trade blessed the U.S. Department of Commerce's decision to wipe out antidumping duties on Chinese xanthan gum.

  • July 30, 2024

    Pot Cos. Can't Push RICO Claims Against Calif. City

    A California federal judge has thrown out racketeering claims by six cannabis companies that accuse the city of Cudahy of illegally assessing fees, saying that because Congress listed cultivation and sale of cannabis under the definition of racketeering, they can't recover damages.

  • July 30, 2024

    Randy Mastro Nominated As NYC Top Lawyer Amid Criticism

    Renowned trial lawyer and King & Spalding LLP partner Randy M. Mastro was tapped to be New York City's next corporation counsel, Mayor Eric Adams announced Tuesday, over the objection of some city leaders.

  • July 30, 2024

    GAO Says Courts Should Improve Staff Complaint Collection

    The federal judiciary, which has over 30,000 employees, has taken actions to address misconduct in the workplace since 2017, but one area in need of improvement is its data collection, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report released Tuesday.

  • July 30, 2024

    Ga. Gov Fights Dems Bid To Block Fundraising Law

    Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp urged a Georgia federal judge to deny a bid by the state's Democratic Party to temporarily block a 2021 law that created fundraising organs for a select few state elected officials, allowing them to raise unlimited cash and skirt a ban on lawmakers fundraising.

  • July 30, 2024

    Mich. COVID-19 Liability Law Shields Regular Healthcare Too

    A 2020 law protecting healthcare providers and facilities from liability for their response to the early COVID-19 pandemic also applies to regular care provided during that time, a Michigan appellate panel said, finding that resources diverted because of the state's response affected other areas of care.

  • July 30, 2024

    Fla.'s Workplace DEI Training Rules Get Permanently Blocked

    A Florida federal judge made permanent a ban on a state law provision that prevents employers from promoting various sex- and race-based concepts in diversity training sessions after the state said it wouldn't challenge an Eleventh Circuit ruling upholding a preliminary injunction on the measure.

  • July 30, 2024

    FTC, Career Step Pitch $43.5M Deal For Alleged Bogus Claims

    Career Step LLC, a for-profit online career training company, has struck a $43.5 million proposed settlement to resolve Federal Trade Commission claims it targeted servicemembers and their spouses with deceptive advertising about its programs and the successes of its students.

  • July 30, 2024

    What Mass. Attys Will Be Watching In The 2nd Half Of 2024

    Two potentially sweeping Massachusetts high court rulings and a long-awaited employment bill lingering in the State House are among the issues Bay State attorneys say they are monitoring closely heading into the latter half of 2024.

  • July 30, 2024

    Texas, Meta Reach Historic $1.4B Deal In Biometric Data Suit

    The state of Texas has reached a historic $1.4 billion settlement with Meta Platforms Inc. in a lawsuit accusing the social media giant of illegally collecting Facebook users' biometric data through its now-discontinued facial recognition feature, attorneys for the state announced Tuesday.

  • July 29, 2024

    5th Circ. Pauses DOT's New 'Junk Fees' Rule Amid Review

    The Fifth Circuit on Monday agreed to temporarily block a U.S. Department of Transportation rule requiring airlines to clearly disclose add-on fees upfront while the appellate court reviews the rule, which has been challenged by major airlines and airline associations.

  • July 29, 2024

    NYC Prof And Purported Dissident A Chinese Spy, Jury Hears

    A New York academic and author secretly acted as an agent of the Chinese government in the United States, a prosecutor told jurors on Monday, betraying pro-democracy activists by feeding information to China's intelligence service.

  • July 29, 2024

    Calif. High Court Says Co-Worker's Slur Can Be Harassment

    The California Supreme Court on Monday revived a race bias suit brought by a longtime employee of the San Francisco District Attorney's Office, finding that her co-worker's one-time use of a racial slur may indeed have been so severe that it created a hostile work environment.

  • July 29, 2024

    Live Nation Judge Tightens In-House Counsel's Access To Docs

    A New York federal judge imposed new restrictions Monday on Live Nation in-house counsel's access to documents and testimony from witnesses from its rivals in the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust lawsuit, tightening a days-old two-tiered system after hearing concerns from those competitors.

  • July 29, 2024

    11th Circ. Affirms Ga. Prison Officer Immunity For Strip Search

    An Eleventh Circuit panel said that Georgia prison officers violated a woman's constitutional rights when they subjected her to a strip search and manual body cavity search during a visit to see her incarcerated husband, but precedent blocks it from overturning a ruling holding the officers were entitled to qualified immunity.

  • July 29, 2024

    'Speculative' Harms Thwart Customs Broker's Bid For TRO

    The U.S. Court of International Trade refused to bar the U.S. Customs and Border Protection from requiring a customs broker to remedy alleged violations of two trade programs without first providing facts concerning the purported violations, saying the broker's claimed injuries were "speculative" at best.

  • July 29, 2024

    Virtu Pushes For SEC Crackdown On 'Penny Stock' Listings

    Virtu Financial Inc. is pressing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to force Nasdaq and other exchanges to crack down on so-called penny stocks, petitioning the agency to initiate rulemaking that would stop companies struggling to stay above $1 per share from continuing to trade on the exchanges.

  • July 29, 2024

    Chemical Groups Say Chevron Sinks EPA Ethylene Oxide Rule

    A chemical company and two chemical associations are telling the D.C. Circuit that a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision undermines the federal government's risk value for ethylene oxide, which they are challenging as being too high.

  • July 29, 2024

    CFPB Cites Thomas In New Bid To Transfer Late Fee Rule Suit

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Monday took another whack at getting an industry-backed legal challenge to its $8 credit card late fee rule transferred from Texas federal court to Washington, D.C., this time drawing on U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for a little rhetorical help.

  • July 29, 2024

    Split 11th Circ. Won't Revive Class Action Over USCIS Denials

    A split Eleventh Circuit panel on Monday backed the dismissal of claims from five immigrants given temporary protected status but later rejected for green cards, saying the court doesn't have jurisdiction to review U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services matters due to a precedential 2021 U.S. Supreme Court decision.

  • July 29, 2024

    8th Circ. Urged To Ax FDIC's Multiple NSF Fee Guidance

    Minnesota state bankers have urged the Eighth Circuit to uphold their challenge to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. guidance conscribing the use of non-sufficient funds fees, arguing a Minnesota federal judge was wrong to reject their case as premature.

  • July 29, 2024

    S. Africa Advances WTO Citrus Cases To Panel Stage

    South Africa is advancing legal challenges against measures the European Union imposed on citrus imports to guard against infestation by both a specific species of moth and a fungus that blemishes fruit rinds, calling for the establishment of two World Trade Organization dispute panels.

  • July 29, 2024

    NIST Lays Out 200+ Ways To Tackle Generative AI Risks

    The National Institute of Standards and Technology has recommended hundreds of actions that can be taken to address issues of data privacy, intellectual property, environmental impact and more raised by generative artificial intelligence.

  • July 29, 2024

    Making Broadcasters File Disaster Reports Not Wise, FCC Told

    Broadcasters say it's a bad idea for the Federal Communications Commission to force them to start reporting disaster-related outages to the agency like other communications companies are required to because it would distract them from reporting about whatever disaster is happening.

  • July 29, 2024

    Bishops Say Boarding School Bill Lacks Churches' Input

    The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops says two federal bills that will create a commission charged with making policy recommendations to address the legacy of Indian boarding schools lack any religious representation and give unnecessary broad subpoena power over its churches' historical records.

Expert Analysis

  • Justices' Criminal Law Decisions: The Term In Review

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    Each of the 11 criminal decisions issued in the U.S. Supreme Court’s recently concluded term is independently important, but taken together, they reveal trends in the court’s broader approach to criminal law, presenting both pitfalls and opportunities for defendants and their counsel, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.

  • What's New In The AI Healthcare Regulatory Space

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    Attorneys at Hogan Lovells review the current legal and regulatory landscape for artificial intelligence applications in healthcare, touching on policies around safety, transparency, nondiscrimination and reimbursement, and what to expect in the future.

  • Biden Policy Gives Employers New Ways To Help Dreamers

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    A new Biden administration immigration policy makes the process more predictable for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients to seek employment visas, and, given uncertainties surrounding DACA’s future, employers should immediately determine which of their employees may be eligible, says Jennifer Kim at Moore & Van Allen.

  • 25 Years Of OECD's Anti-Bribery Convention

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    Marking its 25th anniversary this year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's anti-bribery convention has advanced legislative reforms and reshaped corporate conduct in dozens of countries amid the persistent challenges of uneven enforcement and political pressure, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Despite Calif. Delays, Climate Disclosure Rules Are Coming

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    Progress continues on state, federal and international climate disclosure regimes, making compliance a key concern for companies — but the timeline for implementation of California's disclosure laws remains unclear due to funding and timing disputes, says David Smith at Manatt Phelps.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Bid Protest Litigation Will Hold Steady For Now

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    Though the substantive holding of Loper Bright is unlikely to affect bid protests because questions of statutory interpretation are rare, the spirit of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision may signal a general trend away from agency deference even on the complex technical issues that often arise, say Kayleigh Scalzo and Andrew Guy at Covington.

  • Challenging Prosecutors' Use Of Defendants' Jail Phone Calls

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    Although it’s an uphill battle under current case law, counsel for pretrial detainees may be able to challenge prosecutors’ use of jail-recorded phone calls between the defendant and their attorney by taking certain advance measures, say Jim McLoughlin and Fielding Huseth at Moore & Van Allen.

  • 1 Year At The UPC: Implications For Transatlantic Disputes

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    In its first year, the Unified Patent Court has issued important decisions on procedures like provisional measures, but complexities remain when it comes to coordinating proceedings across jurisdictions like the U.S. due to differences in timelines and discovery practices, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Opinion

    H-2 Visas Offer Humane, Economic Solution To Border Crisis

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    Congress should leverage the H-2 agricultural and temporary worker visa programs to match qualified migrants with employers facing shortages of workers — a nonpolitical solution to a highly divisive humanitarian issue, say Ashley Dees and Jeffrey Joseph at BAL.

  • PAGA Reforms Encourage Proactive Employer Compliance

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    Recently enacted reforms to California's Private Attorneys General Act should make litigation under the law less burdensome for employers, presenting a valuable opportunity to streamline compliance and reduce litigation risks by proactively addressing many of the issues that have historically attracted PAGA claims, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • Opinion

    Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism

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    As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Piercing FEMA Authority Is Not Insurmountable

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    While the Federal Emergency Management Agency's discretionary authority continues to provide significant protection from claims under the Administrative Procedure Act, Loper Bright is a blow to the argument that Congress gave FEMA unfettered discretion to administer its own programs, says Wendy Huff Ellard at Baker Donelson.

  • What Happens After Hawaii Kids' Historic Climate Deal

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    Implications of the Hawaii Department of Transportation's first-of-its-kind settlement with youth plaintiffs over constitutional climate claims may be limited, but it could incite similar claims, says J. Michael Showalter and Robert Middleton at ArentFox Schiff.

  • How Tech Trackers May Implicate HIPAA After Hospital Ruling

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    A recent Texas federal court order in American Hospital Association v. Becerra adds a legal protection on key data, clarifying when tracking technologies implicate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, so organizations should ensure all technology used is known and accounted for, say John Howard and Myriah Jaworski at Clark Hill.

  • The Show Must Go On: Noncompete Uncertainty In Film, TV

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    The Federal Trade Commission has taken action to ban noncompetes while the entertainment industry is in the midst of a massive shift away from traditional media, so it is important for studio heads and content owners alike to understand the fate of the rule and their options going forward, say Christopher Chatham and Douglas Smith at Manatt.

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