Public Policy

  • November 25, 2024

    5th Circ. Upholds Miss. Ban On Medical Pot Ads

    Marijuana dispensaries do not have protections under the First Amendment to advertise their products because the drug is still illicit under federal law, the Fifth Circuit ruled, tossing a lawsuit that sought to upend the state's tight regulations on cannabis ads.

  • November 25, 2024

    4th Circ. Stands By HELOC 'Offset' Ruling Against PNC

    The full Fourth Circuit has declined to reconsider a panel decision that extended protections under the Truth In Lending Act by barring banks from dipping into a cardholder's deposit account to cover outstanding payments on a home equity line of credit without the borrower's consent.

  • November 25, 2024

    Commerce Limits Nuclear Program-Tied Exports To Pakistan

    The U.S. Department of Commerce on Monday issued a final rule imposing new licensing requirements on exports, reexports and transfers of certain items intended for Pakistan that the Middle Eastern country may be able to use for its nuclear weapons program.

  • November 25, 2024

    DC Circ. Won't Rehear Allowing H-1B Spousal Work Permits

    The District of Columbia Circuit has denied a petition to reconsider its decision upholding an Obama-era program allowing some spouses of highly skilled foreign workers to obtain work permits.

  • November 25, 2024

    Payments To Exxon Unit Taxable, Australian Panel Says

    Exxon Mobil unit Esso is liable for tax on monthly payments it received for processing its Australian business partners' petroleum and on an AU$23.4 million ($15.5 million) lump sum payment, a panel at the Federal Court of Australia said, overturning an earlier judgment at the same court.

  • November 25, 2024

    Housing Project Will Pollute Public Water, Conn. City Says

    The construction of 16 houses in Ledyard, Connecticut, will contaminate the groundwater and endanger the drinking water supply for people living on the site, the city of Groton's water department said in an appeal of the project's approval to the state court.

  • November 25, 2024

    Condo Boards Likely Safe From Corporate Transparency Law

    New corporate reporting requirements under an anti-money laundering law likely do not apply to condominium associations, a Massachusetts federal judge ruled.

  • November 25, 2024

    Jack Smith Drops Trump's Federal Cases

    Special counsel Jack Smith on Monday moved to drop the federal prosecutions of President-elect Donald Trump in D.C. and Florida, citing long-standing Justice Department policy barring the prosecution of a sitting president while insisting that the government "stands fully behind" the merits of the charges.

  • November 25, 2024

    Insurance Mogul Denied 'Custom Detention' After Plea Deal

    A convicted insurance mogul who pled guilty to a $2 billion fraud scheme has lost his bid for a temporary reprieve from county jail after turning himself in, with a federal magistrate judge citing concerns about equity if he were to grant such a "custom detention order" for the billionaire.

  • November 25, 2024

    Trump 2.0 Expected To Maintain Tech Antitrust Cases

    President-elect Donald Trump has promised dramatic changes with his pending second term, but antitrust practitioners are anticipating a return to normal after four years of an aggressive Biden administration that's seemed skeptical of big business on the whole, though they also don't expect enforcement to be lax.

  • November 25, 2024

    CNN Calls NC Lt. Gov.'s Defamation Suit 'Political Theater'

    The defamation suit against CNN brought by Mark Robinson, North Carolina's lieutenant governor and an unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate, must be thrown out for being simply "political theater," the news outlet said.

  • November 25, 2024

    Justices Pass On Ex-Atty's Puerto Rico Bribery Appeal

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review the bribery convictions of a former attorney who solicited and accepted payments from an environmental contractor to influence three Puerto Rican mayors and helped the contractor secure government contracts worth millions of dollars.

  • November 25, 2024

    Tax Hikes Will Make It Harder To Hire, UK Industry Chief Says

    Businesses will hire fewer workers as a result of raising employers' National Insurance contributions, a payroll levy, that was introduced in the autumn budget, the chief of one of Britain's most influential industry groups said Monday.

  • November 25, 2024

    SDNY's Williams To Resign Before Trump Takes Office

    Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said Monday he will resign Dec. 13, clearing the way for President-elect Donald Trump's nominee, former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chair Jay Clayton, to run the office next year.

  • November 25, 2024

    High Court Refuses To Review FDA Cigarette Warning Rule

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said that it won't take up a challenge to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration rule requiring larger warnings on cigarette boxes, in a suit brought by tobacco companies.

  • November 25, 2024

    Justices Reject Patent Case Challenging Newman Suspension

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to hear an appeal by a company that owns a background check patent invalidated for claiming only an abstract idea and that argued it was deprived of a fair hearing at the Federal Circuit due to the suspension of U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman.

  • November 25, 2024

    Justices Won't Review Mich. Gun Range Ban

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a proposed gun range's challenge to a Michigan town's zoning denial, denying its petition over Second Amendment protections for firearm training.

  • November 22, 2024

    Trump Makes Picks For FDA, CDC And Surgeon General

    President-elect Donald Trump on Friday ​​revealed his nominations for several health agencies, picking Johns Hopkins surgeon and professor Dr. Marty Makary for Food and Drug Administration commissioner, former Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, and Fox News contributor Dr. Janette Nesheiwat for surgeon general.

  • November 22, 2024

    Split DC Circ. Punts On FINRA's Constitutionality

    A partially divided D.C. Circuit panel on Friday blocked the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority from removing Alpine Securities Corp. from its membership rolls while the corporation sues in federal court to challenge the agency's constitutionality, which the appeals court declined to remark on.

  • November 22, 2024

    Ex-NFL Player Scott Turner Picked For Trump's HUD Secretary

    Donald Trump announced Friday that he nominated retired NFL player and former executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council Scott Turner to serve as secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

  • November 22, 2024

    Pam Bondi's 'Greatest Hits' As Florida Attorney General

    In her eight years as attorney general of Florida, Pam Bondi — who has been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump as attorney general — took on pill mills and telemarketing scams targeting the state's large elderly population, while also leading GOP state efforts to battle the Obama administration.

  • November 22, 2024

    Texas Justices Say Court Bungled Ruling In Abortion Case

    The Texas Supreme Court said Friday a lower appellate court tried to "prematurely drag the judiciary into highly contentious and politicized debates" around abortion without analyzing a key standing issue, jeopardizing Planned Parenthood's and other abortion rights groups' bid to invalidate the controversial Texas Heartbeat Act.

  • November 22, 2024

    Europe's Antitrust Enforcer Puts Apple E-Book Probe To Bed

    The European Union's antitrust enforcer is dropping its probe into whether Apple's requirement that e-books and audiobooks be bought through in-app purchases in its App Store broke the bloc's competition rules.

  • November 22, 2024

    Cruz Decries 'Unlawful' Activities In $42.5B Broadband Fund

    Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, issued a scathing statement Friday warning the U.S. Commerce Department to discontinue what he contends are "unlawful" activities in administering the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program.

  • November 22, 2024

    High Court Bar's Future: Sullivan & Cromwell's Morgan Ratner

    Morgan L. Ratner has emerged as a leader of the U.S. Supreme Court bar's next generation, and she attributes her ascent to brilliant mentors, a laid-back argument style, an aversion to overconfidence and a firm commitment to clear principles in every case — even if that means reluctantly telling the chief justice, as she once did, that a hypothetical cat stuck in a tree shouldn't be saved.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Ruling On Foreign Dividend Break Offers 2 Tax Court Insights

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    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.

  • How Loper Bright Is Affecting Pending FCC Litigation

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    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.

  • What PCOAB's Broadened Liability Rule Means For Auditors

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    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.

  • USPTO Guidance Suggests 2 Strategies For AI Inventions

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    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.

  • Employer Tips For PUMP Act Compliance As Law Turns 2

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    Enacted in December 2022, the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act requires employers to provide reasonable break time and a private space for employees to express breast milk, but some companies may still be struggling with how to comply, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • 4 Takeaways From The FDIC's Proposed Recordkeeping Rule

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    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s new proposed rule would impose recordkeeping and other compliance requirements on custodial deposit accounts with transactional features, and practitioners should be aware of four important factors, including who is affected and who is exempt, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Series

    Round-Canopy Parachuting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Similar to the practice of law, jumping from an in-flight airplane with nothing but training and a few yards of parachute silk is a demanding and stressful endeavor, and the experience has bolstered my legal practice by enhancing my focus, teamwork skills and sense of perspective, says Thomas Salerno at Stinson.

  • Navigating Restrictions Following Biotech Bill House Passage

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    Ahead of the BIOSECURE Act’s potential enactment, companies that obtain equipment from certain Chinese biotechnology companies should consider whether the act would restrict their ability to enter into contracts with the U.S. government and what steps they might take in response, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Dealmaker Lessons From CFIUS' New Enforcement Webpage

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    The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States’ recently launched webpage, which details the actions — and inactions — that led to enforcement activity, provides important insights for dealmakers about filing requirements, mitigation commitments and the cost of noncompliance, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Presidents And Precedents May Direct Khan's Future Course

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    While the Sept. 25 technical expiration of Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan's term demands no immediate action, it does invite an analysis of commission policy and post-election possibilities, says Axinn's Richard Dagen, a former FTC official.

  • SEC Settlement Holds Important Pay-To-Play Lessons

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent fine of an investment adviser, whose new hire made a campaign contribution within a crucial lookback period, is a seasonable reminder for public fund managers to ensure their processes thoroughly screen all associates for even minor violations of the SEC’s strict pay-to-play rule, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • What's In Colorado's 1st-Of-Its-Kind Neural Privacy Law

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    Colorado recently became the first U.S. state to directly regulate neurotechnology with new legislation amending the Colorado Privacy Act to specifically protect biological and neural data, offering an example of how lawmakers can tackle the perceived regulation gaps in this area, say attorneys at Goodwin.

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