Public Policy

  • July 08, 2024

    Baseless Lawsuit Rule A 'Catch-22' For Texans, 5th Circ. Told

    Those that are labeled vexatious litigants under a Texas statute meant to restrict baseless lawsuits are stuck in a "catch-22" if they seek to file legitimate litigation, a group of Texans told the Fifth Circuit on Monday.

  • July 08, 2024

    FDIC Downgrades Green-Focused Bank On CRA Exam

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has dinged Forbright Bank, a sustainability minded bank started by former Democratic presidential candidate John Delaney, over an allegedly "illegal credit practice" tied to a since-discontinued third-party partnership, lowering its latest community lending exam grade.

  • July 08, 2024

    Senate Confirms 7th Circ. Judge GOP Slammed For Backlog

    The Senate voted 47-43 on Monday evening to confirm U.S. District Judge Nancy L. Maldonado to the Seventh Circuit.

  • July 08, 2024

    Federal Circuit Doubts Impropriety Of $4K H-1B Fraud Fee

    A Federal Circuit panel seemed unpersuaded Monday by an argument from software companies that a $4,000 fraud fee for H-1B visa petitions does not apply to noncitizens in the U.S. seeking to change their nonimmigrant visa status to H-1B.

  • July 08, 2024

    Texas Anesthesia Co. Can't Pause Or Appeal Suit, FTC Says

    The Federal Trade Commission urged a Texas federal court not to pause its suit accusing U.S. Anesthesia Partners Inc. of a monopolistic "roll-up" of Lone Star State anesthesia practices, arguing the company can't appeal an order refusing to toss the case against it.

  • July 08, 2024

    Ways And Means To Vote On Section 529 Tax Bills

    The House Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to vote Tuesday on several education-related tax bills, including legislation that would make additional elementary and secondary school expenses eligible for tax-advantaged education savings accounts.

  • July 08, 2024

    Suit Alleging NY Pot Kickbacks Moved To Federal Court

    An Illinois security company is suing New York's cannabis authority for $300 million claiming that one of its board members convinced the business to do free surveillance camera work by promising it a state contract that never came, according to a lawsuit removed to federal court.

  • July 08, 2024

    Menendez 'Put Power Up For Sale,' Feds Say In Closing

    Sen. Robert Menendez "put his power up for sale" in a slew of bribes often brokered by his wife but for which the New Jersey lawmaker was always "calling the shots," a Manhattan federal prosecutor said during closing arguments in the high-profile trial Monday.

  • July 08, 2024

    NC Tax On Premiums Lowered For Some Insurance Cos.

    North Carolina will reduce its tax on premiums paid in the state to some out-of-state liability insurance groups under a bill signed by Gov. Roy Cooper. 

  • July 08, 2024

    Nasdaq Seeks Tighter Listing Rules On Reverse Stock Splits

    Nasdaq wants to tighten its rules so companies that raise their share prices through reverse stock splits to avoid being delisted don't obtain more time to regain compliance if the reverse split triggers another violation.

  • July 08, 2024

    Philly Charter School Exec Sentenced To 1½ Years In Prison

    Shahied Dawan, a former nonprofit executive for a Philadelphia charter school and low-income housing nonprofit founded by R&B producer Kenny Gamble, was sentenced to 18 months in prison Monday for conspiring to conceal embezzlement from the organization.

  • July 08, 2024

    Pro-Trade Policies Outpace Barriers Amid Strains, WTO Says

    Countries are moving to open themselves up to increased trade, even as armed conflicts, tense geopolitics and the effects of climate change continue to destabilize supply chains, the World Trade Organization said in a report released Monday.

  • July 08, 2024

    BLM Faces Challenges To Alaska Oil Reserve Protections

    The state of Alaska and a nonprofit group are seeking to vacate a federal rule ensuring maximum environmental protections for more than 13.1 million acres in the state's National Petroleum Reserve and banning new oil and gas leasing on another 10.6 million acres, arguing the new law turns the land into a "de facto" wilderness.

  • July 08, 2024

    Tribe Says NY Counties Want It To Pay For 911 Access

    The Cayuga Nation says two New York counties have been refusing to forward 911 calls happening on the tribal land to the Nation's police department unless it pays, coordination that the tribe says no other law enforcement pays for and that the state says it has to do anyway.

  • July 08, 2024

    Feds Aim To Expand Military Site List For Land Deal Reviews

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Monday proposed putting 59 more military sites on its radar when it reviews real estate deals for national security issues, a move that comes on the heels of the White House's crackdown on a Chinese-owned cryptocurrency mine near a Wyoming air base.

  • July 08, 2024

    NJ Cops Claim Retaliation After Uncovering Prosecutor Fraud

    A detective and a lieutenant with the Warren County Prosecutor's Office have launched a whistleblower lawsuit in New Jersey state court alleging retaliation for their part in uncovering an alleged fraud scheme to improperly collect state grant funds, as detailed in an April special investigator's report.

  • July 08, 2024

    PAGA Reforms Mark New Era In Calif. Labor Law, Attys Say

    Recently enacted reforms to California's Private Attorneys General Act will likely curb the recent surge in multimillion-dollar PAGA settlements and help employers "stop the bleeding," legal experts told Law360, but the amendments are also likely to spur further litigation over newly created ambiguities in the novel Golden State statute.

  • July 08, 2024

    Mich. Justices Back Funeral Costs Imposed Years After Murder

    The Michigan Supreme Court said Monday that it is not unconstitutional to apply current restitution laws to old crimes, finding that restitution awards do not run afoul of constitutional prohibitions on retroactively making the consequences of a crime harsher.

  • July 08, 2024

    NJ Says State Temp Worker Law Doesn't Conflict With ERISA

    The State of New Jersey urged a federal judge to keep in place the equal benefits provision of its law codifying protections for temporary workers, arguing it is not superseded by ​the Employee Retirement Income Security Act because employers can satisfy the state law without altering ERISA plans.

  • July 08, 2024

    Delivery Hero Says It Could Face €400M Antitrust Fine

    International food ordering service Delivery Hero disclosed that it could be fined more than €400 million ($433.3 million) by European enforcers over alleged agreements with other online food delivery companies to split markets, share information and not hire workers from one another.

  • July 08, 2024

    HR Chief Says Conn. City Cut Pay Without Explanation

    Officials in the city of Derby, Connecticut, flouted the municipal human resources director's contractual and constitutional rights when they reduced her annual compensation in March without explanation, according to a lawsuit in federal court.

  • July 08, 2024

    Ex-Prosecutor Takes GC Role For Mass. Inspector General

    Eugenia M. "Genie" Carris, a veteran federal public corruption prosecutor, has jumped to the Massachusetts inspector general's office as general counsel, the agency announced Monday.

  • July 08, 2024

    House Hearing Postponed For Trump's NY Prosecutors

    The House Judiciary Committee's hearing with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and top prosecutor Matthew Colangelo on former President Donald Trump's conviction on 34 felony counts has been postponed.

  • July 08, 2024

    The Biggest Patent Rulings Of 2024: A Midyear Report

    The Federal Circuit issued its first en banc patent decision since 2018, a circuit judge's suspension was solidified and courts shed further light on foreign damages and skinny labels. Here's a look back at these rulings and other top patent decisions from the first half of 2024.

  • July 08, 2024

    Biden Says Reelection Crucial To Supreme Court Reform

    President Joe Biden told congressional Democrats his reelection is crucial to bringing about "real" reforms to the U.S. Supreme Court in a letter Monday rejecting calls for him to back out of the presidential race.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    After Chevron: Various Paths For Labor And Employment Law

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    Labor and employment law leans heavily on federal agency guidance, so the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to toss out Chevron deference will ripple through this area, with future workplace policies possibly taking shape through strategic litigation, informal guidance, state-level regulation and more, says Alexander MacDonald at Littler.

  • 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.

  • 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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