Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Compliance
-
October 16, 2024
DC Circ. Urged To Let Feds Fix Pipeline Safety Rules
A pipeline industry group urged a D.C. Circuit panel to reconsider its August decision throwing out a handful of new safety standards for gas transmission pipelines, warning that federal regulators' implementation of the court's mandate could lead to millions of dollars of unnecessary repair costs for pipeline operators.
-
October 16, 2024
Justices Won't Block EPA Power Plant Rule
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rebuffed pleas to block implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's latest effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions from power plants while it's being challenged in court, but three justices indicated they had concerns with the rule's legality.
-
October 16, 2024
Lender To Pay $10M To Settle Birmingham Redlining Claims
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the U.S. Department of Justice said a mortgage lender the agencies accused of redlining in Birmingham, Alabama, will pay nearly $10 million and open a loan office in a majority-Black neighborhood to resolve the claims.
-
October 16, 2024
Key Bank Blocking Hunt For Apt. Co-Op's $1.3M, Towns Say
Key Bank NA should be held in contempt of court because four insurance checks totaling $1.3 million seem to have vanished from a troubled housing co-op's accounts, and the bank is preventing a receiver in charge of the 924-unit Success Village Apartments from figuring out what happened, two Connecticut municipalities have said.
-
October 16, 2024
House Panel Presses DOL For Contractor Probes Data
The U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Wednesday pressed the U.S. Department of Labor to disclose data over its independent contractor misclassification investigations, saying that the department continues to hold on to the information even after receiving a subpoena.
-
October 16, 2024
RTX To Pay $1B For Qatari Bribes And Defrauding US Gov't
RTX Corp. and its Raytheon subsidiary have agreed to pay approximately $1 billion and enter into two separate deferred prosecution agreements in connection with a bribery scheme to secure Qatari military contracts, as well as separate ploys to defraud the U.S. government in deals for Patriot missile and radar systems.
-
October 16, 2024
US Fails To Revoke Bail Of Crypto Chief Wanted In Fraud Case
The U.S. government failed on Wednesday to keep the former chief executive of a $7.5 billion crypto-asset business in custody while he fights extradition for allegedly manipulating the market for his company's virtual tokens, as a judge deemed him a low flight risk.
-
October 15, 2024
Boeing Judge Wants DEI Monitor Pick Info Before Plea Ruling
The Texas federal judge overseeing prosecutors' criminal case against The Boeing Co. on Tuesday said he needs more information on a provision of the proposed plea deal regarding how the U.S. Department of Justice would select an independent monitor in compliance with the agency's diversity and inclusion policies.
-
October 15, 2024
CFPB Funding Shouldn't Stop Texas' Fraud Suit, Judge Says
A Houston federal magistrate judge has endorsed allowing the state of Texas to proceed with a real estate fraud suit against land developer Colony Ridge, rejecting objections tied in part to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding from Federal Reserve "earnings."
-
October 15, 2024
Meta Limits But Can't Shake Social Media Addiction MDL
A California federal judge on Tuesday refused to ax sprawling multidistrict litigation accusing Meta Platforms Inc. and other social media giants of designing their platforms to addict children, finding that a broad tech liability shield required claims pressed by dozens of state attorneys general to be narrowed but not tossed.
-
October 15, 2024
Conn. Trader Pilfered $4.1M From Struggling Firm, SEC Says
A Greenwich, Conn.-based investment adviser stole more than $4.1 million from a pair of investment funds he managed to help prop up his family's "expensive lifestyle" and counter his personal financial woes, including several tax liens and foreclosure attempts on his home, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has alleged.
-
October 15, 2024
DOT Fines Lufthansa $4M For Barring 128 Jews From Flight
German airline Lufthansa has agreed to pay a record $4 million fine for refusing to let 128 Jewish passengers board a connecting flight after a few passengers allegedly failed to follow crew instructions, the largest-ever fine against an airline for civil rights violations, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced Tuesday.
-
October 15, 2024
In Pivot, 5th Circ. Gives CFPB Extension In Exam Policy Case
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can take an extra two weeks to file a brief with the Fifth Circuit in its closely watched appeal of a ruling that struck down the agency's anti-bias examination policies, the circuit court has decided.
-
October 15, 2024
SafeMoon Execs Can't Beat Fraud Charges Now, Feds Say
The crypto executives behind the alleged SafeMoon fraud can't claim their conduct was beyond the reach of U.S. courts at this stage of litigation, federal prosecutors said in a brief that pushed back on the executives' bid to dismiss the indictment.
-
October 15, 2024
New Cybersecurity Rules Threaten Defense Industrial Base
The Pentagon's stringent new cybersecurity rule for its contractors threatens to drive away companies that may struggle with the added costs of compliance, while exacerbating concerns about an already-shrinking defense industrial base.
-
October 15, 2024
Standing Rock Sioux Ask Court To Shut Down Dakota Pipeline
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is asking a federal court to block a Texas-based energy company from continuing to operate the Dakota Access Pipeline, arguing its latest emergency response plan fails to include a realistic calculation of a worst-case scenario liquid discharge.
-
October 15, 2024
Patent Co. Drops IP Suits To Go After Carriers In Antitrust Cases
Patent-holding company VoIP-Pal.com announced Monday that it will refocus its legal efforts on antitrust litigation targeting the big three telecommunications carriers, days after dropping recently filed patent suits against Verizon and T-Mobile.
-
October 15, 2024
SEC Says Robot Co.'s AI Caretaker Was Mostly A Dummy
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued a robotics and artificial intelligence startup and its founder in Florida federal court Tuesday, accusing them of misleading investors about the company's ability to develop an AI-infused hologram and a robot to help families with childcare and other tasks.
-
October 15, 2024
No New Trial For Bid-Rigging, Price-Fixing Concrete Bros.
A Georgia federal judge refused Tuesday to grant a new trial to a pair of brothers convicted in July for their role in a scheme fixing prices, rigging bids and carving up the coastal Georgia ready-mix concrete market, finding no jury confusion in witness testimony about antitrust compliance training.
-
October 15, 2024
Gamers End Challenge Of Microsoft's $69B Activision Deal
Microsoft reached an agreement ending a challenge from a group of gamers targeting its $69 billion deal for Activision Blizzard as a merger challenge from the Federal Trade Commission remains pending at the Ninth Circuit.
-
October 15, 2024
Realtors Ask High Court To Quash DOJ Antitrust Probe
The National Association of Realtors has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for review of a ruling that would allow the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division to reopen an investigation into the trade group's rules and policies after an earlier settlement.
-
October 15, 2024
Hedge Fund Urges Justices To Hear Swing-Trade Case
The U.S. Supreme Court has been asked by a hedge fund facing insider trading allegations to address "significant and recurring issues" that allowed a 1-800-Flowers.com shareholder to proceed with his derivative lawsuit despite failing to prove that the company was harmed in any way by the fund's short-swing trades.
-
October 15, 2024
Motley Rice May Avoid DQ In Boston Opioid Case, Judge Hints
A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday appeared skeptical of a bid by pharmacy benefit manager OptumRX to disqualify Motley Rice LLC from representing the city of Boston in a lawsuit over the company's alleged role in the opioid crisis.
-
October 15, 2024
Wash. Hospital Wants Spinal Surgeon Scandal Suit Tossed
A healthcare system in Washington state has urged a federal judge to throw out the government's civil lawsuit alleging it perpetuated a doctor's scheme to earn millions of dollars from unnecessary surgeries, accusing prosecutors of "second-guessing" the organization's legitimate processes for hiring physicians and addressing internal complaints.
-
October 15, 2024
$5M Alcoa Unit Deal Ends EPA's Smelter Foul-Air Suit
A Washington federal judge on Tuesday approved an Alcoa Corp. subsidiary's $5.25 million settlement with the federal government over the alleged release of illegal levels of pollutants at a now-shuttered Washington aluminum smelting plant.
Expert Analysis
-
Applying High Court's Domestic Corruption Rulings To FCPA
After the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the domestic corruption statutes in three decisions over the past year and a half, it’s worth evaluating whether these rulings may have an impact on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, and if attorneys can use the court’s reasoning in international bribery cases, says James Koukios at MoFo.
-
Proposed Mortgage Assistance Rule: Tips For Servicers
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent proposal to alter Regulation X mortgage servicing procedures to broadly construe requests for assistance, and stay foreclosure proceedings during loss mitigation review, will, if finalized, require mortgage servicers to make notable procedural changes to comply, says Louis Manetti at Locke Lord.
-
A Look At 5 States' New Data Privacy Laws
With new data privacy laws in Utah, Florida, Texas, Oregon and Montana recently in effect or coming into force this year, state-level enforcement of data privacy creates significant challenges and risks for how businesses interact with employees and consumers, and for companies that provide and use technologies in multiple jurisdictions, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.
-
Politics In California Workplaces: What Employers Must Know
As the election looms, it is critical that California employers ensure their compliance with state laws providing robust protections for employees' political activity — including antidiscrimination laws, off-duty conduct laws, employee voting leave laws and more, say Bradford Kelley and Britney Torres at Littler.
-
Antitrust In Retail: Why FTC Is Studying 'Surveillance Pricing'
The Federal Trade Commission's decision to study targeted "surveillance pricing" should provide greater clarity into the nature of the data aggregation industry, but also raises several issues, including whether these practices are in fact illegal under any established interpretations of U.S. antitrust law, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
-
Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys
Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.
-
Series
Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3
In the third quarter of the year, California continued to be at the forefront of banking regulation as it enacted legislation on unfair banking practices and junk fees, and the state Department of Financial Protection and Innovation notably initiated enforcement actions focused on crypto-assets and student loan debt relief, say Stuart Richter and Eric Hail at Katten.
-
John Deere Penalty Shows Importance Of M&A Due Diligence
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent $10 million penalty against John Deere underscores the risks of not conducting robust preacquisition due diligence and not effectively integrating a new subsidiary into the existing compliance framework, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
-
Opinion
FTC's Report Criticizing Drug Middlemen Is Flawed
The Federal Trade Commission's July report, which claims that pharmacy benefit managers are inflating drug costs, does not offer a credible analysis of PBMs, and its methodology lacks rigor, says Jay Ezrielev at Elevecon.
-
How The Tide Of EEOC Litigation Rolled Back In FY 2024
An analysis of the location, timing and underlying claims asserted in U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission-initiated cases during fiscal year 2024 shows that the commission saw a substantial decrease in litigation activity after a surge last year, but employers should not drop their guard, say Christopher DeGroff and Andrew Scroggins at Seyfarth.
-
Enviro Policy Trends That Will Continue Beyond The Election
Come October in a presidential election year, the policy world feels like a winner-take-all scenario, with the outcome of the vote determining how or even whether we are regulated — but there are several key ongoing trends that will continue to drive environmental regulation regardless of the election results, say J. Michael Showalter and Samuel Rasche at ArentFox Schiff.
-
2 High Court Securities Cases Could Clarify Pleading Rules
In granting certiorari in a pair of securities fraud cases against Facebook and Nvidia, respectively, the U.S. Supreme Court has signaled its intention to align interpretations of the heightened pleading standard under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act amid its uneven application among the circuit courts, say attorneys at V&E.
-
Series
NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3
In a relatively light few months for banking legal updates in New York, the state Department of Financial Services previewed its views on banking sector artificial intelligence use via insurer guidance, and an anti-money laundering enforcement action underscored the importance of international monitoring processes, say Eric McLaughlin and Dana Bayersdorfer at Davis Polk.
-
Series
Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer
The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.
-
Plan Sponsors Must Prep For New Mental Health, Drug Rules
To comply with newly published health insurance rules requiring parity between access to mental health and substance use services compared to medical and surgical services, employers with self-insured plans will need to update third-party administrator agreements and collect data, among other compliance steps, say attorneys at Kilpatrick.