Public Policy

  • October 29, 2024

    Pa. DA Says ATF's Pot Patients Ban Doesn't Fit With Bruen

    A Pennsylvania district attorney is urging a federal judge not to throw out his suit challenging a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives policy blocking medical cannabis patients from buying or owning firearms, saying the U.S. Supreme Court's recent precedent preempts the restriction.

  • October 29, 2024

    Court Closure Sought Over Taunts By Florida Gun Shop Owner

    The Connecticut Attorney General's Office urged a state judge to protect the identity of its investigator in filings and to close the courtroom during their testimony at trial in a lawsuit alleging a Florida company deceptively sold do-it-yourself gun kits, saying anonymity is needed because of the owner's online taunts.

  • October 29, 2024

    GOP Rep. Roy Opposes Efforts To Stop 'Judge Shopping'

    A Republican on the House Judiciary Committee is threatening to withhold support for legislation bolstering the operation of the federal courts if the Administrative Office of the Courts doesn't stop considering measures aimed at ending "judge shopping."

  • October 29, 2024

    PBM Group Federal Affairs VP Joins Akin In Lobbying Role

    A former Capitol Hill health policy advocate who worked in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and guided federal and state stakeholders through the implementation of the Affordable Care Act has joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP's lobbying team.

  • October 29, 2024

    UK, EU Finish Negotiations Over Antitrust Cooperation Pact

    The U.K. government announced Tuesday that it had concluded negotiations with the European Union on a deal to boost cooperation between British and European competition enforcement authorities.

  • October 29, 2024

    Senate Panel Targets 'Clever' Pharma Pricing

    The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday railed against drugmakers and pharmacy benefit managers for allegedly causing the high cost of prescription drugs, arguing that "Big Pharma" has used anticompetitive tactics through patenting to fleece American patients.

  • October 29, 2024

    Ga. Judge Says Merger Of BioLab Fire Cases Imminent

    A Georgia federal judge said Tuesday that within the week, she would likely consolidate most if not all of the nearly 20 lawsuits filed against chemical manufacturer BioLab Inc. in the aftermath of a massive industrial fire at its Conyers, Georgia plant last month.

  • October 29, 2024

    Besieged NJ Prosecutor Keeps Suit Over Resignation Alive

    The former county prosecutor in Warren County, New Jersey, has partially defeated a motion to dismiss from Gov. Phil Murphy and Attorney General Matthew Platkin, and can pursue a state court claim that he never technically resigned before being replaced.

  • October 29, 2024

    2nd Circ. Says FBI Agents Immune From Suit Over No-Fly List

    The Second Circuit on Tuesday upheld a lower court's decision finding immunity for FBI agents who were accused of placing four Muslim men on a no-fly database after they declined to become informants.

  • October 29, 2024

    Judge Rules Texas Grid Projects Law Unconstitutional

    A Texas federal judge on Monday ruled that a right of first refusal law in Texas reserving new power line development for the state's incumbent transmission companies violates the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause.

  • October 28, 2024

    Google Shadow Attacks Divert Regulator Eyes, Microsoft Says

    Like a shadow in the night, Google has been quietly organizing campaigns to attack Microsoft, mislead the public and divert antitrust regulatory scrutiny away from itself, a top attorney for the Washington tech giant claimed Monday in a fiery blog post.

  • October 28, 2024

    JPMorgan CEO Says Banks Must 'Fight Back' As Regs Mount

    JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon said Monday that it's time for the banking industry to "fight back" against aggressive federal regulators, criticizing what he described as an "onslaught" of unnecessary, overly harsh rulemaking.

  • October 28, 2024

    Union Pacific Told To Face Injury Retrial With Reinstated Expert

    Railroad giant Union Pacific must face retrial against an injured worker after a California appeals court ruled that an expert with decades of rail experience but no formal accident-analysis training was wrongly blocked from telling a jury how a freight train behaves when starting up.

  • October 28, 2024

    Apple Withholding Docs In Monopoly Row, Epic Says

    Epic Games and Apple continued on in a discovery dispute in Epic's suit accusing Apple of monopolizing the iOS app distribution and in-app payment processing markets, with the video game company saying in a joint letter filed Friday that Apple is withholding "tens of thousands" of responsive documents.

  • October 28, 2024

    Casinos End Dispute With Fla. Tribe, Agree To Partner

    Several Florida casino operators have promised to end litigation against Seminole Tribe of Florida over an agreement with the state government allowing the tribe to receive online sports bets, instead agreeing to partner with the tribe to offer and promote gambling through an app, the tribe announced Monday.

  • October 28, 2024

    CFPB Asks DC Circ. To Topple PayPal's Wallet Disclosure Win

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has urged the D.C. Circuit to reverse PayPal's latest win against an agency rule that subjected Venmo-style digital wallets to some of the same fee disclosure requirements as reloadable prepaid cards, defending its basis for regulating the two products similarly.

  • October 28, 2024

    Tech Groups Target Fla. Law To Restrict Kids On Social Media

    A pair of tech industry trade associations are pressing a Florida federal court to strike down a new state law that would ban children under 13 and restrict 14- and 15-year-olds from social media, arguing that the measure would unconstitutionally stifle free speech and create new "honeypots" of personal data for hackers to exploit.  

  • October 28, 2024

    Mass. Pole Attachment Regs Stymie Broadband, FCC Told

    Internet provider GoNetspeed is again asking the Federal Communications Commission to step in and tell Massachusetts to straighten out its regulations for broadband pole attachments, saying the state's current regime is delaying deployment.

  • October 28, 2024

    Voter Can Take 'Ballot Selfie' As Suit Persists, NC Judge Says

    A North Carolina federal judge has clarified that a Libertarian state senate candidate and voter may take and share a selfie with her ballot without the threat of prosecution, granting the candidate's motion to amend the judge's earlier injunction order.

  • October 28, 2024

    Handbag Cos. Turn To 2nd Circ. Over Pause On $8.5B Merger

    The owners of Michael Kors and Coach plan to ask the Second Circuit to review a New York federal judge's order granting the Federal Trade Commission's bid to halt an $8.5 billion merger between the companies while the agency conducts an in-house merger challenge, according to a notice filed Monday.

  • October 28, 2024

    Judge Wary Of Dems' Injunction Bid In Suit Over Ad Spending

    A D.C. federal judge seemed skeptical Monday that setting aside the Federal Election Commission's refusal to weigh in on a potentially unlawful political advertising strategy would level what the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee alleges to be an uneven playing field.

  • October 28, 2024

    Wash. AG Candidates Clash On Consumer Protection, Guns

    The candidates vying to replace Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who carved out a national reputation as an antitrust champion, present starkly different visions on whether to build upon his tenure or reverse course, clashing not just on consumer protection, but also gun safety and access to reproductive care.

  • October 28, 2024

    Feds Can't Shield DACA Names In ND Healthcare Access Suit

    The Biden administration must disclose the names and addresses of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients in North Dakota to the state, after a federal judge refused Monday to reconsider the state's request for that data.

  • October 28, 2024

    Monsanto Attys Fined $20K For Late Reports In PCB Trial

    A Washington state judge has ordered eight attorneys defending Monsanto in a Seattle PCB poisoning trial to pay $2,500 each to the local bar foundation for late disclosure of expert reports, saying the "sting" of personal sanctions should deter any future bad behavior causing "chaos and disruption."

  • October 28, 2024

    For-Profit College Says Colo. Can't Show Broad Public Harm

    A defunct for-profit college told a Colorado judge Monday that the state hasn't shown enough students were directly impacted by its allegedly deceptive trade practices for consumer protection claims to survive, in a decade-old case that is now back before a trial judge after years of appeals.

Expert Analysis

  • Challenge To Ill. Card Fee Law Explores Compliance Hurdles

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    A recent federal lawsuit challenging an Illinois law that will soon forbid electronic payment networks from charging fees for processing the tax and tip portions of card transactions, fleshes out the glaring compliance challenges and exposure risks financial institutions must be ready to face next summer, says Martin Kiernan at Amundsen Davis.

  • How The 2025 Tax Policy Debate Will Affect The Energy Sector

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    Regardless of the outcome of the upcoming U.S. election, 2025 will bring a major tax policy debate that could affect the energy sector more than any other part of the economy — so stakeholders who could be affected should be engaging now to make sure they understand the stakes, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • Compliance Considerations For Calif. Child Labor Audit Law

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    California employers will need to conduct a fact-intensive analysis to determine whether a new state law that imposes transparency rules for child labor audits applies to their operations, and should look out for regulatory guidance that answers open questions about deadlines and penalties, says Sylvia St. Clair at Faegre Drinker.

  • Harris Unlikely To Shelve Biden Admin's Food Antitrust Stance

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    A look at Vice President Kamala Harris' past record, including her actions as California attorney general, shows why practitioners should prepare for continued aggressive antitrust enforcement, particularly in the food and grocery industries, if Harris wins the presidential election, says Steve Vieux at Bartko.

  • Opinion

    Barrett Is Right: Immunity Is Wrong Framework In Trump Case

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    Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s concurrence in Trump v. U.S., where the majority opinion immunized former presidents almost entirely from criminal prosecution for official actions, rests on a firmer constitutional foundation than the majority’s immunity framework, says Matthew Brogdon at Utah Valley University.

  • Opinion

    This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process

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    In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • The Complex Challenges Facing Sustainable Food Packaging

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    More and more states are requiring recycled content to be used in product packaging, creating complex technological and regulatory considerations for manufacturers who must also comply with federal food safety requirements, say Peter Coneski and Natalie Rainer at K&L Gates.

  • Navigating HHS' New Reproductive Healthcare Privacy Rule

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    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' new final rule regarding protections for the privacy of reproductive health information will require regulated entities to grapple with difficult questions about whether to comply with state law requirements or federal privacy prohibitions, says Christine Chasse at Spencer Fane.

  • Illinois May Be Gearing Up To Ban E-Verify

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    Recently passed amendments to the Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act appear to effectively ban the use of E-Verify in the state, but ambiguity means employers will have to weigh the risks of continued use while also taking note of other work authorization requirements imposed by the updates, say Julie Ratliff and Elizabeth Wellhausen at Taft.

  • Int'l Agreements Are Key For Safe Nuclear Waste Disposal

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    By replacing fossil fuels, nuclear energy has the potential to offer a major contribution to the global fight against climate change — but ensuring that nuclear power is safe and sustainable will require binding, multinational agreements for safe nuclear waste disposal, say Ryan Schermerhorn and Christopher Zahn at Marshall Gerstein.

  • Mental Health Parity Rules: Tips For Plans And Issuers

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    Following federal agencies' release of final mental health parity rules, plan sponsors and health insurance issuers should develop protocols for preparing compliant nonquantitative treatment limitation comparative analyses, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Series

    Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.

  • 5th Circ. Shows Admin Rules Can Survive Court Post-Chevron

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    The Fifth Circuit's textual analysis of the Fair Labor Standards Act, contributing to its recent affirming of the U.S. Department of Labor’s authority to set an overtime exemption salary threshold, suggests administrative laws can survive post-Chevron challenges, say Jessi Thaller-Moran and Erin Barker at Brooks Pierce.

  • Applying High Court's Domestic Corruption Rulings To FCPA

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    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

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    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.

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