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Public Policy
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August 26, 2024
Ex-Ingersoll Rand Exec Could Be Stuck With Noncompete
A Colorado state court judge expressed her doubts Monday that the former chief executive of a company acquired by industrial products giant Ingersoll Rand could avoid repercussions for joining the only firm named in a noncompete agreement he signed, saying the executive hadn't done nearly enough to show the contract was unenforceable.
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August 26, 2024
Ex-FCC Republican Urges 6th Circ. To Tank Net Neutrality
A former Republican on the Federal Communications Commission who helped overturn net neutrality rules when the agency leadership was in GOP hands has pressed the Sixth Circuit to snuff out the Democratic FCC's effort to revive the policy.
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August 26, 2024
Kyocera's Gross-Up Doesn't Grant $143M Tax Break, US Says
Electronics maker Kyocera cannot be allowed to take a $143 million tax deduction for distributions received under a 2017 tax law based on a separate statute's gross-up for paid foreign tax credits, the government told a South Carolina federal court.
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August 26, 2024
Federal Lawmakers Demand USDA Fix Tribal Food Backlog
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators is demanding that the U.S. Department of Agriculture take immediate action to restore food deliveries to tribal communities impacted by an unfolding crisis that they say has left some with expired or no food at all for months.
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August 26, 2024
NTIA To Work Closely With Private Sector On Spectrum
The U.S. Department of Commerce's spectrum management branch has announced plans to meet with private sector interests every two months to develop national policies on use of the airwaves.
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August 26, 2024
Connecticut And NY AGs Reach Terms For Hospital Merger
Two major hospital systems in New York and Connecticut have reached an agreement with their states' attorneys general to resolve an antitrust investigation spurred by the planned merger of Northwell Health and Nuvance Health, bringing the deal first announced in February closer to fruition.
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August 26, 2024
Mich. Supreme Court Race Takes Shape With GOP Picks
Michigan Republicans nominated a circuit court judge and a state legislator for two seats on the state Supreme Court Saturday, after a lawyer facing criminal charges of tampering with voting machines withdrew from one of the races.
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August 26, 2024
GOP Sens. Applaud Removal Of Undersea Cable Hurdles
Two Republican senators are celebrating the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's decision to press pause on requiring special permits for undersea cables to run through marine sanctuaries as a "major victory" after railing against red tape earlier this year.
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August 26, 2024
DC Judge Says Missouri AG Can't Investigate Media Matters
A D.C. federal judge has again blocked a Republican attorney general from demanding a slew of records from liberal media watchdog Media Matters, this time halting a probe from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey.
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August 26, 2024
Racial Gaps In Mich. Judicial Discipline Process, Audit Finds
Black judges in Michigan are more likely to be subject to a full misconduct investigation and receive "significantly" more grievances than their white counterparts, according to a preliminary audit from the National Center for State Courts.
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August 26, 2024
5th Circ. Holds Off On Gulf Fishery Council Rule Challenge
The Fifth Circuit on Friday ordered a Mississippi federal judge to decide key issues that went unaddressed in his ruling upholding a fishing limit in the Gulf of Mexico, saying that new case law must be applied before it handles the appeal.
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August 26, 2024
Wild Ga. Horses Need Aid During Suit's Limbo, Advocates Say
As a Georgia federal judge considers whether to scuttle a lawsuit alleging that a herd of feral horses on one of the state's coastal islands has been neglected and mistreated by federal authorities, the equine plaintiffs have asked the court to order the government to furnish them with emergency stores of food and drinking water.
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August 26, 2024
Feds Want Prison For Ex-Atlanta CFO Who Stole City Funds
The former chief financial officer for the city of Atlanta who admitted to stealing city money and obstructing an IRS audit should spend at least about three years in prison, federal prosecutors argued ahead of his sentencing, saying he has been uncooperative since pleading guilty.
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August 26, 2024
FTC Mulls Proposal To Alter Puerto Rican Pharmacy Deal
The Federal Trade Commission is considering a plan to allow Puerto Rico's largest independent pharmacy cooperative to resume collective negotiations with payors, reexamining a 2012 settlement agreement that the cooperative says is now unnecessary because of changes in the commonwealth's law and pharmacy market.
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August 26, 2024
Texas Cases To Watch In Last Half Of 2024
Courts across the state are poised to make decisions in several high-stakes cases over the next several months, including ruling on whether Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton can be deposed in a long-running employment retaliation suit and whether a challenge to Texas' floating Rio Grande barrier must be tried before a jury.
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August 26, 2024
Latino Nonprofit Drops Suit Over Houston At-Large Voting
Civil rights organization LULAC has dropped a 2022 lawsuit against the city of Houston alleging that its at-large voting system for certain City Council positions discriminates against Latino voters.
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August 26, 2024
Canada Planning 100% Surtax On Chinese EVs, 25% On Steel
Canada plans to implement a 100% surtax on imported Chinese electric vehicles and a 25% surtax on Chinese steel and aluminum as part of a package intended to protect Canadian industry from unfair competition, the country's Department of Finance said Monday.
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August 26, 2024
Energy Cases To Watch In The 2nd Half Of 2024
Even after an action-packed first half of 2024, plenty of high-stakes energy litigation remains, including a new twist in the prolonged battle over climate change lawsuits against fossil fuel companies, as well as cases that could influence federal climate change policy. Here are several cases energy attorneys will be watching in the second half of the year.
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August 26, 2024
New Jersey Cases Attorneys Are Watching In 2024
Jersey City is fighting the Garden State's cannabis legalization law and argues it conflicts with federal gun control legislation, while the bankrupt former chief financial officer of McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP is facing civil claims he defrauded the firm and paid himself millions in unauthorized salary.
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August 23, 2024
FDIC Says Ex-Lender Can't Have 3rd Bite At In-House Apple
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Friday urged a Washington, D.C., federal judge to reject a former small-business financier's bid to immediately halt an agency enforcement proceeding against him, saying a key recent U.S. Supreme Court decision doesn't apply to his case.
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August 23, 2024
Ohio Constitution Dooms 24-Hour Abortion Waiting Period
An Ohio state judge on Friday preliminarily blocked multiple Ohio civil and criminal abortion-related statutes requiring informed consent and a 24-hour waiting period, among other restrictions, finding that the statutes likely run afoul of the recently passed voter-backed state constitutional amendment enshrining the right to abortion.
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August 23, 2024
Afghan Supporters Say US Arbitrarily Delayed Parole Requests
The U.S. government has been arbitrarily delaying action on requests of Afghans seeking humanitarian parole while expeditiously processing parole applications of those living in Ukraine, Cuba and Haiti for free and approving their travel authorizations, according to plaintiffs seeking to file an amended proposed class action in Massachusetts federal court.
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August 23, 2024
PE Fund Says SEC Is Overstepping With 'Fishing Expedition'
A large South Carolina private equity fund has sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly overstepping its authority by trying to regulate the business' activities through an unconstitutional "fishing expedition" investigation that threatens the building of thousands of housing units.
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August 23, 2024
Google Pushes To Depose A Texas Official In Biometric Suit
Google is crying foul in a state court of appeals over Texas' refusal to let it take a deposition of either a representative or an employee of the Texas Office of the Attorney General, saying in a petition that it was forced to defend itself without full discovery.
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August 23, 2024
Hong Kong Relaxes Listing Rules For Tech Startups, SPACs
Hoping to spur more investment into emerging businesses amid a dry spell, Hong Kong's securities watchdog and stock exchange leaders on Friday unveiled relaxed listing rules for technology startups and eased requirements needed to clear mergers involving special purpose acquisition companies.
Expert Analysis
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Haste Is Priority For Participation In New Green Card Program
Immigration practitioners should determine their clients' eligibility under the Biden administration’s new policy to help certain noncitizens, particularly those married to U.S. citizens, to apply for green cards, and do so without delay given uncertainty tied to the upcoming election, says Brad Brigante at Brigante Law.
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How Gov't AI Protections May Affect Contractors' Data Rights
The U.S. Senate’s proposed National Defense Authorization Act for 2025, which includes provisions to maintain the government's data rights when contracting for artificial intelligence, should prompt contractors to examine how to protect their own rights when the current data rights framework is applied to AI, say Tyler Evans and Caitlin Conroy at Steptoe.
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Jarkesy May Thwart Consumer Agencies' Civil Penalty Power
The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy not only implicates future SEC administrative adjudications, but those of other agencies that operate similarly — and may stymie regulators' efforts to levy civil monetary penalties in a range of consumer protection enforcement actions, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Trump's Best Hush Money Appeal Options Still Likely To Fail
The two strongest potential arguments former President Donald Trump could raise in appealing his New York hush money conviction seem promising at first, but precedent strongly suggests they will still ultimately fail — though, of course, Trump's unique position could lead to surprising results, says former New York Supreme Court Justice Ethan Greenberg, now at Anderson Kill.
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Tips For Tax Equity-Tax Credit Transfers That Pass IRS Muster
Although the Internal Revenue Service has increased its scrutiny of complex partnership structures, which must demonstrate their economic substance and business purpose, recent cases and IRS guidance together provide a reliable road map for creating legitimate tax equity structures, say Ian Boccaccio and Michael Messina at Ryan Tax.
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How Cos. With Chinese Suppliers Should Prep For Biotech Bill
A proposed bill to prohibit government-affiliated life sciences companies from contracting with Chinese biotech companies of concern may necessitate switching to other sources for research and supplies, meaning they should begin evaluating supply chains now due to the long lead times of drug development, say John O'Loughlin and Christina Carone at Weil Gotshal.
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Opinion
Texas Judges Ignored ERISA's Core To Stall Fiduciary Rule
Two recent rulings from Texas federal courts, which rely on a plainly wrong reading of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act to effectively strike a forthcoming rule that would impose functional fiduciary duties onto sellers of investment services, may expose financially unsophisticated 401(k) participants to peddlers of misleading advice, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.
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Inside OCC's Retail Nondeposit Investment Products Refresh
In addition to clarifying safe and sound risk management practices generally, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's revised booklet on retail nondeposit investment products updates its guidance around certain sales practices in light of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's adoption of Regulation Best Interest, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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5 Defense Lessons From Prosecutors' Recent Evidence Flubs
The recent dismissal of Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter charges, and the filing of an ethics complaint against a former D.C. prosecutor, both provide takeaways for white collar defense counsel who suspect that prosecutors may be withholding or misrepresenting evidence, say Anden Chow at MoloLamken and Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.
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Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?
A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.
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Loper Fuels Debate Over Merchant Cash Advances As Credit
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent rejection of the Chevron doctrine in Loper Bright may escalate a Florida federal court dispute between the Revenue Based Finance Coalition and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over whether merchant cash advances should be considered credit under the Dodd-Frank Act, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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Bank M&A Continues To Lag Amid Regulatory Ambiguity
Bank M&A activity in the first half of 2024 continued to be lower than in prior years, as the industry is recovering from the 2023 bank failures, and regulatory and macroeconomic conditions have not otherwise been prime for deals, say Robert Azarow and Amber Hay at Arnold & Porter.
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FTC's Drug Middlemen Probe Highlights Ongoing Scrutiny
The Federal Trade Commission's interim staff report on its inquiry into pharmacy benefit managers suggests that the industry will remain under an enforcement microscope for the foreseeable future due to concerns about how PBMs affect drug costs and accessibility, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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How High Court Ruling Is Shaping Homelessness Policies
The U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson to allow enforcement of local ordinances against overnight camping is already spurring new policies to manage homelessness, but the court's ruling does not grant jurisdictions unfettered power, say Kathryn Kafka and Alex Merritt at Sheppard Mullin.
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DOJ Paths To Limit FARA Fallout From Wynn's DC Circ. Win
After the D.C. Circuit’s recent Attorney General v. Wynn ruling, holding that the government cannot compel retroactive registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the U.S. Department of Justice has a few options to limit the decision’s impact on enforcement, say attorneys at MoFo.