Public Policy

  • June 24, 2024

    Construction Super Says Name Was Secretly Used On Permits

    A unit of construction engineering firm Structural Group Inc. improperly used the name of a licensed construction supervisor on at least half a dozen Massachusetts projects in which he was not involved, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Norfolk County Superior Court.

  • June 24, 2024

    GOP States Can't Freeze PWFA Regs During 8th Circ. Appeal

    A coalition of Republican attorneys general can't pause implementation of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's fresh Pregnant Workers Fairness Act regulations while they appeal the dismissal of their suit, an Arkansas federal judge ruled, saying the states hadn't presented any new arguments to justify the respite.

  • June 24, 2024

    Paper Bag Imports Found To Have Harmed US Industry

    The U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that paper shopping bags from eight countries harmed the domestic industry, providing the final green light for the U.S. Department of Commerce to enact countervailing and anti-dumping duties on the products.

  • June 24, 2024

    Justices Affirm 6th Circ. Decision Allowing Bump Stocks

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected the government's appeal of a Sixth Circuit decision blocking the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' ban on so-called bump stocks, after finding in a separate case that the ATF rule went beyond the agency's authority.

  • June 24, 2024

    Justices Pass On Rutgers COVID-19 Vax Mandate Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to review a split Third Circuit ruling that Rutgers University students cannot challenge the school's COVID-19 vaccine policy because, under the high court's 1905 precedent in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, there is no fundamental right to refuse vaccinations.

  • June 24, 2024

    Blumenauer Predicts Cannabis Rescheduling Before Year-End

    U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., a longtime champion of cannabis reform in Congress who is retiring this year, told cannabis attorneys on Monday that he was optimistic marijuana would be moved to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act before the end of the year.

  • June 24, 2024

    High Court To Review State Gender Care Bans

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review a Sixth Circuit decision that allowed Tennessee to keep in place a new ban on gender-affirming care for minors.

  • June 24, 2024

    Justices To Review If Ch. 7 Trustee Can Recover Tax Payments

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it would review a Tenth Circuit decision that found that the Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee of a defunct Utah company could recover $145,000 in tax payments from the IRS.

  • June 24, 2024

    Justices Will Review Request To Rein In NEPA Requirements

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday granted seven Utah counties' request that it review a D.C. Circuit decision revoking federal approval of a rail line to transport crude oil from Utah.

  • June 22, 2024

    Disciplinary Judge Hesitant To Oust Embattled Colo. DA

    A Colorado attorney disciplinary judge said Friday he was uncomfortable removing an elected local prosecutor facing various misconduct charges, telling the parties after closing arguments that voters' choices should carry some weight.

  • June 21, 2024

    Kaspersky Hit With Sanctions In Wake Of US Software Ban

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Friday sanctioned a dozen AO Kaspersky Lab executives, just a day after the U.S. Department of Commerce prohibited the sale of the Russia-based company's antivirus software and cybersecurity products in the United States.

  • June 21, 2024

    DOL Says Union's Farm Wage Challenge Too Late

    The U.S. Department of Labor has pushed back against a challenge to rules introduced in 2022 that a Washington union said are depressing farmworkers' wages, telling a federal judge Friday that the union should have objected during the rule-making period.

  • June 21, 2024

    Lawmakers Visit Imprisoned Ex-IRS Agent And Binance Exec

    Rep. French Hill, R.-Ark., and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D.-Pa., reiterated their calls for the release of Binance executive and former IRS agent Tigran Gambaryan after visiting with him in the Nigerian prison where he's being detained on money laundering charges levied against his employer.

  • June 21, 2024

    4 Big Banks Cited For 'Living Will' Weaknesses By Fed, FDIC

    Federal regulators said Friday that half of the nation's largest U.S. banks will need to shore up weaknesses identified in their most recent "living wills," plans that detail how they could be resolved quickly and safely in the event of severe distress or failure.

  • June 21, 2024

    FDIC Creates Offices To Investigate Workplace Misconduct

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s board of directors on Friday approved the creation of two new independent offices to investigate complaints of sexual harassment, discrimination and other misconduct within the agency, which was accused of fostering a toxic workplace culture.

  • June 21, 2024

    Live Nation Investor Sues Leaders Over DOJ Antitrust Claims

    Live Nation's executives and directors were hit with a shareholder derivative lawsuit Friday in California federal court that seeks damages in the wake of the U.S. Department of Justice's allegations that the company monopolized concert promotion and ticket sales following its 2010 merger with Ticketmaster.

  • June 21, 2024

    Manhattan DA Seeks To Retain Trump Gag Order, Amid Threats

    The Manhattan District Attorney's Office urged a New York state judge Friday to leave in place most restrictions of the gag order preventing Donald Trump from speaking publicly about witnesses, jurors and others tied to his criminal trial, citing a barrage of threats from his supporters in recent months — including "actionable" death threats before and after the verdict.

  • June 21, 2024

    Crypto Vet With FTX Ties Launches Fintech Policy Think Tank

    Former congressional hopeful and cryptocurrency veteran Michelle Bond announced her formation of fintech policy think tank Digital Future, making a return to financial services policy after the recent sentencing of her partner, former FTX executive Ryan Salame, and FTX-linked donations to her 2022 campaign.

  • June 21, 2024

    Trump Says AG Can't Appoint Prosecutor In Mar-A-Lago Case

    Attorney General Merrick Garland did not have the statutory authority to promote an independent special counsel to prosecute former President Donald Trump over his allegedly illegal retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump's attorneys told a Florida federal judge Friday.

  • June 21, 2024

    SC Agency Asks 4th Circ. To Rethink Google Ad Subpoena

    South Carolina's parks and tourism department wants the Fourth Circuit to reconsider its order mandating the agency turn over documents about its own online advertising efforts to Google to aid the tech behemoth in a fight against several states accusing it of monopolization.

  • June 21, 2024

    NCAA Teams May Suffer Without Int'l Student Pay Regs

    The historic $2.77 billion settlement to address college athletes' alleged lost compensation on name, image and likeness deals could have an adverse effect on university team rosters if the federal government fails to level the playing field for international athletes.

  • June 21, 2024

    Treasury Unveils Rules Curtailing Outbound Tech Investments

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Friday proposed rules to implement President Joe Biden's executive order aimed at restricting American investments in certain technologies that China is developing, including artificial intelligence systems, that are deemed threats to national security.

  • June 21, 2024

    FDIC Approves 1st Industrial Bank Application In Years

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Friday that it has approved plans from Thrivent Financial to create Thrivent Bank, making it the first new industrial bank to receive a green light from the agency during the Biden administration.

  • June 21, 2024

    Texas Medical Board Adopts Abortion Records Requirement

    Texas doctors who determine that an abortion is necessary during a pregnant patient's health crisis will face new recordkeeping requirements under a final rule issued Friday by the state's medical board.

  • June 21, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Backs Subsidy Duties For Canadian Wind Towers

    A Canadian wind tower manufacturer can't get a break on countervailing duties despite being upfront about errors in its sales data, with the Federal Circuit ruling Friday that the errors raise the possibility of additional mistakes.

Expert Analysis

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

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    Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • CFPB Reality Check: Video Game Cash Is Still Money

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent report examining payments within online video games indicates that financial services offered within the game marketplace are quickly evolving to the point where they are indistinguishable from traditional financial services subject to regulation, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • What CRA Deadline Means For Biden Admin. Rulemaking

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    With the 2024 election rapidly approaching, the Biden administration must race to finalize proposed agency actions within the next few weeks, or be exposed to the chance that the following Congress will overturn the rules under the Congressional Review Act, say attorneys at Covington.

  • 5 Takeaways From FDA's Biosimilars Promotion Guidance

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    New draft guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expands upon other recent efforts to clarify expectations for biosimilar and interchangeable labeling, highlighting a number of potential missteps that could draw attention from regulators, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • The Legal Issues Raised In Minn. Rate Exportation Opt-Out Bill

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    A recent Minnesota House bill would amend state law by opting out of the federal interest rate preemption and introduce several legal gray areas if passed, including issues regarding loan location, rates on credit card loans and values of state charters, says Karen Grandstrand at Fredrikson & Byron.

  • Rebuttal

    Time For Congress To Let Qualified Older Pilots Keep Flying

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    While a previous Law360 guest article affirmed the current law requiring airline pilots to retire at age 65, the facts suggest that the pilots, their unions, the airlines and the flying public will all benefit if Congress allows experienced, medically qualified aviators to stay in the cockpit, say Allen Baker and Bo Ellis at Let Experienced Pilots Fly.

  • Does Expert Testimony Aid Preliminary IPR Responses?

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    Dechert attorneys analyze six years of patent owners' preliminary responses to inter partes review petitions to determine whether the elimination of the presumption favoring the petitioner as to preinstitution testimonial evidence affected the usefulness of expert testimony in responses.

  • Fostering Employee Retention Amid Shaky DEI Landscape

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    Ongoing challenges to the legality of corporate diversity, equity and inclusion programs are complicating efforts to use DEI as an employee retention tool, but with the right strategic approach employers can continue to recruit and retain diverse talent — even after the FTC’s ban on noncompetes, says Ally Coll at the Purple Method.

  • Are Concessions In FDA's Lab-Developed Tests Rule Enough?

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    Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's new policy for laboratory-developed tests included major strategic concessions to help balance patient safety, access and diagnostic innovation, the new rule may well face significant legal challenges in court, say Dominick DiSabatino and Audrey Mercer at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 5 Climate Change Regulatory Issues Insurers Should Follow

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    The climate change landscape for insurers has changed dramatically recently — and not just because of the controversy over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related risk disclosure rules, says Thomas Dawson at McDermott.

  • How New Rule Would Change CFIUS Enforcement Powers

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    Before the May 15 comment deadline, companies may want to weigh in on proposed regulatory changes to enforcement and mitigation tools at the disposal of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, including broadened subpoena powers, difficult new mitigation timelines and higher maximum penalties, say attorneys at Venable.

  • What's Extraordinary About Challenges To SEC Climate Rule

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    A set of ideologically diverse legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure rule have been consolidated in the Eighth Circuit via a seldom-used lottery system, and the unpredictability of this process may drive agencies toward a more cautious future approach to rulemaking, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.

  • 8 Questions To Ask Before Final CISA Breach Reporting Rule

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    The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s recently proposed cyber incident reporting requirements for critical infrastructure entities represent the overall approach CISA will take in its final rule, so companies should be asking key compliance questions now and preparing for a more complicated reporting regime, say Arianna Evers and Shannon Mercer at WilmerHale.

  • Series

    Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.

  • Key Priorities In FDIC Report On Resolving Big Bank Failures

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    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s report last month on the resolvability of large financial institutions contains little new information, but it does reiterate key policy priorities, including the agency's desire to enhance loss-absorbing capacity through long-term debt requirements and preference for single-point-of-entry resolution strategies, say attorneys at Freshfields.

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