Public Policy

  • July 17, 2024

    New Mexico Adds Superfund Claims To PFAS Suit Against US

    New Mexico is expanding its lawsuit against the federal government over costs related to cleaning up forever chemicals near military sites by utilizing a new rule listing the substances as hazardous under the Superfund law.

  • July 17, 2024

    ADA Can't Shield Worker From Failed Drug Test, Co. Says

    A chemical transportation company urged a South Carolina federal court to toss a former lift operator's lawsuit alleging he was fired for taking legal CBD because of cysts on his brain and spinal cord, arguing disability law doesn't protect workers from positive drug tests for THC.

  • July 17, 2024

    Massachusetts Governor Taps 5 For Superior Court Vacancies

    A federal prosecutor, a criminal defense lawyer and a deputy chief in the Massachusetts attorney general's office are among five nominations to the state Superior Court announced Wednesday by Gov. Maura Healey.

  • July 16, 2024

    Smirnov Wants David Weiss DQ'd After Trump Docs Ruling

    Former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov said Monday that a Florida federal judge's order disqualifying the special prosecutor in the Donald Trump classified documents case means special counsel David Weiss should also be disqualified from Smirnov's case, according to a motion filed in California federal court.

  • July 16, 2024

    3 Reasons Why 2nd Menendez Bribery Case Was The Charm

    Nearly seven years after the government's first bribery case against longtime U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez collapsed in a hung jury, prosecutors avenged that loss Tuesday by sealing a conviction on a new round of corruption charges.

  • July 16, 2024

    Gilead Asks Calif. Supreme Court To Ax 'Disastrous' Decision

    Gilead Sciences on Monday urged the California Supreme Court to overturn an appellate panel's decision that the company can't ditch claims it held back a safer HIV drug to maximize profits on an older medication, saying that holding manufacturers liable for non-defective products would "yield disastrous policy consequences."

  • July 16, 2024

    Trump Special Prosecutor Ruling Could Find Favor On Appeal

    When U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the criminal case against former President Donald Trump in Florida over what she said was an unconstitutional appointment of a special prosecutor, she staked out a position that few other jurists have taken, but that could find support among some appellate judges, experts said.

  • July 16, 2024

    Calif. Tribe Awarded $8.2M Over Destruction Of Cultural Site

    A California district court judge has granted the Quechan Indian Tribe's request for approximately $8.2 million in damages after finding that a federal government construction project damaged cultural and archaeological sites on the tribe's reservation.

  • July 16, 2024

    DC Circ. Knocks La. Site FERC Order, Tosses LNG Export Row

    Two D.C. Circuit panels on Tuesday ruled the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission inadequately explained a failure to assess the significance of greenhouse gas emissions for proposed liquefied natural gas facilities in Louisiana, dismissing a challenge of approvals allowing a Texas project to send more of its LNG exports to nonfree trade agreement countries.

  • July 16, 2024

    Banks Say 'Ambiguity' Hampers FDIC's Digital Signage Rules

    Major banking trade groups have urged the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to clarify its new rule on how banks should display digital branding about deposit insurance to online customers, saying their compliance efforts have been hampered by "significant ambiguity" in the rule.

  • July 16, 2024

    SpaceX Loses Bid To Block Rival's Earth Station Renewals

    The Federal Communications Commission denied SpaceX's request to reconsider the agency's renewal of licenses for three earth stations from satellite communications company DBSD Corp., saying in a new order that SpaceX showed little to support its claim that DBSD was using "obstructionist" tactics to interfere with SpaceX operations.

  • July 16, 2024

    Praying Coach's School Faces Skeptical Judge In Fee Fight

    A Washington state appellate judge struggled Tuesday to follow a school district's argument that its insurer should cover a nearly $1.8 million legal bill for a praying football coach's U.S. Supreme Court win, pointing to a policy exclusion for certain adverse judgments.

  • July 16, 2024

    USPTO Provides Guidance On AI And Patent Eligibility

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday unveiled guidance for when inventions involving artificial intelligence are eligible for patents, saying the guidelines are aimed at "providing further clarity and consistency" on the issue.

  • July 16, 2024

    Ill. Judge Wants Expert Testimony Preview In Madigan Trial

    An Illinois federal judge said Tuesday that he needs to hear more about potential testimony from certain Chicago politics experts and a proposal to research potential jurors before he decides whether either are appropriate for former state House speaker Michael Madigan's corruption trial.

  • July 16, 2024

    Feds Contest Texas DA's Immunity In Migrant Arrest Law Fight

    Nonprofits challenging Texas' migrant arrest law have urged the Fifth Circuit to reject Texas District Attorney Bill Hicks' claim of immunity, saying his argument that the Fifth Circuit's ruling in a separate case over changes to the state's election code is meritless.

  • July 16, 2024

    FCC's Media Ownership Rules Are 'Relics,' 8th Circ. Told

    Broadcasters are pressing the Eighth Circuit to unravel the Federal Communications Commission's latest local media ownership rules, saying they are based on views of the industry that are long outdated.

  • July 16, 2024

    Influencer's Forest Pics Not 'Work Activity,' 10th Circ. Rules

    A Tenth Circuit panel on Tuesday reversed a social media influencer's conviction for unauthorized work on National Forest Service property after he posted Instagram photos of himself snowmobiling on closed NFS land, finding that the influencer didn't have fair warning that what he was doing might be considered a federal crime.

  • July 16, 2024

    Texas Says Maritime Expert Shouldn't Testify In Barrier Fight

    Texas moved to exclude a maritime expert witness for the U.S. government in its case challenging the state's barrier installed on the Rio Grande aimed at countering increasing migration, arguing on Tuesday the proposed witness, who plans to testify the barrier obstructs navigability, isn't an expert on buoys, booms or floats.

  • July 16, 2024

    FCC Dings América Móvil For Lack Of Notice On Stock Reorg

    Mexican mobile operator América Móvil has admitted to the Federal Communications Commission that it broke the rules by transferring control of certain FCC licenses and authorizations to a quartet of subsidiaries without informing the agency.

  • July 16, 2024

    7th Circ. Says Foreign Retirement Not Shielded In Bankruptcy

    A professor who filed for bankruptcy in Illinois can't protect his Canadian retirement account from creditors because the account is ineligible under a state law shielding accounts that qualify as retirement plans under the Internal Revenue Code, the Seventh Circuit ruled Tuesday.

  • July 16, 2024

    No Immunity For Philadelphia Transit In Bus-Stop Injury

    The Philadelphia-area transit system can't escape a lawsuit accusing one of its bus drivers of refusing to lower a handicap accessible ramp, resulting in a passenger twisting her leg while exiting the vehicle, a state appeals court ruled, saying the claims fall squarely with the motor-vehicle exception to sovereign immunity.

  • July 16, 2024

    Durbin Probes ICE Healthcare Measures After Death Reports

    Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., on Tuesday pressed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to explain its protections for medically vulnerable detainees after human rights organizations reported that the agency could have prevented most detainee deaths between 2017 and 2022.

  • July 16, 2024

    Pollution Settlement Will Work To Restore Wash. River Habitat

    An agreement between the federal government, Washington state and two tribes, on one side, and a pair of recycling companies and a metal fabricator on the other will put in place a three-acre habitat restoration project along the Lower Duwamish River in Seattle, resolving claims that oil and hazardous were released into the waters for a decade.

  • July 16, 2024

    Tax Transparency Neglected In Latin America, Ex-Officials Say

    The international tax transparency system is failing to produce results for Latin American governments, whose scant information requests are too often met with resistance and whose prosecutions generally lack a cross-cutting approach to tax, former officials from the region said Tuesday.

  • July 16, 2024

    County Says Pittsburgh Schools Can't Force Reassessment

    As one taxing body out of many in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, the School District of Pittsburgh lacks standing in its lawsuit seeking to force a countywide reassessment of property values, the county said in its preliminary objections to the suit.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism

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    As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Piercing FEMA Authority Is Not Insurmountable

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    While the Federal Emergency Management Agency's discretionary authority continues to provide significant protection from claims under the Administrative Procedure Act, Loper Bright is a blow to the argument that Congress gave FEMA unfettered discretion to administer its own programs, says Wendy Huff Ellard at Baker Donelson.

  • What Happens After Hawaii Kids' Historic Climate Deal

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    Implications of the Hawaii Department of Transportation's first-of-its-kind settlement with youth plaintiffs over constitutional climate claims may be limited, but it could incite similar claims, says J. Michael Showalter and Robert Middleton at ArentFox Schiff.

  • How Tech Trackers May Implicate HIPAA After Hospital Ruling

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    A recent Texas federal court order in American Hospital Association v. Becerra adds a legal protection on key data, clarifying when tracking technologies implicate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, so organizations should ensure all technology used is known and accounted for, say John Howard and Myriah Jaworski at Clark Hill.

  • The Show Must Go On: Noncompete Uncertainty In Film, TV

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    The Federal Trade Commission has taken action to ban noncompetes while the entertainment industry is in the midst of a massive shift away from traditional media, so it is important for studio heads and content owners alike to understand the fate of the rule and their options going forward, say Christopher Chatham and Douglas Smith at Manatt.

  • A Refresher On Calculating Political Advertising Costs

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    With election season well underway, it is important for broadcasters, political candidates, time buyers and others concerned with how the cost of broadcast political advertising is determined to know what the Federal Communications Commission factors into lowest unit calculations, and how the commission has defined "commercial advertisers," says Gregg Skall at Telecommunications Law Professionals.

  • 'Outsourcing' Ruling, 5 Years On: A Warning, Not A Watershed

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    A New York federal court’s 2019 ruling in U.S. v. Connolly, holding that the government improperly outsourced an investigation to Deutsche Bank, has not undercut corporate cooperation incentives as feared — but companies should not completely ignore the lessons of the case, say Temidayo Aganga-Williams and Anna Nabutovsky at Selendy Gay.

  • Series

    Serving In The National Guard Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My ongoing military experience as a judge advocate general in the National Guard has shaped me as a person and a lawyer, teaching me the importance of embracing confidence, balance and teamwork in both my Army and civilian roles, says Danielle Aymond at Baker Donelson.

  • Big Business May Come To Rue The Post-Administrative State

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    Many have framed the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions overturning Chevron deference and extending the window to challenge regulations as big wins for big business, but sand in the gears of agency rulemaking may be a double-edged sword, creating prolonged uncertainty that impedes businesses’ ability to plan for the future, says Todd Baker at Columbia University.

  • Reading Between The Lines Of Justices' Moore Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Moore v. U.S. decision, that the Internal Revenue Code Section 965 did not violate the 16th Amendment, was narrowly tailored to minimally disrupt existing tax regimes, but the justices' various opinions leave the door open to future tax challenges and provide clues for what the battles may look like, say Caroline Ngo and Le Chen at McDermott.

  • Series

    After Chevron: A Sea Change For Maritime Sector

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    The shipping industry has often looked to the courts for key agency decisions affecting maritime interests, but after the U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright ruling, stakeholders may revisit important industry questions and coordinate to bring appropriate challenges and shape rulemaking, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Opinion

    Post-Chevron, Good Riddance To The Sentencing Guidelines

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of the Chevron doctrine may signal the end of the U.S. sentencing guidelines, which is good news given that they have accomplished the opposite of Congress’ original intent to bring certainty, proportionality and uniformity to sentencing, say attorneys Mark Allenbaugh, Doug Passon and Alan Ellis.

  • Opinion

    Proposed Terminal Disclaimers Rule Harms Colleges, Startups

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    Universities and startups are ill-suited to follow the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s recently proposed rule on terminal disclaimers due to their necessity of filing patent applications early prior to contacting outside entities for funds and resources, say attorneys at Sterne Kessler.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Impact On CFPB May Be Limited

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo is likely to have a limited impact on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's regulatory activities, and for those who value due process, consistency and predictability in consumer financial services regulation, this may be a good thing, says John Coleman at Orrick.

  • A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates

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    Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.

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