Public Policy

  • September 24, 2024

    Cat In The Hat, 'Trashy' Books Mulled In Redo Of Library Row

    The full Fifth Circuit on Tuesday pressed a group of library patrons on whether Texas libraries already routinely engage in viewpoint discrimination through the process of weeding out outdated or unpopular library books during a lengthy discussion of hypotheticals surrounding The Cat in the Hat and the books that 19th-century Americans considered "trashy."

  • September 24, 2024

    3 Takeaways From Gensler's Big Day Before The House

    U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler appeared before the U.S. House of Representative for potentially the last time on Tuesday, where he stuck up for his agency's actions in the crypto space and hinted at the possible revival of share buyback rules.

  • September 24, 2024

    DC Judge Rebuffs Trump's Bid To Delay Immunity Briefing

    The District of Columbia federal judge overseeing the election interference case against former President Donald Trump on Tuesday shot down his "new and sundry" efforts to push back briefing on the issue of presidential immunity, allowing the government to file a lengthy brief on the issue and remarking that this "is simply how litigation works."

  • September 24, 2024

    Calif. Gov.'s Emergency Hemp Intoxicant Ban Wins Approval

    California retailers are no longer allowed to sell hemp products containing tetrahydrocannabinol after the Golden State's Office of Administrative Law on Monday approved Gov. Gavin Newsom's emergency ban, a move a leading hemp trade group has vowed to challenge.

  • September 24, 2024

    Red States Back Florida In CWA Permit Program Fight

    Nineteen red states have told the D.C. Circuit in a friends of the court brief that it should restore Florida's power to administer a Clean Water Act permitting program for dredging approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency but nixed by a D.C. federal judge.

  • September 24, 2024

    Eighth Circ. Poised To Weigh FCC's Anti-Redlining Rule

    The Federal Communications Commission is headed to court in St. Louis this week to defend new rules aimed at preventing discrimination in broadband deployment as industry groups opposing the rules fret that enforcement could begin any time.

  • September 24, 2024

    Texas Fair Gun Ban Stands, State Appeals Court Says

    A Texas appeals court has rejected Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's bid for emergency relief prohibiting the State Fair of Texas from enforcing its new policy banning firearms on fairgrounds, handing the state a loss in a Tuesday order and keeping the ban in place ahead of the fair's opening Friday.

  • September 24, 2024

    Google Expert Targets DOJ's Ad Tech 'Mistakes And Omissions'

    A Nobel Economics Prize-winning auctions expert on Tuesday criticized the U.S. Justice Department's monopolization case targeting Google's online advertising placement technology, telling a Virginia federal court that it was based on a fundamental misunderstanding of how the allegedly harmful auctions work.

  • September 24, 2024

    Cox Sues RI Over Use Of Broadband Deployment Dollars

    Cox Communications is suing the state of Rhode Island over its plan for using federal Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment Program funding, saying in a new complaint that the plan uses "flawed internet speed data" to justify providing redundant high-speed service in affluent areas that are already well-connected.

  • September 24, 2024

    DC Circ. Open To Industry Challenge To TSCA Reporting Rule

    A D.C. Circuit panel on Tuesday seemed receptive to two trade associations' challenge to new federal regulations aimed at increasing Toxic Substances Control Act transparency, pressing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on a facet of the rule that opponents say would lead confidential chemical information to be divulged.

  • September 24, 2024

    Neb. Advocates Bash Effort To Upend Medical Cannabis Vote

    Marijuana advocates are urging a Nebraska state judge to toss a lawsuit aiming to block state residents from voting on measures that could legalize medical cannabis and establish a state regulatory system, calling the suit a baseless attack on the "integrity, credibility, and accuracy of Nebraska's election officials."

  • September 24, 2024

    1st Circ. Affirms Tossing Of IRS Crypto Doc Seizure Case

    A New Hampshire federal court correctly dismissed a bitcoin investor's claim that the IRS violated his privacy and property rights when it seized his records from the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, the First Circuit ruled Tuesday, agreeing that he lacked a reasonable expectation that his account information would be kept private.

  • September 24, 2024

    Conn. Officials Want Nursing School Students' Claims Nixed

    Pointing to the state's interests in regulating professions and the principle of sovereign immunity, Connecticut officials accused of "overreach" for withholding licenses from students at a shuttered nursing school say a federal judge must dismiss proposed class claims by affected students.

  • September 24, 2024

    Texas AG, County Officials Spar Over Voter Registration Suits

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is urging a federal judge to send his lawsuits challenging two counties' voter registration initiatives back to state courts, emphasizing that his office has learned one county sent an unsolicited registration application to a person who died more than 40 years ago.

  • September 24, 2024

    Novo Nordisk Tells Sens. Ozempic Costs Are Linked To PBMs

    Novo Nordisk's CEO argued Tuesday that the high prices of the company's diabetes and weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy primarily stem from the actions of pharmacy benefit managers, earning support from many members of a Senate committee and frustrating others who wanted more direct answers on the Danish drugmaker's own responsibilities.

  • September 24, 2024

    NLRB Office Signs Off On Near $450K Deal With Musk Brother

    A Colorado nonprofit co-founded by Elon Musk's brother settled a union's unfair labor practice claims for close to $450,000, according to a National Labor Relations Board announcement Tuesday, with the organization agreeing to pay thousands to laid-off workers and make supervisors undergo federal labor law training.

  • September 24, 2024

    Dish Owner Tells FCC Device Unlocking Good For Competition

    Dish and its parent company EchoStar are leaning on the Federal Communications Commission to finalize requirements that mobile providers unlock a customer's device within 60 days of them signing up, so they can change carriers if they want.

  • September 24, 2024

    Justices' Immunity Ruling Could Foil Trump Charges, Sens. Told

    The U.S. Supreme Court's prohibition on judges considering a former president's motive when deciding if an act is official and therefore protected from criminal prosecution may present one of the biggest roadblocks in the criminal cases filed against Donald Trump, a former U.S. Department of Justice attorney told lawmakers Tuesday.

  • September 24, 2024

    Mich. Justices Wonder If Pot Smell's Strength Justifies Search

    Michigan's Supreme Court asked Tuesday whether a whiff of marijuana can justify searching a vehicle now that the drug is legal in the state, with one justice claiming his nose can distinguish between stale smells and more recent use, which could indicate impaired driving or illicit public consumption.

  • September 24, 2024

    Ala. Can Enforce Own Interstate Clean Air Plan, 11th Circ. Told

    Alabama told an Eleventh Circuit panel Tuesday that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency overstepped its authority when denying the state's plan to implement rules limiting harmful interstate emissions under the Clean Air Act, saying the law gives states the "primary" authority to combat air pollution.

  • September 24, 2024

    Haitian Group Seeks Criminal Charges Against Trump And Vance

    A Haitian advocacy organization filed an affidavit Tuesday seeking criminal prosecution of former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, for their false claims that Haitian immigrants are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, that have "wreaked havoc" on the city.

  • September 24, 2024

    11th Circ. Unleashes Swarm Of 'Hypos' In Fla. Pronoun Case

    An Eleventh Circuit panel on Tuesday peppered attorneys with hypothetical scenarios as they attempted to hammer out the bounds of public school teachers' free speech protections in the classroom, in a case by transgender and nonbinary Florida educators that could ultimately affect other state employees.

  • September 24, 2024

    Md. Says Shipowner Liable For $2B Baltimore Bridge Rebuild

    Maryland said the owner and manager of the cargo ship that slammed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge must be held liable for the estimated $1.7 billion cost of rebuilding the bridge, claiming Tuesday that their negligence has caused "grievous impact" to Marylanders, the environment and the regional economy.

  • September 24, 2024

    FAA Chief Updates House Panel On Boeing Safety Culture Fix

    The Federal Aviation Administration's chief told a House panel Tuesday that the agency has "dramatically" increased its oversight of Boeing, as lawmakers raised concerns about the pace of Boeing's safety culture overhaul amid an ongoing labor dispute with 33,000 workers.

  • September 24, 2024

    Ga. Election Board To Investigate Voter Eligibility Challenges

    Georgia's increasingly tendentious State Election Board voted this week to open investigations into a handful of counties over their handling of voter registration challenges, at the urging of conservative activists who told the board that local election officials have ignored their calls for ineligible voters to be stricken from the rolls.

Expert Analysis

  • Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles

    Author Photo

    Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.

  • How NJ Temp Equal Pay Survived A Constitutional Challenge

    Author Photo

    The Third Circuit recently gave the New Jersey Temporary Workers' Bill of Rights a new lease on life by systematically dismantling multiple theories of the act's unconstitutionality brought by staffing agencies hoping to delay their new equal pay and benefits obligations, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

  • Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World

    Author Photo

    After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.

  • Opinion

    CFPB's AI Stance Backslides On Innovation Issues

    Author Photo

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent response to a Treasury Department's request for information about artificial intelligence in the financial services sector uses alarmist rhetoric about the technology's risks, ceding an opportunity to help shape this important discussion, says Mike Silver at Husch Blackwell.

  • Strategies To Defend Against Healthcare Nuclear Verdicts

    Author Photo

    The healthcare industry is increasingly the target of megaclaims, particularly those alleging medical malpractice, but attorneys representing providers can use a few tools to push back on flimsy litigation and reduce the likelihood of a nuclear verdict, says LaMar Jost at Wheeler Trigg.

  • 5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond

    Author Photo

    As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.

  • Opinion

    Portland's Gross Receipts Tax Oversteps City's Authority

    Author Photo

    Recent measures by Portland, Oregon, that expand the voter-approved scope of the Clean Energy Surcharge on certain retail sales eviscerate the common meaning of the word "retail" and exceed the city's chartered authority to levy tax, say Nikki Dobay at Greenberg Traurig and Jeff Newgard at Peak Policy.

  • Series

    After Chevron: SEC Climate And ESG Rules Likely Doomed

    Author Photo

    Under the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Loper Bright, without agency deference, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure and environmental, social and governance rules would likely be found lacking in statutory support and vacated by the courts, says Justin Chretien at Carlton Fields.

  • NYC Wage Info Bill Highlights Rise In Pay Transparency Laws

    Author Photo

    With New York City the latest to mull requiring companies to annually report employee wage data, national employers should consider adapting their compliance practices to comply with increasingly common pay transparency and disclosure obligations at state and local levels, says Kelly Cardin at Littler Mendelson.

  • Assessing Whether Jarkesy May Limit FINRA Prosecutions

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Jarkesy v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, holding that civil securities fraud defendants are entitled to jury trials, may cause unpredictable results when applied to Financial Industry Regulatory Authority prosecutions, say Barry Temkin and Kate DiGeronimo at Mound Cotton.

  • The Bank Preemption Ripple Effects After Cantero, Flagstar

    Author Photo

    The importance of federal preemption for financial institutions will only increase as technology-driven innovations evolve, which is why the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Cantero v. Bank of America and vacatur of Kivett v. Flagstar Bank have real modern-day significance for national banks, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Examining Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Of AI Inventions

    Author Photo

    In light of U.S. Patent and Trademark Office data showing that patent applications for artificial intelligence inventions are likelier to get rejected based on patent-ineligible subject matter, inventors seeking protection should be aware of the difficulties and challenges pertaining to patent eligibility, say Georgios Effraimidis at NERA and Joel Lehrer at Goodwin.

  • Series

    Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.

  • What Cos. Need to Know About Battery Labeling Law

    Author Photo

    With new labeling requirements for button cell battery packaging taking effect in September, manufacturers and importers must review compliance, testing procedures, and necessary paperwork as the consequences of noncompliance can lead to costly penalties and supply chain woes, says Aasheesh Shravah at CM Law.

  • What Drug Cos. Must Know About NY Price Transparency Law

    Author Photo

    Drug manufacturers must understand the contours of New York's recently implemented law requiring self-reporting of drug price increases, as well as best practices for compliance and challenges against similar laws in other states, say Elizabeth Bierut and Angie Garcia at Friedman Kaplan.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Public Policy archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!