Public Policy

  • September 24, 2024

    EPA Finalizes HFC Leak And Recycling Rule

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued a final rule aimed at reducing hydrofluorocarbon leaks from large refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment, while establishing a new program to better manage and recycle the potent greenhouse gasses.

  • September 24, 2024

    Judge Won't Yet Set New Trial For AT&T Exec After Hung Jury

    An Illinois federal judge declined Tuesday to set a new bribery trial date for an AT&T executive accused of illegally influencing former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, saying he first wanted to take a "serious look" at the defense's forthcoming motion for acquittal after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict last week.

  • September 24, 2024

    Man In Mueller Report Asks DC Circ. To Revive Privacy Claim

    A Georgian American businessman named in special counsel Robert Mueller's report on 2016 Russian election interference has petitioned the D.C. Circuit for an en banc review of a panel's decision not to revive his Privacy Act damages claim related to supposed inaccuracies, arguing the panel erred in finding he had abandoned damages arguments.

  • September 24, 2024

    More Enrollment Wanted For Judges' Home Security, IG Says

    Amid the "complex" threat landscape for judges, the U.S. Marshals Service should do more to prompt federal judges to enroll in its home security program, a federal watchdog says in a report released Tuesday.

  • September 24, 2024

    Star Witness Against Bankman-Fried Gets 2 Years In FTX Case

    A Manhattan federal judge sentenced former cryptocurrency executive Caroline Ellison to two years in prison Tuesday, crediting her decision to testify against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried but saying the $11.2 billion fraud was too big to warrant a "get out of jail free card."

  • September 24, 2024

    Baker Donelson Adds Financial Services Expert In DC

    Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC has hired a new shareholder who started her 15-year legal career as an attorney adviser in the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Banking and Finance Division, the firm announced Tuesday.

  • September 24, 2024

    Treasury To Allow 3 AMT Transition Methods, Official Says

    Final rules on the new corporate alternative minimum tax are expected to adopt the proposed regulations' three ways for companies to transition to the regime, and the U.S. Treasury Department is open to other ways as well, a department official said Tuesday.

  • September 24, 2024

    Favre Parkinson's Reveal Overshadows Welfare Fraud Hearing

    Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre revealed he has Parkinson's disease during a congressional hearing on misuse of welfare funds, where he was overwhelmingly lauded and escaped tough questions about his alleged involvement in a sprawling Mississippi welfare scandal.

  • September 24, 2024

    CDC Defends Dog Import Ban As Needed Rabies-Fighting Tool

    The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged a Michigan federal court to deny hunting groups' efforts to lift an import ban on young dogs, saying the ban was crafted to prevent imports of rabies-infected dogs.

  • September 24, 2024

    8th Circ. Won't Revive Pot Shop's Discrimination Suit

    The Eighth Circuit won't reinstate discrimination and interference claims by a would-be cannabis distributor against a firm contracted to evaluate applicants for Arkansas' dispensary licenses, saying the complaint lacks specificity to support its claims.

  • September 24, 2024

    Insurer Wants Quick Appeal At 8th Circ. In DOL Tax Fight

    A health insurer will seek the Eighth Circuit's review after a federal judge refused to toss a suit from the U.S. Department of Labor claiming the company unlawfully took at least $66.8 million in Minnesota state tax liability from plans it administered to pay in-network providers.

  • September 24, 2024

    Pa. Panel Says County Must Tell Voters If Votes Are Tossed

    A Pennsylvania county violated voters' rights with a policy that prevented them from finding out if their mail-in ballots had been set aside as uncountable, a split state appellate panel ruled Tuesday.

  • September 24, 2024

    Sentencing For Sen. Menendez, 2 Associates Delayed 3 Mos.

    Former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and two businessmen will be sentenced in 2025 following the trio's conviction on bribery charges, according to a New York federal court order that pushed the dates back three months.

  • September 24, 2024

    8th Circ. Mulls Arkansas' Authority To Regulate Hemp

    An Eighth Circuit panel on Monday pushed attorneys for the state of Arkansas and a group of hemp companies to define precisely how much power states have to restrict the production and sale of intoxicating products derived from federally legal hemp.

  • September 24, 2024

    Senators Spar Over Abortion Bans Where 'Docs Play Lawyer'  

    Republican and Democratic senators on Tuesday grappled with whether some states' abortion bans conflict with a federal emergency care law and whether exceptions under those bans put doctors in situations where they must decide between a prison sentence or providing emergency stabilizing care. 

  • September 24, 2024

    Interior Dept. Awarding $24 Million For Ecosystem Projects

    The U.S. Department of the Interior on Monday said it's awarding about $24 million to boost 50 ecosystem restoration projects across 34 states and territories.

  • September 24, 2024

    SEC, CFTC Issue $118M Fines In Latest Text Message Actions

    Federal regulators said Tuesday that the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and nearly a dozen other financial firms have agreed to pay fines totaling nearly $120 million to settle recordkeeping violations tied to employee use of unapproved communication methods like text messages to conduct business.

  • September 23, 2024

    Calif. Schools To Limit Or Ban Cellphones Under New Law

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed into law a bill requiring Golden State school districts to limit or ban students from using smartphones during school hours in a bid to address mental health issues among the state's youth.

  • September 23, 2024

    Albertsons Says Wash. AG 'Cherry-Picked' Merger Fears

    Counsel for Albertsons accused Washington regulators Monday of cherry-picking comments from the grocer's CEO hyping Kroger as key competition to bolster the government's case for blocking the merger and overcame the state's objections to introduce emails where the CEO expressed fears about Costco, Walmart and Amazon's ever-expanding reach.

  • September 23, 2024

    Chamber Says X Ruling Boosts Bid To Nix Calif. Climate Laws

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the state of California have filed competing briefs on how a recent Ninth Circuit decision blocking parts of a social media law applies to the state's corporate climate disclosure rules, with the Chamber arguing the ruling reinforces how the latter violate the First Amendment.

  • September 23, 2024

    Google Executive Says There's No Internal Ad Tech Advantage

    A Google executive pushed back Monday on some of the U.S. Justice Department's most important allegations of a conflict of interest in the search giant's control over online display advertising placement technology, arguing that website publishers are in charge of how ads are placed and priced.

  • September 23, 2024

    Need To Bag Your Groceries? You Can Have Paper, Calif. Says

    California grocery stores won't be allowed to offer plastic bags of any kind in their checkout lines under a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom a day before the California Attorney General's Office on Monday accused Exxon Mobil Corp. of inundating the state with plastic waste.

  • September 23, 2024

    Smartmatic Can't Seek Punitive Damages In Newsmax Suit

    A Delaware Superior Court judge on Monday ruled that Smartmatic USA Corp. can't seek punitive damages in the defamation trial over unsubstantiated claims from Newsmax Media Inc. that the company's voting systems rigged the 2020 election, saying Smartmatic couldn't meet its burden to prove express malice.

  • September 23, 2024

    'Ghost Candidate' Testifies In Trial Against Ex-Fla. Sen.

    Attorneys for former Florida Senator Frank Artiles tried to poke holes Monday in witness Alex Rodriguez's credibility, painting him as a liar who was trying to scam Artiles instead of an unwitting participant in Artiles' scheme to prop him up as a "ghost candidate" to swing a state senate election to a Republican candidate.

  • September 23, 2024

    High Court Enviro Shadow Docket Could Diminish DC Circ.

    The U.S. Supreme Court's "shadow docket" is full of pleas from environmental rule opponents who want the justices to overturn D.C. Circuit rulings that allowed the regulations to go into effect, and recent history shows the challengers have some chance for success — but experts say the high court's willingness to step in at this stage risks diminishing lower courts' voices.

Expert Analysis

  • Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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.

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