Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Public Policy
-
October 02, 2024
Justices Asked To Short-Circuit Mass. Offshore Wind Project
Massachusetts residents are telling the U.S. Supreme Court it's the last hope for endangered North Atlantic right whales that were overlooked when the federal government approved a large offshore wind energy project in the waters off of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.
-
October 02, 2024
Georgia Moves To Appeal Ruling Against Abortion Ban
The Georgia Attorney General's office, as promised earlier this week, moved swiftly Tuesday to appeal a Fulton County judge's decision that struck down for the second time the state's so-called "heartbeat" abortion ban that prohibits most abortions after six weeks.
-
October 02, 2024
MSU Halted Paying Legal Bills After Critical Report, Firm Says
Michigan State University stopped paying outside counsel to defend its board of trustees chair after an investigative report appeared to support claims the chair bullied colleagues, the counsel said, filing a state complaint seeking two months' worth of fees.
-
October 02, 2024
Progressive Group Staffs Up For Judicial Nom Fights
With a little over a month until Election Day, a progressive organization announced a slate of new hires to prepare for judicial confirmation battles and fight for court reform on Wednesday.
-
October 02, 2024
Maine's First Female Federal Judge To Take Semiretired Status
U.S District Judge Nancy Torresen, the first woman to hold a federal judgeship in Maine, will take semiretired status next year.
-
October 02, 2024
SEC Enforcement Director Grewal To Depart
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Wednesday that enforcement director Gurbir Grewal will be leaving the agency next week, to be replaced for the time being by the division's current deputy director, Sanjay Wadhwa.
-
October 02, 2024
Justice Roberts Names Judicial Conference Committee Chairs
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has reshuffled the leadership of the U.S. Judicial Conference, naming five new committee chairs and extending the terms of five current chairs by one year.
-
October 02, 2024
DC Circ. Urged To Scrap EPA Mercury Rule For Coal Plants
States and industry groups fighting a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule curbing mercury and other toxic metal emissions at some coal-fired power plants told the D.C. Circuit it would impose exorbitant and unjustifiable costs for no public health benefit, and is actually aimed at forcing plants to retire to advance climate goals.
-
October 02, 2024
Cozen O'Connor Lobbying Shop Adds De Blasio Vet In NY
Cozen O'Connor Public Strategies, the international law firm's public affairs and lobbying arm, has grown with the addition of a veteran lobbyist who previously worked in New York City government, including with Mayor Bill de Blasio's office.
-
October 02, 2024
NYC Mayor Adams May Face More Charges, Feds Say
Prosecutors told a Manhattan federal judge Wednesday it was "possible" they would charge New York City Mayor Eric Adams with additional crimes in his corruption case, indicating they have evidence he told witnesses to lie to the FBI.
-
October 01, 2024
CFPB Warns On Collecting 'Invalid,' Unverified Medical Debt
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday cautioned debt collectors about significant potential compliance risks when working in the medical debt market, issuing guidance that identified a number of practices as illegal and capable of triggering "strict liability" under federal law.
-
October 01, 2024
Trump Cries Voter Interference As Immunity Brief Hits Docket
Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday slammed special counsel Jack Smith's bid to publicize some evidence in a voluminous filing over Trump's presidential immunity to election interference charges, reiterating allegations that it's a "politically motivated manifesto" aimed at influencing voters on the eve of the 2024 election.
-
October 01, 2024
From AI To Enviro: The Top Biz Bills Calif. Gov. Inked Into Law
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed hundreds of bills into law ahead of an Oct. 1 deadline, meaning major changes are on the horizon for employers, tech companies, healthcare providers and others doing business in the Golden State.
-
October 01, 2024
Oxygenation Doesn't Show Water Quality, Texas Justices Hear
Texas Supreme Court justices prodded the Save Our Springs Alliance's argument that a permit to release treated wastewater would degrade water quality, questioning whether the advocacy organization's argument that a drop in levels of dissolved oxygen shows water degradation during oral arguments Tuesday.
-
October 01, 2024
Bribe-Laundering Gets Ecuador Ex-Official 10 Years In Prison
A Florida federal judge on Tuesday sentenced Ecuador's former comptroller to 10 years in prison after a jury earlier this year convicted him on multiple counts related to laundering millions of dollars in bribe money he received in exchange for eliminating fines connected to a defective hydroelectric dam and other projects.
-
October 01, 2024
Data Brokers Decry 'Ill-Tailored' NJ Judicial Privacy Law
Data brokers such as Equifax, Thomson Reuters and Zillow urged a New Jersey federal judge Tuesday to toss a suit accusing them of violating Daniel's Law, arguing the state's judicial privacy measure is unconstitutionally broad and unevenly applied.
-
October 01, 2024
Lyft Beats NY Wheelchair Access, Disability Bias Class Action
A New York federal judge on Monday threw out a long-running class action alleging that Lyft fails to offer adequate wheelchair-accessible vehicle options for riders in the vast majority of its service regions, finding that the plaintiffs' proposed modifications for increasing accessibility aren't reasonable.
-
October 01, 2024
Calif. Tribe Can't Block 'Indian Blood' Certification Process
A D.C. federal judge has denied a preliminary injunction request by family members who seek control of the California Valley Miwok Tribe and want the U.S. Department of the Interior to stop using a "Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood" to determine who is eligible for enrollment.
-
October 01, 2024
Judge Backs Louisiana 340B Law In Loss For Pharma Lobby
A Louisiana federal court has issued a sweeping loss to Big Pharma's top lobbying group and two pharmaceutical companies that argued a state law improperly expands the scope of the federal drug discount program.
-
October 01, 2024
Woman Seeks Review Of Evals In BIA Sexual Assault Case
A Northern Cheyenne woman who was sexually assaulted by a Bureau of Indian Affairs officer is asking a Montana federal court for an in camera review of his psychological evaluation and presentencing report to determine whether the documents should be produced as impeachment evidence in the ongoing litigation over the government's liability.
-
October 01, 2024
Kroger Says Labor Costs Led To Price Hikes At Colo. Stores
A Kroger Co. pricing director testified Tuesday that the company raised prices at eight Colorado stores that have little competition in order to cover higher labor and operational costs in those mountain communities, during a trial in the state's bid to block the grocer's proposed $24.6 billion merger with Albertsons.
-
October 01, 2024
NJ Hotels Beat Room Price-Fixing Suit For Good
Another algorithmic antitrust suit is off the table after a New Jersey federal judge said Monday that a room-rate proposed class action against Atlantic City casino-hotels has the same failings that doomed a case over room prices on the Las Vegas Strip.
-
October 01, 2024
Judge Stays Calif. Locomotive Emissions Rule Challenge
A California federal judge halted litigation brought by rail industry groups challenging a regulation requiring railroads to transition to zero-emission locomotives in the Golden State over the next decade, finding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's upcoming authorization decision will greatly impact the case.
-
October 01, 2024
Nonprofit Finds Bad Patent 'Epidemic' Is Just A Myth
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is more likely to reject patent applications with valid claims than approve applications with invalid claims, according to a new report commissioned by former USPTO directors and Federal Circuit judges who were concerned about an alleged "epidemic" of bad patents.
-
October 01, 2024
University Can Keep Conduct Records, Texas Justices Hear
Texas Supreme Court Justices asked the University of Texas at Austin why it was trying to keep from releasing records of students who violated policies against violence and sex offenses during oral arguments Tuesday, saying that the category of students the university was protecting seemed the "least defensible."
Expert Analysis
-
Opinion
Bill Is Key To Protecting US Economy From Patent Piracy
It is critical that Congress pass a recently introduced bill that would protect U.S. investors from intellectual property theft by restoring court-ordered injunctions as the default remedy in patent infringement cases to ensure inventors get the justice they deserve, says Andrei Iancu at Sullivan & Cromwell.
-
Managing Sanctions Defense Across Multiple Jurisdictions
Companies called before multiple regulators to account for the same conduct in this era of increased global sanctions and import-control enforcement should consider national differences in law and policy, and proactively coordinate their responses in certain key areas, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.
-
Series
Colorado Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3
In the third quarter of 2024, Colorado's banking and financial services sector faced both regulatory updates and changes to state law due to recent federal court decisions — with consequences for local governments, mortgage lenders, state-chartered trust companies and federally chartered lenders serving Colorado consumers, says Sarah Auchterlonie at Brownstein Hyatt.
-
Building US-Japan Relationships In The M&A Market
The prospect of U.S.-Japanese mergers and acquisitions presents stronger competition to U.S. investors in the global M&A markets, while also opening up an additional exit route for sellers looking to offload strategic assets, says Nick Wall at A&O Shearman.
-
Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession
About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
-
4 Ways To Prepare For DOD Cyber Certification Rule
Given the U.S. Department of Justice's increased scrutiny of contractor compliance with cybersecurity requirements, it is critical that contractors take certain steps now in response to the U.S. Department of Defense's proposed Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification implementation rule, say Townsend Bourne and Lillia Damalouji at Sheppard Mullin.
-
FTC Focus: How Scrutiny Of PBMs And Insulin May Play Out
Should Express Scripts' recent judicial challenge to the Federal Trade Commission succeed, any new targets could add litigation and choice of forum to their playbooks, and potential FTC court action on insulin could be forced to parallel venues as the issues between the commission and PBMs evolve, say attorneys at Proskauer.
-
Opinion
AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys
The thing that’s so powerful about artificial intelligence is also what’s most scary about it — its ability to detect patterns may curtail young attorneys’ chance to practice the lower-level work of managing cases, preventing them from ever honing the pattern recognition skills that undergird creative lawyering, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.
-
A Look At How De Minimis Import Rules May Soon Change
The planned implementation of executive actions focused on the de minimis rule as it applies to shipments means companies should use this interval to evaluate the potential applicability and impact of Section 301, Section 201 or Section 232 duties on their products, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
-
Key Takeaways From DOJ's New Corp. Compliance Guidance
The U.S. Department of Justice’s updated guidance to federal prosecutors on evaluating corporate compliance programs addresses how entities manage new technology-related risks and expands on preexisting policies, providing key insights for companies about increasing regulatory expectations, say attorneys at Debevoise.
-
What's In The Cards For CFTC's Election Betting Case
A D.C. federal judge's Sept. 12 ruling, allowing KalshiEx to offer derivative contracts trading on the outcome of the U.S. congressional elections over objections from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, could mark a watershed moment in the permissibility of election betting if upheld on appeal, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.
-
What To Know About Latest Calif. Auto-Renewal Law Update
While businesses have about nine months to prepare before the recently passed amendment to California's automatic renewal law takes effect, it’s not too early to begin working on compliance efforts, including sign-up flow reviews, record retention updates and marketing language revisions, say Gonzalo Mon and Beth Chun at Kelley Drye.
-
The Key Changes In Revised FDIC Hiring Regulations
Attorneys at Ogletree break down the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s new rule, effective Oct. 1, that will ease restrictions on financial institutions hiring employees with criminal histories, amend the FDIC's treatment of minor offenses and clarify its stance on expunged or dismissed criminal records.
-
FDIC's Cautious Approach To Industrial Banks, Reaffirmed
Although the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. recently approved an industrial loan company's deposit insurance application and proposed new rules regarding parent companies, these developments do not represent a liberalization or modernization of the FDIC's regulatory framework, say Max Bonici and Andrew Bigart at Venable.
-
How Lucia, Jarkesy Could Affect Grocery Merger Challenge
While the Federal Trade Commission is taking a dual federal court and administrative tribunal approach to block Kroger's merger with Alberstons, Kroger's long-shot unconstitutionality claims could potentially lead to a reevaluation of the FTC's reliance on administrative processes in complex merger cases, say attorneys at Saul Ewing.