Public Policy

  • July 01, 2024

    High Court Test Could Reshape Ga. Trump Case, Experts Say

    The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that former President Donald Trump is immune from prosecution for official acts will likely reshape the criminal case against him in Georgia, although Peach State courts will have to grapple with how to test which of his alleged actions were official.

  • July 01, 2024

    TCPA Needs Update To Fight Scam Texts, FCC Chair Says

    If Congress wants the Federal Communications Commission to do more about scam texts, it should consider updating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act for the first time in more than 30 years to account for the changing times, the head of the agency has told members of the House.

  • July 01, 2024

    FCC Urged To Delay Broadcast Reporting Rule During Lawsuit

    Religious broadcasters and advocacy groups are urging the Federal Communications Commission to halt collection of workforce race and gender demographics at television and radio broadcasters while a challenge to a reinstated rule proceeds in the Fifth Circuit.

  • July 01, 2024

    Washington State, Tribes Can Wade Into Water Regs Dispute

    A D.C. federal judge said Washington state and five Native American tribes can intervene in a business group's lawsuit trying to overturn the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to reestablish water quality standards for the Evergreen State that it had rolled back during the Trump administration.

  • July 01, 2024

    Juror Didn't Taint Trial Before Removal, Colo. Justices Say

    The Colorado Supreme Court said Monday that a trial judge's rejection of a Black defendant's challenge to a juror for alleged racial bias did not infringe on the defendant's rights, according to a majority decision that concluded the error was harmless because the juror was ultimately sent home.

  • July 01, 2024

    Judge Partially Ends Flores Deal For Detained Migrant Kids

    A California federal judge has partially terminated the long-running Flores settlement governing detention conditions for immigrant children, giving the federal government the green light to partly replace the settlement with an April regulation.

  • July 01, 2024

    CFPB, Loan Trusts Push Back On PIMCO Deal Objections

    The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and multiple student loan trusts have urged a Pennsylvania federal judge to ignore objections from investment giant PIMCO to a proposed $5 million settlement of claims tied to alleged servicing violations by Pennsylvania's Higher Education Assistance Agency.

  • July 01, 2024

    Could Trump Get Jail In NY? We Dug Into 10 Years Of Data

    Donald Trump could well be sentenced to a prison term after a New York state jury found him guilty on 34 felony counts, according to criminal justice data showing that many New York defendants convicted of those crimes face incarceration.

  • July 01, 2024

    IRS Faces Rulemaking Pressure Following Chevron's Demise

    The Internal Revenue Service will likely face more pressure to develop tax regulations that are more firmly grounded in the law and tailored to ensure certainty for individuals, businesses and other organizations after the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision to overturn the decades-old Chevron doctrine.

  • July 01, 2024

    No Resolution In Sight For Trade Pact Auto Rules Dispute

    The U.S. automotive industry is weighed down by a trade dispute over treaty requirements to source locally manufactured parts and uncertainty regarding how the rules will apply to electric vehicles, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a report Monday.

  • July 01, 2024

    Colo. Justices To Mull If Xcel Is Immune From Injury Suits

    Colorado's justices announced Monday that they will consider whether a state-approved utility tariff governing Xcel's relationship with its customers can immunize the company from lawsuits about powerline injuries, including those brought by noncustomers.

  • July 01, 2024

    Ill., Northshore Say Anti-Vax Case Not About Religious Liberty

    A nurse working for a Northshore Health unit in Illinois should be permanently blocked from pursuing employment deprivation claims over her initial denial of a COVD-19 religious vaccine exemption, the health facility said, arguing she is using a state conscience law as a "sword" against COVID-19 protections. 

  • July 01, 2024

    School Supply Co. Seeks Duty Erasure For Pencil Imports

    A classroom supplies company urged the U.S. Court of International Trade to free its pencil imports from an anti-dumping duty on Chinese goods, saying U.S. trade officials mistakenly broadened the duty to include pencils made in the Philippines.

  • July 01, 2024

    How Broad Immunity Could Upend Trump's 4 Criminal Cases

    The U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision Monday that presidential immunity shields Donald Trump from criminal charges connected to his official acts creates a "nearly impossible burden" for the special counsel prosecuting Trump in the historic federal election interference case and complicates his other criminal matters, experts say.

  • July 01, 2024

    RNC, Arizona Lawmakers Can't Pause Voting Rights Order

    The Republican National Committee and two top Arizona lawmakers can't pause a decision that bars provisions of voting legislation from being enforced pending an appeal to the Ninth Circuit, an Arizona federal judge said Friday, while also determining that the state's Republican Party can't weigh in on the dispute.

  • July 01, 2024

    4th Circ. Hikes Damages In 'Unite The Right' Rally Suit

    The Fourth Circuit ruled Monday that Virginia's punitive damages cap must be applied on a per-plaintiff basis, reversing a federal district court ruling that had limited a nearly $24 million verdict against white supremacists accused of planning violence at the 2017 "Unite the Right" rally to a total of $350,000.

  • July 01, 2024

    Court Tosses Constitutional Challenge To Pot Prohibition

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Monday granted the U.S. Department of Justice's bid to dismiss a constitutional challenge to federal marijuana prohibition, delivering a blow to an effort brought by a group of cannabis companies represented by litigator David Boies.

  • July 01, 2024

    Enforcers Push Antitrust Agenda, Brace For Google Ruling

    The first half of 2024 was marked by U.S. antitrust enforcers' pursuit of groundbreaking cases alleging anticompetitive conduct.

  • July 01, 2024

    State AGs Get Stay Lifted In Generic Drug Pricing Litigation

    A Connecticut federal judge on Monday agreed to lift a partial discovery stay in a trio of generic drug pricing antitrust suits led by the attorneys general of New York and Connecticut, according to a short, text-only order posted to each of the case dockets.

  • July 01, 2024

    FCC Chief Floats Rules To Secure Emergency Alerts

    The Federal Communications Commission will consider new rules to beef up security of the nation's emergency alerts for broadcasts and mobile devices, which the agency says face increasing vulnerability.

  • July 01, 2024

    House Republicans Call For ACA Enrollment Probe

    Three House Republican committee chairs are asking government watchdogs to investigate Affordable Care Act enrollments after a third-party report alleged a significant number of Americans are fraudulently accessing low-income healthcare subsidies. 

  • July 01, 2024

    FCC Chief Says Time Right To Reexamine Bulk Billing In Apts.

    The Federal Communications Commission needs to consider establishing rules that would limit bulk billing deals for broadband service because its record on the issue is outdated, FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel told a Florida Democrat concerned that new rules could harm low-income consumers.

  • July 01, 2024

    DOL's Overtime Rule Survives Texas Marketer's Injunction Bid

    A Texas federal judge refused Monday to grant a marketing company's request to block a U.S. Department of Labor rule that raises the salary thresholds for claiming overtime-exemption under federal law, saying the firm failed to show it will be harmed by the new standards.

  • July 01, 2024

    EPA Inks Deal To Take Action On States' Haze Plans

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to take action on plan revisions submitted by more than 30 states aimed at curbing haze-forming air pollution, resolving environmental groups' claims the agency has unlawfully delayed approving or denying the various plan revisions.

  • July 01, 2024

    Commerce Bulks Up Chinese Pea Protein Duties To 355%

    The U.S. Department of Commerce announced final countervailing duties topping 355% for four Chinese makers of pea protein, while producers considered to be under government control will face anti-dumping duties approaching 270%.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Best Practices For Space Security In Our Connected World

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    NASA's recently published space security guide is another indication that cyber-resilience has become a global theme for the space and satellite sector, as well as a useful reference for companies and organizations reviewing their cybersecurity frameworks or looking to partner with the U.S. agency, says Hayley Blyth at Bird & Bird.

  • Opinion

    SEC Doesn't Have Legal Authority For Climate Disclosure Rule

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    Instead of making the required legal argument to establish its authority, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related disclosure rule hides behind more than 1,000 references to materiality to give the appearance that its rule is legally defensible, says Bernard Sharfman at RealClearFoundation.

  • What 100 Federal Cases Suggest About Changes To Chevron

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    With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn or narrow its 40-year-old doctrine of Chevron deference, a review of 100 recent federal district court decisions confirm that changes to the Chevron framework will have broad ramifications — but the magnitude of the impact will depend on the details of the high court's ruling, say Kali Schellenberg and Jon Cochran at LeVan Stapleton.

  • FTC Noncompete Rule May Still Face Historical Hurdles

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    The Federal Trade Commission's final rule banning noncompetes might face challenges that could have been avoided with more cautious consideration of the commission's long history of failed lawsuits that went beyond the agency's statutory authority, as well as the mountain of judicial precedent justifying noncompete agreements in employment contracts, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • A Look At Subchapter V As Debt Limit Expiration Looms

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    If proposed legislation to extend Subchapter V’s debt eligibility ceiling sunset date in June is passed, bankruptcy professionals can seek ways to work with their local jurisdictions to advocate for code changes and guidance that bring more efficiencies and clarity to the process, say Matthew Brash at Newpoint Advisors and Melinda Bennett at Stretto.

  • Opinion

    SEC Should Be Allowed To Equip Investors With Climate Info

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule to require more climate-related disclosures will provide investors with much-needed clarity, despite opponents' attempts to challenge the rule with misused legal arguments, say Sarah Goetz at Democracy Forward and Cynthia Hanawalt at Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change.

  • 8 Fla. Statutes That Construction Cos. Should Prepare For

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    In this article, Jason Lambert at Hill Ward discusses a number of recent bills out of the Florida Legislature targeting construction companies in the Sunshine State that have been sent to the governor for signature, at least some of which will have broad impacts that affected companies should prepare for ahead of the July 1 effective date.

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