Public Policy

  • August 13, 2024

    Tort Report: Disney Blasted For 'Absurd' Arbitration Bid

    A Disney unit's unconventional bid to arbitrate a wrongful death suit and a hefty crash suit verdict out of California lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

  • August 13, 2024

    Shipping Co.'s Cleaning Services Taxable, Wash. Court Affirms

    A Washington state court properly denied a shipping company's request for a refund of sales tax paid on cleaning services for its shipping containers because the containers weren't integral to the ships' use, a state appellate court affirmed.

  • August 13, 2024

    Developing Countries Defend 3-Year Deadline For UN Tax Pact

    Three years is enough time to finish writing a United Nations framework convention on international tax cooperation, Brazil, India, Nigeria and other developing countries said Tuesday in defense of a proposed timeline that was criticized by Canada, the U.S. and France.

  • August 13, 2024

    DC Circ. Backs EPA's Ethylene Oxide Cancer Risk Value

    The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday upheld federal environmental regulators' assessment of the cancer risk from exposure to certain chemical manufacturers' ethylene oxide emissions, rejecting a challenge from a chemical company and two chemical associations that argued the risk assessment was arbitrary and capricious.

  • August 13, 2024

    NLRB Prosecutors, Mich. AG Ink Labor Enforcement Pact

    National Labor Relations Board prosecutors have teamed up with the Michigan Department of Attorney General to root out misclassification and other violations of workers' rights in the agency's first collaboration with a state attorney general, the board announced Tuesday.

  • August 13, 2024

    Ex-Prosecutors Back Willis In Trump's Appeal Of DQ Ruling

    Former federal prosecutors and others have thrown their support behind the State of Georgia, arguing that a trial court was right to let Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis continue prosecuting former President Donald Trump and others after a former outside counsel with whom she had a relationship resigned.

  • August 13, 2024

    DOJ Says Law Bars All River Structures In Texas Buoy Row

    The Biden administration criticized Texas' "cribbed reading" of the Rivers and Harbors Act in its suit to make Texas remove a border barrier in the Rio Grande, saying the law bars all unauthorized structures in the river — even those that haven't been built yet.

  • August 13, 2024

    3 International Trade Cases To Watch: Midyear Report

    The Federal Circuit is on track to issue its final word in challenges to duties on Chinese products and a lumber dispute seeking the court's guidance despite an ongoing trade pact arbitration, while the World Trade Organization's dispute tribunal is hashing out Brussels' beef over Colombia's tariffs on frozen french fries. Here, Law360 highlights three cases to watch during the second half of this year.

  • August 13, 2024

    Eversource Hit With $450M Suit Over Fatal Gas Explosion

    The family of a Massachusetts man who died in a 2021 natural gas explosion caused by a corroded and leaking pipe says utility provider Eversource put profits ahead of public safety, according to a wrongful death suit filed Tuesday that seeks $450 million in damages.

  • August 13, 2024

    EPA Defends Approval Of La. Injection Well Authority

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday urged the Fifth Circuit to dismiss a lawsuit by green groups challenging the EPA's decision to give Louisiana authority over some underground injection wells, which can be used for carbon capture and sequestration.

  • August 13, 2024

    The Top Immigration Cases Of 2024 So Far

    The U.S. Supreme Court handed down 2024’s biggest immigration rulings so far, including greenlighting a two-step removal notice scheme, barring U.S. citizens from challenging spousal visa denials and opening up hardship determinations to judicial review. Here, Law360 looks back at the year's four most consequential court decisions for immigration.

  • August 13, 2024

    Ex-Rep. Santos Warned Not To Hide Evidence As Trial Nears

    A New York federal judge cautioned former U.S. Rep. George Santos on Tuesday that failing to turn over discovery could box in his defense to allegations of campaign finance fraud and other criminal charges at a trial set to begin next month.

  • August 13, 2024

    Connecticut Justices Restore City's Lien On Burned Building

    The city of Hartford can place a lien on an apartment building that was heavily damaged in an arson fire to make sure that it recoups the funds that paid for 39 families to relocate, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in overturning a trial court's decision to discharge the lien.

  • August 13, 2024

    North Dakota Officials OK Pot Legalization Ballot Measure

    North Dakota voters will have another opportunity to legalize adult-use marijuana on Election Day this November after state officials said that reformers had submitted enough signatures to qualify the question for the ballot.

  • August 12, 2024

    RFK Jr.'s 'Sham' Address Keeps Him Off NY Ballot, Court Says

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s petition to appear as an independent presidential candidate on New York's ballot is invalid because he claimed a false address, an Albany judge ruled Monday, calling it a "sham" address that he used to maintain his voter registration in the state.

  • August 12, 2024

    Texas Wants Debt Relief Review In Wake Of 8th Circ. Ruling

    Texas' solicitor general on Saturday pressed the U.S. Supreme Court to shut down the Biden administration's student debt relief plan, arguing that a recent Eighth Circuit decision granting an injunction against the plan in a similar case "underscores" why the high court should grant its petition for certiorari.

  • August 12, 2024

    Museum Returns 150-Year-Old Press To Cherokee Nation

    A nearly century-and-a-half-old printing press used to publish a newspaper in the Cherokee language is now in the hands of the descendants of its Indigenous owners following yearslong, voluntary repatriation talks between the city of Tulsa and the Cherokee Nation to return the machine. 

  • August 12, 2024

    Cannabis Advocates Drop Lawsuit Against Mich. Town

    A cannabis entrepreneur and local developers have agreed to end a lawsuit against a Michigan township that claimed the municipality's leaders blocked them from opening a marijuana dispensary.

  • August 12, 2024

    FTC Seeks To Undo Trimming Of Walmart Money Transfer Suit

    The Federal Trade Commission has urged an Illinois federal judge to walk back a previous decision that threw out much of its suit accusing Walmart of facilitating fraud through its money transfer services, arguing its now-dismissed claims about the retail giant were held to an overly exacting standard.

  • August 12, 2024

    Groups Call On IHS To End Amalgam Use On Tribal Lands

    A consortium of groups, including Consumers for Dental Choice and the International Indian Treaty Council, are calling on the U.S. Indian Health Service and other governments to immediately stop using mercury-containing dental fillings on Native Americans.

  • August 12, 2024

    Gun Rights Group Drops Suit Challenging Colo. Magazine Ban

    A Colorado federal judge dismissed a gun rights group's lawsuit challenging a state ban on "large capacity" magazines after the parties agreed to walk away from the suit on Monday.

  • August 12, 2024

    FCC Looks To Require Better Cable, Phone Customer Service

    The Federal Communications Commission may soon seek to impose new customer services rules on phone, cable and broadband providers, including making it easier for subscribers to cancel their accounts.

  • August 12, 2024

    Calif. Tribe Loses Bid To Overturn BIA's Organization Rule

    The U.S. Department of the Interior's decision to expand the group eligible to participate in the California Valley Miwok Tribe's organization was not arbitrary and capricious, a D.C. federal judge ruled Monday, saying the government made reasonable efforts to ensure the process was open to the entire tribe.

  • August 12, 2024

    Top 4 Trade Policy Developments Of 2024: Midyear Report

    International trade continued its ascent as a national security and industrial policy tool this year, including through new sanctions aimed at isolating Russia, updated tariffs on Chinese goods, new solar import policies and an expanded definition of unfair subsidies. Here, Law360 takes a look back at the top trade policy developments of 2024 so far.

  • August 12, 2024

    US Seeks To Omit Fair Split Of Tax Rights From UN Tax Pact

    The U.S. government proposed on Monday dropping the fair allocation of taxing rights as a principle to guide negotiators on the United Nations framework convention on international tax cooperation, saying that the agenda risks duplication, but the organization's African bloc and others opposed its move.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    After Chevron: Slowing Down AI In Medical Research

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision overturning the Chevron doctrine may inhibit agencies' regulatory efforts, potentially slowing down the approval and implementation of artificial intelligence-driven methodologies in medical research, as well as regulators' responses to public health emergencies, say Ragini Acharya and Matthew Deutsch at Husch Blackwell.

  • Opinion

    Conception Is The Proper Test For AI-Assisted Inventions

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office should adopt the conception standard for reviewing AI-assisted inventions, and require the disclosure of artificial intelligence prompts and responses because they are material to patentability, which would then simplify the patent examiner’s invention decision, says Thomas Hamlin at Robins Kaplan.

  • A Closer Look At New SDNY And EDNY Local Rules

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    New local rules in the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York went into effect earlier this month, and include both stylistic changes to make legal writing more accessible, and substantive changes to make processes and filings more efficient, say Andrew Van Houter and Jennifer Montan at Faegre Drinker.

  • Avoiding Legal Ethics Landmines In Preindictment Meetings

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    U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez's recent bribery conviction included obstruction charges based on his former lawyer's preindictment presentation to prosecutors, highlighting valuable lessons on the legal ethics rules implicated in these kinds of defense presentations, say Steve Miller and Hilary Gerzhoy at HWG.

  • Series

    Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Uncertainty In Scope Of ITC Oversight

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    The U.S. International Trade Commission's long-standing jurisprudence on some of the most disputed and controversial issues is likely to be reshaped by the Federal Circuit, which is no longer bound by Chevron deference in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision, say Kecia Reynolds and Madeleine Moss at Paul Hastings.

  • Half-Truths Vs. Omissions: Slicing Justices' Macquarie Cake

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Macquarie v. Moab provides a road map for determining whether corporate reports that omit information should be considered misleading — and the court baked it into a dessert analogy that is key to understanding the guidelines, say Daniel Levy and Pavithra Kumar at Advanced Analytical Consulting Group.

  • FDA's Multifaceted Role On Display In MDMA Therapy Scrutiny

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    Ongoing deliberations at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding MDMA-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder serves as a window into the intricate balance of scientific innovation and patient safety oversight, and offers crucial insights into regulatory nuances, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell and Kevin Lanzo at Pharmaka Clinical Consulting.

  • Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity

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    The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • Preparing For Increased Scrutiny Of Tech Supply Chains

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    The U.S. Department of Commerce's recent action prohibiting sales of a Russia-based technology company's products in the U.S. is the first determination under the information technology supply chain rule, and signals plans to increase enforcement of protections that target companies in designated foreign adversary jurisdictions, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Chevron's End Puts Target On CFPB's Aggressive BNPL Rule

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    A recent interpretative rule by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, subjecting buy-now, pay-later loans to the same regulations as credit cards, is unlikely to survive post-Chevron challenges of the rule's partisan and shaky logic, say Scott Pearson and Bryan Schneider at Manatt.

  • Boeing Plea Deal Is A Mixed Bag, Providing Lessons For Cos.

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    The plea deal for conspiracy to defraud regulators that Boeing has tentatively agreed to will, on the one hand, probably help the company avoid further reputational damage, but also demonstrates to companies that deferred prosecution agreements have real teeth, and that noncompliance with DPA terms can be costly, says Edmund Vickers at Red Lion Chambers.

  • Keeping Up With Carbon Capture Policy In The US And EU

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    Recent regulatory moves from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the European Commission in the carbon capture, sequestration and storage space are likely to further encourage the owners and operators of fossil fuel-fired power plants to make decisions on shutdowns or reconfiguration to meet the expanding requirements, say Inosi Nyatta and Silvia Brünjes at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • New State Climate Liability Laws: What Companies Must Know

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    New legislation in Vermont and New York creating liability and compliance obligations for businesses deemed responsible for climate change — as well as similar bills proposed in California, Massachusetts and Maryland — have far-reaching implications for companies, so it is vital to remain vigilant as these initiatives progress, say Gregory Berlin and Jeffrey Dintzer at Alston & Bird.

  • EU Investor-State Dispute Transparency Rules: Key Points

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    The European Union's recent vote to embrace greater transparency for investor-state arbitration will make managing newly public information more complex for all parties in a dispute — so it is important for stakeholders to understand the risks and opportunities involved, say Philip Hall, Tara Flores and Charles McKeon at Thorndon Partners.

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