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Public Policy
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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."
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October 01, 2024
Judge Says Texas Election Law Provision Is Unconstitutional
A Texas federal judge has struck down part of a controversial Texas election law after a six-week bench trial in a decision that Attorney General Ken Paxton vowed to immediately try to block.
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October 01, 2024
Activists Sue Ark. Officials Over Medical Pot Ballot Measure
Activists attempting to put a measure that would expand medical marijuana access in Arkansas on the ballot brought a lawsuit against John Thurston, the state's secretary of state, on Tuesday, one day after he said that the campaign did not have enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
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October 01, 2024
Google Ad Tech Trial: 15 Days On The Rocket Docket
The Justice Department wrapped an extraordinary antitrust trial last week that left a Virginia federal judge pondering whether Google is even dominant in the display advertising placement technology market or just another player.
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October 01, 2024
Mich. Court Says It Can't Force Gov't To Speed Up U-Visas
A Michigan federal judge dismissed a proposed class action from U-visa petitioners who sued over government processing delays, saying federal courts lack power to force the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to process visas in a required time frame.
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October 01, 2024
EPA Can't Justify Water Permitting Rule, La. Judge Told
Republican-led states and industry groups fired back at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's defense of its rule broadening states' and tribes' power to veto infrastructure projects over water quality concerns, telling a Louisiana federal judge it goes against what Congress intended with the Clean Water Act.
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October 01, 2024
Phone 'Tax' For FCC Programs Unconstitutional, Justices Told
Groups challenging the Federal Communications Commission's universal service system urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to throw out the program's funding base, arguing it amounts to an illegal tax on consumers.
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October 01, 2024
Feds Didn't Consider Gold Mine's Full Impact, Judge Says
The federal government didn't realistically study the potential spill risks associated with a large open-pit gold mine when it approved the project, an Alaskan federal judge has said, arguing the Army Corps of Engineers erred in concluding that a catastrophic event is a "worst case" scenario in its environmental analysis.
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October 01, 2024
Texas Loses Bid To Block Residency Over Use Of Benefits
A Texas federal judge has dismissed the state's lawsuit challenging a Biden administration decision to upend a Trump-era rule blocking permanent residency for immigrants who use certain public benefits, finding Texas lacked standing because it didn't show the upending would lead to an increase in immigration or related costs.
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October 01, 2024
Binance GC Is Building The Firm's Future, One Atty At A Time
Binance general counsel Eleanor Hughes says she inherited "probably one of the most stressful situations a lawyer can face" when she entered her role as the company negotiated a $4.3 billion settlement with U.S. authorities, but since then her focus has been on building the right team to guide the firm's compliance forward.
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October 01, 2024
Verdict Stands In Fifth Third Bank Cash Advance Suit
An Ohio federal judge refused to override a jury's verdict that Fifth Third Bank breached its contracts with the class of borrowers who participated in its Early Access loan program, and also said he would not order a partial new trial for the borrowers after that same jury denied them damages.
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October 01, 2024
Ga. Industrial Fire Ignites Slew Of Suits From Residents
As a chlorine plant about 20 miles outside of Atlanta continues to belch chemical fumes into the skies in the aftermath of an industrial fire, the company that owns the facility was hit with proposed class actions Monday from residents who say the disaster is already causing dangerous health problems.
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October 01, 2024
DOJ Says It Is Constitutional To Disarm Pot Patients
The U.S. Department of Justice told a Pennsylvania federal judge Tuesday that a federal policy barring medical marijuana patients from lawfully possessing firearms is constitutional, and it urged the court to dismiss a legal challenge to the statute.
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October 01, 2024
Ga. Must Go 'Wheels Up' On Vote Certification, Judge Says
A Georgia state judge signaled Tuesday that a new rule from the State Election Board that directs local election officials to conduct "reasonable inquiries" into voting irregularities doesn't relieve them of their obligation to certify results within the state's mandated time frame.
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October 01, 2024
First Marshall Fire Trial To Decide Liability For All Plaintiffs
A Colorado state judge ruled Monday that the first trial in consolidated lawsuits against Xcel Energy and telecom companies for damages related to a 2021 wildfire will decide liability for all plaintiffs unless they show a good reason to opt-out.
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October 01, 2024
Feds Can't Ditch Trimmed Asylum Seekers' Suit Over CBP App
A California federal judge trimmed Monday a proposed class action challenging the federal government's requirement that asylum seekers use a smartphone app to submit applications, tossing an Alien Tort Statute claim and narrowing the scope of injunctive relief sought, but keeping the bulk of the Administrative Procedures Act fight alive.
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October 01, 2024
Tennessee Judge Affirms TVA-Approved Gas Turbine Project
A Tennessee federal judge rejected the Sierra Club's challenge of an environmental assessment that the Tennessee Valley Authority completed to install new gas combustion turbines at one of its existing facilities in the Volunteer State.
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October 01, 2024
TikTok Petitions 3rd Circ. To Review Section 230 Ruling
TikTok asked for another crack in the Third Circuit on Tuesday, requesting an en banc rehearing of the appeals court's decision holding that its "For You Page" algorithm doesn't enjoy Section 230 immunity and reviving a suit accusing the app of recommending a "blackout challenge" that led to a 10-year-old's death.
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October 01, 2024
EBay Beats Gov't Claims Over Sale Of Polluting Products
A New York federal judge Monday tossed a government lawsuit accusing eBay Inc. of hawking illegal automotive, paint removal and pesticide products, holding that the e-commerce giant does not meet the definition of a "seller" and has Section 230 immunity as a publisher of third-party content.
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October 01, 2024
Ind. Tax Court Backs Use Of Old Burden-Shifting Statute
An Indiana assessor must provide evidence to back up a property's nearly $2 million valuation because the assessment occurred under a statute shifting the burden of proof to assessors if valuations increased over a certain threshold, the state's tax court said.
Expert Analysis
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Presidents And Precedents May Direct Khan's Future Course
While the Sept. 25 technical expiration of Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan's term demands no immediate action, it does invite an analysis of commission policy and post-election possibilities, says Axinn's Richard Dagen, a former FTC official.
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SEC Settlement Holds Important Pay-To-Play Lessons
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent fine of an investment adviser, whose new hire made a campaign contribution within a crucial lookback period, is a seasonable reminder for public fund managers to ensure their processes thoroughly screen all associates for even minor violations of the SEC’s strict pay-to-play rule, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.
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What's In Colorado's 1st-Of-Its-Kind Neural Privacy Law
Colorado recently became the first U.S. state to directly regulate neurotechnology with new legislation amending the Colorado Privacy Act to specifically protect biological and neural data, offering an example of how lawmakers can tackle the perceived regulation gaps in this area, say attorneys at Goodwin.
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What To Expect From Calif. Bill Regulating PE In Healthcare
A California bill currently awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom's approval, intended to increase oversight over private equity and hedge fund investments in healthcare, is emblematic of recent increased scrutiny of investments in the space, and may affect transactions and operations in California in a number of ways, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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7 Takeaways For Companies After Justices' Bribery Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Snyder v. U.S. decision this summer, holding that a federal law does not criminalize after-the-fact gratuities made to public officials, raises some key considerations for companies that engage with state, local and tribal governments, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.
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Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners
Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners — though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.
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Series
After Chevron: Courts Will Still Defer To Feds On Nat'l Security
Agencies with trade responsibilities may be less affected by Chevron’s demise because of the special deference courts have shown when hearing international trade cases involving national security, foreign policy or the president’s constitutional authority to direct such matters, say attorneys at Venable.
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Reassessing Lease Provisions To Account For ESG Initiatives
As companies seek to build ESG considerations into their businesses, it's crucial to understand how such initiatives can quickly become significant enough to compel reassessment of lease agreement provisions, and how best to modify leases accordingly, say Julian Freeman and Gabe Pitassi at Cox Castle.
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Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics
Disney and American Airlines recently abandoned certain litigation tactics in two lawsuits after fierce public backlash, illustrating why corporate counsel should consider the reputational implications of any legal strategy and partner with their communications teams to preempt public relations concerns, says Chris Gidez at G7 Reputation Advisory.
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Defamation Law Changes May Be Brewing At Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court's significant rightward shift has produced dramatic changes in many areas of the law, and the long-standing "actual malice" standard protecting speech about public figures could be the next precedent to fall, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.
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Integrating ESG Into Risk Management Programs
Amid increasing regulations and reporting requirements for corporate sustainability in the European Union and the U.S., companies might consider how to incorporate environmental, social and governance factors into more formalized risk management, say directors at Alvarez & Marsal.
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Exploring Practical Employer Alternatives To Noncompetes
With the Federal Trade Commission likely to appeal a federal court’s recent rejection of its noncompete ban, and more states limiting the enforceability of these agreements, employers should consider back-to-basics methods for protecting their business interests and safeguarding sensitive information, says Brendan Horgan at FordHarrison.
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How Increased Sanctions Scrutiny Is Affecting Debt Markets
U.S. sanctions and export control regulators have recently taken several steps that broaden financial sector oversight, and banks, lenders and borrowers must adapt their syndication and risk assessment processes in different ways or risk incurring substantial penalties, say Cristina Brayton-Lewis and Kerrick Seay at White & Case.
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What The SEC Liquidity Risk Management Amendments Entail
Fund managers should be cognizant of the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission's recent changes to certain reporting requirements and guidance related to open-end fund liquidity risk management programs, and update their filing systems if need be, says Rachael Schwartz at Sullivan & Worcester.
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It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers
Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.