Public Policy

  • November 12, 2024

    Nuke Discharge Law Doesn't Usurp Feds, NY Says

    A New York state law banning discharges of radioactive material into the Hudson River is aimed at protecting the local economy as the Indian Point nuclear power plant is decommissioned and therefore isn't federally preempted, the Empire State told a federal judge Friday.

  • November 12, 2024

    Palin, NYT Set For April Retrial In Defamation Case

    Sarah Palin's retrial against The New York Times over defamation claims will start April 14, a New York federal judge ruled Tuesday after calling the parties' requests for a July date "out of the question."

  • November 12, 2024

    Freshfields Adds Ex-DOJ Atty To Co-Lead Investigations Team

    Freshfields has added the former associate deputy attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice as the firm's new co-chair of its congressional investigations team, according to an announcement Tuesday.

  • November 12, 2024

    Pennsylvania Atty Text Solicitation Ban Stands, For Now

    A Pennsylvania federal judge on Tuesday declined to temporarily halt the state's prohibition on attorneys soliciting potential clients using text messages while litigation filed by a legal marketer over the legality of the ban plays out, reasoning that there was no threat of irreparable harm to the company.

  • November 12, 2024

    Vidal To Leave USPTO For Private Sector

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal is stepping down from her role at the agency and will be heading back to the private sector in mid-December, she said in a Tuesday letter.

  • November 12, 2024

    Ohio Judge Reverses Senior Status Plans Post-Election

    Following last week's election, a federal judge for the Southern District of Ohio has reversed his decision to take semi-retired status, leaving President-elect Donald Trump with one fewer judicial vacancy to fill. 

  • November 12, 2024

    10th Circ. Backs Arbitration Denial In Distributor's OT Suit

    The Tenth Circuit declined Tuesday to disturb a ruling that a baking company can't boot to arbitration a distributor's lawsuit alleging he was denied overtime pay, finding the worker is exempt from arbitration because he's engaged in interstate commerce even though he doesn't cross state lines.

  • November 12, 2024

    Justice Alito Calls Bid To Unfreeze Spousal Parole Rule Moot

    Justice Samuel Alito denied as moot Tuesday an immigrant rights group's bid to withdraw a Texas court order freezing a new program that would have allowed certain noncitizen spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to stay in the United States while applying for legal status.

  • November 12, 2024

    Missouri Appeals Court Quashes County Cannabis Taxes

    The Missouri Constitution bars counties from levying taxes on cannabis sales made inside incorporated municipalities that can impose their own taxes, a state appeals court held Tuesday in ruling in favor of a dispensary that challenged two counties' taxes.

  • November 12, 2024

    Jury Holds CACI Liable For $42M Over Abu Ghraib Torture

    A Virginia federal jury ruled Tuesday that defense contractor CACI must pay $42 million to former prisoners at Iraq's Abu Ghraib military prison, finding it conspired in their torture by the U.S. military.

  • November 12, 2024

    Trump's NY Case Paused As DA Weighs Impact Of Election

    A New York state judge agreed to a joint motion to freeze the proceedings in Donald Trump's hush money case following his electoral victory last week, allowing the Manhattan district attorney time to brief the court on "appropriate steps going forward."

  • November 12, 2024

    High Court Declines Remaining NY Rent Stabilization Suits

    The U.S. Supreme Court will not probe a Second Circuit decision upholding a lower court's dismissal of two suits challenging distinct provisions of New York's Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019, a contentious tenant-friendly change to state rental regulations.

  • November 12, 2024

    Supreme Court Won't Revive Youth Climate Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will not undo the Ninth Circuit's order allowing the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by youth plaintiffs who accuse the federal government of endangering their futures with policies that exacerbate climate change.

  • November 12, 2024

    Justices Won't Review Family's Suit Over Airport Searches

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined Tuesday to review the dismissal of a Muslim family's challenge to their possible inclusion on a terrorist watchlist.

  • November 12, 2024

    Justices Won't Review Mark Meadows' Ga. Case Removal Bid

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows' petition to review an Eleventh Circuit ruling that he couldn't move his Georgia election interference case to federal court because the federal officer removal statute doesn't apply to former federal officers.

  • November 10, 2024

    High Court Bar's Future: Arnold & Porter's Allon Kedem

    Allon Kedem is a familiar face at the U.S. Supreme Court, with a baker's dozen arguments and the rare distinction of two clerkships, and his face is usually smiling when cases end, thanks to a laudable 10-3 record. All that, plus a resume chock-full of bipartisan bona fides, is why he's among 12 leading attorneys in the Supreme Court's next generation of sought-after oral advocates.

  • November 08, 2024

    Ill. Assault Rifle Ban Struck As Unconstitutional, AG To Appeal

    An Illinois federal judge Friday overturned the state's law banning AR-15 rifles and other semiautomatic weapons, pointing to U.S. Supreme Court rulings interpreting the Second Amendment to give individuals the broad right to keep and bear firearms, and opining that the debate over guns is a matter of perspective.

  • November 08, 2024

    NYC's Suit Against Companies Busing Migrants Gets Tossed

    A New York state judge on Friday tossed New York City's lawsuit accusing charter bus companies of transporting migrants from Texas without providing them care in violation of a state "pauper statute," saying the law unconstitutionally restricted the right to travel.

  • November 08, 2024

    Tort Report: Royal Caribbean Spycam Victim Seeks Class Suit

    A proposed class action over Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.'s alleged failures regarding an employee's surreptitious installation of cameras in passengers' cabins and a D.C. Circuit ruling on a gun magazine ban lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

  • November 08, 2024

    Judiciary Advisers Back Development Of AI Evidence Rules

    The federal judiciary's advisory panel for evidentiary issues agreed Friday to develop rules aimed at strengthening scrutiny of testimony and materials derived from artificial intelligence systems, saying AI-generated information should meet the same reliability standards that apply to expert witnesses.

  • November 08, 2024

    1st Circ. Affirms Order Ending Jet Blue-American Partnership

    The First Circuit backed a lower court decision blocking a partnership between JetBlue and American Airlines that it found substantially diminished competition in the domestic air travel market, saying it found no error in the district judge's thorough review of the deal that could revive the venture.

  • November 08, 2024

    Trump's Election Swings The Energy Policy Pendulum Again

    The reelection of former President Donald Trump means the energy industry faces yet another drastic shift in U.S. policy, continuing a decadelong pattern of regulatory pendulum swings. Here's a rundown of what the energy industry is in for when Trump reenters the White House.

  • November 08, 2024

    Gov't Says No Need For Continuous Contractor Registration

    The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council issued a rule Friday clarifying that contractors don't need to be continuously registered in a federal database between bidding and contract award, a contentious issue that has cost prospective contractors billions of dollars in federal deals.

  • November 08, 2024

    Off The Bench: Mo. Betting, NCAA Budges, New Ohtani Drama

    In this week's Off The Bench, Missouri becomes the latest state to legalize sports betting, an antitrust class action forces more changes to the NCAA's eligibility rules, and Shohei Ohtani's historic season spurs another memorabilia lawsuit.

  • November 08, 2024

    5 Ways Trump's Election Could Change Employee Benefits

    Donald Trump's election to a second term as president has attorneys preparing for potentially significant changes to tax, investment and health policy that could directly affect the administration of employee benefit plans. 

Expert Analysis

  • FTC Focus: What Access To Patent Settlements Would Mean

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    Settling parties should adopt a series of practice tips, including specifying rationales to support specific terms, as the Federal Trade Commission seeks to expand its access to settlements before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, say Shannon McGowan and David Munkittrick at Proskauer.

  • 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.

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