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Public Policy
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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%.
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July 01, 2024
Fla. Telecom To Pay $1M Fine For FCC Underpayments
Florida-based telecom PayG will be shelling out a $1 million penalty to the Federal Communications Commission after the agency said it contributed some $400,000 less than it should have to the Universal Service Fund.
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July 01, 2024
Judge Blocks Okla. Law Barring Unauthorized Immigrants
An Oklahoma federal judge has temporarily barred Oklahoma from enforcing a law preventing unauthorized immigrants from living in the state, agreeing with the Biden administration that the policy likely conflicted with the federal immigration scheme.
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July 01, 2024
NC Doctor Takes Abortion Drug Limits Fight To 4th Circ.
A North Carolina doctor who challenged the state's restrictions on abortion drug mifepristone asked the Fourth Circuit to review a district court's decision to allow certain limits to stand.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
California Has A Duty To Curtail Frivolous CIPA Suits
As plaintiffs increasingly file class actions against companies for their use of website tracking cookies and pixels, the Legislature should consider four options to amend the California Invasion of Privacy Act and restore the balance between consumer privacy and business operational interests, say Steven Stransky and Jennifer Adler at Thompson Hine and Glenn Lammi at the Washington Legal Foundation.
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Updates To CFTC Large Trader Report Rules Leave Questions
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's updated large trader position reporting rules for futures and options is a much-needed change that modernizes a rule that had gone largely untouched since the 1980s, but the updates leave important questions unanswered, say Katherine Cooper and Maggie DePoy at BCLP.
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Series
Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer
There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.
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State Procurement Could Be Key For Calif. Offshore Wind
A recent ruling from the California Public Utilities Commission highlights how the state's centralized electricity procurement mechanism could play a critical role in the development of long lead-time resources — in particular, offshore wind — by providing market assurance to developers and reducing utilities' procurement risks, say attorneys at Wilson Sonsini.
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Key FCC Enforcement Issues In AT&T Location Data Appeal
AT&T’s decision to challenge a $57 million fine from the Federal Communications Commission for its alleged treatment of customer location information highlights interesting and fundamental issues about the constitutionality of FCC enforcement, say Patrick O’Donnell and Jason Neal at HWG.
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Calif. Budget Will Likely Have Unexpected Tax Consequences
A temporary suspension of net operating loss deductions and business incentive tax credits, likely to be approved on June 15 as part of California’s next budget, may create unanticipated tax liabilities for businesses that modeled recently completed transactions on current law, says Myra Sutanto Shen at Wilson Sonsini.
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How SEC Could Tackle AI Regulations On Brokers, Advisers
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission held an open meeting of its Investor Advisory Committee on June 6 to review the use of artificial intelligence in investment decision making, showing that regulators are being careful not to stifle innovation or implement rules that will quickly be made irrelevant after their passage, says Brian Korn at Manatt Phelps.
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Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians
Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Biden Admin Proposals May Facilitate US, UK, Australia Trade
Recent proposals that create exceptions to U.S. export licensing requirements for defense trade with Australia and the U.K. would remove hurdles that have hindered trade among the three countries, and could enable smaller companies in the sector to greatly expand their trade horizons, say Keil Ritterpusch and Grace Welborn at Buchanan Ingersoll.
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What To Know As CFPB Late Fee Rule Hangs In Limbo
Though the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's final credit card late fee rule faces an uncertain future due to litigation involving injunctions, emergency petitions and now a venue dispute, card issuers must understand how to navigate the interim period and what to do if the rule takes effect, say attorneys at Steptoe.
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Short-Term Takeaways From CMS' New Long-Term Care Rules
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' new final rule on nursing home staffing minimums imposes controversial regulatory challenges that will likely face significant litigation, but for now, stakeholders will need to prepare for increased staffing expectations and more specialized facility assessments without meaningful funding, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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What TikTok's Race Against The Clock Teaches Chinese Firms
The Biden administration's recent divestiture deadline on TikTok parent ByteDance provides useful information for other China-based companies looking to do business in the U.S., including the need to keep products for each market separate and implement firewalls at the design stage, says Richard Lomuscio at Stinson.
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Updated Federal Rules Can Improve Product Liability MDLs
The recent amendment of a federal evidence rule regarding expert testimony and the proposal of a civil rule on managing early discovery in multidistrict legislation hold great promise for promoting the uniform and efficient processes that high-stakes product liability cases particularly need, say Alan Klein and William Heaston at Duane Morris.
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Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent
As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.
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NY Combined Hearing Guidelines Can Shorten Ch. 11 Timeline
The Southern District of New York’s recently adopted guidelines on combining the processes for Chapter 11 plan confirmation and disclosure statement approval may shorten the Chapter 11 timeline for companies and reduce associated costs, say Robert Drain and Moshe Jacob at Skadden.