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Public Policy
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August 21, 2024
FTC Fails 1st Test Of Rulemaking Push In Noncompetes Loss
The Federal Trade Commission suffered its first definitive loss Tuesday in the push to ban employment noncompete agreements, although the decision probably isn't the final word given a likely appeal and two other pending challenges also viewed as a test of the agency's efforts to expand its rulemaking footprint.
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August 21, 2024
Legal, Policy Orgs Urge Justices To Toss FCA Interpretation
Two groups are defending AT&T subsidiary Wisconsin Bell Inc. in its challenge to the use of the False Claims Act for E-Rate program reimbursement fraud, telling the Supreme Court in amicus briefs Tuesday that the Seventh Circuit's ruling in the case would make the FCA's qui tam powers too expansive.
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August 21, 2024
8th Circ. Reboots Fed Swipe Fee Suit After High Court Ruling
An Eighth Circuit panel on Wednesday remanded a suit challenging Federal Reserve debit card swipe fee rules, ordering new proceedings in the case after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it was not untimely after all.
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August 21, 2024
USPTO Argues Not All New Rules Call For Public Comments
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office told the U.S. Supreme Court that forcing the agency to solicit public comments before instituting a new home address requirement for registering trademarks would be too much work.
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August 21, 2024
Judge Skeptical Ex-Murder Suspect Can Sue Embattled DA
A Colorado federal judge appeared to have doubts Wednesday about the prospects of a malicious prosecution lawsuit brought by a man initially charged with the murder of his wife, asking how the lawsuit can defeat immunity for police and prosecutors.
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August 21, 2024
10th Circ. Says Ex-Prosecutor Still Hasn't Proven Immunity
A Tenth Circuit panel on Wednesday said a former Denver deputy district attorney had not yet proven that she was entitled to qualified immunity in a malicious-prosecution case dating back more than a decade, the second time the appeals court has reversed a procedural win for the prosecutor.
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August 21, 2024
Signal Peak Can't Hasten DOI's Coal Mine Review, Judge Says
A D.C. federal judge ruled Wednesday that it would be premature to order federal regulators to speed up their environmental review of Signal Peak Energy LLC's planned expansion of a Montana coal mine, saying the federal government still has time to make good on its deadlines.
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August 21, 2024
Prometheum Plans To Support Two More Crypto 'Securities'
A cryptocurrency startup approved to safeguard crypto securities said Wednesday that it plans to support the tokens UNI and ARB when it launches in the fall, indicating it believes the digital assets implicate securities laws.
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August 21, 2024
Ga. City Asks Full 11th Circ. To Review Race Bias Suit Revival
A southern Georgia city is urging the full Eleventh Circuit to reconsider a panel decision that revived a white city manager's lawsuit claiming it unlawfully fired him to hire a Black woman, arguing the panel improperly extended the alleged discriminatory intent of one Black city commissioner onto other Black commissioners.
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August 21, 2024
Dartmouth's Refusal To Bargain Is Illegal, Hoops Union Says
The union representing men's basketball players at Dartmouth College accused the university of illegally refusing to negotiate, according to an unfair labor practice charge obtained by Law360 on Wednesday, as the school aims to challenge in federal court whether collegiate athletes are employees under federal labor law.
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August 21, 2024
Hunters, Breeder Want Puppy Import Ban Paused During Suit
Hunting groups and a breeder urged a Michigan federal court Wednesday to pause a health policy that bars them from bringing puppies younger than six months old into the U.S., arguing the ban will harm them if it remains active during their legal challenge.
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August 21, 2024
Judge Bars DOD Policy Blocking HIV-Positive Enlistees
A Virginia federal judge has struck down a U.S. Department of Defense policy barring HIV-positive people from joining the military, saying the DOD had failed to take current scientific evidence on HIV treatment and transmission into account.
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August 21, 2024
US Army Escapes Nebraska Tribe's Repatriation Suit
A federal district court judge won't order the U.S. Army to repatriate the remains of two Native American children from a boarding school cemetery in Pennsylvania, saying provisions of a law designed to protect Indigenous burial sites don't apply to the 180 children entombed there for more than a century.
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August 21, 2024
Fla. High Court Rejects Petition Against Abortion Measure Info
Florida's high court Wednesday rejected a petition from a group challenging the financial impact statement attached to a measure legalizing abortion up to 24 weeks that's slated to appear on the state's ballot in November, saying they never initially challenged a committee's authority to revise a statement they considered flawed.
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August 21, 2024
Split 5th Circ. Revives Cameroonian Anglophone's Asylum Bid
A split Fifth Circuit has revived a Cameroonian nurse's asylum bid, saying in a published opinion that the Board of Immigration Appeals disregarded evidence he offered to prove that the Cameroonian military wanted him dead for purportedly being an English-speaking separatist.
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August 21, 2024
Ga. Strip Clubs Push High Court For Tax-Free Dances
A coalition of Georgia strip clubs labored to convince the state's highest court Wednesday that a nearly decade-old tax on their businesses, used by the state to fund child trafficking prevention efforts, is unconstitutional by infringing upon their First Amendment rights to put on nude dances.
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August 21, 2024
Daughter Keeps $9.2M Win In Father's Med Mal Death Suit
A Georgia appeals court affirmed a $9.2 million wrongful death verdict in favor of a woman whose father died of complications following surgery, rejecting the medical center's argument that the evidence couldn't support the verdict.
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August 21, 2024
Feds Chide Iowa's 'Implausible' Immigration Law Defense
The Biden administration is urging the Eighth Circuit to reject Iowa's defense of a state law criminalizing the presence of previously deported noncitizens in the state, suggesting Iowa is mischaracterizing the law in an effort to skirt U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
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August 21, 2024
Minn. Justices OK Denial Of Homestead Tax Break
A Minnesota property was correctly denied a homestead classification and property tax break because the owner did not live at the home as required, the state Supreme Court said Wednesday, affirming a state tax court decision.
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August 21, 2024
EPA Urges 8th Circ. Not To Delay Power Plant Effluent Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and green groups on Tuesday asked the Eighth Circuit not to block the implementation of a rule that set new wastewater standards for coal-fired power plants, as utility companies, trade groups and nearly two dozen states that oppose the rule have urged.
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August 21, 2024
Dems At DNC Push For High Court Reform
Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday made the case at an event adjacent to the Democratic National Convention that U.S. Supreme Court reform is an issue that everyday Americans should care about and championed the progress made thus far.
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August 21, 2024
Oath Keepers Atty Pleads Guilty In Jan. 6 Case
A former attorney for the far-right Oath Keepers group pled guilty Wednesday to charges connected to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, copping to entering restricted Capitol grounds and advising Oath Keepers affiliates to delete incriminating digital evidence following the riot.
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August 21, 2024
Paxton Issues Warrants To Texas Counties In Election Inquiry
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Wednesday that his office had executed multiple search warrants in Frio, Atascosa, and Bexar counties as part of an ongoing investigation into election integrity.
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August 21, 2024
Oregon Judge Grants EPA Partial Win In Water Pollution Suit
An Oregon federal judge rejected a conservation group's contention that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must step in and act because Oregon has effectively submitted no total maximum daily load plans to set appropriate pollution limits for hundreds of impaired waterways, some of which have been considered impaired for decades.
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August 21, 2024
Ohio Justice Pulls Appeals Judge Into Party Label Challenge
Ohio Court of Appeals Chief Judge Thomas J. Osowik is now ensnared in state Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner's challenge to a state law requiring candidates for Ohio's appellate courts to list their political party affiliation on the ballot, appearing as a defendant in a retooled version of her complaint.
Expert Analysis
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How 3 Recent High Court Rulings Could Shape Fintech Policy
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decisions in Jarkesy, Loper Bright and Corner Post provide fintech companies with new legal strategies to challenge regulatory actions, but agency reactions to these rulings and inconsistent judicial interpretations could bring compliance challenges and uncertainties, says Amy Whitsel at FS Vector.
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What Cos. Should Note In DOJ's New Whistleblower Pilot
After the U.S. Department of Justice unveiled a new whistleblower pilot program last week — continuing its efforts to incentivize individual reporting of misconduct — companies should review the eligibility criteria, update their compliance programs and consider the risks and benefits of making their own self-disclosures, say attorneys at Skadden.
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Defamation Suit Tests Lanham Act's Reach With Influencers
Recently filed in the Northern District of Texas, Prime Hydration v. Garcia, alleging defamation and Lanham Act violations based on the defendant's social media statements about the beverage brand, allows Texas courts and the Fifth Circuit to take the lead in interpreting the act as it applies to influencers, says attorney Susan Jorgensen.
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A Primer On EU's Updated Human Substance Regulations
The European Union's updated standards regarding quality and safety of substances of human origin meant for human application carry significant implications for companies that work with cells and tissues, and U.S. companies active in the EU market should pay particular attention to the import and export rules, say Geneviève Michaux and Georgios Symeonidis at King & Spalding.
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Opinion
Prejudgment Interest Is A Game-Changer In Ill. Civil Suits
Civil litigation can leave plaintiffs financially strained and desperate for any recovery, especially when defendants use delaying tactics — but the Illinois Legislature's move to allow prejudgment interest has helped bring litigants to the table earlier to resolve disputes, minimizing court expenses and benefiting all parties, says Benjamin Crane at Coplan + Crane.
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Series
After Chevron: New Lines Of Attack For FCA Defense Bar
Loper Bright has given defense counsel new avenues to overcome the False Claims Act elements of falsity and scienter, as any FCA claim based upon ambiguous statutory terms can no longer stand solely on agency regulations to establish the statute's meaning, which is itself necessary to satisfy the FCA's basic requirements, says Elisha Kobre at Bradley Arant.
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CFPB's Medical Debt Proposal May Have Side Effects
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s recent proposal to prevent medical debt information from appearing on consumer reports and creditors from basing lending decisions on such information may have initial benefits for some consumers, but there are potential negative consequences that should also be considered, say attorneys at Cooley.
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New NHTSA Fuel Economy Rule Adds Compliance Complexity
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's recently announced final rule on new corporate average fuel economy standards for passenger cars and light trucks will create challenges for manufacturers, which must also comply with the EPA's multipollutant rule and California's zero-emission vehicle programs, say Joanne Rotondi and Hannah Graae at Hogan Lovells.
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Series
Teaching Scuba Diving Makes Me A Better Lawyer
As a master scuba instructor, I’ve learned how to prepare for the unexpected, overcome fears and practice patience, and each of these skills – among the many others I’ve developed – has profoundly enhanced my work as a lawyer, says Ron Raether at Troutman Pepper.
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15 Areas That Would Change Under Health Data Rule Proposal
If finalized, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's proposed rule will significantly progress its efforts to advance interoperability, respond to stakeholder concerns and clarify compliance with the health IT certification program, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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The Road Ahead For Regulation Of Digital Twins In Healthcare
Digital replicas of cells, organs and people — known as digital twins — can facilitate clinical trials for new drugs by reducing the number of patients required, but data limitations can create logistical hurdles and regulatory efforts addressing digital twins are still in early stages, say consultants at Keystone Strategy.
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A Guide To Long-Term, Part-Time Employee Determinations
With final regulations under the Secure Act requiring 401(k) retirement benefits for long-term, part-time employees expected soon, Amy Sheridan and David Guadagnoli at Sullivan & Worcester look at how the proposed rules would shift the risk-reward calculus on excluding categories of employees, and what plan sponsors would need to consider when designing retirement plans.
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Series
After Chevron: Delegation Of Authority And Tax Regulators
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service will face higher standards following Loper Bright’s finding that courts should determine whether agency rules meet the best possible interpretation of the tax code, as well as the scope of the authority delegated by Congress, says Edward Froelich at McDermott.
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Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act
As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.
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Decoding CFPB Priorities Amid Ramp-Up In Nonbank Actions
Based on recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enforcement actions and press releases about its supervisory activities, the agency appears poised to continue increasing its scrutiny over nonbank entities — particularly with respect to emerging financial products and services — into next year, say attorneys at Wiley.