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Public Policy
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July 16, 2024
The 2024 Diversity Snapshot: What You Need To Know
Law firms' ongoing initiatives to address diversity challenges have driven another year of progress, with the representation of minority attorneys continuing to improve across the board, albeit at a slower pace than in previous years. Here's our data dive into minority representation at law firms in 2023.
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July 16, 2024
These Firms Have The Most Diverse Equity Partnerships
Law360’s law firm survey shows that firms' efforts to diversify their equity partner ranks are lagging. But some have embraced a broader talent pool at the equity partner level. Here are the ones that stood out.
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July 16, 2024
Menendez Guilty Of 'Shocking Corruption,' Urged To Resign
A New York federal jury found U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez guilty on Tuesday of taking gold bars, cash and a Mercedes-Benz as bribes from three businessmen, handing a victory to the government on its second try to convict the embattled New Jersey Democrat on corruption charges and prompting calls for his resignation.
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July 16, 2024
Ex-Philly Charter School Exec Gets 7 Years For Embezzlement
Abdur Rahim Islam, who ran famed R&B producer Kenny Gamble's Philadelphia-based housing and education nonprofit, was sentenced Tuesday to seven years in prison for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the organization and using the ill-gotten gains for Caribbean vacations.
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July 15, 2024
9th Circ. Won't Revive Challenge Of US Military Aid To Israel
Palestinian human rights activists cannot revive their lawsuit challenging the Biden administration's support for Israel's military efforts in Gaza, the Ninth Circuit ruled Monday, saying the decision to provide military or other aid to a foreign nation is a political arrangement that does not belong in the courts.
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July 15, 2024
Tribes Fight Red States' Bid To Halt EPA Water Rule
Tribal nations are seeking to challenge a bid by red states in North Dakota federal court to block a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule revision requiring states to consider tribes in addressing water quality standards under the Clean Water Act, arguing that the agency has the power to change its regulations.
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July 15, 2024
Green Groups, Industry Spar Over Feds' Offshore Leasing Plan
Conservation groups and the American Petroleum Institute are weighing in with starkly contrasting opening briefs for D.C. Circuit challenges of a 2024-2029 offshore oil and gas leasing program and arguments for why it should be scaled back or expanded.
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July 15, 2024
Bannon Wants Full DC Circ. To Revisit Contempt Conviction
Ex-Trump White House aide Steve Bannon asked the D.C. Circuit on Monday for an en banc rehearing as he seeks to overturn his contempt of Congress conviction, saying a three-judge panel's determination that he "willfully" flouted a subpoena from the Jan. 6 House select committee ignored U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
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July 15, 2024
Farm, Fuel Groups Challenge Feds' Land Conservation Rule
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management broke the law when it published a rule creating two new types of conservation leases for federal lands, a coalition of agriculture and fossil fuel advocacy groups said in a new lawsuit.
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July 15, 2024
SEC Pans Database Privacy Challenge As Too Little, Too Late
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is looking to rid itself of a proposed class action targeting a market surveillance tool known as the consolidated audit trail, telling a Texas federal judge that shutting down a critical market stability tool 12 years after its creation would harm the public without providing any benefit to suing investors.
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July 15, 2024
Feds Say New Migrant Detention Rules Moot Lawsuit
The Biden administration asked a California federal court to end a long-running lawsuit challenging the government's practices for placing unaccompanied migrant children, saying it addressed all the issues identified by the court with an April policy change.
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July 15, 2024
Detroit Must Face Bus Rider's Injury Suit, Mich. Panel Says
The city of Detroit can't escape a lawsuit claiming one of its bus drivers intentionally hit the brakes in an effort to injure a passenger she was arguing with, causing injuries to another commuter, a Michigan appeals court ruled, saying the claims fall squarely with the motor-vehicle exception to governmental immunity.
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July 15, 2024
BEAD Should Not 'Impede' Rural 5G Fund, FCC Says
The chair of the Federal Communications Commission told Congress the fear of overlapping deployment is no reason for the government to spend infrastructure dollars on building out fixed internet service before auctioning spectrum for rural mobile broadband projects.
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July 15, 2024
10th Circ. Rejects Okla. Title X Funding Cut Challenge
A Tenth Circuit panel on Monday rejected Oklahoma's challenge to federal cuts of its Title X funding over the state's refusal to provide referrals for abortions, affirming it was likely the state knowingly and voluntarily accepted the Department of Health and Human Services' requirements for the grant funding.
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July 15, 2024
La., Miss. Utility Regulators Launch FERC Grid Policy Fight
Louisiana and Mississippi utility regulators called on the Fifth Circuit on Monday to review the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's sweeping overhaul of how major electric transmission projects are planned and paid for.
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July 15, 2024
Colo. Judge Asks If Campaign Limits Hinge On Experts
A Colorado federal judge wondered Monday who had the right to decide whether political corruption is enough of a problem to justify state campaign contribution limits, questioning the weight of expert opinion in a bench trial over the constitutionality of those limits.
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July 15, 2024
Menendez Jury Seeks Deliberation Guidance In 2 Notes
The Manhattan federal jury weighing bribery charges against Sen. Robert Menendez and two businessmen sent two notes Monday indicating confusion as to fundamental issues.
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July 15, 2024
JD Vance's Wife Leaves Munger Tolles As Campaign Launches
Usha Chilukuri Vance, the wife of vice presidential candidate J. D. Vance, has resigned as a litigator at Munger Tolles & Olson LLP, her now-former law firm told Law360 on Monday afternoon, presumably to trade her Washington, D.C.- and San Francisco-based litigation career for the campaign trail.
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July 15, 2024
Monsanto Doubles Down In Push To Undo $82M PCB Verdict
Monsanto has urged a Washington state appeals court to toss an $82 million jury verdict awarded over polychlorinated biphenyls exposure at a school, saying the findings by the same court in a similar case should apply.
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July 15, 2024
NRA's Policies Called 'Dumpster Fire' As 2nd NY Trial Opens
The New York attorney general cast the National Rifle Association as unrepentant and unreformed as a second-phase bench trial began in state court Monday, after a jury had found the group and its ex-officers liable for misspending millions.
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July 15, 2024
Fed's Powell Says He's Not Going Anywhere As Chairman
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Monday that he will serve out the remaining two years of his appointment leading the central bank, signaling his intent to stick around despite questions about his future in a second potential Trump administration.
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July 15, 2024
Calif. Justices Nix 3 Charter Arb. Terms, Remand Severability
The California Supreme Court held Monday that three of four challenged provisions in Charter Communications Inc.'s employee arbitration agreement are "substantively unconscionable" but remanded a worker's discrimination case back to the trial court to determine if those provisions can be severed and the agreement can still be enforced.
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July 15, 2024
Bulk Billing Regs Could Hurt Lower-Income Tenants, FCC Told
Tighter regulations on bulk billing in multitenant environments could make it harder for seniors, low-income households and students to afford high-speed internet service, industry representatives told the Federal Communications Commission.
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July 15, 2024
School Counselor's FMLA Suit Should Be Tossed, Judge Says
A Georgia school district should be allowed to escape a former counselor's lawsuit alleging she was terminated for requesting time off to care for her sick husband, a federal judge said Monday, finding she couldn't overcome the district's explanation that she'd failed to correct performance issues despite multiple opportunities.
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July 15, 2024
Feds Outline Eligibility Criteria For Foreign Entrepreneur Rule
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services provided updated guidance on the requirements for foreign entrepreneurs to qualify for short-term immigration benefits under the International Entrepreneur Rule.
Expert Analysis
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Mitigating Incarceration's Impacts On Foreign Nationals
Sentencing arguments that highlighted the disparate impact incarceration would have on a British national recently sentenced for insider training by a New York district court, when compared to similarly situated U.S. citizens, provide an example of the advocacy needed to avoid or mitigate problems unique to noncitizen defendants, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert.
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How HHS Discrimination Rule Affects Gender-Affirming Care
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' new final rule, which reinterprets the Affordable Care Act's anti-discrimination provision, greatly clarifies protections for gender-affirming care and will require compliance considerations from sponsors and administrators of most group health plans, say attorneys at McDermott.
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Geothermal Energy Has Growing Potential In The US
Bipartisan support for the geothermal industry shows that geothermal energy can be an elegant solution toward global decarbonization efforts because of its small footprint, low supply chain risk, and potential to draw on the skills of existing highly specialized oil and gas workers and renewable specialists, say attorneys at Weil.
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Tiny Tweaks To Bank Merger Forms May Have Big Impact
The impact of proposed changes to the Federal Reserve Board's and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s bank merger review forms would be significant, resulting in hundreds of additional burden hours for bank merger applicants and signaling a further shift by the prudential bank regulators toward more rigorous scrutiny of mergers, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Legal Issues To Watch As Deepfake Voices Proliferate
With increasingly sophisticated and accessible voice-cloning technology raising social, ethical and legal questions, particularly in the entertainment industry and politics, further legislative intervention and court proceedings seem very likely, say Shruti Chopra and Paul Joseph at Linklaters.
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How CFPB Credit Card Rules Slot Into Broader Considerations
Swirling legal challenges against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent rulemaking concerning credit card late fees raise questions about how regulated entities should respond to the bureau's rules — and how quickly they should act, say Caitlin Mandel and Elizabeth Ireland at Winston & Strawn.
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4 Takeaways From Biden's Crypto Mining Divestment Order
A May 13 executive order prohibiting the acquisition of real estate by a foreign investor on national security grounds — an enforcement first — shows the importance of understanding how the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States might profile cross-border transactions, even those that are non-notified, say attorneys at Kirkland.
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Perspectives
Public Interest Attorneys Are Key To Preserving Voting Rights
Fourteen states passed laws restricting or limiting voting access last year, highlighting the need to support public interest lawyers who serve as bulwarks against such antidemocratic actions — especially in an election year, says Verna Williams at Equal Justice Works.
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Car Apps, Abuse Survivor Safety And The FCC: Key Questions
A recent request for comment from the Federal Communications Commission, concerning how to protect the privacy of domestic violence survivors who use connected car services, raises key questions, including whether the FCC has the legal authority to limit access to a vehicle's connected features to survivors only, say attorneys at Davis Wright.
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Novel Applications May Fizzle After Fed Master Account Wins
Two recent federal court rulings that upheld decisions denying master account applications from two fintech-focused banks are noteworthy for depository institutions with novel charters that wish to have direct access to the Federal Reserve's payment channels and settle transactions in central bank money, say attorneys at Davis Polk.
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Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance
A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.
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Salvaging The Investor-State Arbitration System's Legitimacy
Recent developments in Europe and Ecuador highlight the vulnerability of the investor-state arbitration framework, but arbitrators can avert a crisis by relying on a poorly understood doctrine of fairness and equity, rather than law, to resolve the disputes before them, says Phillip Euell at Diaz Reus.
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NY's Vision For Grid Of The Future: Flexible, Open, Affordable
Acknowledging that New York state's progress toward its climate goals is stalling, the New York Public Service Commission's recent "Grid of the Future" order signals a move toward more flexible, cost-effective solutions — and suggests potential opportunities for nonutility participation, say Daniel Spitzer and William McLaughlin at Hodgson Russ.
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FTC Noncompete Rule's Impact On Healthcare Nonprofits
Healthcare entities that are nonprofit or tax-exempt and thus outside of the pending Federal Trade Commission noncompete rule's reach should evaluate a number of potential risk factors and impacts, starting by assessing their own status, say Ben Shook and Tania Archer at Moore & Van Allen.
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Businesses Should Take Their AI Contracts Off Auto-Renew
When subscribing to artificial intelligence tools — or to any technology in a highly competitive and legally thorny market — companies should push back on automatic renewal contract clauses for reasons including litigation and regulatory risk, and competition, says Chris Wlach at Huge Inc.