Public Policy

  • June 24, 2024

    Justices Affirm 6th Circ. Decision Allowing Bump Stocks

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected the government's appeal of a Sixth Circuit decision blocking the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' ban on so-called bump stocks, after finding in a separate case that the ATF rule went beyond the agency's authority.

  • June 24, 2024

    Justices Pass On Rutgers COVID-19 Vax Mandate Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to review a split Third Circuit ruling that Rutgers University students cannot challenge the school's COVID-19 vaccine policy because, under the high court's 1905 precedent in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, there is no fundamental right to refuse vaccinations.

  • June 24, 2024

    Blumenauer Predicts Cannabis Rescheduling Before Year-End

    U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., a longtime champion of cannabis reform in Congress who is retiring this year, told cannabis attorneys on Monday that he was optimistic marijuana would be moved to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act before the end of the year.

  • June 24, 2024

    High Court To Review State Gender Care Bans

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review a Sixth Circuit decision that allowed Tennessee to keep in place a new ban on gender-affirming care for minors.

  • June 24, 2024

    Justices To Review If Ch. 7 Trustee Can Recover Tax Payments

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it would review a Tenth Circuit decision that found that the Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee of a defunct Utah company could recover $145,000 in tax payments from the IRS.

  • June 24, 2024

    Justices Will Review Request To Rein In NEPA Requirements

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday granted seven Utah counties' request that it review a D.C. Circuit decision revoking federal approval of a rail line to transport crude oil from Utah.

  • June 22, 2024

    Disciplinary Judge Hesitant To Oust Embattled Colo. DA

    A Colorado attorney disciplinary judge said Friday he was uncomfortable removing an elected local prosecutor facing various misconduct charges, telling the parties after closing arguments that voters' choices should carry some weight.

  • June 21, 2024

    Kaspersky Hit With Sanctions In Wake Of US Software Ban

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Friday sanctioned a dozen AO Kaspersky Lab executives, just a day after the U.S. Department of Commerce prohibited the sale of the Russia-based company's antivirus software and cybersecurity products in the United States.

  • June 21, 2024

    DOL Says Union's Farm Wage Challenge Too Late

    The U.S. Department of Labor has pushed back against a challenge to rules introduced in 2022 that a Washington union said are depressing farmworkers' wages, telling a federal judge Friday that the union should have objected during the rule-making period.

  • June 21, 2024

    Lawmakers Visit Imprisoned Ex-IRS Agent And Binance Exec

    Rep. French Hill, R.-Ark., and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D.-Pa., reiterated their calls for the release of Binance executive and former IRS agent Tigran Gambaryan after visiting with him in the Nigerian prison where he's being detained on money laundering charges levied against his employer.

  • June 21, 2024

    4 Big Banks Cited For 'Living Will' Weaknesses By Fed, FDIC

    Federal regulators said Friday that half of the nation's largest U.S. banks will need to shore up weaknesses identified in their most recent "living wills," plans that detail how they could be resolved quickly and safely in the event of severe distress or failure.

  • June 21, 2024

    FDIC Creates Offices To Investigate Workplace Misconduct

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s board of directors on Friday approved the creation of two new independent offices to investigate complaints of sexual harassment, discrimination and other misconduct within the agency, which was accused of fostering a toxic workplace culture.

  • June 21, 2024

    Live Nation Investor Sues Leaders Over DOJ Antitrust Claims

    Live Nation's executives and directors were hit with a shareholder derivative lawsuit Friday in California federal court that seeks damages in the wake of the U.S. Department of Justice's allegations that the company monopolized concert promotion and ticket sales following its 2010 merger with Ticketmaster.

  • June 21, 2024

    Manhattan DA Seeks To Retain Trump Gag Order, Amid Threats

    The Manhattan District Attorney's Office urged a New York state judge Friday to leave in place most restrictions of the gag order preventing Donald Trump from speaking publicly about witnesses, jurors and others tied to his criminal trial, citing a barrage of threats from his supporters in recent months — including "actionable" death threats before and after the verdict.

  • June 21, 2024

    Crypto Vet With FTX Ties Launches Fintech Policy Think Tank

    Former congressional hopeful and cryptocurrency veteran Michelle Bond announced her formation of fintech policy think tank Digital Future, making a return to financial services policy after the recent sentencing of her partner, former FTX executive Ryan Salame, and FTX-linked donations to her 2022 campaign.

  • June 21, 2024

    Trump Says AG Can't Appoint Prosecutor In Mar-A-Lago Case

    Attorney General Merrick Garland did not have the statutory authority to promote an independent special counsel to prosecute former President Donald Trump over his allegedly illegal retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump's attorneys told a Florida federal judge Friday.

  • June 21, 2024

    SC Agency Asks 4th Circ. To Rethink Google Ad Subpoena

    South Carolina's parks and tourism department wants the Fourth Circuit to reconsider its order mandating the agency turn over documents about its own online advertising efforts to Google to aid the tech behemoth in a fight against several states accusing it of monopolization.

  • June 21, 2024

    NCAA Teams May Suffer Without Int'l Student Pay Regs

    The historic $2.77 billion settlement to address college athletes' alleged lost compensation on name, image and likeness deals could have an adverse effect on university team rosters if the federal government fails to level the playing field for international athletes.

  • June 21, 2024

    Treasury Unveils Rules Curtailing Outbound Tech Investments

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Friday proposed rules to implement President Joe Biden's executive order aimed at restricting American investments in certain technologies that China is developing, including artificial intelligence systems, that are deemed threats to national security.

  • June 21, 2024

    FDIC Approves 1st Industrial Bank Application In Years

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Friday that it has approved plans from Thrivent Financial to create Thrivent Bank, making it the first new industrial bank to receive a green light from the agency during the Biden administration.

  • June 21, 2024

    Texas Medical Board Adopts Abortion Records Requirement

    Texas doctors who determine that an abortion is necessary during a pregnant patient's health crisis will face new recordkeeping requirements under a final rule issued Friday by the state's medical board.

  • June 21, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Backs Subsidy Duties For Canadian Wind Towers

    A Canadian wind tower manufacturer can't get a break on countervailing duties despite being upfront about errors in its sales data, with the Federal Circuit ruling Friday that the errors raise the possibility of additional mistakes.

  • June 21, 2024

    NY Judge Says Feds, MTA Fully Vetted Congestion Pricing

    A Manhattan federal judge has said federal and New York transportation agencies meticulously analyzed congestion pricing's potential impacts on traffic, air quality and other factors, rejecting local residents and community groups' claims that the Big Apple's now-paused congestion pricing was improperly approved.

  • June 21, 2024

    Claims Trimmed In Neb. Tribe's Debt Collection Suit

    A federal judge partially dismissed a Nebraska tribe's challenge to the Indian Health Service that claims the federal government repeatedly tried to collect millions on an already paid debt, saying its allegations over the validity of the 2017 agreement are barred by the Contract Disputes Act's one-year statute of limitations.

  • June 21, 2024

    Union Tells 1st Circ. It's Fit To Bring Debt Cap Challenge

    A U.S. government workers' union challenging the constitutionality of the debt ceiling urged the First Circuit to ignore the Biden administration's argument that union members couldn't explain how it harms them, saying it's reasonable to expect their paychecks will be suspended when it is reimposed.

Expert Analysis

  • What's Extraordinary About Challenges To SEC Climate Rule

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    A set of ideologically diverse legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure rule have been consolidated in the Eighth Circuit via a seldom-used lottery system, and the unpredictability of this process may drive agencies toward a more cautious future approach to rulemaking, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.

  • 8 Questions To Ask Before Final CISA Breach Reporting Rule

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    The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s recently proposed cyber incident reporting requirements for critical infrastructure entities represent the overall approach CISA will take in its final rule, so companies should be asking key compliance questions now and preparing for a more complicated reporting regime, say Arianna Evers and Shannon Mercer at WilmerHale.

  • Series

    Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.

  • Key Priorities In FDIC Report On Resolving Big Bank Failures

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    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s report last month on the resolvability of large financial institutions contains little new information, but it does reiterate key policy priorities, including the agency's desire to enhance loss-absorbing capacity through long-term debt requirements and preference for single-point-of-entry resolution strategies, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • Best Practices For Space Security In Our Connected World

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    NASA's recently published space security guide is another indication that cyber-resilience has become a global theme for the space and satellite sector, as well as a useful reference for companies and organizations reviewing their cybersecurity frameworks or looking to partner with the U.S. agency, says Hayley Blyth at Bird & Bird.

  • Opinion

    SEC Doesn't Have Legal Authority For Climate Disclosure Rule

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    Instead of making the required legal argument to establish its authority, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related disclosure rule hides behind more than 1,000 references to materiality to give the appearance that its rule is legally defensible, says Bernard Sharfman at RealClearFoundation.

  • What 100 Federal Cases Suggest About Changes To Chevron

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    With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn or narrow its 40-year-old doctrine of Chevron deference, a review of 100 recent federal district court decisions confirm that changes to the Chevron framework will have broad ramifications — but the magnitude of the impact will depend on the details of the high court's ruling, say Kali Schellenberg and Jon Cochran at LeVan Stapleton.

  • FTC Noncompete Rule May Still Face Historical Hurdles

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    The Federal Trade Commission's final rule banning noncompetes might face challenges that could have been avoided with more cautious consideration of the commission's long history of failed lawsuits that went beyond the agency's statutory authority, as well as the mountain of judicial precedent justifying noncompete agreements in employment contracts, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • A Look At Subchapter V As Debt Limit Expiration Looms

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    If proposed legislation to extend Subchapter V’s debt eligibility ceiling sunset date in June is passed, bankruptcy professionals can seek ways to work with their local jurisdictions to advocate for code changes and guidance that bring more efficiencies and clarity to the process, say Matthew Brash at Newpoint Advisors and Melinda Bennett at Stretto.

  • Opinion

    SEC Should Be Allowed To Equip Investors With Climate Info

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule to require more climate-related disclosures will provide investors with much-needed clarity, despite opponents' attempts to challenge the rule with misused legal arguments, say Sarah Goetz at Democracy Forward and Cynthia Hanawalt at Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change.

  • 8 Fla. Statutes That Construction Cos. Should Prepare For

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    In this article, Jason Lambert at Hill Ward discusses a number of recent bills out of the Florida Legislature targeting construction companies in the Sunshine State that have been sent to the governor for signature, at least some of which will have broad impacts that affected companies should prepare for ahead of the July 1 effective date.

  • Game-Changing Decisions Call For New Rules At The NCAA

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    From a newly formed college players union to coaches transferring at the drop of a hat, the National College Athletic Association needs an overhaul, including federal supervision, says Frank Darras at DarrasLaw.

  • End Of Acquitted Conduct Sentencing Can Spark More Reform

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    The U.S. Sentencing Commission’s recent end to factoring acquitted conduct into federal sentences could signal the start of a more constitutionally sound advisory scheme, but Congress and the Supreme Court must first authorize the commission to resolve two constitutional errors baked into its guidelines, say Mark Allenbaugh at SentencingStats.com and Alan Ellis at the Law Offices of Alan Ellis.

  • Manufacturers Should Pay Attention To 'Right-To-Repair' Laws

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    Oregon’s recently passed "right-to-repair" statute highlights that the R2R movement is not going away, and that manufacturers of all kinds need to be paying attention to the evolving list of R2R statutes in various states and consider participating in the process, says Courtney Sarnow at Culhane.

  • Opinion

    Viral Deepfakes Of Taylor Swift Highlight Need For Regulation

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    As the nation grapples with addressing risk from artificial intelligence use, the recent circulation of AI-generated pornographic images of Taylor Swift on the social platform X highlights the need for federal legislation to protect nonconsenting subjects of deepfake pornography, say Nicole Brenner and Susie Ruiz-Lichter at Squire Patton.

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