Public Policy

  • September 23, 2024

    Biden Admin Seeks To Ban Certain Chinese, Russian Car Tech

    The Biden administration proposed a new policy Monday that would ban automakers from importing and selling vehicles in the U.S. with certain connectivity components made in China or Russia that pose national security risks, in an effort to protect U.S. infrastructure and American consumers.

  • September 23, 2024

    Feds To Pay $893K Fee Award To Travel Ban Challengers

    A California federal judge has signed off on the Biden administration's agreement to cover $893,000 worth of legal fees that thousands of visa applicants racked up while contesting a Trump-era travel ban that prevented them from immigrating to the U.S.

  • September 23, 2024

    Feds Ask To File Up To 180-Page Brief On Trump Immunity

    Federal prosecutors are seeking permission from a D.C. federal judge to file a lengthy brief making the case that Donald Trump is not immune from charges of election interference, telling the court that the "substantially drafted" motion won't be longer than 180 pages.

  • September 23, 2024

    Mich. Township Scores Partial Win In Suit Over Bike Path Law

    A Michigan federal judge ruled that Jamestown Charter Township's ordinance allowing authorities to require developers to fund bike path construction is not facially unconstitutional, despite finding the municipality's recent tweaks to the law to be "suspicious."

  • September 23, 2024

    Wilkinson Barker Brings On FCC Deputy Bureau Chief In DC

    A 12-year veteran of the Federal Communications Commission, who most recently was the deputy bureau chief of the agency's Wireline Competition Bureau, is returning to private practice as a partner with Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP, the firm announced Monday.

  • September 23, 2024

    Holland & Knight Adds Former Treasury Adviser In DC

    A former adviser for the U.S. Department of the Treasury and counsel for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has moved his practice to Holland & Knight's office in Washington, D.C., the firm announced Monday.

  • September 23, 2024

    Telecoms Oppose Using Database Co.'s Do-Not-Originate List

    A major telecommunications trade association is urging the Federal Communications Commission to reject suggested changes to its proposed anti-robocall rules, telling the commission that modifications recommended by telecom database company Somos could end up blocking legitimate calls.

  • September 23, 2024

    Autism Played Role In Bankman-Fried Case, 2nd Circ. Told

    A group of experts on neurodiversity told the Second Circuit that Sam Bankman-Fried, who has said he has autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, may have been hurt at trial by a "cognitive and communication style" that at times frustrated the trial judge.

  • September 23, 2024

    House Panel Subpoenas DOL For Independent Contractor Info

    The chairwoman of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce served the U.S. Department of Labor with a subpoena Monday, pointing to the department's several failures to respond to questions about its independent contractor misclassification probes.

  • September 23, 2024

    Tempur Sealy Sets Divestiture Plan Ahead Of FTC Court Battle

    Tempur Sealy International Inc. said Monday that it plans to sell 176 stores and seven distribution centers to Mattress Warehouse if it is able to close its planned $4 billion purchase of Mattress Firm Group Inc., in an effort to appease the Federal Trade Commission in its continued efforts to block the deal.

  • September 23, 2024

    5th Circ. Refuses Texas A Jury Trial For Border Buoy Case

    The Fifth Circuit refused Texas' request for jurors to decide the legality of barriers installed in the Rio Grande to deter migrants, saying the Seventh Amendment's right to a jury trial doesn't apply to the case.

  • September 23, 2024

    La. Wants EPA Civil Rights Regs Vacated After Court Win

    Louisiana is asking a federal judge to revisit an order and amend it to completely vacate U.S. Environmental Protection Agency civil rights regulations, after the judge granted the Pelican State's motion for a permanent injunction within its borders.

  • September 20, 2024

    Wash. Strikes Deal With Wild Fish Groups To End ESA Row

    Two conservation groups have struck an agreement with Washington state to drop a claim that some of its hatchery programs are unlawfully imperiling protected wild salmon on the Lower Columbia River, though the groups will continue to pursue similar claims against Oregon and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

  • September 20, 2024

    Sens. Kaine, Romney Seek To Deter China's 'Maritime Militia'

    Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Mitt Romney, R-Utah, introduced a bill that would allow sanctions on foreign adversaries' "maritime militias," saying the aim is to end China's use of military vessels disguised as commercial fishing ships to take over disputed territory in the South China Sea.

  • September 20, 2024

    3rd Circ. CFPB Ruling Threatens Securitization, Justices Told

    Two major trade groups for the securities industry have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Third Circuit decision allowing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to exercise enforcement authority over a collection of student loan securitization trusts, slamming the ruling as wrong and dangerous.

  • September 20, 2024

    Retail Theft Wasn't Removable Crime, Immigration Board Says

    Retail theft is not necessarily a crime of moral turpitude that warrants an immigrant's removal, the Board of Immigration Appeals ruled Friday, saying its 2006 precedential reasoning runs afoul of the categorical approach articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • September 20, 2024

    House To Weigh Patent Bill Aimed At Cutting Drug Prices

    The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to consider a bill soon that has already cleared the Senate and could streamline patent litigation by curbing the number of patents that makers of biologic drugs can assert over biosimilar drugs.

  • September 20, 2024

    Ad Tech Judge Not Biting On Google's Market Metaphor

    Comparing Big Macs and Whoppers to undermine the Justice Department's market definition appeared to be a step too far Friday for the Virginia federal judge weighing the fate of Google's display advertising placement technology.

  • September 20, 2024

    Family Dollar Must Face Arkansas AG's Rodent Infestation Suit

    Family Dollar can't escape a lawsuit by the Arkansas attorney general seeking damages for knowingly selling products potentially contaminated by rodents, both dead and alive, at a warehouse in West Memphis, a state judge has ruled.

  • September 20, 2024

    Cities Score Wins Over FCC Even In 9th Circ. Permitting Loss

    Even though the Ninth Circuit in a recent decision largely upheld a Federal Communications Commission policy that reined in municipal governments' power to impose zoning restrictions on wireless network siting, the court's ruling wasn't all bad news for city officials.

  • September 20, 2024

    EPA Defends Methane Rule At Supreme Court

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and green group allies on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reject states' and fossil fuel industry players' effort to block the implementation of a rule strengthening methane emissions control requirements for oil and gas infrastructure.

  • September 20, 2024

    Ashli Babbitt's Estate Gets 2026 Trial For Wrongful-Death Suit

    A D.C. federal judge on Friday set a July 2026 jury trial date in a $30 million wrongful-death lawsuit over the fatal police shooting of Ashli Babbitt during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

  • September 20, 2024

    Enviro Group Threatens Suit To Protect Newt In Fla., Ga.

    The Center for Biological Diversity has notified the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service it plans to sue over the denial of Endangered Species Act protections to a newt species that lives in threatened pine forests and wetlands in southeastern Georgia and north-central Florida.

  • September 20, 2024

    Senate Panel Advances Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act

    A U.S. Senate panel has moved forward efforts to win passage of the Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act, which would place approximately 172 acres of specified lands in San Diego into trust for the benefit of the California tribe.

  • September 20, 2024

    CFPB Pitches Remittance Rule Tweak For Consumer Inquiries

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau moved Friday to revise a longstanding remittance disclosure requirement, saying the agency thinks the wording may be causing it to get inundated with thousands of phone calls from consumers asking about their international money transfers.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    After Chevron: What Loper Bright Portends For The NLRB

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court has a long history of deferring to the National Labor Relations Board's readings of federal labor law, the court's Loper Bright v. Raimondo decision forces courts to take a harder look at the judgment of an agency — and the NLRB will not be immune from such greater scrutiny, says Irving Geslewitz at Much Shelist.

  • PE Firms Should Prepare For Increased False Claims Scrutiny

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    The impact private equity firms may have over medical decisions and care is increasingly attracting potential liability under the False Claims Act and attention from states and the federal government, so investors should follow best practices including conducting due diligence both before and after acquisitions, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Series

    After Chevron: NRC Is Shielded From Loper Bright's Effects

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Loper Bright v. Relentless decision brought an end to Chevron deference, Congress' unique delegation of discretionary authority to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will likely insulate it from the additional judicial scrutiny that other federal agencies will face, say Ryan Lighty and Scott Clausen at Morgan Lewis.

  • Opinion

    Unclear Intellectual Property Laws Are Stifling US Innovation

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    U.S. intellectual property law’s lack of predictability means far less job-creating investments for companies that need patent protection to compete, and Congress must step in with legislation like the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act to help address the problem, says Michael Gulliford at Soryn IP Capital Management.

  • Pros And Cons Of 2025 NDAA's Space Contracting Proposal

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    The introduction of a Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve fleet in the pending 2025 National Defense Authorization Act presents a significant opportunity for space and satellite companies — despite outstanding questions, and potential risks, for operators, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • How 3rd Circ. Raised Bar For Constitutional Case Injunctions

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    The Third Circuit's decision in Delaware State Sportsmen's Association v. Delaware Department of Safety & Homeland Security, rejecting the relaxed preliminary injunction standards many courts have used when plaintiffs allege constitutional harms, could portend a shift in such cases in at least four ways, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • New Russia Sanctions Law: Bank Compliance Insights

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    Financial institutions must familiarize themselves with the new reporting obligations imposed by the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act, a recent law that authorizes seizures of Russian sovereign assets under U.S. jurisdiction, say attorneys at Seward & Kissel.

  • Opinion

    Dreamer Green Card Updates Offer Too Little For Too Few

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    Despite the Biden administration’s good intentions in announcing a new pathway for college-educated Dreamers to receive green cards, the initiative ultimately does little to improve the status quo for most beneficiaries, and could even leave applicants in a worse position, says Adam Moses at Harris Beach.

  • 3 Healthcare FCA Deals Provide Self-Disclosure Takeaways

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    Several civil False Claims Act settlements of alleged healthcare fraud violations over the past year demonstrate that healthcare providers may benefit substantially from voluntarily disclosing potential misconduct to both the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, say Brian Albritton and Raquel Ramirez Jefferson at Phelps Dunbar.

  • Opinion

    Congress Must Increase Small Biz Ch. 11 Debt Cap

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    Congress must act to reinstate Subchapter V, which recently sunsetted when the debt threshold to qualify reverted from $7.5 million to just over $3 million, meaning thousands of small businesses will no longer be able to use the means of reorganization, says Daniel Gielchinsky at DGIM Law.

  • How Loper Bright Weakens NEPA Enviro Justice Strategy

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    The National Environmental Policy Act is central to the Biden administration's environmental justice agenda — but the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo casts doubt on the government's ability to rely on NEPA for this purpose, and a pending federal case will test the strategy's limits, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Series

    After Chevron: ERISA Challenges To Watch

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    The end of Chevron deference makes the outcome of Employee Retirement Income Security Act regulatory challenges more uncertain as courts become final arbiters of pending lawsuits about ESG investments, the definition of a fiduciary, unallocated pension forfeitures and discrimination in healthcare plans, says Evelyn Haralampu at Burns & Levinson.

  • Menendez Corruption Ruling Highlights Attorney Proffer Risks

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    The recent admission of slides used in a preindictment presentation as evidence during U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez’s corruption trial highlights the potential pitfalls of using visual aids in attorney proffers, and the increasing importance of making disclaimers regarding information presented at the outset of proffers, say Carrie Cohen and Savanna Leak at MoFo.

  • Opinion

    Expert Witness Standards Must Consider Peer Review Crisis

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    For nearly two decades, the so-called replication crisis has upended how the scientific community views the reliability of peer-reviewed studies, and it’s time for courts to reevaluate whether peer review is a trustworthy proxy for expert witness reliability, say Jeffrey Gross and Robert LaCroix at Reid Collins.

  • What's In NYDFS Guidance On Use Of AI In Insurance

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    Matthew Gaul and Shlomo Potesky at Willkie summarize the New York Department of Financial Services' recently adopted circular letter on the use of artificial intelligence in insurance underwriting and pricing, and highlight the material changes made to it in response to comments on the draft circular letter.

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