Public Policy

  • September 18, 2024

    Toss Atty Input Overboard, Says Org. In Blackbeard Image Spat

    A marine research organization and a state cultural resources agency have urged the North Carolina Business Court to scrap testimony from attorneys from trial evidence in a contract battle over the use of images and video of Blackbeard's shipwreck.

  • September 18, 2024

    NC Panel Won't Undo Energy Rates In Solar Incentives Row

    The North Carolina state appeals court has declined to unravel the state's revised energy rates for residents with rooftop solar power, saying that while the North Carolina Utilities Commission erred by concluding it was not required to conduct a cost-benefit investigation, it de facto carried out such an inquiry anyway.

  • September 18, 2024

    Bipartisan Bill Would Boost Acquisition Council's Authority

    A bipartisan group of House lawmakers has introduced a bill to boost a federal advisory council that makes recommendations for mitigating risks within federal supply chains, giving the council more funding and the ability to issue binding removal orders for risky technologies.

  • September 18, 2024

    Senate Panel Backs Bill Easing Pot Rules For Federal Hires

    A Democrat-backed bill that would curb federal agencies' ability to use past medical or recreational cannabis use as a factor in hiring and security clearance decisions was advanced out of a Senate committee Wednesday, paving the way for a vote before the whole chamber.

  • September 18, 2024

    Fla. Judge Keeps Tribe's CWA Permitting Power Row On Hold

    A Florida federal judge on Wednesday further extended his pause of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians' lawsuit claiming the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency improperly granted Florida authority over a Clean Water Act permitting program, while the D.C. Circuit considers an appeal in a similar case.

  • September 18, 2024

    House Panel Easily Passes Mandate For AM Radio In Cars

    Congress has inched closer to passing a mandate on the auto industry to keep putting AM radio devices in cars, with a key House committee overwhelmingly approving the bipartisan bill Wednesday and brushing past some lawmakers' concerns about over-regulation.

  • September 18, 2024

    Groups Seek To Sway FCC's Campaign Ad AI Disclosure Plan

    Consumer advocates want the Federal Communications Commission to strengthen its planned rules to require broadcasters to disclose the use of artificial intelligence in political ads, while the effort continues to draw strong conservative opposition.

  • September 18, 2024

    No Rehearing For 10th Circ. Methane Rule Challenge

    A Tenth Circuit panel rejected a request to reconsider its decision to throw out a ruling that partially invalidated an Obama-era rule limiting venting, flaring and leaks from oil and gas wells on federal land.

  • September 18, 2024

    Mich. Town Wants Stay During Appeal Over $2B Battery Plant

    A central Michigan township has asked a federal judge to pause enforcement while it appeals a previous ruling finding local officials violated a development agreement by trying to withdraw support for a more than $2 billion battery components plant to be built by Gotion Inc.

  • September 18, 2024

    Del. Justices Grapple With Noncompete Litigation Limits

    An attorney for residential solar power system dealer Sunder Energy LLC told Delaware's top court Wednesday that the Chancery Court last year relied on a case record "procedurally anomalous and bereft of fact" when it denied a preliminary injunction in a noncompete suit targeting a co-founder and two competitors.

  • September 18, 2024

    GEO Can't Keep ICE Detention Case In Federal Court

    Private prison contractor GEO Group Inc. will have to return to state court to fight allegations that it wouldn't let Washington public health inspectors into an immigration detention center, a Washington federal judge has ruled, saying the court has already debunked the same defenses in related cases.

  • September 18, 2024

    Harvard Rips Morgue Theft Appeal's Immunity Claim

    Harvard University told Massachusetts' intermediate-level appeals court that litigation over the alleged theft and sale of cadaver body parts from its medical school's morgue relies on a "crabbed" reading of an immunity law related to anatomical gifts.

  • September 18, 2024

    DOL Points To 5th Circ. Ruling To Save Contractor Wage Hike

    A recent Fifth Circuit decision ruling that the U.S. Department of Labor could raise salary levels for overtime-exempt workers clarifies that the major questions doctrine should stay out of a case challenging the minimum wage increase for federal contractors, the DOL told the appeals court.

  • September 18, 2024

    SEC's Equity Trading Reforms Allow Half-Penny Stock Pricing

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday unanimously agreed to allow exchanges to quote stock prices in half-penny increments, part of a wider overhaul purportedly aimed at improving transparency and lowering trading costs.

  • September 18, 2024

    Thermo Fisher Late To Pay Departing Workers, Engineer Says

    Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and a subsidiary failed to promptly pay all final wages and unused vacation time to departing employees and must now cough up three times the amount of that compensation because of its violation of Massachusetts law, according to a proposed class action filed in state court.

  • September 18, 2024

    Calif. Atty Can't Escape Billing Scandal's Hacking Claim

    A San Fernando Valley attorney will have to face his ethics case that alleges he tried to hire "Israeli military hackers" to access personal accounts of a judge overseeing a public utility class action, after the California State Bar court rejected his motion to dismiss.

  • September 18, 2024

    Senate Confirms Calif. Judge To Federal Bench

    The Senate voted 49-44 on Wednesday to confirm Judge Michelle Williams Court to the Central District of California.

  • September 18, 2024

    Data Brokers Say NJ Judicial Privacy Law Goes Too Far

    A group of data brokers accused of violating the New Jersey judicial privacy measure Daniel's Law has doubled down on its argument to a federal court that the law cannot survive strict constitutional scrutiny and must be thrown out.

  • September 18, 2024

    Treasury Floats Tax Credit Regs For EV Charging Property

    The U.S. Treasury Department proposed regulations Wednesday to define which electric vehicle charging ports, hydrogen fueling stations and other infrastructure that businesses, people and tax-exempt entities can build in underserved communities to qualify for a tax credit of up to 30% of installation costs.

  • September 18, 2024

    Calif. Gov. Signs Suite Of Bills Combating AI Deepfakes

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday signed five first-in-the-nation artificial intelligence-related bills giving actors more protections over their digital likenesses and reining in the use of AI-generated deepfakes during elections.

  • September 18, 2024

    Wayne State Law Student Refused Accommodations, School Says

    Wayne State University argued Wednesday it did not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act by not letting a law student attend class virtually, telling a Michigan federal judge the student, who sued the university, turned down its offers of in-class accommodations, on-campus housing and other resources to help her attend lectures.

  • September 18, 2024

    Chicago Slams Airline Group's Suit Against Sick Leave Law

    Chicago's recently enacted paid sick leave law doesn't clash with federal law because it doesn't affect airlines' prices or routes, the city said, urging an Illinois federal judge to toss a trade group's challenge to the ordinance.

  • September 18, 2024

    Ga. Justices Rebuke Local GOP For Delays In Ballot Challenge

    The Supreme Court of Georgia on Tuesday shot down a county Republican Party's bid to keep several candidates for local office off the ballot for an election that was already held this year, scorning the GOP chapter for its "failure to litigate this appeal with dispatch."

  • September 18, 2024

    Avangrid Unit Defends Counterclaim In Cleanup Battle

    An Avangrid Inc. unit has urged a Connecticut state judge not to throw out its counterclaim against the state's commissioner of energy and environmental protection in her suit accusing the utility of moving too slowly on an ordered cleanup of a shuttered power plant site, arguing the government is acting outside its authority.

  • September 18, 2024

    House Panel Members Question Legitimacy Of Axed Tip Rule

    A U.S. House panel chair criticized Wednesday a tip credit rule that the Fifth Circuit recently vacated, calling it burdensome and out of touch.

Expert Analysis

  • A Refresher On Calculating Political Advertising Costs

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    With election season well underway, it is important for broadcasters, political candidates, time buyers and others concerned with how the cost of broadcast political advertising is determined to know what the Federal Communications Commission factors into lowest unit calculations, and how the commission has defined "commercial advertisers," says Gregg Skall at Telecommunications Law Professionals.

  • 'Outsourcing' Ruling, 5 Years On: A Warning, Not A Watershed

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    A New York federal court’s 2019 ruling in U.S. v. Connolly, holding that the government improperly outsourced an investigation to Deutsche Bank, has not undercut corporate cooperation incentives as feared — but companies should not completely ignore the lessons of the case, say Temidayo Aganga-Williams and Anna Nabutovsky at Selendy Gay.

  • Series

    Serving In The National Guard Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My ongoing military experience as a judge advocate general in the National Guard has shaped me as a person and a lawyer, teaching me the importance of embracing confidence, balance and teamwork in both my Army and civilian roles, says Danielle Aymond at Baker Donelson.

  • Big Business May Come To Rue The Post-Administrative State

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    Many have framed the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions overturning Chevron deference and extending the window to challenge regulations as big wins for big business, but sand in the gears of agency rulemaking may be a double-edged sword, creating prolonged uncertainty that impedes businesses’ ability to plan for the future, says Todd Baker at Columbia University.

  • Reading Between The Lines Of Justices' Moore Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Moore v. U.S. decision, that the Internal Revenue Code Section 965 did not violate the 16th Amendment, was narrowly tailored to minimally disrupt existing tax regimes, but the justices' various opinions leave the door open to future tax challenges and provide clues for what the battles may look like, say Caroline Ngo and Le Chen at McDermott.

  • Series

    After Chevron: A Sea Change For Maritime Sector

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    The shipping industry has often looked to the courts for key agency decisions affecting maritime interests, but after the U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright ruling, stakeholders may revisit important industry questions and coordinate to bring appropriate challenges and shape rulemaking, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Opinion

    Post-Chevron, Good Riddance To The Sentencing Guidelines

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of the Chevron doctrine may signal the end of the U.S. sentencing guidelines, which is good news given that they have accomplished the opposite of Congress’ original intent to bring certainty, proportionality and uniformity to sentencing, say attorneys Mark Allenbaugh, Doug Passon and Alan Ellis.

  • Opinion

    Proposed Terminal Disclaimers Rule Harms Colleges, Startups

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    Universities and startups are ill-suited to follow the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s recently proposed rule on terminal disclaimers due to their necessity of filing patent applications early prior to contacting outside entities for funds and resources, say attorneys at Sterne Kessler.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Impact On CFPB May Be Limited

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo is likely to have a limited impact on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's regulatory activities, and for those who value due process, consistency and predictability in consumer financial services regulation, this may be a good thing, says John Coleman at Orrick.

  • A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates

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    Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.

  • Series

    After Chevron: 7 FERC Takeaways From Loper Bright

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    Following the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the Chevron doctrine, it's likely that the majority of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's orders will not be affected, but the commission has nonetheless lost an important fallback argument and will have to approach rulemaking more cautiously, says Norman Bay at Willkie Farr.

  • Opinion

    Discount Window Reform Needed To Curb Modern Bank Runs

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    We learned during the spring 2023 failures that bank runs can happen extraordinarily fast in light of modern technology, especially when banks have a greater concentration of large deposits, demonstrating that the antiquated but effective discount window needs to be overhauled before the next crisis, says Cris Cicala at Stinson.

  • Opinion

    Cell Tech Patent Holdup Is Stalling Automaker Innovation

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    Courts and Congress should seek to stem anticompetitive harm caused by standard-essential patent holders squeezing automakers with unfairly high royalties for cellular connectivity technology, says Charles Haake at Alliance for Automotive Innovation.

  • Series

    After Chevron: USDA Rules May Be Up In The Air

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    The Supreme Court's end of Chevron deference may cause more lawsuits against U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations, like the one redefining "unfair trade practices" under the Packers and Stockyards Act, or a new policy classifying salmonella as an adulterant in certain poultry products, says Bob Hibbert at Wiley.

  • Mitigating Risks Amid 10-Year Sanctions Enforcement Window

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    In response to recent legislation, which doubles the statute of limitations for actions related to certain U.S. sanctions and provides regulators greater opportunity to investigate possible violations, companies should take specific steps to account for the increased civil and criminal enforcement risk, say attorneys at Freshfields.

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