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Public Policy
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November 19, 2024
Wash. Tribe Looks To Ax Wildlife Refuge Protection Suit
A Washington state tribe is looking to dismiss a challenge by three environmental groups to the federal government for failing to protect a national wildlife refuge from an industrial aquaculture operation, arguing that the true purpose of the case is to restrict its members from farming in their historic homeland.
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November 19, 2024
All States Now Approved For Feds' Broadband Program
Everyone who is eligible for a slice of the $42.5 billion BEAD Program pie has officially had their broadband deployment plans approved by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the agency revealed Tuesday.
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November 19, 2024
CFPB's Medical Debt Guidance Faces Industry Injunction Bid
Debt collectors asked a D.C. federal court on Monday to put an immediate hold on recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau guidance aimed at the medical debt collection market, escalating their challenge to the document ahead of its looming effective date.
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November 19, 2024
Calif. Judge OKs Biggest Family Separation Settlement Yet
A California federal judge has approved a final settlement for minors in a lawsuit seeking damages for emotional distress caused by family separations under the Trump administration's zero tolerance border policy, saying the settlements "appear to represent the largest amounts achieved thus far by plaintiffs in family separation cases."
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November 19, 2024
Doc Says Idaho Abortion Bans Sow 'Fear' In 2nd Week Of Trial
In the trial over Idaho's strict abortion bans, a rural-based doctor testified Tuesday that the laws are leaving doctors stuck in "confusion and fear," leading to delayed care that's affecting patient safety.
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November 19, 2024
Trump DOT Pick Puts Highway, Road Rebuilds Back In Focus
President-elect Donald Trump's selection of former Wisconsin congressman Sean Duffy to serve as his secretary of transportation would send a savvy communicator to liaise with Capitol Hill and refocus the federal government's infrastructure investment priorities more on highways, roads and bridges and less on renewables and clean-energy initiatives, experts say.
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November 19, 2024
Senate Confirms 5th Lame-Duck Judge
The Senate voted 50-44 on Tuesday evening to confirm Sarah French Russell, law professor and director of the Legal Clinic at Quinnipiac University School of Law, to become a judge in the District of Connecticut.
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November 19, 2024
Neb. AG Expands Electric Trucks Fight To Volvo, Daimler
However a federal court challenge to California's phaseout of gasoline and diesel trucks plays out, Nebraska's attorney general wants to make sure that Volvo, Daimler and other semitruck giants don't eliminate traditional fossil fuel-powered vehicles, filing a Nebraska state court antitrust suit Tuesday describing phaseout commitments as anticompetitive collusion.
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November 19, 2024
Ex-US Attorneys See Risks In Working Under Gaetz
Some prospective U.S. attorneys may think twice about joining the U.S. Department of Justice if Matt Gaetz ends up in charge, veterans of the position told Law360.
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November 19, 2024
DOJ Hits Pennsylvania With Bias Suit Over Building Code
A Pennsylvania building code with an automatic sprinkler requirement for community homes for autistic people or those with intellectually disabilities is discriminatory, as it doesn't apply to "similarly sized" homes for people who aren't disabled, the federal government alleged Tuesday.
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November 19, 2024
32 State AGs Urge Congress To Back Kids' Online Safety Bill
More than 30 state attorneys general urged federal lawmakers to back bipartisan legislation aimed at bolstering youth safety online, writing a letter Monday encouraging Congress to "act to aid our state-level efforts" which included opening investigations and commencing with litigation against social media companies like TikTok and Meta.
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November 19, 2024
10th Circ. Iffy On Colo.'s Remedy To Generic EpiPen Takings
A Tenth Circuit panel on Tuesday pressed Colorado regulators on whether requiring epinephrine auto-injector makers to repeatedly sue over the cost of complying with a state program provides an adequate legal remedy, with one judge saying that that route offers no finality for manufacturers.
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November 19, 2024
Fox TV Renewal Calls For Strict License Test, Advocates Say
A media advocacy group said Tuesday that the Federal Communications Commission needs to act quickly to "establish a bright-line test" for broadcasters' fitness for a station license by setting up a hearing on the controversial renewal bid for Fox TV's Philadelphia station.
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November 19, 2024
Ill. Makes $1.8M Staffing Antitrust Deal After High Court Input
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Tuesday announced a $1.8 million settlement with one of three staffing agencies the state accused of unlawfully agreeing not to poach each other's employees and to offer below-market wages to those assigned to work for a client they shared.
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November 19, 2024
Feds Defend BLM Authority In States' Methane Rule Challenge
The Biden administration has urged a North Dakota federal court to grant it a summary judgment win in five states' lawsuit challenging a new rule aimed at cracking down on natural gas waste, defending the rule's creation as being well within the Bureau of Land Management's statutory authority.
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November 19, 2024
DOJ Effort To Force Google Chrome Sale Draws Criticism
Google's regulatory chief and at least one trade group are blasting a reported push from the U.S. Department of Justice to seek expansive remedies and potentially force a sale of Google Chrome in an ongoing court battle with the tech giant.
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November 19, 2024
FCC To Vote On More Credit Options To Back Broadband Aid
The Federal Communications Commission is poised to allow more financial institutions to issue letters of credit that broadband providers can rely on to secure federal funding for high-speed infrastructure projects.
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November 19, 2024
After Biden-Era Rebuild, EPA Staff Brace For Trump Term 2
Many U.S. Environmental Protection Agency employees are gearing up for President-elect Donald Trump's second term with a promise to fight any efforts to dramatically reduce staffing levels and pointing to new union contract protections to bolster claims that they're prepared.
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November 19, 2024
SF Urges Calif. Panel To Rethink Waymo City Approval
The city and county of San Francisco urged a California appellate court Tuesday to find the California Public Utilities Commission abused its discretion in allowing Waymo to operate self-driving vehicles on city streets without imposing requirements, arguing "there are no guardrails" even though the cars pose serious safety hazards.
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November 19, 2024
Senators Blast Visa And Mastercard, Promise Action On Fees
A bipartisan group of Senate Judiciary Committee members blasted executives from Visa and Mastercard on Tuesday over swipe fees charged to merchants, promising to rein in what the lawmakers called the companies' monopoly on credit card payments if they do not change their practices.
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November 19, 2024
LA Waterkeeper Sues Union Pacific Over Pollution Controls
The Los Angeles Waterkeeper slapped Union Pacific Railroad Co. with a complaint in California federal court, alleging the company's failure to implement pollution controls at four industrial facilities has led to hazardous discharges of heavy metals and oils into the San Jose Creek, San Gabriel River and other bodies of water.
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November 19, 2024
Pa. Candidates Launch Litigation Blitz To Settle Tight Race
With Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick ahead of incumbent Democrat Bob Casey by fewer than 18,000 votes in Pennsylvania's unofficial count Tuesday, the candidates and their political parties have turned to filing lawsuits against individual counties over their decisions to include or exclude relatively small numbers of provisional ballots in their totals.
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November 19, 2024
Ga. Panel Says 190-Year-Old Marshland Grant Is Valid
A Georgia appellate court has sided with a company seeking to retain ownership of 1,000 acres of Georgia coastal marshland by using an 1834 document in which the state granted the land to the company's predecessor-in-title.
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November 19, 2024
Utah Counties, Feds Ask Justices To Restore Rail Oil Project
Utah counties and the federal government fired back at a Colorado county's attempt to affirm a D.C. Circuit ruling that overturned federal approval of a rail project intended to haul crude oil out of Utah's Uinta Basin, telling the U.S. Supreme Court in separate briefs the county's understanding of the National Environmental Policy Act is incorrect.
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November 19, 2024
NC Lt. Gov.'s Defamation Spat With CNN Tapped For Mediation
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a 2024 gubernatorial candidate who sued CNN over a story about his alleged posts on a porn site, is having his defamation case moved to mediation, according to a Tuesday filing.
Expert Analysis
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Smith's New Trump Indictment Is Case Study In Superseding
Special counsel Jack Smith’s recently revised Jan. 6 charges against former President Donald Trump provide lessons for prosecutors on how to effectively draft superseding indictments in order to buttress or streamline their case, as necessary, says Jessica Roth at Cardozo Law School.
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Opinion
FDIC's Foray Into Index Fund Rules Risks Regulatory Chaos
A proposed Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. rule concerning control over passive index fund investments in banks is outside the agency's remit, clashes with an existing Federal Reserve process and would inhibit competition in the index fund sector, says J.W. Verret at George Mason University.
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Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys
Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.
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Opinion
Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code
As public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court dips to historic lows following reports raising conflict of interest concerns, Congress must exercise its constitutional power to enact a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for the high court, says Muhammad Faridi, president of the New York City Bar Association.
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What To Make Of Dueling Corporate Transparency Act Rulings
Although challenges to the Corporate Transparency Act abound — as highlighted by recent federal court decisions from Alabama and Oregon taking opposite positions on its constitutionality — the act is still law, so companies should comply with their filing requirements or face the potential consequences, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan
Characters in the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan break the rules of good lawyering by shamelessly throwing responsible critical thought to the wind, providing hilarious lessons for lawyers and judges on how to avoid a surfeit of traps and tribulations, say acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits and law student Tara Scown.
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California's AI Safety Bill Veto: The Path Forward
California Gov. Gavin Newsom's veto of a bill that sought to impose stringent regulations on advanced artificial intelligence model development has sparked a renewed debate on how best to balance innovation with safety in the rapidly evolving AI landscape, say Bobby Malhotra and Carson Swope at Winston & Strawn.
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Staying Off The CFPB's Financial Services Offender Registry
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's soon-to-launch registry of financial services companies that have faced public enforcement orders is designed to ratchet up long-term scrutiny of entities that could become repeat offenders, so companies should take their new compliance and filing requirements seriously, say Andrea Mitchell and Chris Napier at Mitchell Sandler.
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New TCPA Rule Faces Uncertain Future Post-Loper Bright
The Federal Communications Commission's new rule aiming to eliminate lead generators' use of unlawful robocalls is now in doubt with the U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision, and the Eleventh Circuit's Insurance Marketing Coalition v. FCC is poised to be a test case of the agency's ability to enforce the Telephone Consumer Protection Act post-Chevron, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.
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A Look At Calif.'s New AI Law For Health Insurers
A newly enacted California law prohibits artificial intelligence tools from making medical necessity determinations for healthcare service plans or disability insurers, addressing core questions that have arisen around AI's role in coverage decisions, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
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New HHS Research Misconduct Rules Bring Seismic Changes
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' new rule regarding research misconduct investigations brings significant changes that focus on remediation, appeals and confidentiality, while other changes could result in institutions causing undue harm to scientists accused of such misconduct, say attorneys at Cohen Seglias.
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To Report Or Not To Report Others' Export Control Violations
A recent Bureau of Industry and Security enforcement policy change grants cooperation credit to those that report violations of the Export Administration Regulations committed by others, but the benefits of doing so must be weighed against significant drawbacks, including the costs of preparing and submitting a report, says Megan Lew at Cravath.
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Earned Wage Access Laws Form A Prickly Policy Patchwork
Conflicting earned wage access laws across the country, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recently issued rule, mean providers must adopt a proactive compliance approach and adjust business models where needed, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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What FDIC Expansion Of Change In Bank Control Could Mean
A recent Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. proposal pertaining to the Change in Bank Control Act has the potential to create uncertainty around investments by mutual fund complexes in banking organizations, which represent a stable source of capital for the banking industry, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.
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HSR Amendments Intensify Merger Filing Burdens, Data Risk
The antitrust agencies' long-awaited changes to premerger notification rules under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act stand to significantly increase the time and cost involved in preparing an initial HSR notification, and will require more proactive attention to data issues, says Andrew Szwez at FTI Technology.