Public Policy

  • October 31, 2024

    IFC Projects Must Do More On Emissions, Report Says

    An accountability arm of the International Finance Corp. is encouraging it to bolster its methods to identify and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from financed projects, saying its current approaches are not fully up to date and limit its effectiveness in addressing global warming.

  • October 31, 2024

    Meta Says CFPB Mulling Enforcement Action Over Advertising

    Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said Thursday that it is facing a potential Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enforcement action following an agency probe into financial-related advertising on its platform.

  • October 30, 2024

    5th Circ. Keeps Most No Surprises Act Provisions Intact

    The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday upheld several provisions for calculating qualifying payments under a federal law aimed at protecting Americans from surprise medical bills, saying in a published opinion that the provisions were neither inconsistent with the law nor arbitrary and capricious.

  • October 30, 2024

    FDA Didn't Flub Approval In Orphan Drug Case, DC Court Says

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration didn't err in determining that a rival narcolepsy treatment is not the "same drug" as Jazz Pharmaceuticals' exclusive treatment, a D.C. federal judge ruled Wednesday, holding that the FDA's approval of the rival drug didn't run afoul of the Orphan Drug Act.

  • October 30, 2024

    Texas Trying To 'Cloak' Uvalde Records Forever, Justices Hear

    Justices on a Texas appeals court questioned why the state should get to keep almost three terabytes worth of data relating to the Uvalde school massacre away from the public eye, saying during oral arguments Wednesday that Texas was seemingly claiming it could hold onto all of its records.

  • October 30, 2024

    Calif. Panel Axes $10.6M Abex Asbestos Verdict

    A California appellate panel has thrown out a $10.6 million asbestos verdict against Pneumo Abex LLC and ordered a new trial, finding that the trial court erred in granting a directed verdict that rejected the now-bankrupt braking lining manufacturer's sophisticated user defense.

  • October 30, 2024

    9th Circ. Says Calif. City Can't Sue State Over Housing Laws

    The Ninth Circuit refused to revive the city of Huntington Beach, California's challenge to Golden State laws requiring it to build a certain number of housing units to keep up with population growth, writing in an order Wednesday that the city lacked standing to sue the state in federal court.

  • October 30, 2024

    Apparel Co.'s Crypto Allies Say SEC Suit Is Ripe For Court

    Cryptocurrency advocates have told a Texas federal judge that apparel company Beba and its crypto industry group backer have standing to preemptively sue the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, arguing that the regulator has created an impossible situation for crypto firms by bringing enforcement actions without setting clear rules for digital assets.

  • October 30, 2024

    'Politically Charged' Bid To Unseat Justice Alarms Colo. Bar

    The Colorado Bar Association said Tuesday it was concerned about a campaign to unseat the Colorado Supreme Court's chief justice because of her vote to disqualify former President Donald Trump from the state's ballot, calling them "politically charged efforts that target the judiciary's independence."

  • October 30, 2024

    Alleged Kickback Plotters Can Waive Conflict Over Attorney

    A Colorado federal judge on Wednesday concluded that a lab testing company owner charged with participating in a kickback scheme to defraud Medicare and a man who pled guilty to participating in a connected conspiracy could waive any conflicts that might arise from both using the same attorney.

  • October 30, 2024

    Google's Bid To Depose AG Has Texas Appeals Judge 'Extremely Troubled'

    A Texas appeals court raised concerns about Google's claim that it had the right to depose the Texas Office of the Attorney General, with a justice saying during oral arguments Wednesday that giving Google a green light to interview lawyers representing the state could open a legal can of worms.

  • October 30, 2024

    Pa. Says GOP Regret Doesn't Merit Freeze On Mail-In Vote Fix

    Pennsylvania told the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday the federal justices have no authority to freeze a ruling from the state's top court allowing voters whose mail-in ballots are rejected as defective to submit provisional ballots as replacements, adding that the Republican Party's alleged regret over its litigation strategy doesn't require action either.

  • October 30, 2024

    4th Circ. Keeps NC Voter Registration Suit In Fed. Court

    The Fourth Circuit has ruled that a district court was wrong to send part of a Republicans' lawsuit challenging the legality of 225,000 voters' registrations in North Carolina back to state court.

  • October 30, 2024

    More Than Half Of Cos. Slow With Antirobocall Compliance

    Fewer than half of U.S. phone companies have finished installing equipment to stop scam robocalls in the three years since the adoption of Federal Communications Commission standards for robocall mitigation, according to a new report from a consumer watchdog group.

  • October 30, 2024

    Rights Org. Calls For Probe Of Allegedly Manipulated ICE Data

    Immigration rights group The Black Alliance for Just Immigration said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement should be investigated immediately, claiming the agency had classified detained Black immigrants as white for years.

  • October 30, 2024

    Calif. Agency Targets Data Brokers Over Registry Mandate

    The California Privacy Protection Agency revealed Wednesday that it's cracking down on data brokers' compliance with the registration requirements of a groundbreaking consumer data deletion law, stressing that it won't hesitate to impose hefty fines on those that are falling short. 

  • October 30, 2024

    Conn. Justices Doubt Fertility Doc Suit Is For 'Wrongful Life'

    Some justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court were skeptical Wednesday that a lawsuit accusing a fertility doctor of impregnating patients with his own sperm is a barred claim for wrongful life, pressing defense counsel on the now-grown children's allegations that they suffered psychological harm when they discovered the truth.

  • October 30, 2024

    Insurer Can't Cap Interest In Birth Injury Case, Patient Says

    A patient suing his doctor over injuries he suffered at birth urged the Colorado Supreme Court not to limit interest on his medical malpractice damages to $1 million, arguing in a brief the doctor's insurer had chances to settle the case years ago and refused.

  • October 30, 2024

    DOI Invests $46M In Klamath Basin Restoration

    The U.S. Department of the Interior on Wednesday unveiled nearly $46 million in investments from the bipartisan infrastructure law for ecosystem restoration activities in the drought-prone Klamath River Basin of Southern Oregon and Northern California. 

  • October 30, 2024

    5th Circ. Upholds Texas A&M's Defeat Of Hiring Bias Suit

    The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday backed Texas A&M University's win over a professor's lawsuit claiming its hiring practices prevent white and Asian men's applications from being properly considered, finding his failure to actually seek a job at the school doomed his case.

  • October 30, 2024

    Judge Embraces 'Law School Geekiness' In Ill. Swipe Fee Row

    An Illinois federal judge said Wednesday that she'd be "going back to law school" to study up after hearing more than two hours of robust arguments about whether she should block a first-of-its-kind Illinois law restricting certain credit card fees, as the banking industry said at least one bank was "freaking out" over possible compliance.

  • October 30, 2024

    Ax Green Groups' Suit Over 'Resiliency' Definition, FEMA Says

    The Federal Emergency Management Agency asked a D.C. federal judge on Wednesday to throw out a lawsuit brought by environmental advocacy and consumer groups alleging the agency missed its deadline to define "resilient."

  • October 30, 2024

    T-Mobile Defends UScellular Spectrum Buy At FCC

    T-Mobile and United States Cellular Corp. urged the Federal Communications Commission to dismiss challenges to UScellular spectrum leases as it seeks to sell wireless operations to T-Mobile, arguing the dispute over the leases is unrelated to the wireless sale.

  • October 30, 2024

    Wash. Boys' Group Home Gets Sanctions In Sex Abuse Case

    A Washington federal judge on Tuesday sanctioned a boys' group home for failing to prepare its CEO to give evidence in a case involving sexual abuse claims dating back to the 1980s, in an order saying the home acted without court permission to limit the CEO's testimony during a deposition.

  • October 30, 2024

    3rd Circ. Told Medicare Drug Price Talks Not Voluntary

    Three pharmaceutical companies told the Third Circuit on Wednesday the Medicare drug price negotiation program is anything but voluntary, arguing the appeals court should revive their challenges to the program because it is unconstitutional.

Expert Analysis

  • 5th Circ. DOL Tip Decision May Trigger Final 80/20 Rule Fight

    Author Photo

    A recent Fifth Circuit decision concerning a Labor Department rule that limits how often tipped employees can be assigned non-tip-producing duties could be challenged in either historically rule-friendly circuits or the Supreme Court, but either way it could shape the future of tipped work, says Kevin Johnson at Johnson Jackson.

  • How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program

    Author Photo

    During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.

  • CFPB School Lunch Focus Could Expand E-Payment Scrutiny

    Author Photo

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent spotlight on payment processing systems used to add funds to school lunch accounts shows its continued ambitions to further expand its supervisory power in the payments industry, all the way down to the school lunch market, says Tom Witherspoon at Stinson.

  • A Narrow Window Of Opportunity To Fix Energy Transmission

    Author Photo

    A post-election effort of the coming lame-duck congressional session may be the only possibility to pass bipartisan legislation to solve the national grid's capacity deficiencies, which present the greatest impediment to realizing state and federal energy transition and emissions reduction goals, says David Smith at Manatt.

  • How Project 2025 Could Upend Federal ESG Policies

    Author Photo

    If implemented, Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation's policy playbook for a Republican presidential administration, would likely seek to deploy antitrust law to target ESG initiatives, limit pension fund managers' focus to pecuniary factors and spell doom for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate rule, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • Compliance Pointers For Amended Pa. Data Breach Law

    Author Photo

    Recent updates to the Pennsylvania Breach of Personal Information Notification Act include a requirement that organizations alert the state's attorney general of certain consumer data breach notifications, and several incident response and cybersecurity considerations will be necessary to ensure compliance, say Matthew Meade and Laura Decker at Eckert Seamans.

  • Smith's New Trump Indictment Is Case Study In Superseding

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Opinion

    FDIC's Foray Into Index Fund Rules Risks Regulatory Chaos

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Opinion

    Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code

    Author Photo

    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.

  • What To Make Of Dueling Corporate Transparency Act Rulings

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Perspectives

    Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan

    Author Photo

    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.

  • California's AI Safety Bill Veto: The Path Forward

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Staying Off The CFPB's Financial Services Offender Registry

    Author Photo

    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.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Public Policy archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!