Public Policy

  • October 28, 2024

    FCC Looks To Build 'Single Network Future' Through Regs

    The federal government envisions a "single network future" where smartphones can connect almost anywhere in the country thanks to regulations allowing signal coverage enhanced by satellites, the Federal Communications Commission's chief told academics.

  • October 28, 2024

    FCC Urged To Include Credit Unions In Broadband Fund Rules

    Credit unions should be included along with banks under Federal Communications Commission requirements to secure letters of credit in order to receive funding for broadband networks, a national trade group told the FCC.

  • October 28, 2024

    Supreme Court Keeps 5th Circuit Horse Racing Ruling On Ice

    A Fifth Circuit ruling that declared the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's oversight of federal horse safety regulation to be unconstitutional was put on hold by the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday while it decides whether to hear the authority's appeal.

  • October 28, 2024

    Biden Immigration Rule Pushes 'Mass Amnesty,' Texas Says

    Texas told a federal judge that a Joe Biden administration rule allowing noncitizens and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to stay in the country while they apply for green cards and work permits ignores existing immigration law and was an attempt at pushing "mass amnesty."

  • October 28, 2024

    No COVID Property Tax Break For Hotels, Wash. Court Told

    Hotels in Washington state should not get property tax breaks for COVID-19 because the pandemic was not a natural disaster that allows relief, the assessor of the state's most populous county told a state court.

  • October 28, 2024

    HHS Says In-Home Evals Raised Insurers' Medicare Payments

    Private Medicare insurers collected an estimated $4.2 billion in extra federal payments last year from in-home health assessments they conducted, even though the evaluations led to no treatment, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' internal watchdog.

  • October 28, 2024

    FCC To Help Tribal Libraries Connect To E-Rate Funding

    The Federal Communications Commission will help tribal libraries link up with funding through the E-Rate subsidy program for schools and libraries on a permanent basis.

  • October 28, 2024

    Transgender Inmate's Suit Meets Skeptical 2nd Circ. Judge

    A Second Circuit judge pressed counsel for a transgender inmate Monday to explain how prison officials in Connecticut were supposed to know that their failure to refer the inmate to specific gender dysphoria treatment would constitute cruel and unusual punishment, noting that relevant case law may not have put them on notice.

  • October 28, 2024

    Tribe-Linked Lenders Flouted Interest Laws, Borrower Says

    A Florida man and his purported data analytic companies face a proposed class action alleging they improperly touted a relationship with a small Native American tribe as they made consumer loans with triple-digit annual interest rates.

  • October 28, 2024

    5th Circ. Balks At Ballots Received After Election Day

    The Fifth Circuit has ruled against Mississippi being able to count ballots received after Election Day, but it is unlikely to have an effect on the upcoming election.

  • October 28, 2024

    Mass. Court's Wiretap Ruling May Be Bad Omen For Plaintiffs

    A ruling by the Massachusetts high court rejecting wiretap claims over website operators' use of tracking software like Meta Pixel and Google Analytics shows the steep climb plaintiffs may continue to face as they try to apply older laws to modern technologies, experts told Law360.

  • October 28, 2024

    DC Circ. Told Carbon Tech Doesn't Back EPA Power Plant Rule

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can't show that carbon capture and sequestration technology can be used now to meet its new emissions requirements for power plants, necessitating vacatur, Republican-led states and industry challengers told the D.C. Circuit.

  • October 28, 2024

    7 Months, 11 Dissents: GOP Minority Flexes Muscles At FTC

    The Federal Trade Commission's two relatively new Republican members are starting to show how they'll use their minority position to full advantage. Sometimes they've fully signed on to the Democratic majority, other times they've dissented emphatically. And the GOP members showed something new this month when approving a dramatic overhaul to the agency's merger filing rules: forcing their colleagues to compromise.

  • October 28, 2024

    Calif.'s 2018 Fire Reimbursement Suit Meets Skeptical Judge

    A Los Angeles judge appeared dubious Monday that the state of California can use litigation against Southern California Edison to recover emergency funds distributed to local agencies that responded to the destructive Woolsey Fire in 2018.

  • October 28, 2024

    Hotel Guests Ask 3rd Circ. To Look At Algorithm Price-Fix Suit

    Three Atlantic City guests are taking their beef with hotel-casinos to the Third Circuit after a New Jersey federal court threw out their lawsuit that accused hotel owners in the town of using an algorithm to inflate the price of rooms.

  • October 28, 2024

    Osage Call Need For Okla. ETC Designation 'Critical'

    The Osage Nation of Oklahoma is asking once again for the FCC to designate it as an eligible telecommunications carrier so that it can more easily bring internet — and federal subsidy programs — to the underserved citizens of its reservation, which is roughly the size of Delaware.

  • October 28, 2024

    Labor Dept.'s Proposed ESOP Rule Moves Toward Release

    The White House Office of Management and Budget is reviewing the U.S. Department of Labor's proposal for a rule related to how employee stock ownership valuations are conducted, the last step before the long-awaited proposed regulation is released to the public for comment.

  • October 28, 2024

    Ind. Tax Board Cuts Target Store's Assessment By $500K

    An Indiana Target's property tax assessment should be lowered by roughly $500,000 for three tax years, the state Board of Tax Review said, finding the retailer's income capitalization approach to the valuation persuasive.

  • October 28, 2024

    Attorney Says NJ Red Flag Law Violates 2nd Amendment

    An attorney who had his firearms seized after flashing a handgun during a road rage incident alleged in New Jersey federal court that a state red flag law violates the Second Amendment, arguing it is another way for the state to suppress the right to carry handguns in public.

  • October 28, 2024

    RNC Asks High Court To Stop Pa. Provisional Ballot Rule

    The Republican Party urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to freeze a ruling from Pennsylvania's top court allowing voters whose mail-in ballots are rejected as defective to submit provisional ballots as replacements, claiming the late change to voting rules in a key battleground state could "taint" the 2024 election.

  • October 28, 2024

    Judge Ambivalent In DOJ, GOP Special Counsel Tapes Fight

    A D.C. federal judge on Monday expressed skepticism toward House Judiciary Committee Republicans' rationale for seeking the release of audiotapes from President Joe Biden's interviews with special counsel Robert Hur while also questioning the U.S. Department of Justice's logic for keeping the recordings confidential.

  • October 28, 2024

    New Jury Ordered In 'Cop City' Trial Over Court Closure

    A defendant in the sprawling, 61-person racketeering indictment of protesters against Atlanta's controversial "Cop City" police training center will get another shot at jury selection after the Georgia Court of Appeals said Monday that a Fulton County trial judge unjustifiably closed her courtroom to the public and the press.

  • October 28, 2024

    Brouillette Stepping Down As Utility Trade Group's Head

    Dan Brouillette, a former energy secretary during the Trump administration, on Monday said he will be leaving his role as president and CEO of the Edison Electric Institute later this year to focus on global energy challenges.

  • October 28, 2024

    Ind. Tax Board Orders Vacant Land Be Reassessed

    An Indiana property valued as vacant land should be reassessed, the state Board of Tax Review said, and the property should be considered nontillable agricultural land.

  • October 28, 2024

    Farm Co. Can't Push Worker's Wage Suit To Arbitration

    A California appeals court refused to send to arbitration a farm laborer's suit accusing a farm labor contractor of shorting workers on wages, saying the company can't rely on an arbitration pact that one of its clients signed with the workers.

Expert Analysis

  • The Key Changes In Revised FDIC Hiring Regulations

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    Attorneys at Ogletree break down the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s new rule, effective Oct. 1, that will ease restrictions on financial institutions hiring employees with criminal histories, amend the FDIC's treatment of minor offenses and clarify its stance on expunged or dismissed criminal records.

  • FDIC's Cautious Approach To Industrial Banks, Reaffirmed

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    Although the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. recently approved an industrial loan company's deposit insurance application and proposed new rules regarding parent companies, these developments do not represent a liberalization or modernization of the FDIC's regulatory framework, say Max Bonici and Andrew Bigart at Venable.

  • How Lucia, Jarkesy Could Affect Grocery Merger Challenge

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    While the Federal Trade Commission is taking a dual federal court and administrative tribunal approach to block Kroger's merger with Alberstons, Kroger's long-shot unconstitutionality claims could potentially lead to a reevaluation of the FTC's reliance on administrative processes in complex merger cases, say attorneys at Saul Ewing.

  • How NLRB Memo Balances Schools' Labor, Privacy Concerns

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    Natale DiNatale at Robinson & Cole highlights the recent National Labor Relations Board advice memorandum that aims to help colleges reconcile competing obligations under the National Labor Relations Act and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act as university students flock toward unionization.

  • Taking Stock Of FCC's New Spectrum Rule For Drones

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    While an order recently adopted by the Federal Communications Commission is intended to provide drones with rapid access to a limited amount of spectrum in the 5030-5091 megahertz band, the commission envisions an incremental approach to full usage that will play out over the course of the coming months and years, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • Basel Endgame Rules: A Change Is Coming

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    The Federal Reserve Board's recently announced recalibration of the Basel endgame proposal begins a critical chapter in the evolution of not only the safety and soundness of U.S. banks, but also of banks' abilities to lend and support American businesses and consumers, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Ruling On Foreign Dividend Break Offers 2 Tax Court Insights

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    In Varian v. Commissioner, the U.S. Tax Court allowed a taxpayer's deduction for dividends from foreign subsidiaries, providing clarity on how the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision may affect challenges to Treasury regulations, and revealing a potential disallowance of foreign tax credits, say attorneys at Davis Polk.

  • How Loper Bright Is Affecting Pending FCC Litigation

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    Pending challenges against Federal Communications Commission orders at the Sixth and Eleventh Circuits following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright highlight that counsel must be familiar with the statutes, regulations and precedent relevant to the FCC to best navigate the rapidly changing compliance landscape, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • What PCOAB's Broadened Liability Rule Means For Auditors

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent vote agreeing to lower the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's liability standard, allowing the board to charge individual auditors whose mere negligence leads firms into PCOAB violations, may erode inspection cooperation, shrink the talent pool and have anticompetitive outcomes, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • USPTO Guidance Suggests 2 Strategies For AI Inventions

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    Analyzing the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent guidance, it appears that there are at least two paths for establishing that an artificial intelligence invention is eligible for protection, and that which strategy to use may turn on how broadly the invention is applied, says William Morriss at Frost Brown.

  • Employer Tips For PUMP Act Compliance As Law Turns 2

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    Enacted in December 2022, the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act requires employers to provide reasonable break time and a private space for employees to express breast milk, but some companies may still be struggling with how to comply, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • 4 Takeaways From The FDIC's Proposed Recordkeeping Rule

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    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s new proposed rule would impose recordkeeping and other compliance requirements on custodial deposit accounts with transactional features, and practitioners should be aware of four important factors, including who is affected and who is exempt, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Series

    Round-Canopy Parachuting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Similar to the practice of law, jumping from an in-flight airplane with nothing but training and a few yards of parachute silk is a demanding and stressful endeavor, and the experience has bolstered my legal practice by enhancing my focus, teamwork skills and sense of perspective, says Thomas Salerno at Stinson.

  • Navigating Restrictions Following Biotech Bill House Passage

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    Ahead of the BIOSECURE Act’s potential enactment, companies that obtain equipment from certain Chinese biotechnology companies should consider whether the act would restrict their ability to enter into contracts with the U.S. government and what steps they might take in response, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Dealmaker Lessons From CFIUS' New Enforcement Webpage

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    The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States’ recently launched webpage, which details the actions — and inactions — that led to enforcement activity, provides important insights for dealmakers about filing requirements, mitigation commitments and the cost of noncompliance, say attorneys at Dechert.

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