Public Policy

  • September 11, 2024

    Mass. Jury Weighs Raft Of Fraud Charges Against Ex-Pol

    A Boston federal jury resumed deliberations Wednesday in a criminal case alleging a former Massachusetts state senator lied on his taxes and an application for pandemic unemployment aid, after the ex-politico testified in his own defense.

  • September 11, 2024

    Rights Groups Urge DHS To Free Immigrants Granted Asylum

    Immigrants granted fear-based protection from deportation are often held in detention, contrary to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement guidance, and should be freed, 80 civil rights organizations, legal services groups and law firms said in a Tuesday letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials.

  • September 11, 2024

    Mastro Bows Out Of NYC Top Atty Nom After Council Hearing

    Trial lawyer Randy Mastro is out of the running to serve as New York City's corporation counsel, two weeks after a contentious nomination hearing that called into question, among other things, the King & Spalding LLP attorney's ties to former mayor Rudy Giuliani.

  • September 11, 2024

    Sidley, Other Attys Get $850K In Fees For Migrant Family Suit

    A California federal judge signed off on $850,000 in legal fees for Sidley Austin LLP's and Public Counsel's work advising plaintiffs in a class action that saw the federal government ordered to provide mental health treatment for migrant families separated at the border.

  • September 11, 2024

    EU Struggles With Setup Of G7 Use Of Frozen Russian Assets

    European Union countries are struggling to agree on a legal solution to reassure the U.S. that windfall profits from frozen and immobilized Russian state assets will be used to repay a $50 billion loan to Ukraine over the entire length of the loan.

  • September 11, 2024

    Star Witness In Bankman-Fried Trial Seeks No Prison Time

    Former FTX insider Caroline Ellison urged a Manhattan federal judge not to sentence her to prison for her part in the crypto exchange's massive fraud scheme, citing her remorse and the "devastating" trial testimony she gave against onetime romantic partner and company founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

  • September 11, 2024

    NC Car Parts Biz Racks Up $10M In Fines For Cheat Devices

    A North Carolina automotive components business will pay a $2.4 million criminal penalty on top of a $7 million civil fine for dealing devices used to skirt federal vehicle emissions controls, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

  • September 11, 2024

    Federal Pot Ban Out Of Step With The Times, 1st Circ. Told

    A group of cannabis businesses told the First Circuit the federal government no longer has a reasonable basis for prohibiting state-regulated marijuana, saying Congress has clearly changed its tune on pot commerce in the more than half-century since the ban was passed.

  • September 11, 2024

    Oligarchs Fridman, Aven Fail To Ax Sanctions Reporting Rules

    European Union measures that require oligarchs including Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven to disclose their assets and cooperate in investigations are lawful and "necessary" for maintaining the bloc's sanctions regime, a European court ruled Wednesday, saying the rules were "unprecedented."

  • September 11, 2024

    Shumaker Advisors Adds Ex-Fla. Senate Aide

    The lobbying arm of Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP, Shumaker Advisors, has added a former staffer in the Florida state senate to run the government affairs operations of its state team.

  • September 10, 2024

    Border, Deportations And Dogs Dominate Presidential Debate

    Immigration took center stage through much of Tuesday night's presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, with discussion of thwarted border legislation, deportation plans, and unproven claims that immigrants in Ohio have eaten people's pets.

  • September 10, 2024

    Colo. DA Faces Disbarment After Probe Of Murder Case Judge

    A split Colorado disciplinary board on Tuesday ordered the disbarment of an elected local prosecutor who directed an investigation into the background of a judge who had sanctioned her office for discovery violations, ruling that the investigation and other ethical violations warranted taking away her law license.

  • September 10, 2024

    Fed Official Previews 'Broad' Changes To Bank Capital Plans

    A top Federal Reserve official on Tuesday revealed plans to sharply revise draft bank capital rules proposed last year, including cutting in half the amount of additional capital the largest banks would have to hold while largely sparing midsize lenders from the proposed new requirements.

  • September 10, 2024

    Wealthiest 0.01% Had 34% Average Tax Rate, JCT Says

    The income group constituting the top 0.01% wealthiest individuals had an average federal tax rate of 34% in 2019, the Joint Committee on Taxation said in a report on high-income and high-wealth taxpayers.

  • September 10, 2024

    42 AGs Back Call For Social Media Warning Label Law

    A bipartisan group of 42 attorneys general urged Congress on Tuesday to introduce warning labels on social media platforms in a bid to tackle risks posed to young people's mental health.

  • September 10, 2024

    UK Court OKs Nix Of Partners' Tax Deduction For Amortization

    A lower court was correct in ruling that a trio of U.K. entities that formed a limited liability partnership cannot take a tax deduction for the amortization of intangible assets they contributed to the LLP against their share of the profits, the Upper Tribunal ruled.

  • September 10, 2024

    Senate Confirms SDNY, Maryland Court Picks

    The U.S. Senate on Tuesday signed off on two new federal judges with BigLaw experience, confirming a federal prosecutor to the Southern District of New York and a current magistrate judge to the District of Maryland.

  • September 10, 2024

    Security Co. Loses $300M Pot Suit Over Lack Of Attorney

    A New York federal judge tossed a $300 million lawsuit from an Illinois security company that claimed the business was convinced to do free surveillance camera work at hundreds of New York cannabis facilities with promises of a state contract that never came, because the plaintiff missed a pretrial conference and can't represent themselves anyway.

  • September 10, 2024

    Biden Says He'd Veto Proposed GOP Continuing Resolution

    President Biden said Monday that he would veto House Republicans' proposed continuing resolution for fiscal year 2025, asserting that the funding measure amounts to "brinksmanship" and would "place agencies at insufficiently low levels — both for defense and non-defense — for a full six months."

  • September 10, 2024

    Werfel Asked To Clarify How To Treat R&D Costs In M&A

    Accounting firm RSM US LLP, in a letter released Tuesday, asked Internal Revenue Commissioner Daniel Werfel to clarify how to treat research and development costs when a taxpayer disposes of an entire business in a mergers and acquisitions transaction.

  • September 10, 2024

    2024's Top Rulings In Native American Law

    The U.S. Supreme Court this year has handed down rulings with huge price tags attached — from millions in healthcare reimbursement funding required for tribes to lending Florida a win that will garner it a new revenue stream — that are expected to have large implications for Native American sovereignty. Here, Law360 takes a look at some of the biggest decisions in Native American law from the first half of 2024.

  • September 10, 2024

    DeSantis Blasts Mass. Suit Over Martha's Vineyard Flights

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shouldn't have to fight "conspiracy theory" claims in Massachusetts over whether the Sunshine State tricked migrants into boarding flights to Martha's Vineyard, the governor said in a sweeping dismissal bid.

  • September 10, 2024

    Neb. Midwife Can't Sue For 'Hypothetical' Clients, Judge Rules

    A Nebraska midwife who challenged state restrictions on the practice "barely" tried to establish grounds to sue the state over allegations that her would-be clients were being harmed, a federal judge ruled Monday, dismissing the case.

  • September 10, 2024

    House Panel To Consider Axing $600 Payment Reporting Law

    The House Ways and Means Committee is set to consider legislation Wednesday that would repeal a law requiring peer-to-peer payment platforms such as Venmo and PayPal to report aggregate payments of $600 or more, among other bills.

  • September 10, 2024

    T-Mobile Can't Change 4th Circ. Loss In 'Simply Prepaid' Fight

    T-Mobile failed Tuesday to undercut a Fourth Circuit decision that revived a Virginia-based cellphone company's infringement claims over the phrase "Simply Prepaid," with a panel of judges declining to grant the telecommunications giant's request for a second look.

Expert Analysis

  • What Happens After Hawaii Kids' Historic Climate Deal

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    Implications of the Hawaii Department of Transportation's first-of-its-kind settlement with youth plaintiffs over constitutional climate claims may be limited, but it could incite similar claims, says J. Michael Showalter and Robert Middleton at ArentFox Schiff.

  • How Tech Trackers May Implicate HIPAA After Hospital Ruling

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    A recent Texas federal court order in American Hospital Association v. Becerra adds a legal protection on key data, clarifying when tracking technologies implicate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, so organizations should ensure all technology used is known and accounted for, say John Howard and Myriah Jaworski at Clark Hill.

  • The Show Must Go On: Noncompete Uncertainty In Film, TV

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    The Federal Trade Commission has taken action to ban noncompetes while the entertainment industry is in the midst of a massive shift away from traditional media, so it is important for studio heads and content owners alike to understand the fate of the rule and their options going forward, say Christopher Chatham and Douglas Smith at Manatt.

  • 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.

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