Public Policy

  • June 05, 2024

    Lawmakers Endorse Solar-Cell Duty Petition As Curb To China

    Bipartisan lawmakers told the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. International Trade Commission Tuesday that new duties on solar-cell imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam could help thwart China's global solar supply-chain domination.

  • June 05, 2024

    USPTO Fee Hike Finds Ally In Google, But Others Have Gripes

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's plan to increase many patent-related fees beginning next year has received support from Google, but dozens of other comments came from patent litigators of all stripes who argue that the proposal is a bad idea.

  • June 05, 2024

    Google Cleared From Suit Over Animal Abuse YouTube Videos

    A California appeals panel has tossed a nonprofit's suit alleging that Google LLC breached its contract by allowing animal abuse videos on YouTube, saying Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act blocks all its claims.

  • June 05, 2024

    Miami Developer Maintains Pioneering Touch In Latest Moves

    Miami-area developer Masoud Shojaee spoke with Law360 Real Estate Authority about his project strategy and how it has led to longevity for his firm Shoma Group and given him confidence in helping to address a housing crisis and various challenges in the market.

  • June 05, 2024

    Ill. Budget Has Higher Cap On NOLs, Sports Betting Tax Hike

    Illinois will extend a cap on corporate net operating loss deductions, increase its sports betting tax and reduce sales tax rebates for retailers under a $53.1 billion fiscal year 2025 budget signed Wednesday by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

  • June 05, 2024

    Utah Tribe Wants 'Depleting' State Water Contract Drained

    Utah entered into a water contract with the U.S. Department of the Interior without properly considering the Ute Indian Tribe's water rights, the tribe told a federal court in a request to set aside the deal.

  • June 05, 2024

    Biden Asylum Halt Contradicts Border Wire Suit, Texas Says

    Texas tore into the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday, saying a new executive order that halts asylum claims from immigrants who cross the border illegally directly contradicts the agency's argument before the Fifth Circuit over Texas' use of concertina wire fencing at the border.

  • June 05, 2024

    Exceptions May Help New Border Rules Survive Litigation

    The new border regime that President Joe Biden rolled out this week relies on legal provisions that courts largely barred the Trump administration from using to restrict entry, but exceptions in Biden's policy could offer insulation from adverse rulings this time.

  • June 05, 2024

    Ga. Panel Sides With State In County Fire Contract Fight

    A Georgia Court of Appeals panel on Wednesday backed the state's Department of Behavioral Health in a dispute over a fire-protection services contract with a county government, ruling the department couldn't be held liable for canceling the contract because it has no statutory power to enter into it.

  • June 05, 2024

    House Votes To Block Vets' Access To Gender-Affirming Care

    The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a $147.5 billion spending bill along mostly party lines funding military construction and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which would block veterans' access to gender-affirming care and which the White House has already threatened to veto.

  • June 05, 2024

    FCC Looking Into Reports Of AT&T Wireless Service Outage

    The Federal Communications Commission said it is trying to find out what happened when AT&T wireless customers lost service in several states Tuesday due to what the company described as an interoperability problem.

  • June 05, 2024

    Colo. To Exempt Modular Homes From Sales Tax

    Colorado will exempt new modular home sales from state tax under a bill signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis.

  • June 05, 2024

    New Rule Bars Self-Certification As Disabled, Vet-Owned Biz

    The U.S. Small Business Administration issued a rule Wednesday effectively barring federal contractors from self-certifying as service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, or SDVOSBs, amid ongoing concerns about fraud in veteran-owned contracting programs.

  • June 05, 2024

    CFPB Opens Door To Open Banking 'Standard Setters'

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made more progress Wednesday in its efforts to lay the groundwork for open banking in the U.S., adopting a mechanism that will allow "open" and "balanced" organizations to begin setting official, industry-wide technical standards for financial data sharing.

  • June 05, 2024

    4th Circ. Says SC Agency Must Give Google Ad Docs

    A South Carolina agency must respond to Google's document request after the Fourth Circuit ruled Wednesday that the state waived its sovereign immunity by joining a case accusing the tech giant of monopolizing key digital advertising technology.

  • June 05, 2024

    Epic Accuses Apple Of Stalling Antitrust Doc Production

    Epic Games accused Apple Inc. at a hearing Wednesday of dragging its feet on producing internal documents that a California federal judge recently ordered the tech giant to hand over to help decide if Apple complied with her ban on App Store anti-steering rules.

  • June 05, 2024

    Trump Gag Order Still Needed Through Sentencing, DA Says

    Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office has asked a judge not to lift the gag order on Donald Trump before the convicted former president's sentencing next month, arguing in a letter released Wednesday that there is still a need to "protect the integrity" of the hush money case.

  • June 05, 2024

    Ga. Trump Election Case On Hold For DA DQ Appeal

    The Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday temporarily halted proceedings in the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants while it reviews a trial judge's ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis to continue prosecuting the case.

  • June 05, 2024

    Feds Say $1B Power Line Permit Challenge Should Be Zapped

    The Biden administration and developers of a proposed $1 billion transmission line that would ship hydropower from Quebec to New England are urging a federal judge to dump challenges to federal approvals for the project, saying there's no question they were lawfully issued.

  • June 05, 2024

    NY Gov. Indefinitely Halts Manhattan Congestion Pricing

    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday shelved congestion pricing just weeks before officials were set to implement a fee for vehicles entering Manhattan's busiest corridor, in a dramatic about-face following intense backlash and litigation from residents and business owners grappling with the high cost of living.

  • June 05, 2024

    After Judge Takes Trip To Israel, Attys Want Him Off Gaza Case

    Palestinian rights activists asked a Ninth Circuit judge to recuse himself from a case claiming that the Biden administration flouted international laws barring genocide by supporting Israel's military efforts in Gaza, noting that the judge recently took a trip to Israel sponsored by the World Jewish Congress.

  • June 05, 2024

    'Miracle Worker': Menendez's Wife Was Given New Car, Jurors Told

    U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez's wife received a $67,000 Mercedes-Benz convertible thanks to the efforts of two of the congressman's associates, one of whom she called a "miracle worker," jurors heard Wednesday in the government's bribery case in New York federal court.

  • June 05, 2024

    From Small Town To 11th Circ., Nominee Pledges 'Open Mind'

    A nominee for an Eleventh Circuit seat on Wednesday discussed his small-town upbringing, award-winning career as a prosecutor and the "obligation" he feels to be a role model for others considering a career in the law, saying he would approach cases with an "open mind" if confirmed to the federal appeals court.

  • June 05, 2024

    NY Cannabis Head Looks Ahead Following Critical Audit

    The chair of New York's cannabis regulatory body told stakeholders Wednesday at a marijuana business expo that the agency was working to streamline its operations following an investigative audit ordered by the governor's office that blasted the office for inefficiencies.

  • June 05, 2024

    3rd Circ. Debates Length Of Breaks In $7M Wage Case

    A Third Circuit panel tried on Wednesday to pin down when the U.S. Department of Labor and an in-home care agency believed that employees were off-duty or just traveling between jobs, and whether the company's lack of travel-time records left it open to a $7 million judgment based on government estimates.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    US Solar Import Probe's Focus On China Is Misguided

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    The U.S. Department of Commerce's recent anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigation focuses on the apparent Chinese ownership of solar device importers in four Southeast Asian countries — a point that is irrelevant under the controlling statute, says John Anwesen at Lighthill.

  • DC Circ. Ruling Heightens HHS Contract Pharmacy Challenges

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    The D.C. Circuit's recent ruling that the Section 340B program does not bar manufacturers from restricting deliveries of discounted drugs to contract pharmacies represents a second strike against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' current contract pharmacy policy and raises the stakes surrounding an upcoming Seventh Circuit ruling on the same issue, say attorneys at Foley Hoag.

  • Ohio Tax Talk: The Legislative Push For Property Tax Relief

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    As Ohio legislators attempt to alleviate the increasing property tax burden, four recent bills that could significantly affect homeowners propose to eliminate replacement property tax levies, freeze property taxes for longtime homeowners, adjust homestead exemptions annually for inflation, and temporarily expand the homestead exemption, say Raghav Agnihotri and Rachael Chamberlain at Frost Brown.

  • Aviation Watch: Mostly Smooth Landing For New FAA Law

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    The recently signed Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act enhances air safety in several key ways, including strengthened passenger rights and cockpit voice recorder requirements, but an expansion of slot exemptions at Reagan National Airport is a notable misstep, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

  • Series

    In The CFPB Playbook: Regulatory Aims Get High Court Assist

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    Newly emboldened after the U.S. Supreme Court last month found that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding is constitutional, the bureau has likely experienced a psychic boost, allowing its already robust enforcement agenda to continue expanding, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • NY Public Campaign Funding May Attract Scrutiny From Feds

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    The upcoming elections across New York this year will be the first under the state’s public campaign finance program — which may broaden federal prosecutors' purview to target state election fraud and corruption, says Jarrod Schaeffer at Abell Eskew.

  • FTC Theories Of Harm After Anesthesia Co. Ruling

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    As Federal Trade Commission litigation against U.S. Anesthesia Partners proceeds following a Texas federal court's recent decision to dismiss a private equity sponsor from the suit, the case attempts to incorporate and advance some of the commission's theories of competitive harm from the final 2023 Merger Guidelines, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • National Security And The Commercial Space Sector: Part 2

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    Strategy documents recently published by the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Space Force confirm the importance of the commercial space sector to the DOD, but say little about achieving the institutional changes needed to integrate commercial capabilities in support of national security in space, say Jeff Chiow and Skip Smith at Greenberg Traurig.

  • FTC Hearing On Fake Review Rule Stressed Compliance Costs

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    The Federal Trade Commission is likely to finalize its proposed rule to prohibit marketers from using deceptive practices in their product reviews after an informal hearing covered arguments over whether costs of implementing the rule, such as review moderation and software maintenance, would be minimal, says Jeffrey Edelstein at Manatt.

  • FTC Focus: Exploring The Meaning Of Orange Book Letters

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    The Federal Trade Commission recently announced an expansion of its campaign to promote competition by targeting pharmaceutical manufacturers' improper Orange Book patent listings, but there is a question of whether and how this helps generic entrants, say Colin Kass and David Munkittrick at Proskauer.

  • 3 Recent Decisions To Note As Climate Litigation Heats Up

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    Three recent rulings on climate-related issues — from a New York federal court, a New York state court and an international tribunal, respectively — demonstrate both regulators' concern about climate change and the complexity of conflicting regulations in different jurisdictions, say J. Michael Showalter and Robert Middleton at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Perspectives

    Justices' Repeat Offender Ruling Eases Prosecutorial Hurdle

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week in Brown v. U.S., clarifying which drug law applies to sentencing a repeat offender in a federal firearms case, allows courts to rely on outdated drug schedules to impose increased sentences, thus removing a significant hurdle for prosecutors, says attorney Molly Parmer.

  • Investors Can Aid In The Acceptance Of Psychedelic Medicine

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    Psychedelic medicine is ready to have its breakthrough moment, and although it still faces political, legal and communications challenges, private equity investors can play a significant role in changing the public perception on psychedelics from taboo to acceptance, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell, Charlie Panfil at the Daschle Group and Ethan Lutz at FTI Consulting.

  • Opinion

    Exec Liability Bill For Failed Banks Is Unnecessary, Unwise

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    A bill before the U.S. Senate, which would effectively empower the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to hold senior bank executives strictly liable for reasonable business decisions that lead to bank failures, needlessly overwrites the existing negligence standard and rewards counterproductive caution in management, say attorneys at Davis Polk.

  • National Security And The Commercial Space Sector: Part 1

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    The recently published U.S. Department of Defense space strategy represents a recalibration in agency thinking, signaling that the integration of commercial space capabilities has become a necessity and offering guidance for removing structural, procedural and cultural barriers to commercial-sector collaboration, say Jeff Chiow and Skip Smith at Greenberg Traurig.

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