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Public Policy
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July 11, 2024
Biden Taps Cohen Weiss Atty As PBGC Director
President Joe Biden on Thursday tapped an attorney who most recently served as of counsel at Cohen Weiss & Simon LLP to head the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.
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July 11, 2024
2 Of Alaska's 3 District Judge Seats Listed As 'Emergencies'
Two of the three district judgeships on the District of Alaska have been listed as "judicial emergencies" following the recent resignation of Judge Joshua Kindred over findings of sexual misconduct.
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July 11, 2024
DOL Wants ERISA Investment Advice Regs Kept Afloat
The U.S. Department of Labor is urging a Texas federal court to reject a bid from insurance industry groups to block its new regulations that broaden who qualifies as a fiduciary under federal benefits law, saying the groups are "grasping for a reason" to evade the law.
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July 11, 2024
Paxos Says SEC Won't Bring Case Over Binance Stablecoin
Crypto trust company Paxos said Thursday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has told the firm it won't face an enforcement action over its issuance of crypto exchange Binance's stablecoin, BUSD.
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July 11, 2024
Senate Confirms Judge To Federal Claims Court
The Senate voted 52-39 Thursday to confirm U.S. Magistrate Judge Robin M. Meriweather to the Court of Federal Claims for a term of 15 years.
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July 11, 2024
Sens. Say Medical Debt Acute 'Symptom' Of Chronic Issues
A Senate health committee panel said that medical debt is a "symptom" of high costs in the healthcare system in a hearing on Thursday, with lawmakers and federal agencies proposing solutions to stabilize the issue that impacts consumers and providers.
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July 11, 2024
Ga. Dem Helps Block NY Judge's Nomination From Advancing
President Joe Biden's nomination of U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn for the Southern District of New York failed to advance out the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, after a key Democrat joined Republicans in opposition over her recommendation in a case that an inmate be transferred to a female facility.
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July 11, 2024
Low-Speed EV Maker Sues Treasury Over Blocked Tax Credits
The U.S. Department of the Treasury violated the Administrative Procedure Act when it passed final regulations excluding low-speed vehicles from qualifying for clean vehicle tax credits, a maker of low-speed electric cars told a D.C. federal court.
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July 11, 2024
House Vote Fails To Quash Veto Of SEC Crypto Accounting Bill
The U.S. House on Thursday failed to override President Joe Biden's veto of a bill that sought to roll back controversial crypto accounting guidance from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after Democrats urged members to stick by the president.
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July 11, 2024
House Fails To Pass Inherent Contempt Resolution For AG
The House on Thursday failed to pass a Republican-led inherent contempt resolution for Attorney General Merrick Garland in hopes of obtaining audiotapes of President Joe Biden's interviews with special counsel Robert Hur in the classified documents investigation, but the measure's sponsor promised to try again.
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July 11, 2024
Feds Say Chinese, Turkish Importers Skirting Refrigerant Duty
The U.S. Department of Commerce on Thursday found that refrigerants imported from China and Turkey are skirting an antidumping duty order on Chinese hydrofluorocarbon, exposing the imports to duties exceeding 200%.
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July 11, 2024
Wash. Justices Agree To Review State's Pot Co. Wage Suit
The Washington Supreme Court has agreed to review whether the state labor agency jumped the gun by suing a cannabis company to collect back pay for employees before the agency knew how much money the workers were owed.
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July 11, 2024
Biden Floats $2B To Drive US Auto Industry's EV Pivot
The Biden administration on Thursday unveiled its latest initiative to bolster domestic automotive production by offering nearly $2 billion in grants to convert 11 auto manufacturing and assembly facilities that have been shuttered or are at risk of closing to build electric vehicles and related components.
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July 10, 2024
Pledging 'Accountability,' Biden's FDIC Pick Faces Senate Test
President Joe Biden's nominee to lead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. plans to stress her regulatory credentials and determination to fix the agency's troubled work culture when she goes before a U.S. Senate panel on Thursday for a confirmation hearing.
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July 10, 2024
Texas Panel Tosses Electrocution Suit Against Oil Well Owner
A Texas state appeals court found that an oil field station owner wasn't responsible for a contractor's electrocution at the station, ruling Tuesday that the owner didn't owe any duty to the contractor under any negligence theory because it didn't direct the contractor's work.
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July 10, 2024
Drug Pricing, Overreach Dominate IP Disclaimer Feedback
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has received heated feedback regarding its proposal to make follow-on patents easier to invalidate, with drug pricing advocates applauding it, top technology and pharma companies decrying it, and high-profile officials calling the proposal an overstep of the agency's authority.
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July 10, 2024
Nassar Sex Abuse Law Not Retroactive, Mich. Justices Say
The Michigan Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that a legislative change to extend civil suit deadlines for certain victims of sexual assault as minors does not apply retroactively, finding that claims from a man who said he was assaulted by a priest in the 1990s were untimely.
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July 10, 2024
SEC Exchange Plan Can't Stand Post-Chevron, Uniswap Says
Decentralized finance firm Uniswap Labs is urging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission not to adopt a rule that could force it and other cryptocurrency trading platforms to register with the agency as securities exchanges, saying the rule will not survive a legal challenge now that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Chevron deference.
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July 10, 2024
FCC Says Nearly Half 'Rip And Replace' Providers Can't Finish
The Federal Communications Commission said the agency is going to need another $3 billion if it's to keep its promise to reimburse all the companies who agreed to rip out and replace their Chinese-made technology to alleviate security concerns.
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July 10, 2024
Energy Cos., States Seek Review Of Calif. Emissions Decision
Industry groups and a coalition of states led by Ohio are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a D.C. Circuit ruling upholding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's approval of a waiver letting California set greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles and run a zero-emission vehicles program.
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July 10, 2024
FTC Must Think Hard Before Trying More Rules, Commish Says
One of the Federal Trade Commission's recently confirmed Republican commissioners called on the agency Wednesday to take a close look at how courts handle its ban on employment noncompete clauses before considering any further attempts at pushing the bounds of its regulatory authority.
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July 10, 2024
ACLU Says Vetting Policy Ensnared Innocent Immigrants
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has a secret vetting program that it has used for more than 15 years to keep certain green card and citizenship applications in "immigration purgatory," the American Civil Liberties Union announced Wednesday in a white paper.
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July 10, 2024
Major Cable Group Opposes FirstNet Bid For 4.9 GHz Manager
Cable trade group NCTA is urging the Federal Communications Commission to listen to the chorus of public safety groups who have been pushing hard against the idea of making AT&T's FirstNet the national manager of the 4.9 gigahertz public safety band.
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July 10, 2024
GOP Bombards Agencies With Demands After Chevron's End
Republican leaders of major congressional committees Wednesday demanded details from dozens of agencies on policies suddenly shrouded in uncertainty after U.S. Supreme Court conservatives overturned the so-called Chevron doctrine, which for 40 years gave regulators flexibility in rulemaking and advantages in related litigation.
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July 10, 2024
FCC To Fine Telecom Involved In Universal Service Challenge
The Federal Communications Commission is moving forward with a $100,000 fine against an Ohio-based telecommunications company over late paperwork with the Universal Service Administration.
Expert Analysis
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High Court's Abortion Pill Ruling Shuts Out Future Challenges
The U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine maintains the status quo for mifepristone access and rejects the plaintiffs' standing theories so thoroughly that future challenges from states or other plaintiffs are unlikely to be viable, say Jaime Santos and Annaka Nava at Goodwin.
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Navigating New Safe Harbor For Domestic Content Tax Credits
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s recent notice simplifying domestic content calculations for certain solar, onshore wind and battery storage projects, which directly acknowledges the difficulty for taxpayers in gathering data to support a domestic content analysis, should make it easier to qualify additional domestic content bonus tax credits, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.
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Justices' Bump Stock Ruling Skirted Deference, Lenity Issues
Despite presenting a seemingly classic case on agency deference, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last week in Garland v. Cargill did not mention the Chevron doctrine, and the opinion also overlooked whether agency interpretations of federal gun laws should ever receive deference given that they carry criminal penalties, say Tess Saperstein and John Elwood at Arnold & Porter.
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5 Steps To Navigating State Laws On Healthcare Transactions
As more states pass legislation requiring healthcare-transaction notice, private equity investors and other deal parties should evaluate the new laws and consider ways to mitigate their effects, say Carol Loepere and Nicole Aiken-Shaban at Reed Smith.
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Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age
As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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PBM Takeaways From Proposed Telehealth Flexibility Bill
The U.S. House of Representatives' proposal to extend certain telehealth flexibilities signals a robust commitment to expanding telehealth access, though its plan to offset additional expenses through pharmacy benefit manager reform could lead to some industry consolidation, say attorneys at Mintz.
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High Court's BofA Ruling Leaves State Preemption Questions
A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Cantero v. Bank of America sheds light on whether certain state banking regulations apply to federally chartered banks, but a circuit split could still force the Supreme Court to take a more direct position, says Brett Garver at Moritt Hock.
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What 4 Cyber Protection Actions Mean For Marine Transport
Several recent steps by the Biden administration are necessary to address the cyber threats that increasingly disrupt the maritime sector, but also impose new legal risks, liabilities and operating costs on the owners and operators of U.S.-flagged vessels and facilities, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Next Steps After 5th Circ. Nixes Private Fund Adviser Rules
The Fifth Circuit's recent toss of key U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules regarding private fund advisers represents a setback for the regulator, but open questions, including the possibility of an SEC petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, mean it's still too early to consider the matter closed, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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'Energy Communities' Update May Clarify Tax Credit Eligibility
A recent IRS notice that includes updated lists of locations where clean energy projects can qualify for additional tax credits — based 2023 unemployment data and placed-in-service dates — should help provide clarity regarding project eligibility that sponsors and developers need, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Inside Antitrust Agencies' Rollup And Serial Acquisition Moves
The recent request for public comments on serial acquisitions and rollup strategies from the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Justice Department mark the antitrust agencies' continued focus on actions that fall below premerger reporting thresholds, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Expected Developments From Upcoming Basel Capital Rules
With U.S. federal banking regulators preparing to finalize the Basel IV regulatory framework as early as this fall, banks and private investment funds are expected to look to uncommitted facilities as one method to address key changes, including tighter capital requirements, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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Takeaways From Nat'l Security Division's Historic Declination
The Justice Department National Security Division's recent decision not to prosecute a biochemical company for an employee's export control violation marks its first declination under a new corporate enforcement policy, sending a clear message to companies that self-disclosure of misconduct may confer material benefits, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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Deciphering SEC Disgorgement 4 Years After Liu
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Liu v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to preserve SEC disgorgement with limits, courts have continued to rule largely in the agency’s favor, but a recent circuit split over the National Defense Authorization Act's import may create hurdles for the SEC, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.