Public Policy

  • July 18, 2024

    Judge 'Not Optimistic' Houston Firm's PPP Suit Will Succeed

    A Texas federal judge said Thursday he would give a Houston law firm another chance to make its case that the U.S. Small Business Administration was wrong in denying the firm's bid for loan forgiveness under a COVID-19-era relief program, but noted he was "not really optimistic" the firm would be able to succeed with its suit.

  • July 18, 2024

    Commerce Finalizes More Triple-Digit Mattress Duties

    The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced its final determinations in anti-dumping investigations covering mattresses from four countries, with rates between 4.61% and 344.70%, and cleared Indonesian producers of countervailing duties, finding they benefited minimally from subsidies.

  • July 18, 2024

    State PUCs Urged To Keep Eye On Broadband Projects

    States need to step up and do more to ensure that telecommunication companies working on Rural Digital Opportunity Fund projects within their borders do the work they committed to doing on time, according to a former Federal Communications Commission official.

  • July 18, 2024

    Live Nation Previews Part Of Case Against DOJ Suit

    Live Nation and Ticketmaster have teed up part of their fight against an antitrust lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice and multiple state attorneys general, arguing that the state law claims are "threadbare" and that a chunk of the DOJ case amounts to trying to force them to deal with competitors.

  • July 18, 2024

    Menendez Appeal Could Make Hay From Bribery Case Law

    Sen. Robert Menendez's planned "aggressive" appeal will almost certainly include broadsides against his novel foreign-agent conviction and attempt to capitalize on the U.S. Supreme Court's proven appetite for bribery cases, experts say.

  • July 18, 2024

    Enviro Groups Deploy Chevron Ruling In Pipeline Case

    Environmental groups suing the federal government over the reissuance of a nationwide Clean Water Act permit that can be used for oil and gas pipelines told a D.C. federal judge Thursday that the recent overturning of the Chevron deference bolsters their effort to get the permit thrown out.

  • July 18, 2024

    FCC Votes On Party Lines To Subsidize Wi-Fi For Students

    The Federal Communications Commission voted along a partisan divide Thursday to expand a federal school and library subsidy to cover Wi-Fi services for students to remedy gaps in broadband access.

  • July 18, 2024

    Miner Seeks Atty Fees After 4th Circ. DOL Judges Ruling

    A former miner urged the Fourth Circuit to approve approximately $21,000 in attorney fees in his case seeking benefits for his black lung disease, saying he has been unable to reach a settlement with an engineering company that challenged the appointment of two U.S. Department of Labor administrative law judges.

  • July 18, 2024

    Xcel's Silence Led To $2.6M Storm Penalty, Gas Co. Says

    A natural gas marketing company is suing the Colorado Public Utilities Commission and Xcel Energy in state court to invalidate a nearly $2.6 million penalty for its failure to ship enough gas during a historic 2021 winter storm, alleging Xcel didn't notify it of the regulatory proceedings.

  • July 18, 2024

    Term Extension For Ga. Utility Commish Unlawful, Suit Says

    Georgia's Secretary of State was hit with a lawsuit Tuesday from a voter and two advocacy groups challenging a recent law that extended the terms of the state's utility regulatory commission while their elections were suspended by voting rights litigation.

  • July 18, 2024

    Alstom Wants Las Vegas Train's 'Buy America' Waiver Voided

    Train manufacturer Alstom alleges in a new federal lawsuit that it was unfairly shut out of competing for a lucrative supply contract for Las Vegas' proposed high-speed passenger rail line when the project recently scored a Buy America waiver for foreign-made trainsets from rival manufacturer Siemens.

  • July 18, 2024

    Creek Citizenship Case Paused Amid Tribal Court Controversy

    The Muscogee (Creek) Nation Supreme Court has paused a dispute between descendants of those once enslaved by the tribe and its citizenship board after the two plaintiffs accused the tribe's national council of illegally appointing special justices to the panel as part of a targeted campaign against them.

  • July 18, 2024

    FordHarrison Accused Of Terrorizing Conn. Library Workers

    Multistate employment law firm FordHarrison LLP has been dragged into existing feuds between a Connecticut library and two of its employees, with new state court lawsuits accusing the firm of misrepresenting state law and inflicting emotional distress by demanding the employees retract claims allegedly made at a public hearing.

  • July 18, 2024

    Air Transport Co. Sued In Del. Over Director Removal Rule

    Stockholders of air transport venture Blade Air Mobility Inc. have sued the company in Delaware's Court of Chancery for an order invalidating a Blade director election provision described as allowing "backdoor" board removal of incumbents without legal authority.

  • July 18, 2024

    6th Circ. Looks To Wash Hands Of Waters Of US Appeal

    An exasperated Sixth Circuit panel on Thursday looked for an easy way to dispatch Kentucky and industry groups' appeal of the dismissal of their challenges to a federal government rule defining the scope of the Clean Water Act.

  • July 18, 2024

    Democrats Float Prison Environmental Health Bill

    Congressional Democrats on Thursday proposed legislation that would fund programs to improve air quality, water quality, temperature, mold, contagious diseases and other issues in federal prisons.

  • July 18, 2024

    Ind. Tax Board Says German Cultural Center Not Tax-Exempt

    The Indiana Board of Tax Review determined that an event center owned by an organization that promotes German culture doesn't qualify for a property tax exemption because the property is used for social purposes rather than cultural preservation.

  • July 18, 2024

    Court Denies Bid To Halt NYC Crackdown On Illicit Pot Shops

    A New York federal judge on Thursday rejected a bid from 27 retailers to halt city officials' enforcement efforts aimed at closing stores that sell cannabis without a license, saying the shops were unlikely to prevail on claims their due process rights were violated.

  • July 18, 2024

    FCC Caps Prison Phone Rates To Be 'Just And Reasonable'

    The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday placed new caps on prison phone rates under the Martha Wright-Reed Act, enacted to make sure that rates for incarcerated people and their families are "just and reasonable."

  • July 18, 2024

    NY Courts Limit Access To Ethics Data, Violating Own Rules

    After a decade of widespread noncompliance with income and gift reporting rules, the New York court system's Ethics Commission has refused to publicly release all judges' annual financial disclosures, which safeguard against conflicts of interest, corruption and ethics lapses.

  • July 18, 2024

    Texas Can't Nix EEOC Guidance Over Gender Identity

    A Texas federal judge refused to grant the state attorney general's request to do away with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's enforcement guidance over gender identity, saying the state needs to file a new lawsuit and not piggyback on a case that was closed two years ago.

  • July 18, 2024

    Ind. Tax Board Agrees With $2M Valuation Of Unfinished Home

    An Indiana local assessor correctly valued an unfinished mansion at $2.2 million in 2021 and $2.4 million in 2022, a state review board determined after agreeing with the assessor's cost approach.

  • July 18, 2024

    Trade Court Dumps Tile Duties Set After Secretive Meeting

    A U.S. Court of International Trade judge overturned duties on marble-topped tile from China on Thursday, holding that federal officials failed to divulge the specifics of a closed-door meeting with a U.S. tile producer related to their investigation.

  • July 18, 2024

    NJ Gov., Ex-Elections Chief Spar Over Push To Resign

    Garden State Gov. Phil Murphy told a New Jersey state judge Thursday claims from the former elections chief that his civil rights were violated when he was pushed to resign allegedly in retaliation for a satirical article should be tossed, arguing there is nothing in the law that prevents him from asking a state official to resign.

  • July 18, 2024

    Judge With Lake Property Exits $217M Dam Repair Tax Suit

    A Michigan federal judge said he would step aside in a fight over a $217 million tax assessment to fund dam reconstruction because he's part of the assessment district, though he warned that hundreds of plaintiffs could have their own conflicts.

Expert Analysis

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

    Author Photo

    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Opportunities For Change In FHFA Practices

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the Chevron doctrine should lead to better cooperation between the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Congress, and may give the FHFA a chance to embrace transparency and innovation and promote sustainable housing practices, says Mehdi Sinaki at Michelman & Robinson.

  • Constitutional Protections For Cannabis Companies Are Hazy

    Author Photo

    Cannabis businesses are subject to federal enforcement and tax, but often without the benefit of constitutional protections — and the entanglement of state and federal law and conflicting judicial opinions are creating confusion in the space, says Amber Lengacher at Purple Circle.

  • Supreme Court's ALJ Ruling Carries Implications Beyond SEC

    Author Photo

    In its recent Jarkesy opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court limited the types of cases that can be tried before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's in-house administrative law judges, setting the stage for challenges to the constitutionality of ALJs across other agencies, say Robert Robertson and Kimberley Church at Dechert.

  • Opinion

    A Tale Of 2 Trump Cases: The Rule Of Law Is A Live Issue

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this week in Trump v. U.S., holding that former President Donald Trump has broad immunity from prosecution, undercuts the rule of law, while the former president’s New York hush money conviction vindicates it in eight key ways, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • USPTO Disclaimer Rule Would Complicate Patent Prosecution

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's proposed changes to terminal disclaimer practice could lead to a patent owner being unable to enforce a valid patent simply because it is indirectly tied to a patent in which a single claim is found anticipated or obvious in view of the prior art, say attorneys at Sterne Kessler.

  • 2nd Circ. ERISA Ruling May Help Fight Unfair Arb. Clauses

    Author Photo

    The Second Circuit recently held that a plaintiff seeking planwide relief under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act cannot be compelled to individual arbitration, a decision that opens the door to new applications of the effective vindication doctrine to defeat onerous and one-sided arbitration clauses, say Raphael Janove and Liana Vitale at Janove.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Various Paths For Labor And Employment Law

    Author Photo

    Labor and employment law leans heavily on federal agency guidance, so the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to toss out Chevron deference will ripple through this area, with future workplace policies possibly taking shape through strategic litigation, informal guidance, state-level regulation and more, says Alexander MacDonald at Littler.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • What NYC's Green Fast Track Means For Affordable Housing

    Author Photo

    New York City's Green Fast Track for Housing initiative, which went into effect last month, aims to speed up the environmental review process for modest residential developments and could potentially pave the way for similar initiatives in other cities, say Vivien Krieger and Rachel Scall at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Series

    After Chevron: No Deference, No Difference For SEC Or CFTC

    Author Photo

    The Chevron doctrine did not fundamentally alter the interplay between the courts and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the development of the securities and commodities laws — and its demise will not do so either, says Dan Berkovitz at Millennium Management.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • Justices' Bribery Ruling: A Corrupt Act Isn't Necessarily Illegal

    Author Photo

    In its Snyder v. U.S. decision last week, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a bribery law does not criminalize gratuities, continuing a trend of narrowing federal anti-corruption laws and scrutinizing public corruption prosecutions that go beyond obvious quid pro quo schemes, say Carrie Cohen and Christine Wong at MoFo.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Takeaways From New HHS Substance Use Disorder Info Rules

    Author Photo

    A new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rule continues the agency's efforts to harmonize complex rules surrounding confidentiality provisions for substance use disorder patient records, though healthcare providers will need to remain mindful of different potentially applicable requirements and changes that their compliance structures may require, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

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!