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Public Policy
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August 14, 2024
4 States Oppose FTC Bid To Block Kroger-Albertsons Deal
Four Republican-led states defended Kroger's proposed $25 billion acquisition of Albertsons in an amicus brief Wednesday, telling the Oregon federal judge overseeing the Federal Trade Commission's challenge to the deal that blocking it would actually "weaken, not protect, competition."
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August 14, 2024
Recreational Pot Contract Unenforceable, Texas Court Says
A Texas state appeals court has torched a cannabis farmer's $100,000 jury win, ruling that he can not collect against his former business partner because the marijuana crop he grew was federally illegal and specifically intended for recreational use.
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August 14, 2024
HHS Eyes 2025 For New Medicare Appeal Rule
In response to a Connecticut federal judge's stern demand for quicker progress, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has said in a court filing that it should be able to implement a new rule creating an avenue for Medicare beneficiaries to appeal their hospitalization status by Jan. 1.
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August 14, 2024
Treasury Says $82M Will Boost Tribal Small Business Growth
An investment by the U.S. Treasury in a consortium of Alaskan tribes is expected to infuse as much as $830 million in additional private sector investments throughout the state and in Indigenous-owned companies as part of the most expansive backing of small-business financing for tribal governments in history.
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August 14, 2024
Sanctioned Ghanaian Co. Says Law Firm's Fees Too High
An African energy company has slammed international arbitration specialty law firm Three Crowns LLP in Texas federal court for claiming nearly $200,000 in fees after the company was sanctioned for lying to a Ghanaian court.
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August 14, 2024
DOD Issues Contractor Cybersecurity Implementation Rule
The U.S. Department of Defense on Wednesday issued a proposed rule laying out how it will incorporate its stringent pending Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program, intended to boost cybersecurity standards across the defense industrial base, into defense contracts.
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August 14, 2024
House Republican Files Bill To Fix 'Rip And Replace' Shortfall
A Texas Republican has introduced U.S. House legislation to fill the shortfall in the "rip and replace" program to reimburse telecoms for ridding their networks of Chinese-made components, to the tune of $3.08 billion.
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August 14, 2024
Grassley Asks HHS For Clarity On Cannabis Position
Sen. Chuck Grassley has asked federal health officials to clarify their position on marijuana, arguing that a recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report is at odds with its recommendation to loosen restrictions on the drug.
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August 14, 2024
Suit Says Florida Lab-Grown Meat Ban Is 'Unconstitutional'
A California business is suing Florida over a law that bans cultivated meat, alleging in a federal complaint that the Sunshine State's prohibition is unconstitutional because it violates the company's right to sell its products through interstate commerce.
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August 14, 2024
Florida AG Can't Nix Hospitals', School Boards' Opioid Claims
A Florida state appeals court on Wednesday reversed a trial court's order allowing the state's attorney general to wipe out a group of suits by hospitals and school boards in opioid litigation, holding that she doesn't have the authority to release their claims without their consent.
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August 14, 2024
Texas AG Threatens Suit Over Dallas State Fair's Firearms Ban
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has threatened to sue the city of Dallas if it doesn't reverse a policy prohibiting state fair patrons from bringing firearms into the fairgrounds.
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August 14, 2024
FTC Finalizes Rule To Crack Down On Fake Online Reviews
The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday announced it has finalized a rule to thwart marketers from using false reviews and testimonials, cementing the agency's authority to seek civil penalties from knowing violators for a host of misconduct including the use of AI-generated fake reviews.
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August 14, 2024
Hospital Groups Tell High Court HHS 'Stingy' In SSI Pay Row
Six of the nation's leading hospital associations told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is being "stingy" when miscalculating a formula that could cost hospitals treating low-income patients more than a billion dollars in special payments each year.
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August 14, 2024
Texas Sues HHS Over 'Arbitrary' Nursing Home Staffing Rule
The state of Texas on Wednesday challenged a new federal rule that sets minimum staffing standards at nursing homes, contending the Biden administration overstepped its statutory authority and crafted a rule almost impossible to meet because of nursing shortages.
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August 14, 2024
House Republicans Press DHS On Pause Of Parole Program
House Republicans are pressing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for more information about why the agency paused a humanitarian program for Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, saying documents the agency already turned over highlight issues with sponsor vetting.
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August 14, 2024
Oregon Gets New 600-Acre Wildlife Refuge
Oregon is home to a new 600-acre wildlife refuge in the Willamette Valley between Salem and Eugene intended to preserve a variety of animal and plant species, the U.S. Department of the Interior said Tuesday.
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August 14, 2024
Nursing Co. Exec Can't Split Up Fraud, Wage-Fixing Charges
A Nevada federal magistrate judge has struck two blows against a home healthcare staffing executive facing criminal charges of fixing nurses' wages and hiding that probe when selling the business for $12.5 million, as the judge refused to break up the allegations and recommended against dismissing the fraud counts.
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August 14, 2024
Wyoming Hemp Cos. Bring Challenge To 10th Circ.
After a Wyoming federal judge declined to block enforcement of a newly enacted law regulating hemp-derived intoxicating products in the state, the businesses that brought the challenge said on Wednesday they would appeal the matter to the Tenth Circuit.
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August 14, 2024
10th Circ. Wipes Out Fight Over Obama-Era Methane Rule
The Tenth Circuit has thrown out a lower court ruling partially invalidating an Obama-era rule limiting venting and flaring from oil and gas wells on federal land, saying a new rule crafted by the Biden administration moots the entire case.
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August 14, 2024
CPSC Foes Widen Assault On New Deal-Era Precedent
A maker of child care products is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the constitutionality of protections barring the president from firing U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission members without good cause, telling the justices that the powerful agency doesn't fit the narrow exceptions to the White House's otherwise unrestricted removal authority.
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August 14, 2024
Feds Say Madigan, Former Ally Should Face Jurors Together
Prosecutors told an Illinois federal judge on Tuesday that former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and confidant Michael McClain should be tried together this fall, saying a joint proceeding is proper for alleged co-conspirators in a criminal enterprise and they should not be allowed to shift blame to one another at individual trials.
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August 14, 2024
Sen. Durbin Slams DOD's Revocation Of 9/11 Plea Deal
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate majority whip, told U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday he is "troubled" by the secretary's decision to revoke a plea deal for the accused masterminds of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
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August 14, 2024
Streaming Cos. Ask FCC To Gauge Fixed Broadband Market
Video streamers and other edge providers hope to make one thing clear as the Federal Communications Commission dissects competition in the high-speed internet space — the fixed broadband service market is still dominated by a few heavyweights and more should be done to assess how the addition of new competitors affects individual markets.
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August 14, 2024
1st Circ. Revives Vax Refusal Suit Against Beth Israel
The First Circuit on Tuesday revived a suit against health facility system Beth Israel Lahey Health Inc. from an office manager who was fired over her refusal to be vaccinated against COVID-19, disagreeing with a lower court that said she hadn't shown a genuine religious belief meriting a vaccine exemption.
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August 14, 2024
4th Circ. Says T-Mobile Must Face 'Simply Prepaid' TM Fight
The Fourth Circuit revived a Virginia-based telecommunications company's infringement suit against T-Mobile, ruling that Simply Wireless had done enough to show it was planning to revamp its "Simply Prepaid" branding and hadn't abandoned the trademark when T-Mobile began using it.
Expert Analysis
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Series
After Chevron: Impact On CFPB May Be Limited
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.
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A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates
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.
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Series
After Chevron: 7 FERC Takeaways From Loper Bright
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.
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Opinion
Discount Window Reform Needed To Curb Modern Bank Runs
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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Opinion
Cell Tech Patent Holdup Is Stalling Automaker Innovation
Courts and Congress should seek to stem anticompetitive harm caused by standard-essential patent holders squeezing automakers with unfairly high royalties for cellular connectivity technology, says Charles Haake at Alliance for Automotive Innovation.
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Series
After Chevron: USDA Rules May Be Up In The Air
The Supreme Court's end of Chevron deference may cause more lawsuits against U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations, like the one redefining "unfair trade practices" under the Packers and Stockyards Act, or a new policy classifying salmonella as an adulterant in certain poultry products, says Bob Hibbert at Wiley.
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Mitigating Risks Amid 10-Year Sanctions Enforcement Window
In response to recent legislation, which doubles the statute of limitations for actions related to certain U.S. sanctions and provides regulators greater opportunity to investigate possible violations, companies should take specific steps to account for the increased civil and criminal enforcement risk, say attorneys at Freshfields.
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Series
After Chevron: Creating New Hurdles For ESG Rulemaking
The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision, limiting court deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, could have significant impacts on the future of ESG regulation, creating new hurdles for agency rulemaking around these emerging issues, and calling into question current administrative actions, says Leah Malone at Simpson Thacher.
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A Timeline Of Antisemitism Legislation And What It Means
What began as hearings in the House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce has expanded to a House-wide effort to combat antisemitism and related issues, with wide-ranging implications for education, finance and nonprofit entities, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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California Adds A Novel Twist To State Suits Against Big Oil
California’s suit against Exxon Mobil Corp., one of several state suits that seek to hold oil and gas companies accountable for climate-related harms, is unique both in the magnitude of the alleged claims and its use of a consumer protection statute to seek disgorgement of industry profits, says Julia Stein at UCLA School of Law.
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Criminal Enforcement Considerations For Gov't Contractors
Government contractors increasingly exposed to criminal liability risks should establish programs that enable detection and remediation of employee misconduct, consider voluntary disclosure, and be aware of the potentially disastrous consequences of failing to make a mandatory disclosure where the government concludes it was required, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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Opinion
States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions
Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.
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New La. Managing Agent Law May Portend Growing Scrutiny
Recent amendments to Louisiana’s managing general agent regulations impose expansive new obligations on such agents and their insurer partners, which may be a sign of heightened regulatory, commercial and rating agency scrutiny, say attorneys at McDermott.
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Trending At The PTAB: Multiple Petitions In IPRs
Recent Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions and a proposed rulemaking indicate the board’s intention to continue to take a tougher stance on multiple inter partes review petitions challenging the same patent, presenting key factors for petitioners to consider, like the necessity of parallel filings and serial petitions, say Yinan Liu and Cory Bell at Finnegan.
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FERC Rule Is A Big Step Forward For Transmission Planning
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's recent electric transmission system overhaul marks significant progress to ensure the grid can deliver electricity at reasonable prices, with a 20-year planning requirement and other criteria going further than prior attempted reforms, say Tom Millar and Gwendolyn Hicks at Winston & Strawn.