FCC OKs Amazon's $11.6B Globalstar Satellite Buy

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission has signed off on Amazon.com Inc.'s $11.6 billion plan to buy U.S. satellite company Globalstar Inc., bringing the e-commerce behemoth one step closer to expanding its nascent satellite internet business.

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4th Circ. Says W.Va. Daniel's Law Is Unconstitutional

By Rose Krebs

The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday affirmed a district court determination striking down as unconstitutional West Virginia's law restricting the publication of the home addresses and phone numbers of law enforcement and judicial officials, saying the district court applied "well-established" First Amendment principles.

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SEC Advances Plans To Alter Market Surveillance Tool

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has moved one step closer to adopting a rule that could change the way a market surveillance tool known as the consolidated audit trail operates, informing the White House of a planned rulemaking two months after the SEC's chairman floated taking over the CAT.

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Healthcare In Court

Courts Take On Lilly GLP-1 Ads, J&J Mesothelioma Trial, More

By Gianna Ferrarin

Law360 Healthcare Authority looks at a Novo Nordisk loss in its challenge to Eli Lilly's GLP-1 advertising, an Ohio verdict in wrongful death litigation over Johnson & Johnson's talc baby powder and other legal news from the past week.

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Judge Halts Tree Removal, Says She Can't 'Disbelieve' Trump

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge has ordered the federal government to stop all tree removal at East Potomac Golf Course and to give the court notice before making irreparable changes to its surrounding park, saying she couldn't "disbelieve the president's clear, repeated statements" that a major overhaul would begin soon.

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Amazon Sued Over Alleged Wash. Warehouse Water Pollution

By Rachel Riley

A Washington state environmental group launched a Clean Water Act lawsuit against Amazon in Seattle federal court on Tuesday, accusing the e-commerce giant of releasing polluted water from a warehouse site in the greater Seattle area.

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Texas Appeals Court Weighs Mootness In Uri Victims Appeal

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas appeals court wanted to know if an appeal before them concerning thousands of victims of a deadly winter storm was moot, pressing Tuesday for counsel to explain what the court should do with a finding by an MDL court that the victim's expert witness was inadmissible.

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Analysis

Permit Bill Speeds Up Project Fights With Appeals Court Push

By Keith Goldberg

U.S. Senate permitting legislation could reduce courtroom time for energy project developers by funneling more lawsuits challenging federal agency decisions directly to appeals courts, though attorneys caution that it isn't necessarily a silver bullet for faster litigation results.

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New Jersey Says DuPont Deal Bars Town's $1B PFAS Claims

By George Woolston

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection backed various DuPont entities' bid to toss the remaining claims in a municipality's $1 billion lawsuit over forever chemical contamination stemming from a longtime DuPont facility, arguing that a landmark settlement the state reached earlier this year bars the claims.

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NC Health Plan, Atrium Settle Spat Over Cost-Sharing Program

By Hayley Fowler

The North Carolina state health plan said on Tuesday that it will add Atrium Health to its list of in-network providers next year after a public showdown over the nonprofit health system's exclusion from the plan's new preferred provider program.

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Judge Won't Undo USPTO Denial Of Cancer Drug IP Extension

By Adam Lidgett

A New Jersey federal judge has upheld the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's refusal to extend the life of a pair of patents on a cancer drug, rejecting a challenge from the patent owner that claimed the loss of exclusivity would cost it more than $1 billion.

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Tyler Tech. To Pay $1.5M To Settle NC ECourts Class Action

By Matt Perez

Attorneys for a proposed class that alleged glitches in North Carolina's electronic court system led to scores of individuals being wrongfully arrested or detained asked a federal court on Monday to approve a $1.5 million settlement with the software's developer Tyler Technologies.

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Copyright Office Lets Page Six Register Site Updates

By Ivan Moreno

The U.S. Copyright Office has reversed refusals to register website updates from Page Six, Decider and Mansion Global after changing a rule that excluded the publications from a streamlined registration process because their news coverage was too narrowly focused.

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Fla. Court Orders Trump Depo By Dec. 11 In $10B BBC Suit

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida federal magistrate judge Tuesday ordered President Donald Trump to sit for a deposition in his $10 billion defamation suit against the BBC over the broadcaster's documentary on the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

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Federal Defenders Can't Get Freeze On Detainee Transfers

By David Aaro

A Georgia federal judge declined to block the transfer of hundreds of federal pretrial detainees to a facility roughly 200 miles from Atlanta's federal courthouse, calling defense lawyers' argument that their clients' constitutional rights were being violated premature.

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CFTC Sues Utah To Widen Prediction Market State Brawl

By Aislinn Keely

Utah on Tuesday became the latest state to catch a suit from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission when the agency accused the state of treading on its "exclusive jurisdiction" over the prediction markets by bringing an enforcement action that branded Kalshi's sports contracts as bets.

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CVS Says Faulty Medicare Advantage Ratings Will Cost It $2B

By Craig Clough

Insurance giant CVS Health sued the Trump administration in Georgia federal court Monday, alleging that federal quality ratings for its Medicare Advantage contracts were calculated using methods a judge rejected last year and will cost the company more than $2 billion in bonus payments and rebates in 2028.

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Texas Top Court Takes Up Dallas Short-Term Rental Battle

By Isaac Monterose

The Supreme Court of Texas has agreed to hear a dispute over short-term rental property regulations in Dallas, granting the city's petition to review a state appellate ruling that upheld an injunction against a pair of ordinances.

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Michigan Civil Rights Panel OKs Changes To Exemption Bids

By Melanie Dorsey

The Michigan Civil Rights Commission unanimously approved a resolution Monday directing the state's Civil Rghts Department to clarify procedures for seeking exemptions from Michigan's anti-discrimination law, including situations in which religious freedoms and other constitutional protections may conflict with state civil rights requirements.

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Union Fights To Preserve Challenge To Texas A&M 'Woke' Ban

By Emily Brill

A Texas federal judge should preserve claims that Texas A&M is violating the First Amendment by banning "woke" teachings on race, gender and sexual orientation, a professors' union argued, saying the university system's argument in favor of the censorship policy violates U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

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​​​​​​​Drugmakers Seek To Bar 'Big Pharma' Label In Price-Fix Trial

By Mark Payne

A group of generic-drug makers facing price-fixing claims brought by dozens of state attorneys general asked a Connecticut federal judge to bar or limit the use of terms like "Big Pharma" or "rising costs of pharmaceuticals and healthcare" in next year's trial.

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Daily Mail, Publishers Fight Google's 'Multi-Year Delay'

By Bryan Koenig

Gannett, the Daily Mail and a certified class of website publishers urged a New York federal judge Monday not to let Google pause a scheduled advertising placement technology trial, arguing in twin briefs that the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust win is strong and Google's appeal won't disrupt the multidistrict litigation.

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Snapchat Accused Of Letting Predators Exploit Kids

By P.J. D'Annunzio

The company behind the popular app Snapchat has been sued in Philadelphia court by a group of parents alleging that the platform allowed predators to sexually exploit their children while at the same time holding itself out to be a safe place for kids.

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Brief

Commerce Orders Major Duties On Chinese Van-Type Trailers

By Jack McLoone

Van-type trailers and their subassemblies imported to the U.S. from China are subject to triple-digit countervailing and antidumping duties, the U.S. Department of Commerce ordered Tuesday.

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CIT OKs Commerce's 3rd Try At Justifying Korean Steel Duty

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. Department of Commerce appropriately showed the allocation of certain Korean government additional emissions permits to be a specific countervailable subsidy on its third attempt, the U.S. Court of International Trade said Tuesday, sustaining a duty rate on certain steel plate.

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IRS Asks 1st Circ. To Toss Shuttered Bank Owner's Claims

By Zak Kostro

The IRS asked the First Circuit to dismiss unlawful property seizure and due process claims against former IRS Criminal Investigation officers in a dispute related to a shuttered online bank suspected of facilitating tax evasion and money laundering, saying the bank's former owner failed to establish plausible allegations.

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Feds Face Uphill Climb To Set Aside 20K Ballots In Calif.

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge indicated Tuesday he'll deny the Trump administration's request for an order requiring California to set aside mail-in ballots for some 20,000 voters the federal government says are "likely" noncitizens, noting that the government can prosecute any illegal voters before California's Dec. 3 ballot cure deadline.

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Judge Pauses Rule Speeding Up Refugee Status Terminations

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday temporarily halted a U.S. Department of Homeland Security rule that speeds up the process for revoking refugee status, after advocacy groups said the rule does not give refugees enough time to defend themselves.

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Immigrants Seek Class Cert. Over ICE Property Seizures

By Elaine Briseño

A group of immigrants asked a D.C. federal judge to certify a nationwide class of detainees whose personal property was not returned upon their release, arguing the practice violates their right against unreasonable government searches and seizures.

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High Court Refuses To Undo Texas Immigration Rule Deal

By Elaine Briseño

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Tuesday denied a request from three cities and an advocacy group to undo a consent judgment approved by a Texas federal judge that vacated a rule that allowed immigration courts to temporarily close cases.

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AGs Sue To Block Treasury Rule Ending Shell Co. Reporting

By Jon Hill and Craig Clough

Nearly two dozen states sued the Trump administration Tuesday over its rollback of ownership reporting requirements for corporate entities, arguing the move constitutes an illegal, unilateral repeal of an anti-financial crime law that Congress enacted.

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Fla. Court Urged To Halt Blanche's 'Improper' Epstein Depo

By David Minsky

The government urged a Florida federal court to quash a subpoena to depose U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche in a lawsuit brought by dozens of women alleging the FBI mishandled a sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, arguing Blanche's testimony on the late financier would be "improper." 

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Democrats Seek To Halt DOJ Voter-List Effort Before Election

By Britain Eakin

Democrats who are suing the president, the attorney general and the Homeland Security secretary to stop the Trump administration from purging suspected noncitizens from voter rolls said the plan to control which ballots should count requires emergency intervention.

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Mich. Judge Says FOIA Delay Didn't Equal Records Denial

By Susan Smiley

A Michigan Court of Claims judge on Monday dismissed an open records lawsuit from former state Attorney General Mike Cox against the Michigan Department of State, ruling the department never denied his Freedom of Information Act request related to Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's communications with the Southern Poverty Law Center.

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NM Tribes Raise Religious Harm Fears Over Eagle Permit

By Crystal Owens

The Pueblo of Santa Clara and Pueblo of Zia are looking to block the federal government from issuing a special use permit to allow a fellow New Mexico tribe to take a bald or golden eagle from within the Valles Caldera National Preserve, alleging it will burden their religious exercise.

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Calif. Tribe Says State Must Face Gaming Compact Challenge

By Crystal Owens

A California tribe is fighting a bid by Gov. Gavin Newsom to dismiss its challenge to a Class III gaming compact, telling the court it has paid millions of dollars into four funds under the agreement and faces paying much more over the next 16 years.

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Sinclair Pushes FCC To Adopt Next-Gen TV Standard

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

TV station chain Sinclair has urged the Federal Communications Commission to advance a proposal that would accelerate the transition to ATSC 3.0, the next-generation TV standard.

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Work With Providers To Stop Copper Theft, Think Tank Says

By Christopher Cole

Lawmakers need to develop partnerships with communications providers to investigate rampant copper wire theft and not just impose "heavy-handed" requirements on businesses, a think tank said.

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SpaceX Wants Low-Band Rework In Space Coverage Plan

By Christopher Cole

SpaceX called on the Federal Communications Commission to add a potential spectrum revamp of the lower 900 megahertz band to a proposal the board will consider this week to expand space-based cellphone coverage.

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Broadband Co. Says Colo. Wrongly Pulled $103M In Grants

By Zach Dupont

A broadband company asked a Colorado state court judge Monday to reverse a state decision to revoke over $100 million in grants, arguing the state didn't follow required procedures to rescind them.

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7th Circ. Revives Bakery's Suit Over Business License Denial

By Celeste Bott

A bakery owner who was refused a business license after hosting an event featuring "infused" treats can revive her constitutional lawsuit against officials of a Chicago suburb, the Seventh Circuit ruled Monday, finding that a lower court wrongly concluded the suit was barred because she had previously challenged the denial in state court.

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Weil Loses 2 Regulatory Partners To Skadden In NY, DC

By Jack Rodgers

Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP announced Tuesday it has hired two attorneys from Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, as partner exits from that firm continue in the days following news of failed merger discussions with Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.

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NC Atty Duo Nominated For State Biz Court Bench

By Adrian Cruz

The North Carolina Superior Court announced Tuesday that attorneys from Williams Mullen and Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA have been nominated to fill a pair of vacancies created by the recent retirements of two judges.

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FTC's Changing Model Raises Questions About Its Mission

Federal Trade Commission leaders have recently sketched a vision of an agency that continues an enforcement role distinct from the U.S. Department of Justice's, even as a shift toward greater presidential control makes enforcement more responsive to changes in administrations, say attorneys at Wiley.

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Open Issues After 2nd Circ.'s Airport Phone Search Ruling

While the Second Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Alisigwe decision confirms border agents' broad authority to conduct routine manual cellphone searches at ports of entry, significant questions remain about more wide-ranging forensic searches at the border, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

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Where SEC's Transfer Agent Plan Would Change Compliance

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent proposal to update the federal regulatory framework for transfer agents would comprehensively modernize the old task-specific regime by centering speed, operational resilience, compliance governance and technology-neutral recordkeeping, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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Accenture's FCA Deal Shows DEI Risks For Gov't Contractors

The U.S. Department of Justice recently settled allegations that Accenture falsely certified compliance with antidiscrimination requirements in its federal contracts, underscoring how diversity goals can become a False Claims Act issue when the company requests payment from the government, say attorneys at Bass Berry.

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Key Risk Assessment Gaps To Note From NY Cyber Guidance

Covered entities should take a fresh look at the compliance gaps flagged in recent New York State Department of Financial Services guidance on "deficient cybersecurity programs," particularly around scope, asset inventories and documentation, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

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DOJ Directive Gives Contractors A Fraud Risk Road Map

For government contractors, the 10 factors described in the U.S. Department of Justice's recent corporate fraud enforcement directive function as a de facto scoring rubric for internal audits that mirrors what prosecutors will prioritize, say attorneys at Spencer Fane.

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Opinion

Justices' Climate Ruling Should Preserve State Tort Claims

As recent oral arguments in Suncor Energy v. Boulder County demonstrated, the case hinges on long-standing principles of federalism that allow state and local governments to protect their resources and citizens — and if the justices rule based on precedent, Suncor should lose, says William Buzbee at Georgetown University Law Center.

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Tort Liability When AI Goes Rogue: Strict Liability

If artificial intelligence agents misbehave in unpredictable ways, and no reasonable precaution can prevent resulting harms, then a negligence regime may not provide sufficient remedy, and strict liability might be adapted to cover agents' misconduct — but the common notion of strict liability fits this situation imperfectly, says Donald Hawthorne at Carter Ledyard.

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At 4th Circ., DOJ Admits But Downplays Goldstein Trial Errors

By Jeff Overley

The U.S. Department of Justice late Tuesday acknowledged that it confused key statutory terms related to jury instructions at famed appellate advocate Tom Goldstein's criminal trial, while also insisting "the government's mistake here was understandable" and shouldn't upend a jury's guilty verdict.

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Brief

Fenwick & West To Match $235K Salary Scale For Associates

By Tracey Read

Fenwick & West LLP is reportedly the latest firm that will raise associate pay in the new year.

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Ex-Fla. Bar Prez Accused Of Botching $350M Estate Claim

By Carolina Bolado

The widow of a Miami real estate investor is suing a former president of the Florida Bar for malpractice, claiming his botched representation left her without a claim to her late husband's $350 million estate.

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Analysis

3 Federal Circuit Clashes To Watch In November

By Ryan Davis

A high-stakes case that will determine whether the U.S. government should face patent infringement claims over Moderna's COVID-19 vaccines and Labcorp's appeal of a nine-figure patent verdict against it are among the arguments the Federal Circuit will hear in November.

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