Analysis

Newman's Roadblocks Guide Judicial Conduct Reform Bill

By Dani Kass

The Judicial Conduct and Disability Act has worked well in allowing the judicial branch to govern itself for nearly 50 years, but the ongoing suspension of Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman has exposed gaps that could be addressed with newly introduced legislation, attorneys say.

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NY's Landmark Climate Change Superfund Blocked Again

By Hailey Konnath

Another New York federal judge on Wednesday agreed with the federal government that the Empire State overstepped its authority with its Climate Change Superfund Act, the second such ruling on the state's landmark attempt to collect payments from fossil fuel companies to fund climate change mitigation efforts.

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NM Offers Infernal Literature Lesson In Meta Trial Closing

By Cara Salvatore

New Mexico wrapped its data privacy trial against Meta on Wednesday by likening the social media company's alleged habitual lying about data protection to the worst of sins in Dante's "Inferno," asking the jury, "Does lying matter?"

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5th Circ. Asks Texas Students If Drag Is Same As 'Striptease'

By Spencer Brewer

The full Fifth Circuit pressed student LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations to explain how drag shows on Texas college campuses met the standards for First Amendment protection, asking Wednesday if the organizations were arguing the schools should allow "striptease" performances.

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Media Ban Judge Declines Ruling On TRO, For Now

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge Wednesday declined to rule immediately on a temporary restraining order restoring White House access for major news organizations barred by the Trump administration since last week, instead saying he would consider the sides' arguments and issue a ruling shortly.

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Senate Confirms Abbott Aide To Texas Federal Bench

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 50-47, along party lines, on Wednesday to confirm Angela Colmenero, deputy chief of staff to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, to serve on the Southern District of Texas.

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GOP Leaders Say NJ Is Withholding Voter List Records

By George Woolston

National and New Jersey Republicans have filed a lawsuit seeking the disclosure of the Garden State's voter-list maintenance records, alleging that state and local officials haven't fully complied with their requests.

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Mich. Court Keeps Freeze On Voting Data Deletion In Place

By Susan Smiley

A temporary restraining order preventing the deletion of voter records from the Aug. 4 primary election will remain in place pending the release of administrative rulings from the Michigan Secretary of State, a Michigan judge ruled Tuesday.

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9th Circ. Grounds Suit Over Wash. Airport Flight Path Pollution

By Rachel Riley

A Ninth Circuit panel said Wednesday that a provision of the Clean Air Act limiting state regulation of aircraft emissions is enough to extinguish a group of Washington residents' proposed class action against Delta Air Lines, Alaska Airlines and the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's operator over alleged flight path pollution.

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Illinois Swipe-Fee Ban Also Blocked For Federal Credit Unions

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois federal judge expanded an order blocking the state from enforcing its landmark ban on tax-and-tip swipe fees against most banks, ruling that an injunction she granted earlier this year extends to federal credit unions in light of a new federal rule that authorizes them to collect interchange fees.

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Del. Justices Weigh If Corporations Can Vote In Beach Town

By Jarek Rutz

The ACLU of Delaware urged the state's high court Wednesday to revive its challenge to Fenwick Island's practice of allowing property-owning corporations and other artificial entities to vote in municipal elections, arguing the system unlawfully dilutes residents' votes.

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WH Aide Says CFTC Needs Congress For Full Crypto Powers

By Aislinn Keely

A White House crypto aide said Wednesday that Congress' failure to pass the Clarity Act leaves the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission without authority over spot crypto markets, which could limit the agency's plans to stand up a digital asset framework in the absence of crypto market structure legislation.

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DC Judge Rules EPA Wrongly Nixed $7B Solar Program

By Tom Lotshaw

A D.C. federal judge ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lacked authority to terminate a $7 billion Solar for All program and 60 grants awarded to recipients including Harris County, Texas, which challenged the termination.

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9th Circ. Won't Rehear Klamath Project ESA Ruling

By Ganesh Setty

The Ninth Circuit said Wednesday it won't disturb a divided three-judge panel's ruling affirming that a federal regulator must abide by the Endangered Species Act's interagency consultation requirements as it operates a water management project in northern California and southern Oregon.

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Judge Won't Block Feds' Land Exchange With SpaceX

By Madeline Lyskawa

SpaceX and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can proceed with their planned land swap after a Texas federal judge determined that the groups challenging the deal failed to show that their members would suffer irreparable injury as a result of the exchange.

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Exelon Investors' $40M Deal In Bribery Case Wins Final OK

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois federal judge on Tuesday granted final approval to a $40 million settlement resolving Exelon shareholders' claims against company leaders connected to the Commonwealth Edison bribery scandal, over the objections of some investors who argued that most benefits were already paid, previously implemented, or too small to justify releasing valuable claims.

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Fla. Panel Won't Hear City's Immunity Bid In Partnership Suit

By David Minsky

A Florida state appellate panel issued a split decision on Wednesday dismissing a bid by a city to overturn an order striking its motion to argue for immunity in a lawsuit over a public-private partnership to build a green waste facility near protected wetlands, saying it lacks jurisdiction. 

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Blue Shield Still Facing Therapy 'Ghost Network' Suit

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge ruled Wednesday that Blue Shield of California must face the majority of claims brought in subscribers' proposed class action alleging the insurer maintained a "ghost network" of mental-health providers that didn't exist or accept new patients, saying the suit adequately claims contract terms were not met.

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Colo. Judge Declines To Sanction Hospital In Gender Care Suit

By Rachel Konieczny

Children's Hospital Colorado properly complied with an injunction prohibiting it from refusing to provide medically necessary gender-affirming care to transgender youth patients, a state judge ruled, rejecting a request by a class of patients to hold the hospital in contempt.

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Wash. Judge Blocks Ed. Dept. Mental Health Grant Cuts

By Gianna Ferrarin

A Washington federal judge preliminarily enjoined the U.S. Education Department from terminating up to $1 billion in K–12 mental health grants serving 15 states, finding states provided sufficient evidence that the agency was planning to unlawfully cut those grants.

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DOJ Pressed On Gender Care Ban In Federal HIV Program

By Dan McKay

A Massachusetts federal judge on Wednesday skeptically questioned the Trump administration's authority to prohibit doctors from providing gender-affirming care as part of a longstanding, federally funded HIV program.

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Squires Wants Even More Review Of Patent From $253M Case

By Theresa Schliep

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director again intervened in a case stemming from a Patent Trial and Appeal Board's invalidation of patent claims in a $253 million judgment against GoDaddy, asking the Federal Circuit to remand an appeal over a decision by top judges that revived the claims.

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Colo. Town Says Agenda Change Didn't Void Closed Meeting

By Zach Dupont

A Colorado Court of Appeals panel appeared skeptical Wednesday that an improperly noticed meeting revokes the privacy privilege of an executive session held at the meeting in a town's appeal of a lower court's order to make what was discussed during the session public.

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State Pols Urge Justices To Rein In Kalshi's Sports Offerings

By Alex Lawson

A coalition of state lawmakers has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Third Circuit decision allowing Kalshi to keep its sports offerings online in New Jersey, emphasizing that sports betting oversight must be left to the states.

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Banking Dems Protest GOP-Only Prediction Market Talks

By Rae Ann Varona

Every Democratic senator on the Banking Committee on Wednesday urged the panel's chairman, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., to hold a public hearing on prediction markets, the same day Scott held a Republican member meeting with the CEO of sports betting platform Kalshi.

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Medicare Brokers Say Feds Won't Identify Alleged False Claims

By Julie Manganis

A group of insurance companies and brokers accused in a False Claims Act case of colluding to steer Medicare recipients to certain Medicare Advantage plans said Tuesday that the federal government has refused to provide specifics of the allegations.

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Oakland Beats ADA Challenge To Rent Control Program

By Gina Kim

Oakland city officials beat a proposed class action alleging its rent control program discriminatorily excludes tenants with mobility disabilities since few units under the program are accessible, after a California federal judge said Wednesday there are other options that could address disparate impacts without violating the state's rent control law.

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Fed. Grants Bind Railways To Fed. Labor Law, NMB Argues

By Emily Brill

The Eleventh Circuit should affirm a Florida federal judge's finding that a high-speed rail operator is subject to the Railway Labor Act, the National Mediation Board argued, saying the operator can't wriggle its way out of complying because it runs an intercity rather than interstate rail line.

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DOJ Partially Backs Apple In Epic High Court Contempt Case

By Bryan Koenig

The U.S. Department of Justice told the U.S. Supreme Court in an amicus brief that the Ninth Circuit wrongly faulted Apple for charging a 27% commission on transactions linked out from apps, but it backed other parts of the California federal court's contempt order won by Epic Games.

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OpenAI Looks To End SpaceXAI's Apple Deal Antitrust Case

By Matthew Perlman

OpenAI is urging a Texas federal court to end an antitrust case from Elon Musk's SpaceXAI over a deal integrating ChatGPT into Apple devices, saying the pact is not exclusive and does not block competition from rival chatbots.

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NY Judge Dismisses States' DOGE Treasury Data Access Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

A New York federal judge Wednesday tossed several states' lawsuit that challenged Department of Government Efficiency staff access to U.S. Department of the Treasury data, saying DOGE's dissolution rendered the states' access claims moot and that they failed to allege that any federal funding due to them was ultimately canceled.

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BofA Customers Drop Suit Over Post-Jan. 6 Data-Sharing

By Jon Hill

A proposed class action accusing Bank of America NA of illegally sharing customer information with law enforcement after the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack has quietly come to an end, according to a notice filed late Tuesday in Florida federal court.

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FTC Backs Proposed Education Dept. Accreditation Reforms

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Federal Trade Commission has endorsed the U.S. Department of Education's proposal to expand higher education accreditation options and promote competition among accreditation agencies.

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Ga. Appeals Court Says Atlanta Can't Escape Injury Verdict

By Kelcey Caulder

The Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday said a trial court rightly refused to set aside a $140,000 verdict against the city of Atlanta in a woman's lawsuit over a broken wrist she said she suffered when she tripped over the metal remnants of a traffic sign on the sidewalk. 

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Senators Seek Probe Of AI Errors In Military Operations

By Elaine Briseño

Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to defense officials expressing concerns that the U.S. Department of Defense has prioritized adoption of artificial intelligence for use by armed forces over effective governance that may have resulted in faulty AI-assisted military operations.

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Chinese Laser Parts Subject To Duties, Trade Court Says

By Jack McLoone

Imported components used by a U.S. laser manufacturer don't meet the standards for exclusion from duty orders on aluminum extrusions from China, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled Wednesday, backing a U.S. Department of Commerce determination.

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Sens. Await FTC Reply On Amazon, Walmart Shopping Bots

By Corey Rothauser

U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Rick Scott are waiting to receive a substantive response from the Federal Trade Commission to their request for an investigation into how Amazon and Walmart's AI shopping assistants handle "Made in the USA" products, Baldwin's office confirmed Wednesday.

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Brief

Commerce Finalizes Duty Rates For Certain Freight Couplers

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. Department of Commerce on Wednesday finalized its determinations that imported freight rail couplers from India and the Czech Republic are being sold at unfair prices.

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Brief

Commerce Lifts China, Bahrain Aluminum Can Stock Duties

By Dylan Moroses

The U.S. Department of Commerce has revoked countervailing and antidumping duties imposed on aluminum can stock imported from China and Bahrain, according to final results of a changed circumstances review published in a notice filed Wednesday.

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Brief

Chinese Medicinal Chemical Exporter Faces Triple-Digit Duty

By Dylan Moroses

A pharmaceutical compound imported from China has been found to have been subsidized, and at least one exporter of the goods in question could face triple-digit retroactive countervailing duties, according to a notice issued Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

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Brief

Chinese Graphite Electrodes May See Retroactive Duties

By Dylan Moroses

The U.S. Department of Commerce identified a surge of imported Chinese large-diameter graphite electrodes in advance of duties being imposed on those goods and preliminarily determined that critical circumstances exist for the department to retroactively apply countervailing duties, according to a Wednesday notice. 

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Md. Governor Calls For Ending Data Centers' Tax Exemption

By Maria Koklanaris

Maryland's governor became the latest state executive Wednesday to back off giving tax breaks to data centers, a development becoming increasingly common as the midterm elections draw near.

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Ore. Tax Court Won't Nix Appeal Over Complaint Filing Error

By Jaqueline McCool

An Oregon property tax owner can proceed with their assessment appeal and file a corrected complaint after their original complaint contained the wrong tax account number, the state Tax Court ruled.

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Ore. Airplane Hangar Tax Valuation Upheld By Court

By Sanjay Talwani

The owner of an Oregon airplane hangar failed to show that a local assessor and tax appeals board overvalued it or that it should be divided into two taxable parcels, the state tax court ruled.

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Judge Dismisses Son's Bid To Recoup Parents' Tax Payments

By Zak Kostro

A Tennessee federal judge dismissed a son's bid for a refund of federal income taxes for his dead parents' estates, finding he failed to establish that his father sufficiently participated in an amusement equipment manufacturing business to claim associated losses.

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DC Pied-à-Terre Tax Plan Targets Pricey Second Homes

By Sanjay Talwani

Washington, D.C., would impose additional property tax on homes worth about $2.6 million or more that are not rented out or used as primary residences under legislation before the district council.

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English Mayors Need £3.8B Tax Shift, Report Says

By Josh White

The Labour government should grant England's mayors a 5% share of income tax revenue, shifting an additional £3.8 billion ($5 billion) a year out of central government, a think tank report said Wednesday.

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Nuisance Arose Too Late For Tax Value Cut, Mass. Board Says

By Sanjay Talwani

Massachusetts homeowners' argument that a nuisance trailer parked near their property should reduce its tax valuation was rejected by a state board, which found the problem arose after the assessment date at issue.

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Judge Orders Feds To Wait 3 Days Before ICE Transfers

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Massachusetts judge has ordered federal immigration authorities to provide three days' notice to detainees who request bond hearings before they can be moved from the First Circuit, where they have a right to a bond hearing, to another circuit where the law may be different.

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Birthright Order Could Put Class Members At Risk, Judge Told

By Elaine Briseño

Immigrant rights groups are aiming to stop the government from trying to dissolve a court order that blocked a presidential directive intended to curtail birthright citizenship, arguing the executive order would affect a certified class of children born in the U.S., despite the government's insistence it would not.

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Ex-NY County Top Official's 12-Year Sentence Cut To 10

By Pete Brush

A New York federal judge sentenced former Long Island politician Edward Mangano to 10 years for corruption Wednesday, trimming a 12-year term she handed him after the Second Circuit tossed a jury's finding that he committed bribery.

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Ute Tribe Says Split-Estate Lands Remain Indian Country

By Corey Rothauser

The Ute Indian Tribe has urged the Tenth Circuit to overturn a Utah federal judge's ruling that the surface of split-estate lands within its reservation's original boundaries is not Indian Country, arguing the appellate court settled the issue decades ago.

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Cable Group Opposes FCC Plan For Robocall 'Scorecard'

By Christopher Cole

A major cable industry group blasted a plan by the Federal Communications Commission to let consumers use a "scorecard" to rate their voice service providers' efforts to block robocalls, saying it will divert FCC resources from actual enforcement.

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Verizon Asks FCC To Dismiss Data Speed Complaint

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

Verizon has asked the Federal Communications Commission to dismiss a customer's complaint that it violated the commission's rules by reducing the speed on his Verizon plan once his 200-gigabyte data limit was reached.

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Electric Cos. Urge FCC To Revamp Call Consent Revocation

By Christopher Cole

Investor-owned electric companies told the Federal Communications Commission it should move forward on a recently proposed rule that would change how call consent revocation applies to different categories of calls.

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Judge Tosses Conn. Cannabis Licensure Suit Over Standing

By Sam Reisman

A Connecticut federal judge Tuesday tossed a suit alleging that the state's program to award social equity marijuana licenses is discriminatory, saying the would-be cannabis grower who brought the action did not show that he had standing to challenge the policy.

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Mich. Judge Gives Cannabis Cos. Chance To Fix Complaint

By Melanie Dorsey

A Michigan federal judge has given two companies challenging the city of Menominee's marijuana licensing process a chance to amend their complaint after the city argued that a waiver signed as part of a license application bars their nine-count lawsuit.

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Cooley Adds GOP Hill Veteran To Congressional Probes Group

By Alison Knezevich

Cooley LLP announced Wednesday it has brought on a veteran Capitol Hill attorney as it continues to grow its congressional investigations practice launched in 2024.

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Opinion

The Time Is Right To Simplify Overlapping Broker-Dealer Regs

While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has made an important start to simplifying its rules, legislators should follow and expand on the commission's example by reexamining and removing the unnecessary overlap between SEC, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and state broker-dealer regulations, says Howard Spindel at Integrated Solutions.

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Tracking Trends In State-Level Regulatory Enforcement

State-level enforcement now increasingly involves antitrust, artificial intelligence and data privacy issues, and the key for organizations to reducing risk is having the ability to respond across governance, public affairs, discovery and remediation in multiple states simultaneously, say consultants at FTI Consulting.

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Navigating Employer Obligations Under NY Personnel File Law

In light of a New York law that will soon give private sector employees the right to review and comment on their personnel files, employers should understand where their exposure lies and be mindful of where records are stored, and for how long, among other things, says attorney Jason Tenenbaum.

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Banks Should Stay Disciplined As OCC, FDIC Ease Oversight

Despite a newly issued Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. rule that narrows the range of conduct that regulators may require institutions to remediate, prudent risk management suggests banks should still document how they arrive at their risk determinations, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

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What Cos. Must Know As Fast Energy Permitting Gains Steam

A recently approved geothermal project in Nevada may be the first authorized by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management under a new 14-day expedited environmental review process — but project developers may find that a more thorough environmental analysis will provide better protection against litigation challenges, says Jill Yung at Allen Matkins.

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Opinion

Calif. Bill Goes Too Far In Trying To Regulate Attorney AI Use

California’s first-in-the-nation act regulating how attorneys and arbitrators use generative artificial intelligence will likely soon become law, but read broadly, the provisions may dissuade lawyers from employing AI at all, thereby depriving them of key work tools, says Joshua Wurtzel at Schlam Stone.

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Tarter Krinsky Data Breach May Have Affected Health Info

By Andrea Keckley

Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP said in a letter this month that a data breach last year may have compromised protected health information the firm possessed due to its representation of an unnamed healthcare provider.

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'I'm Tired Of This': Judge Scolds Atty In Romantasy Suit

By Theresa Schliep

A New York federal judge has reprimanded counsel for a writer in a failed copyright infringement lawsuit over the "Crave" book series, insisting the plaintiff answer all questions in a deposition over attorney fees and writing that she was "tired of this" and "indeed being jerked around."

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Goldstein Not Leaving Prison Any Time Soon, 4th Circ. Rules

By Jeff Overley

The Fourth Circuit balked late Wednesday at freeing Tom Goldstein from prison as he fights felony convictions, and it rejected fast-track review of the renowned appellate advocate's trial, indicating he'll likely spend substantial time behind bars even if his appeal succeeds.

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Fed. Panel At Standstill Over ABA Law School Accreditor Role

By Emma Cueto

A key U.S. Department of Education committee deadlocked Wednesday over whether the American Bar Association council responsible for approving law schools should continue as a federally recognized accreditor, tabling the issue until Thursday after different proposals failed to win majority support.

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