Analysis

Meta's $17B Child Safety Deal Puts Heat On Congress To Act

By Allison Grande

Meta's landmark $17.1 billion settlement of states' claims that it purposely addicted kids to social media mandates many of the safeguards increasingly being required by a growing patchwork of largely contested state child safety laws, boosting not only the profile of these measures but also the push for Congress to enact a more comprehensive fix.

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Analysis

Feds Gain Ground In Energy Permit Turf War With States

By Keith Goldberg

A federal judge's endorsement earlier this month of the Trump administration's restart of a pipeline over California's objections will likely embolden the federal government to override state opposition to energy project development, but the ruling won't be the last word on the legality of such moves.

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Analysis

Circuit Split Raises Stakes For Timing Of Detention Review

By Britain Eakin

An emerging circuit split on whether district courts can hear habeas claims from noncitizens who say the government wants to deport them for their political speech raises questions about how quickly they can challenge the constitutionality of their detention before an independent judge.

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Analysis

Medical Marijuana Industry Grapples With DEA's New Role

By Sam Reisman

After years of allowing the state-sanctioned medical marijuana industry to operate without interference, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is stepping in to regulate a drug it once treated exclusively as contraband, but attorneys and regulators say the cannabis industry's interactions with the agency are off to a rocky start.

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4th Circ. Reverses $42M Abu Ghraib Verdict Against CACI

By Madeline Lyskawa

The Fourth Circuit on Friday reversed a $42 million jury verdict finding CACI conspired to torture Iraq War detainees, ruling on rehearing the detainees' claims must be dismissed following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision that courts can't create a private right of action under the Alien Tort Statute.

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Trump Denied New Bid To Federalize Hush Money Prosecution

By Pete Brush

A New York federal judge on Friday again denied President Donald Trump's bid to move his criminal hush money conviction out of state court, finding as he did earlier that a federal law defense that Trump was operating in his official capacity would be meritless.

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8th Circ. Says Alleged Parole Lies Aren't Unconstitutional

By Brandon Lowrey

An Eighth Circuit panel has upheld the dismissal of an Arkansas sex offender's lawsuit alleging his parole officer used a fake daycare to reject his housing plans, saying parole is not a constitutionally protected right.

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House Eyes Vote To Lock Supreme Court At 9 Justices

By Courtney Bublé

The House returns from recess on Monday, and its agenda could include a vote to keep the number of U.S. Supreme Court justices at nine.

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OCC Sends Final Stablecoin Rules For White House Sign-Off

By Sarah Jarvis

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has sent its final rule establishing standards for stablecoin issuers under its supervision to the White House in the latest step toward implementing last year's landmark stablecoin law known as the Genius Act, following comments from Comptroller Jonathan Gould that the agency plans to issue the oversight rule by November.

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Fintechs Back 24/7 Futures Trading As Energy Producers Balk

By Aislinn Keely

Commodity and energy producers cautioned the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission against enabling round-the-clock trading and perpetual contracts on the energy industry, while many trading platforms told the agency that they believe they can mitigate the risks that come with extended trading hours.

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Consumer Groups Back Ore. In Fight Over Rate Opt-Out Law

By Jon Hill

Consumer advocacy groups have rallied to Oregon's defense in litigation over its new law aimed at capping interest rates on loans from out-of-state banks, arguing the state's financial industry challengers don't have history or federal law on their side.

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Industries, States Take Soot Rule Fight To Supreme Court

By Tom Lotshaw

A coalition of industry groups and 25 states led by Kentucky and West Virginia have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a D.C. Circuit decision that upheld a challenged rule imposing tighter nationwide limits on soot pollution.

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NJ Law Requires Data Centers To Report Utility Usage

By Isaac Monterose

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed a bill into law Thursday that requires data centers in the state to provide the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities with semiannual water and energy usage reports.

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Calif. Challenges Trump Admin's Offshore Wind Lease Buyout

By Bonnie Eslinger

California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a federal lawsuit on Friday against the Trump administration and Golden State Wind LLC, claiming the government unlawfully used a $120 million buyout of the company's offshore wind energy lease to end the renewable energy project and facilitate fossil fuel development.

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Fla. Says PBMs Fixed Prices For Prescription Drugs

By Carolina Bolado

Florida's attorney general on Thursday sued two competing pharmacy benefit managers for allegedly colluding to fix prescription drug reimbursement rates to pharmacies, which the state said threatens Floridians' access to affordable medications.

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2 Men Sentenced For Car Crash Insurance Scam In NY

By Gianna Ferrarin

Two men have been sentenced to prison over an insurance fraud conspiracy in which they staged car crashes on local highways — including one captured in a video that went viral on social media — New York City and state officials announced.

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NJ Says TikTok Is Withholding Key Child Usage Data

By Carla Baranauckas

New Jersey urged a state judge to force TikTok to hand over detailed user engagement data the state said was essential in proving that the platform's design harmed children, accusing the company of months of evasive answers, shifting explanations and contradictory statements about whether the information even exists.

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MLB's Tampa Bay Rays Get Key Approvals For New Stadium

By Nathan Hale

Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays took a major step toward consummating the ballclub's yearslong efforts to build a new home ballpark, as the Hillsborough County Commission on Friday approved a development and funding agreement for a proposed $2.3 billion stadium project one day after the Tampa City Council gave its consent.

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DOL Scraps 1980s Farmworker Protection Coordination Rule

By Elaine Briseño

The U.S. Department of Labor is repealing longtime regulations that required federal agencies to coordinate protections for migrant and seasonal workers, saying they are obsolete and have not been used for decades.

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25K Workers 'Out Of Luck': Feds Defend Layoffs At 9th Circ.

By Dorothy Atkins

The federal government Friday urged the Ninth Circuit to reverse a finding that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management wrongfully fired 25,000 probationary workers shortly after President Donald Trump took office, arguing that the OPM was operating well within its statutory authority, the district court lacked jurisdiction, and the workers are "simply out of luck."

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Roundup

4 Arguments For Benefits Attys To Watch In September

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Fifth Circuit will weigh Louisiana's bid to block telehealth access to the abortion drug mifepristone, while the Fourth Circuit will hear Lockheed Martin's challenge to a trial court decision that kept a pension de-risking suit alive. Here's a look at these and other argument sessions that should be on benefits attorneys' radar next month.

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Brief

Mass. Coke Bottler Misclassified Worker To Save OT, Suit Says

By Julie Manganis

A regional Coca-Cola bottler misclassified a worker as an exempt employee to avoid paying overtime, a new lawsuit in Massachusetts state court alleges.

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DOJ Says KKR's $250M Deal Will Deter HSR Violations

By Al Barbarino

The U.S. Department of Justice has issued its formal defense of a $250 million settlement with KKR & Co. and affiliated entities resolving allegations that the private equity firm repeatedly violated the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act's premerger notification and waiting period rules.

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FCC Wants To Fine Covered Chinese Cos. $188K

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission wants to fine ZTE and Hytera Communications more than $180,000 for failing to provide the agency with all its various corporate identities after the agency placed both Chinese companies on the covered list.

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2nd Circ. Revives FCA Overpayment Suit Against Pharmacy

By Gianna Ferrarin

A Second Circuit panel on Friday undid a whistleblower's loss on False Claims Act allegations that AmerisourceBergen Corp.'s pharmacy business owes the government money for overpayments from federal healthcare programs for drug purchases and other services.

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Mich. Judge Backs 'Mass Casualty' Privacy Waiver In Schools

By Susan Smiley

A Michigan state education budget package requiring schools to give up certain privacy protections in exchange for specific funding is not unconstitutional or vague, a federal judge said Thursday in a ruling mirroring a state appeals court's decision issued earlier this month.

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Trump Admin Wants Oklahoma Smelter Suit Thrown Out

By Tom Lotshaw

The U.S. Department of Justice asked a federal judge to dismiss Oklahoma's challenge of a massive aluminum smelter project the Trump administration has backed with a $500 million grant, arguing that the case is premature and that the facility is vital to national security.

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Trump Admin Asks High Court To Uphold Trans Troop Ban

By Katie Buehler

The Trump administration urged the U.S. Supreme Court Friday to allow its ban on transgender members of the military to take full effect, arguing the policy is constitutional under the high court's developing transgender case law.

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DOJ Cites National Security In $173M Ukraine Award Suit

By Caroline Simson

The Trump administration Thursday backed Ukraine as it fights efforts by one of Russia's largest oil companies to unpause litigation aimed at enforcing a confirmed $173 million arbitral award, pointing to Russia's increasing reputation as a "surveillance state with severely eroded rule-of-law protections."

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Brief

ITC Finds Pipes From 3 Countries May Harm US Industry

By Jack McLoone

Stainless line and pressure pipes from India, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates that are allegedly being sold at unfair prices appear to be harming domestic U.S. industry, the U.S. International Trade Commission preliminarily found Friday.

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IRS Corrects Proposed Regs On Foreign Tax Rules

By Kevin Pinner

The Internal Revenue Service issued a notice Friday to correct several aspects of proposed regulations issued this month that relate to allocating foreign taxes following the repeal of a deferral election and the disallowance of foreign tax credits on certain distributions of previously taxed earnings.

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3rd Circ. Rejects Trump Admin's No-Bond Policy

By Ganesh Setty

The Third Circuit has added to the circuit split over the Trump administration's detention without bond of unauthorized noncitizens apprehended inside the U.S., finding the policy runs afoul of the Immigration and Nationality Act and violates their due process rights.

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Judge Temporarily Nixes 'Arbitrary' Pauses On Diversity Visas

By Rae Ann Varona

A California federal judge Friday certified classes of diversity immigrant visa applicants affected by three Trump administration policies that froze immigrant visas and temporarily vacated the policies, agreeing with a Washington, D.C., federal judge who days ago found the policies arbitrary and capricious.

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Judge Wants Info On Effort To Return Deported Nigerian

By Ganesh Setty

A California federal judge ordered the Trump administration Friday to explain how it is facilitating the return of a Nigerian citizen who was granted protection from being deported to Nigeria but who is now hiding in Togo after Ghanaian officials tried sending him to Nigeria.

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Boston Eyes Liquor License Sold By Celebrity Chef

By Julie Manganis

The city of Boston asked a judge on Friday to block the anticipated transfer of a liquor license once held by celebrity chef Barbara Lynch, contending that Lynch's original sale of the license to its current holder was a fraudulent effort at evading what ultimately became a nearly $1 million judgment over unpaid property taxes.

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Ariz. Tribe Seeks To Pause Border Wall Work During Appeal

By Crystal Owens

The Tohono O'odham Nation is asking a district court to pause an order that denied its bid to block construction of a border wall near its Arizona reservation while it appeals the ruling to the D.C. Circuit, saying the federal government "plainly feels emboldened" by the decision.

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Minnesota Urges Justices To Reject Foster Parents' ICWA Bid

By Crystal Owens

The Minnesota Attorney General's Office said two foster parents' challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act is far from over, because even if they could clear a jurisdictional bar, the Supreme Court will likely remand the dispute and leave the couple's equal protection question to be litigated another day.

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FCC Creates New Innovation Zone In Iowa, Expands Old Ones

By Nadia Dreid

For the first time in five years, the Federal Communications Commission has greenlit the creation of a new "innovation zone," which will give a university an experimental spectrum license that allows it to conduct wireless research, this time at Iowa State University.

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FCC Urged To Act On 5G Broadcast Petition

By Nadia Dreid

Low power TV station operator HC2 Broadcasting wants the Federal Communications Commission to allow low-power broadcasters to transmit local programming via 5G signals if they want to.

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Reform For Upper Microwave Bands Needed Soon, FCC Told

By Christopher Cole

A satellite industry group urged the Federal Communications Commission to move quickly on reforms to rules covering the upper microwave spectrum bands to make it easier to deploy satellite earth stations.

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Calif. Ruling Opens Del. Cos. Up To Stockholder Inspection

A California appellate court's recent decision in Salamon v. Orchid Global underscores that despite last year's amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law, Delaware companies with principal operations in California remain subject to California's broader and more stockholder-protective inspection regime, say attorneys at Sheppard.

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Banks Face Lighter CRA Burdens Under Regulators' Proposal

Banking regulators' recently proposed rule to redo the framework under the Community Reinvestment Act would materially change which banks are subject to its most demanding requirements and how regulators evaluate lending, services, community development activities and strategic plans, says James Williams at Venable.

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McDermott Closing Health Policy Shop In DC

By Alison Knezevich

McDermott Will & Schulte is closing its healthcare lobbying and consulting shop after a dozen years in business.

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Feature

Rachael Rollins Pitches Scandal As Asset In Comeback Bid

By Taylor Bowie

Rachael Rollins rode a progressive wave to become Suffolk County's district attorney in 2019. After a scandal derailed her stint as Massachusetts U.S. attorney, she's trying to win her old DA post back, and leaning into her alleged ethical missteps as a resume boost.

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Calif. County Judges Recuse From Bias Suit Against DA's Office

By Patrick Hoff

The entire bench of a county court recused itself from a lawsuit alleging the San Francisco District Attorney's Office didn't take appropriate action when a Black employee reported a colleague's use of a racial slur, pushing the trial in the decade-old case to early October.

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'Exemplary Performance' Earns Google Users' Attys $146.8M

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge Friday awarded plaintiffs' attorneys $146.8 million in fees after they secured a $425 million jury verdict against Google LLC in a privacy class action covering about 98 million people, calling the one-third fee award "extraordinary" but justified given their "exemplary performance."

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Megan Norcott

The past week in London has seen shoe brand Crocs bring an appeal against the chief executive of the U.K.'s Intellectual Property Office, singer Alanis Morissette sued by the former head of operations at Live Nation Israel and the son of convicted fraudster Guo Wengui file an appeal against the Chapter 11 trustee controlling his father's bankruptcy estate. 

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

KKR will pay a $250 million civil penalty to end allegations that it hid key documentation and entire transactions for merger notification. In the meantime, Apple told an Illinois federal judge that a recent Seventh Circuit decision affirming Samsung's win in a biometric privacy suit means the tech giant should prevail over similar claims. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

WilmerHale leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a California federal judge held that the U.S. Department of Defense's designation of Anthropic PBC as a supply chain risk to national security was retaliation for the company's public criticism of the Trump administration.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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