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Public Policy
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May 22, 2024
US House Passes Crypto Bill Over SEC, White House Dissent
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a Republican-led framework to regulate digital assets despite pushback from many Democrats, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the White House, which questioned whether the bill will actually provide the clarity it promises.
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May 22, 2024
Fla. Gaming Compact Contradicts Law, High Court Told
Two Florida casino operators seeking to undo a sports gaming compact between the state and the Seminole Tribe fired back at the federal government's claims that the agreement is legal, arguing that its language contradicts the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
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May 22, 2024
Feds And Enviro Groups Fight Utah Counties' High Court Bid
The United States, a Colorado county and five environmental groups are fighting a bid by a coalition of Utah counties to win a U.S. Supreme Court review of a D.C. Circuit decision revoking federal approval of a rail line to transport crude oil from the state.
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May 22, 2024
Monsanto's Appellate Win Won't Nix $438M PCB Loss
A Washington state trial judge has declined to throw out a $438 million judgment against Monsanto in one of a series of PCB poisoning suits tied to a school site, rejecting the company's argument that the judgment cannot stand on the heels of a state appellate court ruling reversing another plaintiffs' win in the case group.
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May 22, 2024
Seattle Sues Train Cos. Over Bike Track-Crossing Suits
The city of Seattle says two short-line railroads have breached agreements to maintain liability insurance and indemnify the city in lawsuits from cyclists injured crossing tracks along a perilous stretch of a popular bike trail, according to a complaint filed in Washington state court.
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May 22, 2024
Ex-Citi Exec Says She Was Asked To Lie To OCC
A former Citibank NA managing director hired to bring the bank into compliance with regulatory obligations has accused the bank and its chief operating officer of wrongful termination and retaliation in a suit Wednesday, alleging she was fired for not reporting false information to authorities.
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May 22, 2024
Sunsetting Section 230 Gains Traction On Both Sides Of Aisle
Everyone at Wednesday's House subcommittee hearing, from left to right, seemed to agree that it's time to ditch the Communications Decency Act's hotly contested Section 230, which shields online platforms from liability for content posted by third parties.
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May 22, 2024
Antitrust Judge Questions Apple's Phil Schiller On New Fees
A California federal judge deciding whether Apple has complied with her ban on App Store anti-steering rules questioned Apple fellow Phil Schiller on Wednesday on Apple's new program imposing 27% fees on out-of-app transactions, saying "all the new program does is maintain the anti-competitive environment" for the company's benefit.
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May 22, 2024
Binance.US Beats Fla. Regulator's Suspension Order
A Florida state appeals court agreed with Binance.US on Wednesday that the state's financial regulator shouldn't have denied the cryptocurrency exchange the ability to do business in the state after its affiliate and founder pled guilty last year, and that the agency didn't follow proper procedure in blocking Binance's operations.
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May 22, 2024
Feds To Extend Plea Offer To Oath Keepers Atty In Jan. 6 Case
Federal prosecutors said Wednesday that they plan to extend a plea offer to an attorney for the far-right Oath Keepers group charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, but the specifics of the offer could depend on the U.S. Supreme Court's stance on a federal statute often used to prosecute alleged Capitol rioters.
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May 22, 2024
DC Judge Ships CFTC Election Betting Suit Back To Texas
A federal judge in the District of Columbia said Wednesday that a case challenging a Commodity Futures Trading Commission ban on an elections betting platform should never have been sent to her court, shipping the lawsuit back to Texas over the objections of the agency.
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May 22, 2024
Ga. Lender Asks Panel To Free It From Unsolicited Check Case
A Georgia lending institution asked the Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday to reverse a trial court's decision not to free it from a lawsuit alleging it violated the Georgia Fair Business Practices Act by sending out an unsolicited live check that was stolen and cashed by an unknown party.
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May 22, 2024
9th Circ. Denies States' Bid To Weigh In On Asylum Limits
A split Ninth Circuit on Wednesday denied several states' motion to intervene in the Biden administration's bid to settle a lawsuit challenging a rule limiting asylum, saying the states lack interests warranting their involvement in settlement negotiations.
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May 22, 2024
Youths Take Second Crack At Constitutional Climate Suit
A group of young plaintiffs on Monday made their second attempt at a lawsuit alleging that the Constitution guarantees "a life-sustaining climate system" and that the federal government unconstitutionally discriminates against children by favoring the fossil fuel industry's interests over children's.
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May 22, 2024
Justices' CFPB Alliance May Save SEC Courts, Not Chevron
A four-justice concurrence to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's unique funding scheme last week carries implications for other cases pending before the court that challenge the so-called administrative state, or the permanent cadre of regulatory agencies and career government enforcers who hold sway over vast swaths of American economic life.
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May 22, 2024
Solar Cell Duties May Inadvertently Crush Domestic Industry
A bevy of new duty rules on solar cell imports from Asia, coupled with a government investigation instigated by importers unconventionally claiming to protect future homegrown manufacturing, could backfire on the Biden administration's efforts to boost the nascent domestic sector.
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May 22, 2024
Fla. Judge Won't Pause Russian Planes Coverage Suit
A Florida judge on Wednesday refused to pause an aircraft leasing company's coverage suit for $700 million worth of airplanes reappropriated by Russian airlines after the Ukraine war began, denying a request by some of the company's insurers to wait until litigation in the U.K. is resolved.
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May 22, 2024
1st Circ. Affirms UBS Win In Puerto Rico Pension Fight
The First Circuit said public pensioners in Puerto Rico can't advance their claims that UBS Financial Services illegally underwrote $3 billion in bonds, ruling that the island's financial restructuring plan transferred the right to those claims to a special committee.
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May 22, 2024
FDA Must Act On Sexual Side Effects Of SSRIs, Suit Says
The Food and Drug Administration should be forced to warn the public about the serious sexual side effects of a certain class of depression medications after sitting on a petition asking it to do just that for more than six years, a new lawsuit says.
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May 22, 2024
FCC Weighs Requiring AI Disclosures In Political Ads
The Federal Communications Commission will soon decide if it needs new rules requiring disclosure of content generated with artificial intelligence in radio and TV political ads.
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May 22, 2024
Boies Urges Judge To Rethink Precedential Cannabis Case
Attorney David Boies, representing a group of cannabis companies challenging federal marijuana prohibition, told a Massachusetts federal judge Wednesday that his clients' case should proceed because a U.S. Supreme Court case governing marijuana policy is out of date.
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May 22, 2024
Judgeship Threatened If Trump Aide Didn't Flip, Atty Says
An attorney representing Donald Trump's personal aide urged a Florida federal judge Wednesday to dismiss an indictment alleging obstruction in the investigation of whether the former president illegally kept documents after leaving office, saying a government attorney threatened to derail a potential judicial nomination if his client didn't cooperate.
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May 22, 2024
New Bill Calls For High Court To Explain Emergency Rulings
A coalition of Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill Wednesday that would require the U.S. Supreme Court to provide vote tallies and explanations for decisions in most cases on its elusive emergency docket.
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May 22, 2024
Juvenile Facilities Across Pa. Sued For Sexual Abuse
Over 60 people filed lawsuits against the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services and the owners of several juvenile detention facilities Wednesday alleging widespread sexual abuse inflicted upon residents by staff at the facilities.
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May 22, 2024
GOP State Leaders Tell Justices Mexico Can't Sue Gunmakers
Republican attorneys general of 26 states plus the Arizona Legislature have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a First Circuit decision that revived a lawsuit filed by the Mexican government seeking to hold the firearms industry responsible for drug cartel violence due to weapons trafficked across the border.
Expert Analysis
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Mitigating Incarceration's Impacts On Foreign Nationals
Sentencing arguments that highlighted the disparate impact incarceration would have on a British national recently sentenced for insider training by a New York district court, when compared to similarly situated U.S. citizens, provide an example of the advocacy needed to avoid or mitigate problems unique to noncitizen defendants, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert.
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How HHS Discrimination Rule Affects Gender-Affirming Care
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' new final rule, which reinterprets the Affordable Care Act's anti-discrimination provision, greatly clarifies protections for gender-affirming care and will require compliance considerations from sponsors and administrators of most group health plans, say attorneys at McDermott.
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Geothermal Energy Has Growing Potential In The US
Bipartisan support for the geothermal industry shows that geothermal energy can be an elegant solution toward global decarbonization efforts because of its small footprint, low supply chain risk, and potential to draw on the skills of existing highly specialized oil and gas workers and renewable specialists, say attorneys at Weil.
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Tiny Tweaks To Bank Merger Forms May Have Big Impact
The impact of proposed changes to the Federal Reserve Board's and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s bank merger review forms would be significant, resulting in hundreds of additional burden hours for bank merger applicants and signaling a further shift by the prudential bank regulators toward more rigorous scrutiny of mergers, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Legal Issues To Watch As Deepfake Voices Proliferate
With increasingly sophisticated and accessible voice-cloning technology raising social, ethical and legal questions, particularly in the entertainment industry and politics, further legislative intervention and court proceedings seem very likely, say Shruti Chopra and Paul Joseph at Linklaters.
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How CFPB Credit Card Rules Slot Into Broader Considerations
Swirling legal challenges against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent rulemaking concerning credit card late fees raise questions about how regulated entities should respond to the bureau's rules — and how quickly they should act, say Caitlin Mandel and Elizabeth Ireland at Winston & Strawn.
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4 Takeaways From Biden's Crypto Mining Divestment Order
A May 13 executive order prohibiting the acquisition of real estate by a foreign investor on national security grounds — an enforcement first — shows the importance of understanding how the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States might profile cross-border transactions, even those that are non-notified, say attorneys at Kirkland.
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Perspectives
Public Interest Attorneys Are Key To Preserving Voting Rights
Fourteen states passed laws restricting or limiting voting access last year, highlighting the need to support public interest lawyers who serve as bulwarks against such antidemocratic actions — especially in an election year, says Verna Williams at Equal Justice Works.
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Car Apps, Abuse Survivor Safety And The FCC: Key Questions
A recent request for comment from the Federal Communications Commission, concerning how to protect the privacy of domestic violence survivors who use connected car services, raises key questions, including whether the FCC has the legal authority to limit access to a vehicle's connected features to survivors only, say attorneys at Davis Wright.
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Novel Applications May Fizzle After Fed Master Account Wins
Two recent federal court rulings that upheld decisions denying master account applications from two fintech-focused banks are noteworthy for depository institutions with novel charters that wish to have direct access to the Federal Reserve's payment channels and settle transactions in central bank money, say attorneys at Davis Polk.
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Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance
A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.
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Salvaging The Investor-State Arbitration System's Legitimacy
Recent developments in Europe and Ecuador highlight the vulnerability of the investor-state arbitration framework, but arbitrators can avert a crisis by relying on a poorly understood doctrine of fairness and equity, rather than law, to resolve the disputes before them, says Phillip Euell at Diaz Reus.
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NY's Vision For Grid Of The Future: Flexible, Open, Affordable
Acknowledging that New York state's progress toward its climate goals is stalling, the New York Public Service Commission's recent "Grid of the Future" order signals a move toward more flexible, cost-effective solutions — and suggests potential opportunities for nonutility participation, say Daniel Spitzer and William McLaughlin at Hodgson Russ.
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FTC Noncompete Rule's Impact On Healthcare Nonprofits
Healthcare entities that are nonprofit or tax-exempt and thus outside of the pending Federal Trade Commission noncompete rule's reach should evaluate a number of potential risk factors and impacts, starting by assessing their own status, say Ben Shook and Tania Archer at Moore & Van Allen.
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Businesses Should Take Their AI Contracts Off Auto-Renew
When subscribing to artificial intelligence tools — or to any technology in a highly competitive and legally thorny market — companies should push back on automatic renewal contract clauses for reasons including litigation and regulatory risk, and competition, says Chris Wlach at Huge Inc.