Public Policy

  • March 27, 2024

    NYC Mayor Says City Laws Can't Expand Housing Vouchers

    New York City Mayor Eric Adams has urged a state court to rule against a proposed class that wants the court to enforce a set of local laws aiming to expand a housing voucher program, saying those measures conflict with state law.

  • March 27, 2024

    47 House Dems Urge Changing Trade Deal To Stem Migration

    A large bloc of U.S. lawmakers has called on the Biden administration to remove what the lawmakers say is a damaging investor-state dispute settlement mechanism from the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, warning federal government officials that it's a primary reason why migrants are leaving the region.

  • March 27, 2024

    Sotomayor 'Annoyed' By Supreme Court's Focus On History

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor seemed to release some pent-up frustration Wednesday over the court's increasing focus on history and tradition when reviewing constitutional disputes, suggesting the method frequently used by the court's more conservative members isn't foolproof.

  • March 27, 2024

    Governor Directs Pa. To Use More Project Labor Agreements

    Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Wednesday that he is directing state agencies to consider including project labor agreements — pre-hiring collective bargaining agreements that can cover multiple contractors and labor unions — in all major capital projects.

  • March 27, 2024

    9th Circ. Judge Doubts Feds' Gambling Stance Matches Tribe's

    A Ninth Circuit judge pushed back Wednesday against a gambling company's argument that a particular Washington tribe did not need to be a part of its lawsuit over state gambling compacts, pointing out that the federal government is expected to balance competing interests — not necessarily mirror the tribes' position.

  • March 27, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Caps $7M Verdict While Clarifying Foreign Damages

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday rejected Trading Technologies' attempt to increase its $6.6 million patent infringement win against IBG LLC, in an opinion focusing on how to apply a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on foreign damages.

  • March 27, 2024

    Navajo Sue Feds Over Withheld Forestry Program Funds

    The Navajo Nation claims the U.S. Department of the Interior unlawfully withheld more than a million dollars in funding for its contracted forestry management program, telling a D.C. federal judge the department should be forced to provide the money and accept the funding agreements proposed by the nation.

  • March 27, 2024

    DOE, Holtec Ink $1.5B Loan To Restart Mich. Nuclear Plant

    The U.S. Department of Energy on Wednesday unveiled an up to $1.52 billion loan to Holtec Palisades aimed at financing a first-of-its-kind nuclear power plant restoration project for the previously shuttered Palisades Nuclear Plant in Covert Township, Michigan.

  • March 27, 2024

    Make Sure Internet Stays Affordable, House Dems Tell NTIA

    A dozen House Democrats urged a key Biden administration official on broadband policy to ensure high-speed internet projects across the country lead to affordable service as a federal low-income subsidy draws to a close.

  • March 27, 2024

    Boston Strikes Novel Deal To Contract For Offshore Wind

    Boston Mayor Michelle Wu on Wednesday announced a novel deal between the city and energy company Avangrid Inc. to purchase up to 15 megawatts of wind-generated electricity from the company, contingent on Avangrid winning a multistate bidding process for new offshore development.

  • March 27, 2024

    PwC Hiding Key Details Of Tax Scandal, Aussie Senate Says

    PwC is hiding key details from investigators about its partners marketing confidential drafts of tax laws to top U.S. firms, waited years to review the matter internally and does not appear capable of making substantive reforms, an Australian Senate committee said Wednesday.

  • March 27, 2024

    Ore. Tax Court OKs Some Deductions For Real Estate Investor

    An Oregon real estate investor is allowed income tax deductions for some expenses accrued while attending an education seminar, the state Tax Court said, but not deductions claimed for international business trip expenses.

  • March 27, 2024

    Minn. Justices Uphold Tax Break For Housing Charity

    A Minnesota charity is entitled to a property tax exemption for its low-income housing development, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, finding that the property is operated by the organization in line with its charitable purpose.

  • March 27, 2024

    Feds Says Waivers To Fee Hikes Should Sink Legal Orgs' Suit

    The Biden administration defended Trump-era increases to immigration court fees, telling a D.C. federal court that the availability of waivers should ease legal service providers' concerns that the higher fees would hinder their ability to help noncitizens fight deportation.

  • March 27, 2024

    FCC To Block Provider's Traffic Over Robocall Concerns

    The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday it will block call traffic from a voice service provider because the company failed to show that it was tracing the source of unwanted robocalls.

  • March 27, 2024

    Vietnamese Producer Faces Brunt Of Shrimp Subsidy Probe

    A Vietnamese shrimp farm may face a nearly 200% countervailing duty rate based on preliminary findings in the U.S. Department of Commerce's probe into whether shrimp imports from four countries are hurting the U.S. market through unfair government subsidies.

  • March 27, 2024

    Pittsburgh Aims To Ax $14M Of Nonprofits' Tax Waivers

    Officials with the city of Pittsburgh announced Wednesday that they will file challenges to tax exemptions for more than 100 properties within the city, claiming that they are no longer owned by nonprofits or serving a charitable function and should put up to $14 million back on local tax rolls.

  • March 27, 2024

    Disney, Florida District Reach Agreement On Land Use Suit

    The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District on Wednesday approved a settlement with Disney in its lawsuit over two land use agreements the company signed with a predecessor district for property surrounding the Walt Disney World theme park.

  • March 27, 2024

    NY County Seeks To Bar NYC Congestion Prices As Illegal Tax

    A New York county with limited access to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's service system jumped into the litigation fray against New York City's congestion pricing plan, arguing that the proposed charges for driving into portions of Manhattan are illegal taxes.

  • March 27, 2024

    Ex-Mich. AG Hopeful Can't Show Bias In Criminal Election Case

    A Michigan attorney who advanced baseless 2020 election conspiracy claims must face charges he tampered with voting machines, after a judge said Wednesday that the lawyer's previous failed suit against the state demanding an election audit did not make prosecutors biased.

  • March 27, 2024

    City Leaders Nix Plan To Move Wizards, Caps To Virginia Site

    Plans for the NBA's Washington Wizards and NHL's Washington Capitals to move from the nation's capital to a $2 billion sports and entertainment complex in northern Virginia came to an abrupt halt Wednesday afternoon, when the city of Alexandria, Virginia announced that its negotiations with Monumental Sports & Entertainment and owner Ted Leonsis "will not move forward.''

  • March 27, 2024

    Detroit Claims Feds' Headcount Skewed By Demolitions

    The federal government is underestimating Detroit's population as it penalizes the city for demolishing abandoned homes and ignores the rehabilitation of vacant homes, causing the city to lose out on federal funds tied to population, Detroit said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

  • March 27, 2024

    CoreLogic Sued For Violating NJ Judicial Protections Law

    A proposed class action removed to New Jersey federal court on Tuesday accuses property data company CoreLogic of failing to comply with a state law requiring it to delete records of certain public officials, including judges and law enforcement officials.

  • March 27, 2024

    House Subpoenas PBGC Over $127M Teamsters Overpayment

    A House committee subpoenaed the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. as part of its probe into a $127 million overpayment to Teamsters pensioners who had already died, distributed as part of a multibillion-dollar bailout of multiemployer funds Congress approved during the pandemic.

  • March 27, 2024

    NJ AG Says Teachers On Maternity Leave Faced Possible Bias

    The New Jersey attorney general's office said Wednesday that its Division on Civil Rights preliminarily concluded that a public school district may have violated discrimination laws by preventing women on parental leave from coaching extracurricular activities.

Expert Analysis

  • Draft Pay Equity Rule May Pose Contractor Compliance Snags

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    The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council's recently proposed rule that would prohibit government contractors from requesting certain job applicants' salary history seems simple on the surface, but achieving compliance will be a nuanced affair for many contractors who must also adhere to state and local pay transparency laws, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • 7 Takeaways From CFPB Circular On Digital Comparison Tools

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new guidance regarding digital comparison-shopping platforms for financial services products and services offers fresh insights into the bureau's interpretation of the abusiveness standard and expands on principles underlying its previous guidance on the topic, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • How Policymakers Can Preserve The Promise Of Global Trade

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    Global trade faces increasing challenges but could experience a resurgence if long-held approaches adjust and the U.S. accounts for factors that undermine free trade's continuing viability, such as regional trading blocs and the increasing speed of technological advancement, says David Jividen at White & Case.

  • 10 Areas To Watch In Aerospace And Defense Contracting Law

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    The near future holds a number of key areas to watch in aerospace and defense contracting law, ranging from dramatic developments in the space industry to recent National Defense Authorization Act updates, which are focused on U.S. leadership in emerging technologies, say Joseph Berger and Chip Purcell at Thompson Hine.

  • Opinion

    Proposed MDL Management Rule Needs Refining

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    Proponents of the recently proposed Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16.1 believe it may enhance efficiency in multidistrict litigation proceedings if adopted, but there are serious concerns that it could actually hinder plaintiffs' access to justice through the courts — and there are fundamental flaws that deserve our attention, says Ashleigh Raso at Nigh Goldenberg.

  • How New SEC Rule May Turn DeFi Participants Into 'Dealers'

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced a new rule to amend its definition of a securities "dealer," but the change could have concerning implications for decentralized finance and blockchain, as the SEC has suggested it may subject DeFi participants to registration requirements and other regulations, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • Opinion

    Litigation Funding Needs Regulating To Meet Ethics Standards

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    Third-party litigation funding can provide litigants with access to the legal system, but, as recent cases show, the funding agreements carry the potential for exploitation and may conflict with core aspects of the attorney-client relationship, making the need for a balanced regulation self-evident, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year

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    As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.

  • How Harsher Penalties For AI Crimes May Work In Practice

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    With recent pronouncements from the U.S. Department of Justice that prosecutors may seek sentencing enhancements for crimes committed using artificial intelligence, defense counsel should understand how the sentencing guidelines and statutory factors will come into play, says Jennie VonCannon at Crowell & Moring.

  • Opinion

    NIST March-In Framework Is As Problematic As 2021 Proposal

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    While the National Institute of Standards and Technology's proposed march-in framework on when the government can seize patents has been regarded as a radical departure that will support lowering prescription drug costs, the language at the heart of it is identical to a failed 2021 notice of proposed rulemaking, says attorney Kelly Morron.

  • AI In Performance Management: Mitigating Employer Risk

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    Companies are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence tools in performance management, exposing organizations to significant risks, which they can manage through employee training, bias assessments, and comprehensive policies and procedures related to the new technology, say Gregory Brown and Cindy Huang at Jackson Lewis.

  • Legal Issues When Training AI On Previously Collected Data

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    Following the Federal Trade Commission's recent guidance about the use of customer data to train artificial intelligence models, companies should carefully think through their terms of service and privacy policies and be cautious when changing them to permit new uses of previously collected data, says James Gatto at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Protested CFPB Supervisory Order Reveals Process, Priorities

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s order announcing its first use of special oversight power to place installment lender World Acceptance Corp. under supervision despite resistance from the company provides valuable insight into which products and practices may draw bureau scrutiny, and illuminates important nuances of the risk assessment procedures, say Josh Kotin and Michelle Rogers at Cooley.

  • Series

    Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.

  • The Challenges SEC's Climate Disclosure Rule May Face

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    Attorneys at Debevoise examine potential legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new climate-related disclosure rule — against which nine suits have already been filed — including arguments under the Administrative Procedure Act, the major questions doctrine, the First Amendment and the nondelegation doctrine.

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