Public Policy

  • April 25, 2024

    ​​​​​​​Legal Battles Set To Begin On Broadband 'Neutrality' Regs

    Now that the Federal Communications Commission's Democratic leadership brushed past GOP members' opposition to net neutrality rules, it faces what could be a higher hurdle — growing resistance in the courts to expansive views of agency powers.

  • April 25, 2024

    Court Brushes Off Door Co.'s Bid To Hasten Duty Refund

    The U.S. Court of International Trade backed U.S. Customs and Border Protection's timeline for unwinding duties on door thresholds from Vietnam after the agency reversed a previous evasion finding, saying CBP's redetermination became final after the court's approval.

  • April 25, 2024

    Objector Takes $125M PACER Overcharge Deal To Fed. Circ.

    An objector to a $125 million deal resolving class action claims that the federal judiciary overcharges users of its PACER court records system is taking his challenge to the settlement to the Federal Circuit.

  • April 25, 2024

    Ex-Tabloid CEO Says Trump Was Furious When Affair News Hit

    Former American Media Inc. CEO and National Enquirer publisher David Pecker told a New York jury on Thursday that he paid off Playboy model Karen McDougal to keep her from going public about an affair with Donald Trump, who became enraged when news of the affair surfaced just days before the 2016 election.

  • April 25, 2024

    Mich. Drops Detroit Gerrymandering Appeal In $2M Fee Deal

    The Michigan commission tasked with drawing the state's legislative maps voted Thursday to forgo a U.S. Supreme Court appeal of a ruling that it unconstitutionally used race to craft Detroit voting districts.

  • April 25, 2024

    Biden Admin's Gas Venting Curbs Are Illegal, ND Says

    A North Dakota-led alliance of states has accused the Biden administration of pushing through limits on greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector illegally disguised as a rule to reduce industry waste, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court.

  • April 25, 2024

    FCC OKs $1.35B T-Mobile, Mint Deal With Unlocked Phones

    The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday approved T-Mobile's $1.35 billion purchase of Ka'ena, the parent company of Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds' wireless brand Mint Mobile, adopting as a condition for approval the carrier's commitment to more quickly "unlocking" its phones so they can be transferred between service providers.

  • April 25, 2024

    Wash. Large-Magazine Ban Stays As Court Official Fears Tragedy

    The Washington Supreme Court commissioner said Thursday the state can maintain its ban on the sale of large-capacity magazines for now, saying in his ruling he was kept awake at night over the potential that lifting the ban would allow an especially "awful" mass shooting.

  • April 25, 2024

    Privacy Hawks Plot What's Next After FISA Passage

    After the Senate sent a bill renewing the controversial warrantless foreign surveillance law to the president's desk on Saturday, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a staunch privacy advocate and one of the 34 senators to vote against it, said, "I'm not giving up."

  • April 25, 2024

    Colo. Regulators Say Past Suncor Spills Forced New Permit

    Colorado water quality regulators on Thursday urged a state judge not to pause the effects of a renewed water discharge permit that Suncor Energy is challenging as arbitrary and unduly expensive, arguing the new requirements in the updated permit are the company's own fault.

  • April 25, 2024

    Feds Say COVID Fraud Case Against Ex-Pol Clears Early Bar

    Federal prosecutors said Thursday that a former Massachusetts politician should save for trial his arguments seeking to dismiss claims that he lied to rake in COVID-19 relief funds and tried to avoid reporting income to the Internal Revenue Service. 

  • April 25, 2024

    Dominican Republic, Uzbekistan No Longer On IP Watch List

    The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced Thursday it has removed the Dominican Republic and Uzbekistan from its watch list of countries with poor track records on intellectual property protection, keeping close trade partners Mexico and Canada on the roster.

  • April 25, 2024

    FERC Says National Grid Held Up To Winter Weather

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission revealed during its monthly meeting Thursday that the nation's electric grid and natural gas systems largely operated without any major incidents when severe winter weather swept across the country in January, marking a stark improvement from previous winter storms.

  • April 25, 2024

    1st Circ. Tosses Second Vineyard Wind Challenge

    The First Circuit on Thursday rejected a legal challenge to the federal government's approval of a wind energy project off the coast of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, the second such ruling in as many days.

  • April 25, 2024

    NY Pot Regulator Seeks Dismissal Of Bias Suit

    New York's cannabis regulator on Wednesday asked a federal judge to toss a lawsuit litigated by a conservative legal organization that alleges that the state's social equity licensure program discriminates against white men, saying the plaintiffs lack standing.

  • April 25, 2024

    Wash. Appeals Court Rejects Seattle High-Rise Permit Dispute

    A Washington state appeals court sided with a developer on Thursday in a challenge to its plan for a 17-story apartment building on Seattle's waterfront, concluding that the project's opponents missed their chance to contest the city's decision not to hold the proposal to certain shoreline regulations.

  • April 25, 2024

    Fla. High Court Says PIP Law Doesn't Mandate 100% Payment

    The Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Allstate Insurance Co. is not required to pay 100% of a chiropractic provider's charges under a personal injury protection policy, saying to enact such a requirement would misread both Florida's PIP law and Allstate's policy.

  • April 25, 2024

    4 Takeaways From DOL's Final ERISA Investment Advice Regs

    The U.S. Department of Labor’s finalized regulations broadening who qualifies as a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act will bring more investment advisers under the purview of federal benefits law, but the final version contains some important differences from what the DOL initially proposed. Here are four key takeaways.

  • April 25, 2024

    Standard General Claims Racial Bias By FCC In Tegna Deal

    Hedge fund manager Soo Kim is suing the Federal Communications Commission and a cadre of media players over what he calls a racially charged conspiracy to block his fund's $8.6 billion purchase of media company Tegna, claiming the agency discriminated against him when it sidelined the deal last year.

  • April 25, 2024

    US Says Seizure Power Erodes Landowner's Border Wall Suit

    The federal government told the Fifth Circuit that its eminent domain authority should defeat a landowner's claims that she owns a $6.5 million section of border wall that was allegedly built on her farm without authorization in 2008.

  • April 25, 2024

    Split Take On NJ 'Fake' Sale Case Disrupts Biz-Friendly Pattern

    A recent New Jersey Supreme Court decision rejecting "fake discounts" as a source of consumer fraud was a boon for the class action defense bar, but the takes of three dissenting judges and Attorney General Matt Platkin show that the state's largely business-friendly jurisprudence on what qualifies as an ascertainable loss isn't quite settled.

  • April 25, 2024

    FCC Proposes Local Georouting For 988 Calls

    The Federal Communications Commission proposed Thursday to introduce geolocation for calls made to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which would ensure that the calls are routed to a local crisis center instead of one in another city or state.

  • April 25, 2024

    Antitrust Enforcers Warn FERC About Ownership Overlaps

    The Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice warned energy regulators Thursday about competitive risks that can arise from investment firms that own stakes in multiple electric utilities, even if they don't have controlling interests.

  • April 25, 2024

    SEC, Trade Group Ask DC Circ. To Revive Proxy Advisory Rule

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a leading trade group called on the D.C. Circuit Thursday to revive a rule imposing heightened disclosure requirements on proxy advisory firms, appealing a lower court decision that threw out the requirements.

  • April 25, 2024

    Dems Press DEA To Move Quickly On Rescheduling Marijuana

    A coalition of Democratic U.S. senators and House members are urging the U.S. Department of Justice to complete swiftly its review of marijuana's legal status and remove the drug from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Justices' Trump Ballot Ruling May Spark Constitutional Crisis

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling that former President Donald Trump must be reinstated to Colorado’s primary ballot endorses an unnecessarily broad legal theory of disqualification from federal office, raising constitutional questions that will only become more urgent as the next presidential election nears, says Devon Ombres at the Center for American Progress.

  • Investment Advisers Should Prep For Money Laundering Regs

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    Investment advisers should prepare for a Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed rule that would significantly expand anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism obligations by assessing illicit financing risks, and expect examiners to scrutinize unregistered advisers and those with certain foreign clients, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

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    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

  • EU Inquiry Offers First Insight Into Foreign Subsidy Law

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    The European Commission's first in-depth investigation under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation into a public procurement process, and subsequent brief on regulatory trends, sheds light on the commission's approach to such cases, as well as jurisdictional, procedural and substantive issues under the regulation, says Matthew Hall at McGuireWoods.

  • What The NIL Negotiation Rules Injunction Means For NCAA

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    A Tennessee federal court's recent preliminary injunction reverses several prominent and well-established NCAA rules on negotiations with student-athletes over name, image and likeness compensation and shows that collegiate athletics is a profoundly unsettled legal environment, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Md. May See Vigorous Resale Price Maintenance Enforcement

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    In Maryland, indications of a new focus on resale price maintenance agreements are significant because state prosecution in this area has been rare, particularly outside California, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • What 2 Years Of Ukraine-Russia Conflict Can Teach Cos.

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    A few key legal lessons for the global business community since Russia's invasion of Ukraine could help protect global commerce in times of future conflict, including how to respond to disparate trade restrictions and sanctions, navigate war-related contract disputes, and protect against heightened cybersecurity risks, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Takeaways From EPA's New Methane Emission Rules

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    Attorneys at V&E examine two new Clean Air Act rules for the oil and gas industry, explaining how they expand methane and volatile organic compound emission reduction requirements and amplify U.S. Environmental Protection Agency enforcement risks.

  • Uncertainty Surrounds Patent Eligibility Restoration Bill

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    A recent U.S. Senate hearing regarding the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act, a bill that aims to overhaul patent eligibility law and establish clearer statutory exclusions, marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing patent eligibility debate, but the law’s fate remains uncertain as discussions continue, say attorneys at Marshall Gerstein.

  • CSA Case Could Shift Intrastate Commercial Cannabis

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    In Canna Provisions v. Merrick Garland, cannabis companies argue that the Controlled Substances Act is unconstitutional as applied to intrastate commercial cannabis activity; the Massachusetts federal court's eventual decision will be important to the cannabis industry for several reasons, including that the threat of federal enforcement would disappear overnight, says Hilary Bricken at Husch Blackwell.

  • How AI May Be Used In Fintech Fraud — And Fraud Detection

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    Recent enforcement actions in the fintech and finance industries show that the government is increasingly pursuing fraud enabled by artificial intelligence — at the same time it’s using AI innovations to enforce regulations and investigate fraud, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Antitrust Enforcers' Views On Info Exchanges Are Evolving

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    As antitrust enforcers' views on information exchanges between competing companies have matured in response to technological advances, companies would do well to reconsider whether the exchanges in which they participate meet the most recent compliance benchmarks, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • Takeaways From Groundbreaking Data Transfer Order

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    A recent first-of-its-kind executive order and related proposed rulemaking lay the groundwork for important outbound U.S. data protections, but they may have unintended consequences related to the types of data and the subjects within their scope, say attorneys at Kirkland.

  • Takeaways From NLRB Advice On 'Outside' Employment

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    Rebecca Leaf at Miles & Stockbridge examines a recent memo from the National Labor Relations Board’s Division of Advice that said it’s unlawful for employers to restrict secondary or outside employment, and explains what companies should know about the use of certain restrictive covenants going forward.

  • FARA Enforcement May Soon Be In The Halls Of Higher Ed

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    Given Congress’ increased attention to rising foreign influence on U.S. college campuses, the U.S. Department of Justice may soon turn the Foreign Agents Registration Act spotlight on educational institutions and groups, which will need to review their possible obligations under the statute, says Tessa Capeloto at Wiley.

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