Public Policy

  • May 23, 2024

    Feds Agree To Clean, Close Dump Site For Tribal Nations

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached an agreement with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to properly clean and shut down a 70-year-old solid waste dump site on tribal lands in northern Arizona, saying federal law requirements for its closure haven't been followed since 1997.

  • May 23, 2024

    White House Says 1st Circ. Judge Didn't Aid Daughter's Nom

    The White House said Thursday that a First Circuit judge played no part in his daughter's nomination to the appeals court, and plans to retire if she's confirmed.

  • May 23, 2024

    Thomas Sees No Role For Courts In Election Map Fights

    While his Supreme Court colleagues sparred over evidence standards Thursday in a 6-3 decision rejecting claims that South Carolina's congressional map diluted the power of Black voters, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a solo opinion to argue the country's founders never intended courts to referee election map fights.

  • May 23, 2024

    FCC Aims To Reduce Risk From China-Controlled Test Labs

    The Federal Communications Commission pushed Thursday for new rules to prevent foreign adversaries, mainly the Chinese Communist Party, from playing a role in testing and certifying communications equipment in the U.S. market.

  • May 23, 2024

    Ill. Justices OK $28M Tax Value Appeal Without Payment

    A power company's property in Illinois was not required to pay disputed property taxes before appealing a valuation, the Illinois Supreme Court affirmed Thursday, upholding a reduction in the assessment of about $28 million.

  • May 23, 2024

    FERC Cements 1-Year Window For State, Tribal Water Permits

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday said it will give states and tribes one year to act on water quality certificate requests from developers of any energy project seeking agency approval, the maximum amount of time allowed under the Clean Water Act.

  • May 23, 2024

    NC GOP Wants 'Citizen-Only' Voting Question On Ballots

    North Carolina Republicans on Thursday pushed to amend the state constitution to clarify that only U.S. citizens may vote in the state.

  • May 23, 2024

    Enforcers Want To Know Where Roll-Ups Are Happening

    The Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice are asking for help finding industries where serial acquisitions and roll-up strategies are being used, building on a probe of the healthcare sector launched earlier this year.

  • May 23, 2024

    Conn. To Expand Paid Sick Leave To Smaller Businesses

    More employees in Connecticut will soon become eligible for paid sick leave after the state's governor gave his blessing on a bill that expands the state's time-off requirements to include smaller businesses.

  • May 23, 2024

    Length A 'Red Herring' In Black Student's Hair Bias Case

    A Black Texas high school student claiming his Houston-area district is discriminating against him for wearing his hair in locs told a Galveston judge Thursday the district forces students to choose a religion if they want to style their hair outside the district's dress code, as he fought off multiple dismissal bids.

  • May 23, 2024

    Ga. Judge Says Disorderly Law 'Likely Survives' Challenge

    A federal judge has declined to grant a Georgia man's request to block enforcement of the disorderly conduct ordinance he was arrested under in 2021, finding the law "likely survives" a constitutional challenge to its alleged limits on free speech rights.

  • May 23, 2024

    Commerce Must Rethink German Steel Duties A 4th Time

    The U.S. Department of Commerce failed a third time to convince the trade court that its assessment of a German steel company's energy costs is correct, with the court ordering it to once again rethink duties on the company's exports.

  • May 23, 2024

    AT&T Stands To Gain Billions From 4.9 GHz, Report Says

    A group representing Verizon and T-Mobile is renewing its effort to stop AT&T-affiliate FirstNet from gaining further control of the 4.9 gigahertz public safety band, this time arguing that AT&T stands to gain over $3 billion worth of spectrum if the Federal Communications Commission extends FirstNet's authority.

  • May 23, 2024

    Senate Chairs Seek Info On Trump Meeting With Oil Cos.

    The chairs of the Senate's tax and budget committees said Thursday that they were investigating a meeting with former President Donald Trump, oil and energy companies, a trade association where Trump reportedly sought $1 billion in exchange for policy favors.

  • May 23, 2024

    Ex-Staffer Of Fulton DA Testifies On Fund Misuse Allegations

    A former program manager under Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis told a Georgia state legislative committee Thursday that she was banished to a file room and her work life was made a "hell" after she reported alleged misuse of federal grant funds.

  • May 23, 2024

    Biden Renominates NLRB Chair, Taps Republican For Vacancy

    President Joe Biden on Thursday announced he intends to renominate Lauren McFerran to continue serving as chair of the National Labor Relations Board, while also tapping a Seyfarth Shaw LLP partner to fill a long-vacant Republican seat on the board.

  • May 23, 2024

    Man Behind NH Primary Deepfake Faces Charges, FCC Fines

    The Democratic consultant accused of making robocalls with a cloned voice of President Joe Biden discouraging voters from taking part in the New Hampshire primary faces a state indictment on 13 felony voter suppression charges and $6 million in potential federal fines.

  • May 23, 2024

    DOL Says 11th Circ. 'Alone' In ERISA Internal Remedy Stance

    The U.S. Department of Labor urged the Eleventh Circuit to reinstate a lawsuit from former seafood company workers who claimed their employee stock ownership plan was overcharged in a $92 million deal, saying they didn't jump the gun by suing instead of pursuing claims internally.

  • May 23, 2024

    Trump Loses 2 NY Criminal Appeals As Trial Winds Down

    Former President Donald Trump on Thursday lost a pair of appellate challenges complaining that both the judge and jury in his ongoing New York criminal hush-money trial are biased, just a few days before closing statements in the historic case.

  • May 23, 2024

    NC Justices Scrap Defamation Suit Against Holtzman Vogel

    Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak PLLC is immune from defamation claims stemming from election protests the law firm helped file in 2016, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled Thursday, rejecting what the justices characterized as a "baseless attempt" by voters to "constrict the absolute privilege's protections."

  • May 23, 2024

    Menendez Says Feds Can't Wield Texts About Egyptian Aid

    U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez told a federal court that the government can't support its corruption case with text messages involving military aid to Egypt and a local businessman accused of bribing the senator, citing U.S. Supreme Court precedent excluding past legislative acts as admissible evidence.

  • May 23, 2024

    House Passes Bill To Block Fed-Issued Digital Dollar

    The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill that would prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a digital dollar in a vote that fell starkly along party lines, with Democrats decrying the bill as fearmongering over privacy concerns and a departure from the previous day's bipartisan passage of a regulatory framework for digital assets.

  • May 23, 2024

    Senate Democrats Join GOP To Kill Bipartisan Border Bill

    The Senate on Thursday failed to pass a bipartisan border security and asylum bill touted by the White House, after four Democrats bailed on President Joe Biden's push to revive the legislation.

  • May 23, 2024

    NYC Mayor And Assault Accuser Spar Over Discovery 'Theatrics'

    The first conference in a lawsuit alleging New York City Mayor Eric Adams sexually assaulted a Police Department colleague in 1991 grew heated Thursday, as attorneys on both sides accused the others of improper discovery gambits.

  • May 23, 2024

    Biden Names Judicial Nominees For 1st, 6th Circuits

    President Joe Biden announced four new judicial nominees on Thursday, including picks for the First Circuit and the Sixth Circuit.

Expert Analysis

  • Action Steps To Address New Restrictions On Outbound Data

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    Companies should immediately assess all their data-based operations so they can consider strategies to effectively mitigate new compliance risks brought on by recently implemented transaction restrictions, including a Justice Department proposal and landmark data legislation, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

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    Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • CFPB Reality Check: Video Game Cash Is Still Money

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent report examining payments within online video games indicates that financial services offered within the game marketplace are quickly evolving to the point where they are indistinguishable from traditional financial services subject to regulation, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • What CRA Deadline Means For Biden Admin. Rulemaking

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    With the 2024 election rapidly approaching, the Biden administration must race to finalize proposed agency actions within the next few weeks, or be exposed to the chance that the following Congress will overturn the rules under the Congressional Review Act, say attorneys at Covington.

  • 5 Takeaways From FDA's Biosimilars Promotion Guidance

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    New draft guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expands upon other recent efforts to clarify expectations for biosimilar and interchangeable labeling, highlighting a number of potential missteps that could draw attention from regulators, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • The Legal Issues Raised In Minn. Rate Exportation Opt-Out Bill

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    A recent Minnesota House bill would amend state law by opting out of the federal interest rate preemption and introduce several legal gray areas if passed, including issues regarding loan location, rates on credit card loans and values of state charters, says Karen Grandstrand at Fredrikson & Byron.

  • Rebuttal

    Time For Congress To Let Qualified Older Pilots Keep Flying

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    While a previous Law360 guest article affirmed the current law requiring airline pilots to retire at age 65, the facts suggest that the pilots, their unions, the airlines and the flying public will all benefit if Congress allows experienced, medically qualified aviators to stay in the cockpit, say Allen Baker and Bo Ellis at Let Experienced Pilots Fly.

  • Does Expert Testimony Aid Preliminary IPR Responses?

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    Dechert attorneys analyze six years of patent owners' preliminary responses to inter partes review petitions to determine whether the elimination of the presumption favoring the petitioner as to preinstitution testimonial evidence affected the usefulness of expert testimony in responses.

  • Fostering Employee Retention Amid Shaky DEI Landscape

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    Ongoing challenges to the legality of corporate diversity, equity and inclusion programs are complicating efforts to use DEI as an employee retention tool, but with the right strategic approach employers can continue to recruit and retain diverse talent — even after the FTC’s ban on noncompetes, says Ally Coll at the Purple Method.

  • Are Concessions In FDA's Lab-Developed Tests Rule Enough?

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    Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's new policy for laboratory-developed tests included major strategic concessions to help balance patient safety, access and diagnostic innovation, the new rule may well face significant legal challenges in court, say Dominick DiSabatino and Audrey Mercer at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 5 Climate Change Regulatory Issues Insurers Should Follow

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    The climate change landscape for insurers has changed dramatically recently — and not just because of the controversy over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related risk disclosure rules, says Thomas Dawson at McDermott.

  • How New Rule Would Change CFIUS Enforcement Powers

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    Before the May 15 comment deadline, companies may want to weigh in on proposed regulatory changes to enforcement and mitigation tools at the disposal of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, including broadened subpoena powers, difficult new mitigation timelines and higher maximum penalties, say attorneys at Venable.

  • What's Extraordinary About Challenges To SEC Climate Rule

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    A set of ideologically diverse legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure rule have been consolidated in the Eighth Circuit via a seldom-used lottery system, and the unpredictability of this process may drive agencies toward a more cautious future approach to rulemaking, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.

  • 8 Questions To Ask Before Final CISA Breach Reporting Rule

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    The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s recently proposed cyber incident reporting requirements for critical infrastructure entities represent the overall approach CISA will take in its final rule, so companies should be asking key compliance questions now and preparing for a more complicated reporting regime, say Arianna Evers and Shannon Mercer at WilmerHale.

  • Series

    Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.

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