Public Policy

  • January 13, 2025

    Ore. Tax Court Says No Depreciation On Residences

    The owners of a pair of Oregon residences were denied depreciation deductions against their state income taxes because they did not demonstrate that the homes were income-producing properties, the state tax court said.

  • January 13, 2025

    Justices Mull Grammar In First Step Act Resentencing Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court grappled with grammar-heavy arguments Monday over whether lighter sentences under the First Step Act should apply to defendants who were sentenced before the 2018 law was enacted but later resentenced after their original sentences were thrown out.

  • January 13, 2025

    Chamber Challenges FTC And DOJ Merger Filings Overhaul

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups have filed a legal challenge contesting the looming overhaul to merger filing notification requirements that the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department say will fill information gaps, but that the Texas federal lawsuit contends is overly burdensome and unjustified.

  • January 13, 2025

    Ore. Court OKs Farm Tax Break For Landfill, Corn Maze

    Portions of property in a farming operation used for a corn maze and for a landfill that was part of a remediation effort are eligible for a special agricultural property tax assessment, the Oregon Tax Court ruled.

  • January 13, 2025

    Contractor Drops Mich. Supreme Court 'Fees For Fees' Appeal

    A general contractor has moved to dismiss its Michigan Supreme Court appeal of an attorney-fee award that was slashed because the contractor was found responsible for dragging out litigation with a road agency after receiving the public records it sued the agency to obtain. 

  • January 13, 2025

    Ind. Bill Would Restrict Property Tax Referendum Placement

    Indiana would limit when school corporations may place referendums authorizing certain property tax levies on a ballot to general elections, under a bill introduced Monday in the state House of Representatives.

  • January 13, 2025

    IRS Eases Process Of Insurance Co. Alternate Tax Revocation

    The Internal Revenue Service laid out a streamlined process Monday by which certain insurance companies that took an elective application of an alternative tax may obtain automatic consent to revoke that election.

  • January 13, 2025

    Ind. Senate Bill Seeks To Cap Local Property Tax Hikes

    Indiana would not allow a political subdivision to increase its property tax levy if there is not an increase in the subdivision's assessed value under a bill introduced Monday in the state Senate.

  • January 13, 2025

    FTC Says It Has Power To Modify Meta Privacy Order

    The Federal Trade Commission has rejected Meta's argument that the agency lacks authority to modify a $5 billion data privacy settlement as the social media giant continues fighting an order barring it from monetizing children's data.

  • January 13, 2025

    Special Counsel's Report On Trump's DC Case Released

    With a Florida federal judge's permission on Monday, U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland released the first volume of former special counsel Jack Smith's report regarding his now-abandoned election-interference case against Donald Trump in D.C.

  • January 13, 2025

    Tax-Exempt Regs Should Cover Trust Payments, Tribes Say

    Five tribal leaders told the U.S. Treasury Department on Monday that trust payments distributed to members, including those issued to minors and special-needs individuals, should be included among the tribal welfare benefits that recent proposed rules would exempt from federal income taxes.

  • January 13, 2025

    Ga. Waste Authority Sues To Block County's Audit Attempt

    A Georgia county's solid waste authority, whose finances came under scrutiny from the Federal Bureau of Investigation last year, has sued its county's government to block an effort by the county to force inspections and audits of its waste facilities.

  • January 13, 2025

    Colo. Justices To Consider When Late Filings Are Excusable

    The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an oil company's case arguing its "minor" mistake of filing an appeal with a trial court, which was refiled the day after a deadline, should be excused.

  • January 13, 2025

    Ky. House Bill Seeks Referendum Toward Axing Property Tax

    Kentucky would put forward a referendum asking voters to give lawmakers the power to eliminate the state's property tax by exempting all property classes from tax under a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.

  • January 13, 2025

    NY Judge Unmoved By Media Dustups In Mayor's Bribe Case

    Prosecutors and defense counsel should watch what they say to the press, a Manhattan federal judge overseeing New York City Mayor Eric Adams' corruption case warned in an order on Monday, though the judge declined to chastise either side over alleged rule violations.

  • January 13, 2025

    FCC Defends T-Mobile, Sprint Privacy Fine In DC Circ.

    The Federal Communications Commission is defending its decision to hit T-Mobile and Sprint with a combined $92 million in fines for selling users' sensitive location data, telling the D.C. Circuit that the wireless carriers could have received a jury trial but were not owed one.

  • January 13, 2025

    Mich. AG Says She Is Immune From Flint Water Suit

    Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has told a federal court she is immune from allegations that she stripped due process rights from former Gov. Rick Snyder's aide when he was among the officials indicted in the aftermath of the Flint water crisis.

  • January 13, 2025

    Dems Seek Postponement Of Interior Secretary Hearing

    Democrats on the U.S. Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Monday asked for the nomination hearing for secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior to be delayed, claiming they haven't received the requisite documents.

  • January 13, 2025

    Justices Won't Hear Farming Partnership's Crop Policy Fight

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to review a Ninth Circuit decision backing the Federal Crop Insurance Corp.'s conclusion that a farming partnership seeking to recover its $1.9 million policy limit didn't qualify for coverage.

  • January 13, 2025

    SEC Must Explain Coinbase Crypto Rule Denial, 3rd Circ. Says

    A Third Circuit panel delivered a partial win to Coinbase on Monday when it ordered the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to provide "a more complete explanation" of why it denied the crypto exchange's request for rulemaking on how securities laws apply to digital assets.

  • January 13, 2025

    Wife Of Ex-Sen. Menendez Can't Delay Bribery Trial

    Nadine Menendez, former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez's wife, has lost her bid to postpone her Feb. 5 trial on bribery charges, as a Manhattan federal judge rejected her contention that her husband's sentencing on similar charges just a week prior would taint her jury.

  • January 13, 2025

    Justices Want Solicitor General To Weigh Alaska Land Feud

    The U.S. Supreme Court asked the solicitor general Monday to weigh in on a review petition filed by an Alaskan property owner embroiled in a land feud with his neighbor.

  • January 13, 2025

    Feds Say NC Medical Biz Owner Overbilled For Nutrient Drinks

    A North Carolina businessman who ran a durable medical equipment business under multiple names overbilled the state's Medicaid program $1.85 million for special enteral nutritional formulas used to treat inherited metabolic disorders when he was actually just providing people common nutritional shakes like Ensure, the federal government said.

  • January 13, 2025

    Supreme Court Won't Hear ND Native Voting Rights Dispute

    The U.S. Supreme Court won't hear a challenge by two local North Dakota Republican Party officials to a lower court's ruling that said two of the state's new House subdistricts created to prevent Native American voter dilution were legally drawn under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

  • January 13, 2025

    Supreme Court Turns Away IP Safe Harbor Dispute

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said it won't consider whether the Federal Circuit has overexpanded a safe harbor for drug development, in litigation where Meril Life Sciences escaped allegations that it infringed Edwards Lifesciences' heart valve patents.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Antitrust Posturing Against Algorithmic AI Should End

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    President-elect Donald Trump needs to rein in the federal government's antitrust crusade against algorithmic AI, sending the message that antitrust enforcement must be grounded in evidence and real harm, says attorney David Balto, a former Federal Trade Commission assistant director of policy and evaluation.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: 1 Type Of Case Complexity Stands Out

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    In contrast to some cases that appear complex due to voluminous evidence or esoteric subject matter, a different kind of complexity involves tangled legal and factual questions, each with a range of possible outcomes, which require a “sliding scale” approach instead of syllogistic reasoning, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Immigration Atty Tips For Avoiding Prosecution Under Trump

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    Under the incoming Trump administration, immigration attorneys may need to protect themselves from prosecution when advising clients who may not qualify for relief sought by choosing their words carefully and keeping other key factors in mind, says Michele Carney at Carney & Marchi.

  • Back To The Future? Antitrust Enforcement Under Trump 2.0

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    While the transition to the second Trump administration's antitrust policy should be accompanied by less uncertainty, we're unlikely to get a full sense of the true focus and tenor of competition enforcement under Trump 2.0 before late next year, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • A Closer Look At SDNY Bankruptcy Rule Amendments

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    The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York’s recent amendments to its local rules aim to streamline key Chapter 11 processes, resolve misunderstandings about previous iterations of the rules and urge caution about the use of artificial intelligence, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • How Litigation, Supply Chains Buffeted Offshore Wind In 2024

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    U.S. offshore wind developers continue to face a range of challenges — including litigation brought by local communities and interest groups, ongoing supply chain issues, and a lack of interconnection and transmission infrastructure — in addition to uncertainty surrounding federal energy policy under the second Trump administration, say attorneys at Liskow & Lewis.

  • FTX Exec's Sentencing Shows Pros And Cons Of Cooperation

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    The sentencing of former FTX tech deputy Gary Wang, whose cooperation netted him a rare outcome of no prison time, offers critical takeaways for attorneys and clients navigating the burgeoning world of crypto-related prosecutions, says Andrew Meck at Whiteford.

  • What Bisphenol S Prop 65 Listing Will Mean For Industry

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    The imminent addition of bisphenol S — a chemical used in millions of products — to California's Proposition 65 list will have sweeping compliance and litigation implications for companies in the retail, food and beverage, paper, manufacturing and personal care product industries, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Note 3 Simple Types Of Legal Complexity

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    Cases can appear complex for several reasons — due to the number of issues, the volume of factual and evidentiary sources, and the sophistication of those sources — but the same basic technique can help lawyers tame their arguments into a simple and persuasive message, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Justices Mull Sex-Based Classification In Trans Law Case

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in U.S. v. Skrmetti this week, it appears that the fate of the Tennessee law at the center of the case — a law banning gender-affirming healthcare for transgender adolescents — will hinge on whether the majority read the statute as imposing a sex-based classification, says Alexandra Crandall at Dickinson Wright.

  • Permitting, Offtake Among Offshore Wind Challenges In 2024

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    Although federal offshore wind development started to pick up this year, many challenges to the industry became apparent as well — including slow federal permitting, the pitfalls of restarting permits after changes in project status, and the difficulties of negotiating economically viable offtake agreements, say attorneys at Liskow & Lewis.

  • Corporate Liability Issues To Watch In High Court TM Case

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    The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a trademark dispute between Dewberry Group and Dewberry Engineers next week, presenting an opportunity for the court to drastically alter the fundamental approach to piercing the corporate veil, or adopt a more limited approach and preserve existing norms, say attorneys at Bracewell.

  • Every Dog Has Its Sick Day: Inside NYC's Pet Leave Bill

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    In what would be a first-of-its-kind law for a major metropolitan area, a recent proposal would amend New York City's Earned Safe and Sick Time Act to include animal care as an accepted use of sick leave — and employers may not think it's the cat's meow, say attorneys at Morrison Cohen.

  • Plugging Gov't Leaks Is Challenging, But Not A Pipe Dream

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    As shown by ongoing legal battles involving New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Sean “Diddy” Combs, it’s challenging for defendants to obtain relief when they believe the government leaked sensitive information to the media, but defense counsel can take certain steps to mitigate the harm, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.

  • Antitrust in Retail: Handbag Ruling Won't Go Out Of Fashion

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    Although a New York federal court’s recent decision to enjoin a proposed $8.5 billion merger between the owners of Michael Kors and Coach applied noncontroversial antitrust interpretations, several notable aspects of the opinion stand out as likely candidates for further discussion in future merger litigation, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

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