Public Policy

  • June 05, 2024

    From Small Town To 11th Circ., Nominee Pledges 'Open Mind'

    A nominee for an Eleventh Circuit seat on Wednesday discussed his small-town upbringing, award-winning career as a prosecutor and the "obligation" he feels to be a role model for others considering a career in the law, saying he would approach cases with an "open mind" if confirmed to the federal appeals court.

  • June 05, 2024

    NY Cannabis Head Looks Ahead Following Critical Audit

    The chair of New York's cannabis regulatory body told stakeholders Wednesday at a marijuana business expo that the agency was working to streamline its operations following an investigative audit ordered by the governor's office that blasted the office for inefficiencies.

  • June 05, 2024

    3rd Circ. Debates Length Of Breaks In $7M Wage Case

    A Third Circuit panel tried on Wednesday to pin down when the U.S. Department of Labor and an in-home care agency believed that employees were off-duty or just traveling between jobs, and whether the company's lack of travel-time records left it open to a $7 million judgment based on government estimates.

  • June 05, 2024

    FTC Can't Pause Novant's $320M Bid To Buy NC Hospitals

    The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday lost its bid to block Novant Health from buying two local hospitals in North Carolina for $320 million while it conducts an in-house review, with a federal judge reasoning that competition would actually fare better if the merger advanced.

  • June 05, 2024

    Public Input On EEOC/NLRB Memo A Must, US Rep. Says

    A coming joint memorandum from the nation's federal discrimination and labor law watchdogs addressing when workplace speech qualifies as unlawful harassment should be opened to public comment before being published, the Republican chairwoman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee said. 

  • June 05, 2024

    NY Gov. Denies Cop-Shoving Judge New Term

    A Buffalo judge censured for brawling with neighbors, shoving a police officer and bragging about his ties to power was denied a second term by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who took the unusual step of rejecting the judge's request for reappointment.

  • June 05, 2024

    5th Circ. Private Funds Ruling Could Rewrite SEC Agenda

    The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday vacated U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regulations that would have required private fund advisers to provide detailed disclosures to investors, in a sweeping decision that could upend the regulator's approach to promised rules on climate, artificial intelligence and crypto assets.

  • June 04, 2024

    Judiciary Panel Clears 1st MDL Rule, Eyes 'Mouthpiece' Amici

    Top rulemaking gatekeepers for the federal judiciary Tuesday capped off seven years of strife in the defense and plaintiffs bars by backing a milestone measure aimed at optimizing multidistrict litigation, and then promptly greenlighted an entirely different war of words over new efforts to ferret out amicus briefs from "paid mouthpieces" masquerading as independent experts.

  • June 04, 2024

    Mitch McConnell Slams 7th Circ. Nom's 'Sheer Incompetence'

    Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tore into Seventh Circuit nominee U.S. District Judge Nancy L. Maldonado on the Senate floor Tuesday, criticizing her case backlog and saying that she has distinguished herself "with sheer incompetence."

  • June 04, 2024

    Trump Wants Gag Orders Terminated In Wake Of Guilty Verdict

    Donald Trump asked a New York County judge to terminate gag orders restricting the former president from making out-of-court statements during his criminal trial, arguing that the "restrictions" on his First Amendment rights are no longer warranted now that the trial has come to an end.

  • June 04, 2024

    Monsanto Tries To Flip $1B PCB Losses As Plaintiffs Press On

    Monsanto is moving to capitalize on a Washington state appellate victory it claims casts doubt on more than $1.1 billion in PCB poisoning verdicts, while plaintiffs are staking out positions to defend — and even build on — their blockbuster wins.

  • June 04, 2024

    GOP Spending Bill Aims To Cut SEC Budget, Nix Climate Rule

    The Republican-led House Appropriations Committee released a spending bill Tuesday that threatens to cut funding for financial service agencies and prevent the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from funding its controversial climate disclosure rules and bar Consumer Financial Protection Bureau spending on a contentious rule, as well.

  • June 04, 2024

    House DHS Budget Bill Takes Aim At Biden Priorities

    The House Appropriations Committee released a $64.8 billion funding bill for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for next fiscal year, with a bevy of priorities and policy riders aimed at countering or undoing Biden administration immigration priorities.

  • June 04, 2024

    CFPB Seeks Traffic Cop For Parallel Small-Biz Data Rule Suits

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday asked a Kentucky federal judge to stay an industry lawsuit challenging the agency's small-business lender reporting requirements, saying a largely identical challenge filed earlier in Texas should take precedence.

  • June 04, 2024

    Rep. Gaetz Backs FTC's Noncompete Ban In Court

    Rep. Matt Gaetz threw his support behind the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday in a court battle over the agency's new rule banning employee noncompete clauses, arguing that Congress has repeatedly affirmed the commission's authority to make competition rules.

  • June 04, 2024

    9th Circ. Backs Agency Denial Of Partnership's Crop Policy

    The Federal Crop Insurance Corp. reasonably interpreted a policy that was canceled by an insurer after a farming partnership filed a claim seeking the full $1.9 million limit, the Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday, affirming a decision backing the FCIC's conclusion that the operation didn't qualify for coverage.

  • June 04, 2024

    FDA Advisers Rebuff Bid To Treat PTSD With MDMA

    A panel of public health experts on Tuesday dealt a blow to a historic effort to regulate MDMA therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder, saying although the positive effects shown in clinical trials are promising, the proposal was hindered by too many confounding factors.

  • June 04, 2024

    Recreational Marijuana To Be On SD Ballot For 3rd Time

    Recreational marijuana advocates have successfully put a measure on South Dakota's November ballot, giving state voters a third shot at legalizing the drug just two years after they declined to do so.  

  • June 04, 2024

    Shrimp Group Tries To Revive Commerce's Abandoned Duties

    A shrimp producers' trade group advocated at the Federal Circuit on Tuesday for anti-dumping duty rates that the U.S. Department of Commerce has abandoned, after the agency recalculated and lowered the rates following an order from the U.S. Court of International Trade.

  • June 04, 2024

    Judge Skeptical School Mask Opponent Can Duck Sanctions

    A Washington state appellate judge appeared doubtful Monday that $30,000 in sanctions for a man and his attorneys were unwarranted, after a trial court judge found his school board recall petitions were meant to bully board members into flouting a state COVID-19 mask mandate.

  • June 04, 2024

    Bill Would Give Tribes Stronger Say In Forest Protection

    U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has introduced legislation that would correct oversights and expand the language of the Tribal Forest Protection Act, arguing that the law has proved too restrictive for Indigenous communities and prevented Alaskan Native corporations from participating in its programs entirely.

  • June 04, 2024

    Airbus' Satcom Unit Fined $44K For Anti-Boycott Violations

    The U.S. Department of Commerce announced a penalty of $44,750 against Airbus DS Government Solutions Inc. on Tuesday after the company self-reported three violations of federal regulations prohibiting U.S. companies from supporting boycotts against Israel.

  • June 04, 2024

    Justices Raise Doubt Hospital System Must Face Wage Claims

    The California Supreme Court appeared open Tuesday to undoing a finding that a hospital system is not a public entity and must face workers' meal- and rest-break claims, with one justice noting that state law repeatedly calls the system a public entity and saying, "So what do we make of that?"

  • June 04, 2024

    'Ghost Gun' Makers Ask 2nd Circ. To Weigh In On NY AG Case

    A group of companies being sued by the New York attorney general over their distribution of so-called ghost gun kits is asking the Second Circuit to weigh in on the case and decide whether the parts kits can be considered "firearms" and if they are entitled to immunity under federal firearms law.

  • June 04, 2024

    Chief Justice's Leadership Is Falling Short, Schumer Says

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday criticized U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts for what he sees as lackluster efforts to address ethical impropriety among high court members.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Key Priorities In FDIC Report On Resolving Big Bank Failures

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    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s report last month on the resolvability of large financial institutions contains little new information, but it does reiterate key policy priorities, including the agency's desire to enhance loss-absorbing capacity through long-term debt requirements and preference for single-point-of-entry resolution strategies, say attorneys at Freshfields.

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