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Public Policy
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April 02, 2024
Judge Rides Denver Firm On Atty Fees In Elijah McClain Case
A Colorado appellate judge pressed a Denver law firm Tuesday on how exactly it was entitled to millions of dollars in contingency fees in a high-profile civil rights suit after the mother of a slain man at the center of the civil rights case fired the firm before the case resulted in a $15 million settlement.
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April 02, 2024
DC Circ. Says FCC Must Rethink Terms For Chinese Video Ban
The D.C. Circuit ordered the Federal Communications Commission to revise its definition of "critical infrastructure," but still upheld the agency's decision to ban the marketing and sale of video surveillance equipment from two Chinese manufacturers in a new ruling Tuesday.
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April 02, 2024
DC Judge Grapples With Malice Claim In Nunes' WaPo Suit
A D.C. federal judge on Tuesday questioned whether former California Rep. Devin Nunes had shown The Washington Post acted with actual malice in publishing a 2020 article that discussed the congressman, as the judge weighed the newspaper's bid for summary judgment in defamation litigation brought by Nunes.
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April 02, 2024
SEC Republicans Criticize 'Punishing' Rulemaking Agenda
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler opened an annual agency conference Tuesday by defending efforts to write new regulations addressing the changing U.S. capital markets, while his Republican colleagues called on the commission to pare back a "punishing" rulemaking agenda that has included a controversial rule governing climate change disclosures.
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April 02, 2024
Jon Stewart Reveals Apple's Heavy Hand In Lina Khan Chat
Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan appeared on "The Daily Show" on Monday night for a wide-ranging conversation in which host Jon Stewart revealed that Apple wouldn't allow him to speak with her on a podcast related to his Apple TV+ show.
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April 02, 2024
Backlash To 3rd Circ. Nom Could Hamper More Muslim Picks
Only two Muslims serve on the federal bench, well below the prevalence of people practicing the faith within the U.S., and the recent travails of a third picked to serve on the court might bode ill for adding more.
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April 02, 2024
Broadcasters Gear Up For FCC Fight Over 'Sidecar' Deals
The Federal Communications Commission's recent effort to fine broadcast titan Nexstar more than $1 million over a "sidecar" arrangement with a New York TV station reflects tensions between the FCC and the industry over complex ownership deals going back years.
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April 02, 2024
3 Sentenced To Prison In Fla. Fake Nursing Diploma Case
A Florida judge sentenced three people to federal prison time Tuesday after they were convicted for their roles in a multimillion-dollar fake nursing diploma scheme following a jury trial in December
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April 02, 2024
Biden Urged To Allow Undocumented Immigrants To Work
Business leaders called Tuesday on President Joe Biden to use executive authority to extend work authorization to undocumented essential workers, an act they said was crucial after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore last week killed six immigrant workers.
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April 02, 2024
Black Farmers Say USDA Biased Against Minority Borrowers
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has continued its practice of discriminating against farmers of color by disproportionately denying or slow-walking loans and imposing unfair terms based on applicants' race, according to a proposed class action filed in Washington, D.C., federal court.
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April 02, 2024
NC GOP Pols Stress Health In Bid To Keep Abortion Law Intact
Two North Carolina abortion law provisions that Attorney General Josh Stein deems unconstitutional are necessary to protect women's health, Republican leaders have argued in a bid to keep hospitalization and fetus-location requirements in the statute.
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April 02, 2024
Ally Of NYC Mayor Skirts Prison In Straw Donor Case
A friend and former colleague of New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday was spared any time in prison following his admission to conspiring to use straw donors to juice the public funding of the mayor's 2021 campaign.
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April 02, 2024
Utility Cos. Must Face Uri MDL Gross Negligence Claims
Transmission and distribution utility providers can't escape allegations they were grossly negligent in cutting off power to Texans during winter storm Uri, a Texas state appeals court ruled Tuesday in an opinion that keeps intact only two claims against the companies in the multidistrict litigation created to handle consumer actions from the severe weather event.
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April 02, 2024
Conn. Dentists Used Illegal Patient Recruiting, Suit Says
Federal and state authorities filed a kickback and false claims lawsuit in Connecticut federal court on Tuesday against two dental practices in the state and their co-owners for allegedly paying a patient recruiter to generate business through Medicaid.
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April 02, 2024
OxyChem Opposes Feds' $150M Lower Passaic Deal
Occidental Chemical Corp. is fighting the federal government's proposed $150 million consent decree with 82 small companies that share some responsibility for New Jersey's Lower Passaic River pollution, with the businesses filing a brief supporting the deal.
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April 02, 2024
Teva Has Remedy For Generic EpiPen Takings, Colo. Says
Colorado's attorney general urged the Tenth Circuit to toss a Teva Pharmaceuticals lawsuit challenging a state epinephrine auto-injector affordability program, arguing in an opening brief that the company already has an avenue to get compensation for the alleged taking of its property.
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April 02, 2024
Tesla Pushed On La. Antitrust Claims In 5th Circ.
Tesla Inc.'s claims that Louisiana car dealers and regulators illegally excluded the direct-sale automaker from the state's market met a Fifth Circuit panel Tuesday that questioned how the case might be impacted by a Pelican State probe into the company's allegedly unlawful conduct.
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April 02, 2024
Transportation Department Finalizes New Train Crew Size Rule
The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration on Tuesday finalized a rule requiring freight trains to be operated with at least two people, forging ahead with a mandate long supported by rail workers' unions and safety advocates, but one that major rail carriers have decried as unnecessary and costly.
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April 02, 2024
9th Circ. Urged Not To Create Dormant Commerce Split On Pot
A Michigan resident and a California lawyer vying for one of Washington state's social equity cannabis licenses are urging the Ninth Circuit not to create a circuit split and to find that regulators' licensing scheme unconstitutionally discriminates against out-of-state players.
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April 02, 2024
Ex-Army Officer Says Gov't Smeared Him With False Claims
A former major general in the U.S. Army on Tuesday sued the U.S. Department of Defense and others, alleging that the government wrongly recorded him as having assaulted his partner, despite her recanting the allegations and admitting they were a ploy to seek attention.
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April 02, 2024
CBP To Crack Down On 'Vague' Cargo Descriptions
Importers will have a harder time bringing in shipments that aren't descriptive enough for border officials to identify following an announcement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection that the agency will issue messages advising of noncompliance.
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April 02, 2024
5th Circ. Extends Transfer Stay In CFPB Late-Fee Rule Suit
The Fifth Circuit said Tuesday that it would hold on at least a few days longer to a bank industry-backed lawsuit challenging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's $8 credit card late fee standard, extending a stay of a Texas federal judge's decision to send the case to D.C. federal court.
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April 02, 2024
4 Mass. Rulings You May Have Missed In March
A former Harvard Business School professor who was denied tenure after his angry emails to a restaurant went viral was among the winners from a slate of recent Massachusetts state court decisions, which also addressed claims about "forever chemicals" in firefighting gear and a popular gym shut down during the pandemic.
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April 02, 2024
Enviro Org. Says Feds Failed To Act On Protections For Bees
Conservationists are asking an Arizona federal judge to order the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to decide whether four bee species — including the iconic American bumblebee — should be protected under the Endangered Species Act.
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April 02, 2024
Calif. Bill Would Provide After-Hours 'Right To Disconnect'
A California state lawmaker has introduced a first-of-its-kind bill that would give workers the right to ignore emails, text messages and phone calls from their employers after they clock out.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Playing Competitive Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experience playing competitive tennis has highlighted why prioritizing exercise and stress relief, maintaining perspective under pressure, and supporting colleagues in pursuit of a common goal are all key aspects of championing a successful legal career, says Madhumita Datta at Lowenstein Sandler.
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The Questions Around Prometheum's SEC-Compliant Strategy
While the rest of the crypto industry has been engaged in a long-running battle to escape the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's jurisdiction, a once-obscure startup called Prometheum has instead embraced the SEC's view to become the first crypto special-purpose broker-dealer, but it's unclear whether it can turn its favored status into a workable business, says Keith Blackman at Bracewell.
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How Russia Sanctions Bills Could Reshape Asset Forfeiture
Several U.S. legislative proposals to seize billions in frozen Russian assets for post-war reconstruction of Ukraine would bypass traditional asset forfeiture guardrails, making it crucially important that practitioners remain vigilant and understand when to proactively engage with the government, say attorneys at Kasowitz.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Djerassi On Super Bowl 52
Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Ramy Djerassi discusses how Super Bowl 52, in which the Philadelphia Eagles prevailed over the New England Patriots, provides an apt metaphor for alternative dispute resolution processes in commercial business cases.
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Reverse Merger Tips For Biotechs After SEC's Recent Actions
Several recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission developments could limit the viability of reverse mergers for biotech companies, and will require additional creativity and analysis for private companies looking to go public, say attorneys at Orrick.
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CFPB's Proposed Overdraft Rule Evokes A Dickensian Tale
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new proposed rule, declaring overdraft credit to be under Truth In Lending Act protection, creates tension between vigorous agency action and judicial concerns about administrative overreach that calls to mind Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities," say Eric Mogilnicki and David Stein at Covington.
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Opinion
Aviation Watch: Navigating The Air Traffic Control Crisis
After a recent Federal Aviation Administration report identified significant deficiencies in air traffic control staffing, equipment and funding that compromise U.S. aviation safety, it is vital that the FAA act to limit the volume of traffic to what air traffic control can safely manage with available resources, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.
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Considerations For Lawyer Witnesses After FTX Trial
Sam Bankman-Fried's recent trial testimony about his lawyers' involvement in FTX's business highlights the need for attorney-witnesses to understand privilege issues in order to avoid costly discovery disputes and, potentially, uncover critical evidence an adversary might seek to conceal, says Lawrence Bluestone at Genova Burns.
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Opinion
Stakeholder Amici Should Be Heard In Russian Trade Case
Although the U.S. Court of International Trade recently rejected U.S. Steel's amicus brief in NLMK Pennsylvania v. U.S., other industry stakeholders should seek to appear — and the court should allow it because additional perspectives will lead to a more informed ruling, say attorneys Jeffrey Shapiro and Michael Andrews.
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Opinion
Proposed Rule Misses The Mark On Improving MDLs
The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recently proposed rule on multidistrict litigation would provide some guidance for courts on managing MDLs — but without any requirement for the early vetting of claims, it is particularly unhelpful for defendants in pharmaceutical and product liability cases, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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Parsing Treasury's Proposed Clean Hydrogen Tax Credit Rules
Regulations recently proposed by the IRS and the U.S. Department of the Treasury concerning two types of tax credits for clean hydrogen production facilities should resolve many of the most pressing questions around qualification for the credits — albeit in a relatively stringent manner, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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What Businesses Should Know About NJ Privacy Bill
New Jersey’s recently passed comprehensive privacy bill S.B. 332 presents businesses with a nuanced framework and compliance obligations, including opt-in consent requirements for sensitive data, with recommendations for businesses to organize data, review consent requirements and more, says Trisha Sircar at Katten.
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Staying Ahead Of The AI Policymaking Curve
With artificial intelligence poised to be the hottest legislative and regulatory topic in 2024, expect the AI policymaking toolbox to continue to expand and evolve as stakeholders in the U.S. and abroad develop, deploy, use and learn more about these technologies, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.
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The 7th Circ.'s Top 10 Civil Opinions Of 2023
Attorneys at Jenner & Block examine the most significant decisions issued by the Seventh Circuit in 2023, and explain how they may affect issues related to antitrust, constitutional law, federal jurisdiction and more.
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Employee Experience Strategy Can Boost Law Firm Success
Amid continuing business uncertainty, law firms should consider adopting a holistic employee experience strategy — prioritizing consistency, targeting signature moments and leveraging measurement tools — to maximize productivity and profitability, says Haley Revel at Calibrate Consulting.