Public Policy

  • March 14, 2024

    NC Tells Appeals Court Worker Was Transferred, Not Demoted

    The state of North Carolina has asked a state appeals court to uphold a state agency's determination that a Department of Health and Human Services employee was not unlawfully demoted, arguing that the facts indicate that the worker was merely reassigned.

  • March 14, 2024

    DC Judge Says 2020 Lafayette Square Protestors Can Refile

    Protesters suing federal officials over the forcible removal of racial justice demonstrators from Lafayette Square in June 2020 can amend their suits to add claims against the federal government and former President Donald Trump, a D.C. federal judge has ruled.

  • March 14, 2024

    Extended Workers' Comp Needs High Bar, NC Justices Told

    The North Carolina Department of Public Safety told the state's top court Wednesday that injured workers must clear a higher hurdle to keep collecting disability benefits after their initial workers' compensation runs out, saying an appellate court got it wrong by applying a more lax standard.

  • March 14, 2024

    Mass. Lobstermen Win Case Fighting Feds' Fishing Closure

    A Massachusetts federal judge ruled Thursday that the National Marine Fisheries Service illegally closed a 200-square-mile swath of ocean to protect the endangered North Atlantic Right Whales, backing a legal challenge by a lobster fishing industry group.

  • March 14, 2024

    Wash. Supreme Court Again Backs State's Fair Wage Law

    The Washington State Supreme Court has again upheld the state's updated prevailing wage law for public works projects, ruling Thursday that there was no problem with regulators using collective bargaining agreements across county lines to set wage standards.

  • March 14, 2024

    Mont. Youths Urge State High Court To Uphold Climate Ruling

    A group of youth plaintiffs on Wednesday urged the Montana Supreme Court to uphold a state court's ruling that invalidated laws barring the consideration of greenhouse gas emissions in permitting decisions.

  • March 14, 2024

    Backers Of Colo. Wolf Release Can Defend State's Plan

    Defenders of Wildlife and other conservation groups can participate in a lawsuit seeking to block the further reintroduction of gray wolves into the state of Colorado, after a federal judge on Thursday said the groups have different interests from government agencies defending decisions related to the plan.

  • March 14, 2024

    FCC Raises Minimum Fixed Broadband Speed To 100/20 Mbps

    The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday raised the national minimum for broadband speeds to 100 megabits per second for downloads and 20 Mbps for uploads after years of debating how much to increase the standard.

  • March 14, 2024

    Bipartisan Senate Duo Releases 'Middle Ground' FISA Bill

    A bipartisan pair of senators introduced what they deem a "compromise" bill on Thursday to reauthorize and reform the controversial warrantless foreign surveillance law ahead of the April deadline to renew it.

  • March 14, 2024

    Cannabis Cos. Say Federal Position On Pot Is Irrational

    The federal ban on marijuana is plainly irrational and negatively affects operators in state-regulated cannabis markets, depriving them of their constitutional rights, a group of marijuana companies told a Massachusetts federal judge on Friday.

  • March 14, 2024

    Koch Can't Bring $30M Claim Against Canada Under NAFTA

    Canada prevailed in a $30 million arbitration brought by Koch Industries over the province of Ontario's decision to cancel a cap-and-trade program in 2018, securing dismissal of the claim on jurisdictional grounds.

  • March 14, 2024

    Taiwanese Gov't Proposes Filing Of Electronic Invoicing

    The Taiwan government's executive branch approved a draft amendment to the island's Value-added and Non-value-added Business Tax Act that would require businesses to file electronic invoices on an open database, the Ministry of Finance announced Thursday.

  • March 14, 2024

    Judge's Loss In Primary Moots Ballot Contest, Court Told

    The winner of the Democratic nomination for a Harris County judgeship told a state court Wednesday that the current judge's lawsuit challenging her candidacy should be tossed, arguing he lost standing after he lost the March 5 primary.

  • March 14, 2024

    Economists Suggest UN Tackle CFC Rules, Other Tax Policies

    Governments should look at coordinating globally on controlled foreign corporation rules, economic substance requirements, financial transparency, excess profits taxes, inheritance taxes and wealth taxes in negotiations on the nascent United Nations tax convention, economists said Thursday at a conference in Paris.

  • March 14, 2024

    Wealth Tax, Stiff Biz Tax Could Fund Climate Fight, Study Says

    Governments could generate the $500 billion experts think developing countries would need annually to fund the fight against climate change with a 2% global minimum tax on billionaires and a 20% global minimum tax on corporations with no exclusions, the EU Tax Observatory said Thursday.

  • March 14, 2024

    Sen. Menendez Loses Bid To Nix Corruption Charges

    A New York federal judge on Thursday rejected U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez's bid to dismiss his bribery case, ruling none of the government's allegations target actions that could be considered protected activity under the U.S. Constitution.

  • March 14, 2024

    GOP Sens. Look To Undo FCC 'Digital Discrimination' Rule

    A group of 19 Senate Republicans announced on Thursday they are looking to undo the Federal Communications Commission's "digital discrimination" rule, which the agency adopted along party lines back in the fall.

  • March 14, 2024

    Energy Dept. Floats $2.26B Loan For Nev. Lithium Project

    The Biden administration is pitching a $2.26 billion loan to help fund lithium carbonate processing facilities at the controversial Thacker Pass mine in northern Nevada, saying they could support the production of as many as 800,000 electric vehicles a year.

  • March 14, 2024

    Calif. County's Indigent Defense System Is Illegal, Atty Says

    A criminal defense program for indigent people run by the bar association in San Mateo County, California, violates a state law prohibiting trade associations from engaging in legal practice and provides constitutionally deficient representation, a member of the association says in a suit in state court.

  • March 14, 2024

    Bankman-Fried Taps New Firm For SEC, CFTC Defense

    Convicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has swapped his Cohen & Gresser LLP counsel for attorneys at Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoades LLP in his stayed civil cases.

  • March 14, 2024

    Most States Fall Short In Disclosing Justices' Finance Reports

    The vast majority of state supreme courts make it exceedingly difficult for the public to get information about justices' financial entanglements, and the information they do give out is often scant at best, according to a report released Thursday.

  • March 14, 2024

    Trump's NY Trial May Be Delayed After Document Dump

    The Manhattan district attorney on Thursday proposed delaying former President Donald Trump's hush money trial by up to 30 days after federal prosecutors recently disclosed tens of thousands of pages of documents related to the past criminal case of a key witness, ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen.

  • March 14, 2024

    Courthouse News Sues DC Court Clerk Over Filing Delays

    National litigation news outlet Courthouse News launched a suit in D.C. federal court Wednesday, accusing the capital city's superior court of delaying public access to new civil complaints, often for one to three days, as they are processed by staff.

  • March 14, 2024

    Ex-Mass. Pol Says Federalism Bars COVID Fraud Cases

    A former Massachusetts state senator charged with collecting CARES Act-funded unemployment benefits while being paid for consulting work said in a motion filed Thursday that the 10th Amendment prohibits the federal government from prosecuting him for actions that occurred at the state level.

  • March 14, 2024

    Ariz. AG Says Delta-8 THC Products Unlawful For General Sale

    Arizona's attorney general has issued a formal legal opinion finding that retailers who are not approved to sell marijuana cannot lawfully sell intoxicating products derived from hemp, such as products containing delta-8 THC and delta-10 THC.

Expert Analysis

  • Evaluating Retroactivity Of Mich. Drugmaker Immunity Repeal

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    In assessing whether a new Michigan law lifting drugmakers' blanket immunity from product liability suits will apply retroactively, there are four key factors that Michigan courts will likely consider, say Sherry Knutson and Brenda Sweet at Tucker Ellis.

  • Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4

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    As 2023 came to an end, we continued to see developments in California that are certain to have an impact on the financial services industry in 2024, including the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation's request for comments on the state's new digital asset law and the state's continued enforcement actions against debt collectors, say Jennifer Olivestone and Juan Azel at Winston & Strawn.

  • 4 Legal Ethics Considerations For The New Year

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    As attorneys and clients reset for a new year, now is a good time to take a step back and review some core ethical issues that attorneys should keep front of mind in 2024, including approaching generative artificial intelligence with caution and care, and avoiding pitfalls in outside counsel guidelines, say attorneys at HWG.

  • Corporate Transparency Act Takeaways For Banking Industry

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    As of Jan. 1, the Corporate Transparency Act requires millions of companies to report the identities of their beneficial owners and applicants to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and this groundbreaking change adds compliance obligations and complexity for lenders, borrowers and investors, says George Singer at Holland & Hart.

  • Bribery Settlement Gives Insight On DOJ Policies

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    Chemical company Albemarle’s recent $218 million settlement with the government to resolve foreign bribery claims provides valuable data points for companies on the U.S. Department of Justice’s voluntary self-disclosure policy and its clawback pilot program, say Michael DeBernardis and Tiauna Mathieu at Hughes Hubbard.

  • A Primer On New Calif. Health Transaction Reporting Rules

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    New California regulations regarding the reporting of certain transactions involving healthcare entities, which took effect on Jan. 1, address some industry feedback about overly broad requirements but still leave several areas of concern, says Andrew Demetriou at Husch Blackwell.

  • Environmental Justice: A 2023 Recap And 2024 Forecast

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    A 2023 executive order directing each federal agency to make environmental justice part of its mission, as well as the many lawsuits and enforcement actions last year, demonstrates that EJ will increasingly surface in all areas of law and regulation, from technically challenging to seemingly ordinary permitting and construction matters, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • 2 Cases Highlight NJ Cannabis Employment Law Uncertainties

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    More than two years after its enactment, the employee protections and employer obligations in New Jersey's Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance and Marketplace Modernization Act remain unsettled, and two recent lawsuits draw attention to the law's enforceability and its intersection with federal law, say Ruth Rauls at Saul Ewing and David White at Seton Hall.

  • Opinion

    Waiving COVID-19 IP Protections Would Harm US Industry

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    President Joe Biden should turn down a World Trade Organization proposal to waive crucial intellectual property protections behind COVID-19 tests and diagnostics — protections that allow U.S. companies to sustain millions of jobs and develop life-saving treatments that benefit patients in every country, says former U.S. Circuit Judge Paul Michel, now at the Council for Innovation Promotion.

  • Series

    In The CFPB Playbook: Rulemaking Rush Before Election Year

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    In this quarterly Consumer Financial Protection Bureau activity recap by former bureau personnel, attorneys at McGuireWoods explain the regulator's recent push to finalize new rules about data aggregators, digital payment apps and more before the election-year Congressional Review Act window opens.

  • What May Define Contract Disputes Act Jurisdiction In 2024

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    Now is a good time to reflect on how several recent decisions may have limited the government's ability to weaponize jurisdictional prerequisites under the Contract Disputes Act, and how this new direction may affect government contractors and practitioners filing CDA appeals in 2024, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • 5 Privacy And Cybersecurity Resolutions For 2024

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    In 2023, companies grappled with an unprecedented array of data privacy and cybersecurity challenges that are likely to continue in 2024, meaning businesses will be well-served to incorporate strategies, such as data governance and website configuration, into their compliance programs, say Steven Stransky at Thompson Hine and Violet Sullivan at Crum & Forster.

  • What Last Year's Trends Mean For Compliance In 2024

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    In 2023, compliance teams grappled with questions related to artificial intelligence, data analytics and corporate culture — trends that are likely to become even more prominent in the year to come, says Hui Chen at Ropes & Gray.

  • What The Law Firm Of The Future Will Look Like

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    As the legal landscape shifts, it’s become increasingly clear that the BigLaw business model must adapt in four key ways to remain viable, from fostering workplace flexibility to embracing technology, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.

  • The Year Ahead In Foreign Investment And National Security

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    In 2024, expect the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, already at the forefront of addressing national security threats, to increase monitoring and enforcement related to outbound investment, focus on supply chain resilience in nondefense sectors, and heighten oversight of agricultural transactions, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

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