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Public Policy
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April 24, 2024
Nev. Can't Shake Military Bias Suit Over Pensions, DOJ Says
The federal government's suit alleging Nevada and its public employees' retirement system overcharged service members for pension credits should remain in play, the U.S. Department of Justice said, arguing it put forward enough detail showing the state's policies harm military members.
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April 24, 2024
Trump Says 1890s Ruling Nixes Ga. False Filing Charges
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday told a Georgia court a 134-year-old U.S. Supreme Court case requires the court to dismiss state charges that he made false filings in federal court in an alleged attempt to overturn the results of the last presidential election.
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April 24, 2024
Trump Can't Subpoena Daniels For Alleged Bias In NY Trial
A New York state judge rejected Donald Trump's "overbroad" subpoena seeking records that the former president said would show bias by adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of her testimony about an alleged hush money payment in 2016.
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April 24, 2024
EU Keeps Gibraltar, Panama, UAE On AML Blacklist
Gibraltar, Panama and the United Arab Emirates should remain on the European Union's blacklist of high-risk countries for money laundering, the European Parliament said, stopping the EU from following the lead of a global organization promoting standards for countries to fight those crimes.
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April 24, 2024
Biden's Latest Judge Picks Include Blocked US Atty Nom
President Joe Biden announced seven judicial nominee picks on Wednesday, including one for the Northern District of Illinois, which covers Chicago, whom he previously nominated to be U.S. attorney for the district, but has been held up by a Republican senator.
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April 23, 2024
Ex-Auditor, County Prosecutor Win Pennsylvania AG Primary
The race for Pennsylvania's next attorney general will pit an academic who was the state's fiscal watchdog against a Navy veteran serving as a county's top prosecutor, early primary election results showed Tuesday evening.
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April 23, 2024
Monsanto Judge Slashes $857M PCB Jury Verdict
A Washington state judge slashed a nearly $860 million PCB poisoning verdict against Monsanto by roughly half on Tuesday, while the company sought to avoid future losses by moving to sever an upcoming 14-plaintiff trial in another toxic tort stemming from the same Evergreen State school site.
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April 23, 2024
AGs Urged To Probe Anti-Abortion Centers' Privacy Claims
A watchdog group on Tuesday pressed the attorneys general from Idaho, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington to investigate certain "crisis pregnancy centers" that are allegedly misrepresenting their compliance with federal health privacy law, arguing that the organizations are exploiting consumers' misconception that the statute broadly protects their medical data.
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April 23, 2024
Maine Gov. Signs Bill Expanding Tribal Courts' Rights
Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills on Monday signed into law a bill that, so far, imposes the most significant change to the state's controversial Indian Claims Settlement Act since its passage more than two decades ago.
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April 23, 2024
New Ga. Law Restricts Social Media Use For Youth Under 16
A bill signed into law Tuesday by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp imposes new restrictions on minors' internet usage, including requiring social media companies to verify that users are 16 or older unless they receive approval from an individual's parents to use the service.
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April 23, 2024
TikTok Divestment Bill Heads To Biden's Desk
The Senate voted 79-18 on Tuesday night to pass a bill requiring ByteDance Ltd. to divest the popular social media app TikTok or face a ban in the U.S., which now goes to the president's desk.
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April 23, 2024
HHS Formalizes Flores Protections For Immigrating Minors
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will increase oversight of the treatment of children in immigration custody and fund the minors' legal costs, according to a final regulation released Tuesday that adopts congressional recommendations and the bedrock Flores agreement.
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April 23, 2024
Globetrotters Say SBA's 'Bureaucratic Hell' Cost COVID Grant
The Harlem Globetrotters on Monday renewed their yearslong fight with the U.S. Small Business Administration over a $10 million COVID-19 relief grant, filing a new suit in D.C. federal court accusing the SBA of leaving the team in "bureaucratic hell" rather than forking over the money it's entitled to.
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April 23, 2024
SEC Critics Preview Future Challenges To Agency Action
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission may face new challenges to its enforcement authority from the way it imposes industry bars to the burden of proof needed to bring its civil cases, two frequent legal opponents of the agency said Tuesday.
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April 23, 2024
CFTC Formalizes Policy On Uncleared Swaps Recordkeeping
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission adopted a rule Tuesday that codifies its longstanding practice of not requiring swap execution facilities to maintain written copies of every uncleared swap agreement, a move some commissioners argued was long overdue.
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April 23, 2024
Small Providers Can't Meet 'Vague' Title II Rules, FCC Hears
Small broadband providers will need at least a six-month buffer before they have to start complying with certain net neutrality mandates, should the Federal Communications Commission vote to restore open internet rules on Thursday, according to a communications industry trade group.
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April 23, 2024
ACLU Backs States' Power To Preempt Feds' Net Neutrality
The ACLU is a supporter of the Federal Communications Commission's plans to usher in a new era of net neutrality later this month, but the civil rights organization is also pressing the agency to make sure that states are free to enact stricter open internet protections if they see fit.
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April 23, 2024
Security Concerns May Hamper AUKUS Partnership
The U.S. Department of State is facing pressure from Congress to ease export controls to support the fledgling AUKUS defense partnership, but concerns over Australia and the U.K.'s readiness to protect U.S. weapons technology may be causing it to stall.
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April 23, 2024
Sharper Sustainability Rule May Strengthen Bid Protests
A new regulation for more environmentally friendly government purchases puts teeth into a long-standing requirement for sustainable procurement, and is likely to strengthen businesses' arguments in bid protests as agencies wrestle with the full scope of the rule.
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April 23, 2024
Sierra Club Sues EPA Over NY Aluminum Plant's Air Pollution
The Sierra Club slapped U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan with a complaint in D.C. federal court Tuesday accusing the agency of failing to require the state of New York to cut sulfur dioxide emissions from a 112-year-old aluminum smelting plant.
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April 23, 2024
Grain Co.'s $18B Deal Raises Competition Flags For Canada
Canada's competition enforcer said Tuesday it has concerns over grain and seed supplier Bunge Ltd.'s plan to buy global grain trader Viterra Ltd. in an $18 billion deal, saying the acquisition could result in lower prices paid to farmers and higher prices for refined canola oil.
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April 23, 2024
Mich. Judge Threatens Contempt After Atty's 'Star Snitch' Post
A lawyer defending a Republican elector against criminal charges called a government witness a "star snitch" in a February Facebook post, prompting a Michigan state judge Tuesday to warn the entire courtroom that similar behavior going forward could lead to witness tampering charges.
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April 23, 2024
US Gun Cos. Tell Justices Mexico Is Circumventing Law With Suit
A group of American firearm makers is asking the Supreme Court to throw out a suit from the government of Mexico alleging they have aided and abetted cartels, saying the First Circuit broke with the high court's precedent by allowing the case to proceed.
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April 23, 2024
Florida Loses Bid To Stay Ruling Nixing Its CWA Permit Power
A D.C. federal judge on Tuesday declined Florida's request to pause his ruling that stripped the state's federally delegated authority over a Clean Water Act permitting program, finding that the Sunshine State had not shown it was likely to succeed in its appeal of the ruling.
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April 23, 2024
4 Things Attys Should Know About NJ's $56B Spending Plan
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has crafted a spending plan that furthers his vision of the state as an innovator in offshore wind and artificial intelligence, while drawing pushback for a proposed corporate transit fee and warehouse tax.
Expert Analysis
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A Look Ahead For The Electric Vehicle Charging Industry
This will likely be an eventful year for the electric vehicle market as government efforts to accelerate their adoption inevitably clash with backlash from supporters of the petroleum industry, say Rue Phillips at SkillFusion and Enid Joffe at Green Paradigm Consulting.
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Opinion
Oregon Law Would Compromise Management Service Orgs
If passed, a proposed Oregon law would materially limit physician corporate practice of medicine structures, causing significant disruption to the provision of medicine and hindering professional corporations' ability to focus on the clinical components of their practice, say Christina Bergeron and William Shefelman at Ropes & Gray.
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A Post-Mortem Analysis Of Stroock's Demise
After the dissolution of 147-year-old firm Stroock late last year shook up the legal world, a post-mortem analysis of the data reveals a long list of warning signs preceding the firm’s collapse — and provides some insight into how other firms might avoid the same disastrous fate, says Craig Savitzky at Leopard Solutions.
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How DOD Can Improve Flexibility Under Proposed Cyber Rule
The U.S. Department of Defense should carefully address some of the more nuanced aspects of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program to avoid unintended consequences, specifically the proposal to severely limit contractor use of plans of actions and milestones, say Joshua Duvall at Maynard Nexsen and Sandeep Kathuria at L3Harris Technologies.
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Reassessing Trade Secrets Amid Proposed Noncompete Ban
The Federal Trade Commission's proposed ban on noncompete agreements as well as state bans make it prudent for businesses to reevaluate and reinvigorate approaches to trade secret protection, including knowing what information employees are providing to vendors, and making sure confidentiality agreements are put in place before information is shared, says Rob Jensen at Wolf Greenfield.
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Predicting DeFi Regulations At Home And Abroad In 2024
Though decentralized finance has advocates on both sides of the Atlantic in figures like U.S. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, DeFi in 2024 seems likely to be folded into existing regulatory frameworks in the U.K. and EU, while anti-crypto scrutiny may discourage DeFi’s growth in the U.S., say Daniel Csefalvay and Eric Martin at BCLP.
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Opinion
Exxon Court Should Clarify Shareholder Proposal Exclusion
ExxonMobil last month took the unusual action of asking a Texas federal judge whether a proposal from climate activists seeking to limit oil and gas sales could be excluded from its 2024 proxy statement, and the court should use this opportunity to reevaluate SEC policy and set clear limits on when shareholder proposals can be included, says Stephen Bainbridge at UCLA School of Law.
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Mitigating The Risk Of Post-Closing M&A Earnout Disputes
Today's uncertain deal environment makes a well-crafted earnout an excellent way for parties to accomplish a desired transaction that would not otherwise occur, but transacting parties also need to take key steps to avoid the risk of post-closing disputes that earnouts can present, say Chad Barton and Claire Lydiard at Holland & Knight.
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NYC Cos. Must Prepare For Increased Sick Leave Liability
A recent amendment to New York City's sick leave law authorizes employees for the first time to sue their employers for violations — so employers should ensure their policies and practices are compliant now to avoid the crosshairs of litigation once the law takes effect in March, says Melissa Camire at Fisher Phillips.
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Understanding SEC's Focus Amid Lack Of Final AI Rules
Although the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed rules to govern artificial intelligence are likely far from being finalized, understanding existing regulatory provisions that could address AI risks with respect to development, disclosure, compliance and data protection could help firms anticipate and avoid pitfalls, say attorneys at Skadden.
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What's On The Horizon In Attorney General Enforcement
A look at recent attorney general actions, especially in the areas of antitrust and artificial intelligence, can help inform businesses on what they should expect in terms of enforcement trends as 10 attorney general races play out in 2024, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.
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Preparing For DOJ's Data Analytics Push In FCPA Cases
After the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent announcement that it will leverage data analytics in Foreign Corrupt Practice Act investigations and prosecutions, companies will need to develop a compliance strategy that likewise implements data analytics to get ahead of enforcement risks, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.
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Considering The Logical Extremes Of Your Legal Argument
Recent oral arguments in the federal election interference case against former President Donald Trump highlighted the age-old technique of extending an argument to its logical limit — a principle that is still important for attorneys to consider in preparing their cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Reducing The Risk Of PFAS False Advertising Class Actions
A wave of class actions continues to pummel products that allegedly contain per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances, with plaintiffs challenging advertising that they say misleads consumers by implying an absence of PFAS — but there are steps companies can take to minimize risk, say attorneys at Keller and Heckman.
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Planning For Stymied HSR Filings At FTC If Shutdown Occurs
If the government were to shut down in early March, the inability to submit Hart-Scott-Rodino filings with the Federal Trade Commission would grind transactions to a halt, and parties should consider numerous implications as they are negotiating or planning to close pending transactions, say attorneys at DLA Piper.