Public Policy

  • March 14, 2024

    EPA Slashes Ethylene Oxide Emissions Levels For Sterilizers

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday finalized new Clean Air Act standards that it said will reduce emissions of ethylene oxide from commercial sterilization facilities by 90%, an action the agency said is necessary to help reduce the impact of the carcinogen on communities.

  • March 13, 2024

    Jewish Group Sues UN Relief Agency Over Hamas Massacre

    An advocacy group that defends Jewish rights has sued in Delaware federal court an American charity that aids a United Nations relief agency for Palestinian refugees, saying it purportedly bears accountability for the Hamas attack in Israel in October.

  • March 13, 2024

    Sierra Club Joins Fray With SEC Climate Rule Suit

    The Sierra Club is the latest organization to sue the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over its newly passed greenhouse gas reporting requirements, with the environmentalists saying Wednesday that the finalized rules failed to fully shield investors from the risks of climate change.

  • March 13, 2024

    Texas College Says LGBT Group's High Court Appeal Too Late

    West Texas A&M University officials urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to stay out of a First Amendment dispute over the university president's prohibition against hosting drag shows on campus, arguing the LGBTQ student group behind the challenge waited too long to file its bid for emergency relief. 

  • March 13, 2024

    Treasury Says Crypto Mixer Is 'Corporation In All But Name'

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury told the Fifth Circuit on Wednesday that it was justified in sanctioning crypto mixer Tornado Cash because the crypto project "is a corporation in all but name" rather than ownerless computer code, as its users contend.

  • March 13, 2024

    Ex-SEC Economists Urge 5th Circ. To Fix Short-Selling Rules

    A group of former chief economists at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are supporting a request that the Fifth Circuit intervene and "correct" a pair of recent agency rules intended to bring transparency to the short-selling market, arguing that contradictions in the rules threaten to undermine public confidence in the regulator. 

  • March 13, 2024

    Amazon Ducks Consumers' 'Buy Box'-Shipping Antitrust Suit

    Amazon.com is facing one less consumer antitrust suit after a Seattle federal judge said Wednesday that Prime members failed to define the relevant market or explain how they were harmed by policies tying placement of the "Buy Box" feature with sellers paying for its shipping services and cannot fix the shortcomings of their complaint.

  • March 13, 2024

    Epic Says Apple Is 'Blatantly' Violating App Store Order

    Epic Games told a California federal court on Wednesday that Apple is "blatantly" violating an order issued under state law barring anti-steering rules in the App Store by imposing new fees and restrictions that make linking to outside payment methods effectively impossible.

  • March 13, 2024

    Ariz. Families Sue For Wrongful Death Amid Healthcare Scams

    The families of two Native American men are suing the state of Arizona and several of its entities, alleging that they're liable for their loved ones' deaths due to a lack of oversight on the "so-called sober living crisis" that led to one of the largest healthcare scandals in the state's history.

  • March 13, 2024

    SEC Admits Errors In Marcum CPA's Administrative Case

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has miscalculated its administrative case against a certified public accountant and Marcum LLP partner who allegedly failed to properly supervise audits, reducing the number he is accused of mishandling.

  • March 13, 2024

    EPA Designates First Navajo Nation Superfund Site

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is adding the Lukachukai Mountains Mining District in northeastern Arizona to its National Priorities List, with the district's uranium mining waste piles marking the first designated Superfund site on the Navajo Nation.

  • March 13, 2024

    9th Circ. Unsure If Abortion Pill Suit Harms Red States

    Two Ninth Circuit judges on Wednesday challenged Idaho and other Republican-led states' bid to intervene in Washington's lawsuit seeking to expand access to the abortion pill mifepristone, asking if the states could back up their claims of economic harm.

  • March 13, 2024

    Hospital Asks NC Justices To Take Up Virus-Law Immunity Case

    Healthcare providers are pressing the North Carolina Supreme Court to review a lower court's finding that the state's COVID immunity law isn't fatal to a medical malpractice suit, warning that the decision would have drastic consequences on a liability shield from pandemic-related suits.

  • March 13, 2024

    Mich. Justice Torn Over 'Unfairness' Of Law In Treadmill Suit

    A Michigan Supreme Court justice on Wednesday seemed sympathetic to the plight of a woman who was injured when she fell off a treadmill because federal court proceedings affected her ability to timely bring state claims but said he didn't think the state's top court could tackle the likely legislative issue.

  • March 13, 2024

    Importers Threading Chinese Rod In US To Duck Tariffs, Feds Say

    Importers appear to be shipping blank steel rod from China to the U.S. to dodge tariffs on alloy and certain carbon steel threaded rod, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced in a Federal Register notice posted Wednesday.

  • March 13, 2024

    Colo. Justices Doubt Amazon's Math For Holiday Incentives

    Several Colorado Supreme Court justices were skeptical Wednesday about Amazon's claim that it can exclude extra holiday wages from workers' overtime payouts, asking what the company didn't understand about a state requirement to include "all compensation" in its overtime calculations.

  • March 13, 2024

    Meta's 'Expense & Annoyance' Not Enough To Stop FTC Tweak

    A D.C. Circuit panel refused late Tuesday to temporarily block proposed Federal Trade Commission tweaks to a $5 billion data privacy settlement aimed at blocking Meta's monetization of children's data — finding the social media giant has not shown it is likely to succeed in its appeal of the changes, nor that it will suffer irreparable harm.

  • March 13, 2024

    NC City Asks State Justices To Review Homebuilders' $5M Win

    The North Carolina city of Greensboro urged the state's high court to review the $5.25 million judgment won by D.R. Horton Inc. and True Homes LLC in the homebuilders' class action accusing the city of charging illegal preservice water fees.

  • March 13, 2024

    DOL Slacks On Enforcing Farm Labor Protections, Groups Say

    A group of farmworkers unions and nonprofits that advocate for farmworkers' interests have sued the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., federal court, saying the agency hasn't been complying with a 1980 regulation designed to improve its enforcement of farmworkers' legal protections.

  • March 13, 2024

    Mass. Gov. Announces Pardon Plan For Marijuana Possession

    Massachusetts Gov. Maura T. Healey has announced plans for sweeping pardons of misdemeanor cannabis possession convictions, following the directive of President Joe Biden, who urged state executives to follow his lead in pardoning low-level marijuana offenses.

  • March 13, 2024

    CoreCivic Beats Asylum-Seeker's Miscarriage Liability Suit

    A California federal judge handed CoreCivic Inc. a win Tuesday in a negligence lawsuit filed by an El Salvadorian asylum-seeker who alleged she miscarried while detained at the prison giant's immigration detention center near the U.S.-Mexico border, finding there to be no triable factual dispute over whether she miscarried in custody.

  • March 13, 2024

    Atty Who Skipped Vote-Tampering Hearing Can't Ditch Warrant

    A Michigan judge on Wednesday urged counsel for a lawyer evading a bench warrant to direct his client to turn herself in, rejecting claims previous counsel didn't adequately inform her of a hearing she skipped in a case where she's alleged to have tampered with voting machines after the 2020 election.

  • March 13, 2024

    CFPB Slams 'Forum-Shopping' Bid To Halt Card Late-Fee Rule

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is urging a Texas federal judge to refuse bank industry groups' request for an emergency injunction over the agency's recently finalized $8 credit card late-fee rule, arguing their case is too flimsy to justify putting the new rule on hold.

  • March 13, 2024

    Don't Let Texas 'Rewrite' Immigrant Arrest Law, SG Tells Justices

    The Biden administration has told the U.S. Supreme Court that Texas is trying to recast a law allowing the state to arrest and deport immigrants in a more palatable light when it argued for the first time it doesn't require removal.

  • March 13, 2024

    Italy Defeats Investor Suit Against Solar Subsidy Reduction

    Italy has beaten back a German investment fund's claims that the country's lowered solar energy subsidies breached treaty obligations to ensure a stable investment environment, after an international tribunal ruled that the scale-down was reasonable, foreseeable and in the best interests of the public.

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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