Public Policy

  • May 13, 2024

    NC Agency Atty Guilty Of Permitting 'Coercive' Custody Deals

    The former attorney for a North Carolina county's social services department was convicted of obstruction of justice in connection with the agency forcing parents to sign "coercive" child custody agreements that put children into abusive homes and violated constitutional rights, Attorney General Josh Stein announced Monday.

  • May 13, 2024

    Charter, Altice Drop Some Areas From Rural Funding Plans

    The Federal Communications Commission said Charter and Altice had withdrawn from their plans to use FCC rural deployment funding to build out high-speed internet in several areas, incurring federal penalties.

  • May 13, 2024

    FCC Looks To Declaw 'Royal Tiger' Global Robocall Network

    The Federal Communications Commission says that a gateway provider known for helping funnel illegal robocalls into the United States is once again back to its old tricks and operating under yet another name, this time Royal Tiger.

  • May 13, 2024

    Boston Federal Judge To Be Witness In City Harassment Case

    A former Boston city employee will be allowed to call a senior federal judge to testify about a conversation the two had months before she reported being sexually harassed by a former city health director, a state court has ruled.

  • May 13, 2024

    Feds' Fiber First Policy Slows Deployment, Report Says

    Most states' plans to deploy broadband with funds from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's BEAD Program have room for improvement, according to a new report from a technology think tank.

  • May 13, 2024

    Utah, Oil Co. Can Enter BLM Oil Lease Challenge, Judge Says

    Anschutz Exploration Corp. and Utah will get the chance to fight environmentalists' lawsuit challenging the Bureau of Land Management's decision to sell oil and gas leases on more than 200,000 acres of public land, a Utah federal judge has ruled.

  • May 13, 2024

    Corp. Transparency Act An Overbroad Dragnet, 11th Circ. Told

    Congress exceeded its authority in passing the Corporate Transparency Act, which prompted the U.S. Treasury Department to solicit personal information for law enforcement purposes from those that registered and owned state-registered entities, a small-business group told the Eleventh Circuit on Monday.

  • May 13, 2024

    Kroger Says Wash. AG's Merger Suit Ignores Costco's Impact

    The Washington state attorney general's challenge to Kroger's proposed $24.6 billion acquisition of rival grocery giant Albertsons ignores key economic realities, the companies argued in recent state court filings, including fierce competition from Costco and other big-box retailers.

  • May 13, 2024

    House Bill Seeks More Commerce Dept. Control Of AI Exports

    Technology companies may soon be required to implement security checks before collaborating with Chinese artificial intelligence labs with military ties, under a bipartisan bill introduced last week in the U.S. House of Representatives.

  • May 13, 2024

    New FCC Rules Preempt NY Broadband Price Cap, Prof Says

    A Second Circuit ruling that revived New York's low-price broadband law in April should be reversed because the Federal Communications Commission's recent decision not to regulate rates for internet services preempts the Empire State's price cap, a law professor said Friday.

  • May 13, 2024

    Nancy Pelosi's Would-Be Kidnapper Merits 40 Years, Feds Say

    Federal prosecutors are urging a California federal judge to impose a 40-year prison sentence on the man convicted of attempting to kidnap then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and of assaulting her husband, while the would-be kidnapper is asking for 14 years.

  • May 13, 2024

    SEC Says Biotech Co., Atty Should Pay $14M For Investor Lies

    Federal securities regulators have said a Colorado biotech startup and two of its founders should pay more than $14 million in ill-gotten profits, including interest, for lying to investors about the company's financial position, arguing that the founders showed a "total disregard" for investors.

  • May 13, 2024

    Schumer Urges FTC To Block Hess-Chevron Deal, Jabs Trump

    U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was "sounding the alarm" against Chevron Corp.'s planned $53 billion acquisition of Hess Corp. in a post on social media platform X, urging the Federal Trade Commission to halt the deal while criticizing former President Donald Trump for a reported meeting with oil executives.

  • May 13, 2024

    Alaska House Passes Bill To Levy 7% Marijuana Retail Tax

    Alaska would update its marijuana tax regime by levying a 7% tax on sales and phasing out the current $50 per ounce excise tax as part of a bill passed by the state House of Representatives.

  • May 13, 2024

    Airlines Ask 5th Circ. To Void DOT 'Junk Fees' Disclosure Rule

    A lead lobbying group for major U.S. airlines has asked the Fifth Circuit to vacate a recent final rule from the U.S. Department of Transportation requiring airlines to clearly disclose add-on fees upfront, saying the agency overstepped with a needless rule that will only confuse consumers.

  • May 13, 2024

    Mich. Played 'Word Games' With Mail Ballot Rules, Judge Says

    A Michigan claims court judge on Monday seemed to be leaning toward striking mail-in ballot guidance issued to the state's election clerks, suggesting there wasn't support in the state's constitution or election laws for presuming voters' signatures are valid.

  • May 13, 2024

    FCC Defends 'Lead Generator' Robocall Rule To GOP Sens.

    The head of the Federal Communications Commission is defending the agency's new "single seller" rule meant to limit robocalls and texts from comparison shopping sites, telling lawmakers that it will protect consumers from unwanted marketing.

  • May 13, 2024

    EPA Wrongly Approved New Chevron Chemicals, Group Says

    A Mississippi community group has asked the D.C. Circuit to revoke the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's authorization for Chevron Corp. to produce 18 new chemicals derived from plastic waste "despite their extreme health risks."

  • May 13, 2024

    Mass. Tax Board Rejects Plea To Cut Home Valuation

    A Massachusetts homeowner's argument that his property was overvalued because its assessment increased by a higher percentage than those of neighboring properties was rejected by the state's tax appeals board in a decision released Monday.

  • May 13, 2024

    Vietnamese Fish Exporter Sues Over 'Vague' Duty Instructions

    A Vietnamese frozen fish fillet producer filed suit at the U.S. Court of International Trade, claiming the U.S. Department of Commerce erroneously calculated an anti-dumping duty rate for its products and then issued instructions subjecting it to a higher rate.

  • May 13, 2024

    11th Circ. Says Ga. County's Trans Health Ban Violates Title VII

    A split Eleventh Circuit panel upheld a win Monday for a transgender sheriff's deputy who challenged a Georgia county health plan's refusal to pay for gender-affirmation surgery, ruling the coverage exclusion violated federal anti-discrimination law.

  • May 13, 2024

    FERC Powers Up Major Rewrite Of Grid Planning Policy

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Monday finalized a long-awaited overhaul of how major electric transmission projects are planned and paid for, with the agency's Republican commissioner claiming his Democratic colleagues are unlawfully favoring clean energy at the expense of state electricity authority.

  • May 13, 2024

    Pa. Supreme Court Snapshot: Kleinbard Bill Battle Starts May

    The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania will weigh the spending powers of district attorneys in a Kleinbard LLC bill battle and whether an appeals court overstepped by greenlighting a hospital closure when the May argument lineup begins Tuesday.

  • May 13, 2024

    FEMA Wrongly Denied Atlanta $1.2M In Funds, City Says

    Atlanta has slapped the Federal Emergency Management Agency with a complaint in Georgia federal court accusing the agency of wrongly denying the city's challenge of its rejected request for more than $1.2 million in public assistance to repair damage to a wastewater treatment plant.

  • May 13, 2024

    Former HUD Secretary Fudge To Chair Taft Public Policy Team

    Marcia L. Fudge, the second Black woman in U.S. history to lead the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, has joined Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP as a partner and as firm wide chair of public policy, the firm announced Monday.

Expert Analysis

  • New Eagle Take Permit Rule Should Help Wind Projects Soar

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    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's recently issued final rule revising the eagle take permit process should help wind energy developers obtain incidental take permits through a more transparent and expedited process, and mitigate the risk of improper take penalties faced by wind projects, says Jon Micah Goeller at Husch Blackwell.

  • Compliance Steps After ABA White Collar Crime Conference

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    Senior law enforcement officials’ statements this month at the American Bar Association's white collar crime conference suggest government enforcement efforts this year will increasingly focus on whistleblower incentives, artificial intelligence and data protection, and companies will need to update their compliance programs accordingly, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Opinion

    Justices' Trump Ballot Ruling May Spark Constitutional Crisis

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling that former President Donald Trump must be reinstated to Colorado’s primary ballot endorses an unnecessarily broad legal theory of disqualification from federal office, raising constitutional questions that will only become more urgent as the next presidential election nears, says Devon Ombres at the Center for American Progress.

  • Investment Advisers Should Prep For Money Laundering Regs

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    Investment advisers should prepare for a Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed rule that would significantly expand anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism obligations by assessing illicit financing risks, and expect examiners to scrutinize unregistered advisers and those with certain foreign clients, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

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    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

  • EU Inquiry Offers First Insight Into Foreign Subsidy Law

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    The European Commission's first in-depth investigation under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation into a public procurement process, and subsequent brief on regulatory trends, sheds light on the commission's approach to such cases, as well as jurisdictional, procedural and substantive issues under the regulation, says Matthew Hall at McGuireWoods.

  • What The NIL Negotiation Rules Injunction Means For NCAA

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    A Tennessee federal court's recent preliminary injunction reverses several prominent and well-established NCAA rules on negotiations with student-athletes over name, image and likeness compensation and shows that collegiate athletics is a profoundly unsettled legal environment, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Md. May See Vigorous Resale Price Maintenance Enforcement

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    In Maryland, indications of a new focus on resale price maintenance agreements are significant because state prosecution in this area has been rare, particularly outside California, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • What 2 Years Of Ukraine-Russia Conflict Can Teach Cos.

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    A few key legal lessons for the global business community since Russia's invasion of Ukraine could help protect global commerce in times of future conflict, including how to respond to disparate trade restrictions and sanctions, navigate war-related contract disputes, and protect against heightened cybersecurity risks, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Takeaways From EPA's New Methane Emission Rules

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    Attorneys at V&E examine two new Clean Air Act rules for the oil and gas industry, explaining how they expand methane and volatile organic compound emission reduction requirements and amplify U.S. Environmental Protection Agency enforcement risks.

  • Uncertainty Surrounds Patent Eligibility Restoration Bill

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    A recent U.S. Senate hearing regarding the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act, a bill that aims to overhaul patent eligibility law and establish clearer statutory exclusions, marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing patent eligibility debate, but the law’s fate remains uncertain as discussions continue, say attorneys at Marshall Gerstein.

  • CSA Case Could Shift Intrastate Commercial Cannabis

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    In Canna Provisions v. Merrick Garland, cannabis companies argue that the Controlled Substances Act is unconstitutional as applied to intrastate commercial cannabis activity; the Massachusetts federal court's eventual decision will be important to the cannabis industry for several reasons, including that the threat of federal enforcement would disappear overnight, says Hilary Bricken at Husch Blackwell.

  • How AI May Be Used In Fintech Fraud — And Fraud Detection

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    Recent enforcement actions in the fintech and finance industries show that the government is increasingly pursuing fraud enabled by artificial intelligence — at the same time it’s using AI innovations to enforce regulations and investigate fraud, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Antitrust Enforcers' Views On Info Exchanges Are Evolving

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    As antitrust enforcers' views on information exchanges between competing companies have matured in response to technological advances, companies would do well to reconsider whether the exchanges in which they participate meet the most recent compliance benchmarks, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • Takeaways From Groundbreaking Data Transfer Order

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    A recent first-of-its-kind executive order and related proposed rulemaking lay the groundwork for important outbound U.S. data protections, but they may have unintended consequences related to the types of data and the subjects within their scope, say attorneys at Kirkland.

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