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Public Policy
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April 29, 2024
USPTO Seeks Input On How AI Use Should Affect Patentability
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office wants public input on how the proliferation of artificial intelligence should affect the office's evaluation of patentability, such as in the consideration of what qualifies as prior art and in assessments of a "person having ordinary skill in the art."
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April 29, 2024
GSA Guides Agencies On Responsible Generative AI Buying
The U.S. General Services Administration on Monday issued guidance to federal agencies for buying generative artificial intelligence services and related hardware, intended to ensure that emerging technology is used "responsibly and effectively."
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April 29, 2024
Ex-COO Of Mo. Charity Gets 3 Years For Bribing Officials
The former chief operating officer of a Missouri-based healthcare charity was sentenced to three years in prison Monday after admitting she and her husband, the charity's ex-chief financial officer, conspired to bribe elected officials in Arkansas, according to Missouri federal court documents.
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April 29, 2024
Court Can Make Widow Pull $2.5M From Swiss Bank, US Says
A Colorado federal court can force a widow to send $2.5 million from a Swiss bank to the U.S. to repay her late husband's penalties and interest for failing to report his foreign accounts, the U.S. told the court.
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April 29, 2024
US, Tribes Defend Water Rule Against States', Biz Groups' Suit
The federal government and several Native American tribes on Friday asked a North Dakota federal judge to toss a lawsuit by two dozen states challenging a rule defining the reach of the Clean Water Act's jurisdiction.
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April 29, 2024
Texas AG Says Title IX Gender Rule Creates 'No-Win Situation'
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton hit the Biden administration with a lawsuit over its Title IX expansion, writing in a federal court complaint that inclusion of gender identity and sexual orientation in the definition of sex discrimination puts Lone Star State schools "in a no-win situation."
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April 29, 2024
OECD Nations Steer UN Tax Talks Toward Decision-Making
The terms of reference for a United Nations global tax convention should guide the decision-making of a committee that will negotiate substantive provisions later even though some governments prefer to defer debate on the decision-making procedures to the General Assembly, several OECD government representatives said Monday.
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April 29, 2024
HHS Delays Menthol Cigarette Ban Indefinitely
U.S. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra said Friday that a proposed ban on menthol cigarettes has been put on hold for now, citing the need to process considerable feedback from civil rights groups and the criminal justice movement.
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April 29, 2024
Amid Backlash, FDA Extends Control For Lab-Developed Tests
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration inked a final rule Monday that gives the agency broad authority over lab-developed tests by classifying them as medical devices, a move that has drawn ire from congressional leadership and those in the healthcare and life sciences industries.
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April 29, 2024
FCC Fines Wireless Carriers $195M For Selling Location Data
The country's top wireless carriers face fines totaling almost $200 million from the Federal Communications Commission after a yearslong probe into the companies' sales of user location data to third parties.
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April 29, 2024
Biden Admin's Border Wall Plan Must Be Vacated, Court Told
Texas and Missouri again urged a federal judge Monday to vacate the Biden administration's plan to redirect congressional funding for a southern U.S. border wall as the White House pushed back, saying it would be an overreach to eliminate its directive.
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April 29, 2024
Trade Court Presses Commerce Dept. On Korean Electricity
The question of whether South Korean authorities subsidize the country's steel producers is again before the trade court as of Monday, with the U.S. Department of Commerce heading into a third remand over a 2018 duty review.
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April 29, 2024
Colo. Judge Moves Toward Eastman DQ Over Calif. Discipline
A Colorado federal judge has ordered former Donald Trump lawyer John C. Eastman to explain why he shouldn't be disqualified from representing plaintiffs in a civil suit after a California disciplinary judge suspended his law license and recommended disbarment in March.
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April 29, 2024
Border Sheriffs Want Control Of 4.9-GHz Band To Stay Local
Two border sheriff organizations are lending their voices to the growing chorus of public safety interests telling the Federal Communications Commission that turning the revamped 4.9-gigahertz public safety band over to an AT&T-affiliated entity to manage is a bad idea.
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April 29, 2024
Pa. County Counters Sanctions Bid In Dominion Suit
Local officials in Fulton County, Pennsylvania, have urged a federal judge to punish Dominion Voting Systems Inc. for its motion filed last month calling for sanctions against two county commissioners for filing an amended complaint in a breach of contract suit.
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April 29, 2024
Calif. Cannabis Labor Law Violates US Constitution, Co. Says
A California cannabis law's provisions mandating labor peace agreements between dispensaries and unions violate the U.S. Constitution, a cannabis retailer has alleged, saying the statute unlawfully gives the labor organization more leverage when negotiating what requirements are in the accords.
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April 29, 2024
Orrick Adds Morgan Lewis Securities Regulatory Atty In DC
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP has hired a longtime Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP partner who focuses his practice on helping clients understand a myriad of securities regulations and financial laws, the firm announced Monday.
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April 29, 2024
NCAA, Bush Tussle Over Strength Of Defamation Claims
Former USC running back Reggie Bush's defamation brawl with the NCAA continued on Monday as the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner urged an Indiana state court to keep his lawsuit alive, arguing it is too early to throw the case out as the NCAA wishes.
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April 29, 2024
DOJ Not Required To Probe Alleged Bias In Boston Contracts
A Boston federal judge won't second-guess a U.S. Department of Justice decision not to investigate allegations of systemic racism in the city's municipal contracting practices, deferring to the department's finding that it lacked jurisdiction for the claims.
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April 29, 2024
DOL Finalizes Rescission Of ACA-Skirting Health Plan Rule
The U.S. Department of Labor on Monday finalized its rescission of an association health plan rule that allowed small businesses to band together to create healthcare plans that skirt certain Affordable Care Act requirements, which a D.C. federal court largely invalidated in 2019.
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April 29, 2024
IRS To Open $6B 2nd Round Of Advanced Energy Tax Credits
The IRS will start taking applications May 28 from project owners seeking to get part of a $6 billion second round of tax credits for developments that will support the clean energy industry, such as solar glass manufacturing and metal recycling facilities, the agency said Monday.
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April 29, 2024
EEOC Guidance Addresses Telework, Shields LGBTQ Workers
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Monday unveiled the final version of its enforcement guidance on workplace harassment, updating the agency's advice to factor in developments such as the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Bostock decision and the rise of remote work.
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April 29, 2024
Justices Deny Review Of Hezbollah-Tied Bank's Immunity
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to examine whether sovereign immunity shields a defunct Lebanese bank from terrorism victims' allegations the bank funded Hezbollah, despite the victims' contention that an answer would provide clarity for disputes involving foreign trade.
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April 29, 2024
Justices To Scrutinize Revoked Visa Petition
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to examine an Eleventh Circuit decision that federal courts lack authority to review the revocation of a previously approved visa petition for a Palestinian man whose marriage was found to fraudulently skirt immigration laws.
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April 29, 2024
Justices Won't Hear Musk's Case Against SEC Gag Order
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said it will not review the terms of a settlement Elon Musk entered into with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission six years ago, keeping intact a Second Circuit decision that upheld the terms of a deal that said the Tesla CEO must receive preauthorization before making certain social media posts about the car manufacturer.
Expert Analysis
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Tips For Counsel Seeking Balance In The ESG Political Divide
Corporate counsel tasked with navigating environmental, social and governance factors in the current polarized political environment should not lose sight of best practices, including sticking to what the law requires and always telling the truth, say Jennifer Rubin at Mintz and Mike Rider at ResMed.
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High Court Social Media Speech Ruling Could Implicate AI
In Moody v. NetChoice and NetChoice v. Paxton, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether certain state laws can restrict content moderation by social media platforms, but the eventual decision could also provide insight into whether the first amendment protects artificial intelligence speech, say Joseph Meadows and Quyen Dang at GRSM50.
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Practical Steps For Navigating New Sanctions On Russia
After the latest round of U.S. sanctions against Russia – the largest to date since the Ukraine war began – companies will need to continue to strengthen due diligence and compliance measures to navigate the related complexities, say James Min and Chelsea Ellis at Rimon.
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Justices' Trump Ballot Ruling: Purposivism In Textualist Garb
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Trump v. Anderson decision earlier this week, allowing former President Donald Trump to remain on state primary ballots, alleviates uncertainty and minimizes the potential for abuse in future cases, but is difficult to square with the court’s own account of its textualist interpretive methods, says Will Havemann at Hogan Lovells.
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Assessing CDC's Revised Guideline On Opioid Prescriptions
Kenneth Weinstein, Nicholas Van Niel and Kate Uthe at Analysis Group look at newly available data to evaluate the impact that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's revised opioid monitoring guideline have had on prescription trends in recent years, highlighting both specific and overall decreases.
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Opinion
UK Whistleblowers Flock To The US For Good Reason
The U.K. Serious Fraud Office director recently brought renewed attention to the differences between the U.K. and U.S. whistleblower regimes — differences that may make reporting to U.S. agencies a better and safer option for U.K. whistleblowers, and show why U.K. whistleblower laws need to be improved, say Benjamin Calitri and Kate Reeves at Kohn Kohn.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC
The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Opinion
There Is No NCAA Supremacy Clause, Especially For NIL
A recent Tennessee federal court ruling illustrates the NCAA's problematic position that its member schools should violate state law rather than its rules — and the organization's legal history with the dormant commerce clause raises a fundamental constitutional issue that will have to be resolved before attorneys can navigate NIL with confidence, says Patrick O’Donnell at HWG.
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Zero-Point Offender Eligibility May Hinge On Meaning Of 'And'
Some white collar defendants’ eligibility for the new zero-point offender sentencing adjustment comes down to whether the word “and” really means “and” — a question the U.S. Supreme Court is set to resolve in its upcoming Pulsifer v. U.S. decision, which could affect thousands of incarcerated people, say Brandon McCarthy and Nikita Yogeshwarun at Katten.
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The Corporate Transparency Act Isn't Dead Yet
After an Alabama federal court's ruling last week rendering the Corporate Transparency Act unconstitutional, changes to the law may ultimately be required, but ongoing compliance is still the best course of action for most, says George Singer at Holland & Hart.
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A Former Bankruptcy Judge Talks 'Undue Hardship'
Former U.S. bankruptcy judge Robert Gordon reflects on his journey from student borrower to judicial observer, highlighting the challenges faced by modern students burdened with student loan debt and advocating for reform in bankruptcy laws, particularly regarding the "undue hardship" element of discharge.
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Employers, Prep For Shorter Stock Awards Settlement Cycle
Companies that provide equity compensation in the form of publicly traded stock will soon have one less day to complete such transactions under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Nasdaq rules — so employers should implement expedited equity compensation stock settlement and payroll tax deposit procedures now, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Complying With Enforcers' Ephemeral Messaging Guidance
Given federal antitrust enforcers’ recently issued guidance on ephemeral messaging applications, organizations must take a proactive approach to preserving short-lived communications — or risk criminal obstruction charges and civil discovery sanctions, say attorneys at Manatt.
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New FinCEN Guide Provides Useful BOI Context For Banks
Financial institutions should review a new Financial Crimes Enforcement Network compliance guide for helpful details about how the agency's beneficial ownership information database should be used, though questions remain about the access rule and whether it will truly streamline bank borrowers' Corporate Transparency Act due diligence, says George Singer at Holland & Hart.
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Demystifying IRS' Claims Of $851B Return On Investment
The IRS' recently released analysis, estimating a $851 billion return on the government’s $80 billion investment in the agency, represents a huge increase over its 2022 estimate and that of the Congressional Budget Office and may be best viewed as a best-case scenario, says Joyce Beebe at the Baker Institute.