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Public Policy
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April 19, 2024
The Week In Trump: NY Trial And A High Court Date Loom
Despite a few snags, jury selection for Donald Trump's hush money trial in Manhattan unfolded relatively quickly, clearing the way for opening statements Monday in the historic case as the former president prepped for a U.S. Supreme Court debate over his supposed immunity.
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April 19, 2024
Off The Bench: NCAA Rules, Trans Athlete Win, NBA Pro's Ban
In this week's Off The Bench, the NCAA formally lifted restrictions on athletes transferring schools and how they can receive name, image and likeness money, West Virginia's transgender sports ban is dealt a blow by the Fourth Circuit, and betting costs an NBA player his career.
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April 19, 2024
Cohen Seglias Suit Says DOD Must Unblock Its Web Domain
Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC has sued a communications arm of the Department of Defense over claims a government software system mistakenly flagged the firm's web domain as malware, asking the agency to clear a "bureaucratic quagmire" and lift the block keeping DOD officials from contacting its lawyers.
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April 19, 2024
Self-Immolation Near Trump Trial Prompts Security Review
The New York Police Department is reviewing security protocols for former President Donald Trump's first criminal trial after a fatal incident in which a man set himself on fire across the street from the Manhattan courthouse where the proceeding was taking place Friday, underscoring safety concerns.
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April 19, 2024
EPA Says 2 'Forever Chemicals' Are Hazardous Substances
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday officially declared two "forever chemicals" to be hazardous materials under federal law, which could bring a host of consequences for Superfund site cleanups and development projects.
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April 18, 2024
USPTO Reveals Scaled-Back Plan For New Patent Board Rules
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office unveiled proposed Patent Trial and Appeal Board rules Thursday that would codify current policies on when multiple challenges to one patent are permitted and set a new briefing process about discretionary denials, which attorneys say should add clarity.
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April 18, 2024
NYC Bar Rips Hochul Plan To Divert Client Trust Interest Cash
The New York City Bar Association urged Gov. Kathy Hochul Thursday to reconsider her "eleventh-hour" renewed plan to divert $55 million in interest earned on lawyer trust accounts that typically goes toward legal aid for low-income New Yorkers, saying the "deeply troubling" move undermines the independence of the legal profession.
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April 18, 2024
Ga.'s Absentee Rules Trample Political Speech, Court Told
At the close of a trial challenging provisions of Georgia's controversial 2021 election reform law, counsel for a pair of voter engagement groups told a federal judge Thursday the state's increased restrictions on absentee ballot mailers are counterproductive efforts that continue to infringe upon the First Amendment.
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April 18, 2024
EU Antitrust Chief Says Merger Tool Not A 'Power Grab'
The European Commission's top competition enforcer said Thursday the agency has taken a measured approach to using its newly asserted power to review mergers that fall short of local thresholds, as the European trading bloc's high court mulls a challenge of that authority from DNA sequencing company Illumina.
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April 18, 2024
Senate Dems Question 4 Biggest Banks Over Fraud Controls
Two Democratic senators have asked the nation's four largest banks to share their systems to combat wire fraud and protect consumers from the fallout of unauthorized transfers.
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April 18, 2024
Trump Wants Cut Of Fundraising That Uses His Name, Image
Former President Donald Trump is asking for help from Republicans to boost his reelection campaign coffers, with his staffers saying in a letter that GOP fundraisers should split off a portion of the money they collect when using Trump's name, image and likeness in their solicitations for cash.
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April 18, 2024
Texas Says Justices' Takings Decision Saves Its Arrest Law
Texas has pointed the Fifth Circuit to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, arguing that it supports the state's bid to undo a district court injunction blocking state officials from arresting and deporting immigrants suspected of crossing the border unlawfully.
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April 18, 2024
Senate Bill Would Extend Small Biz Ch. 11 Debt Cap Increase
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators are pushing new legislation that would prevent the current $7.5 million debt eligibility cap for Subchapter V bankruptcies, a simplified Chapter 11 process for small businesses and individuals, from reverting to the previous limit of $2.7 million in June.
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April 18, 2024
Google Judge Notes Broad Reach Of Texas Ad Tech Claims
A Texas federal judge pressed Google during oral arguments Thursday to explain why a coalition of state attorneys general can't sue over its dominance in advertising placement auction technology when they're representing not just companies suing separately, but consumers as well.
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April 18, 2024
DOJ Tries To Quell Lawmakers' Concerns On FISA Bill
The U.S. Department of Justice is looking to allay privacy concerns on Capitol Hill raised over the proposed reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, telling Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and others in recent letters that domestic churches and media companies can't be targeted under a controversial amendment.
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April 18, 2024
Nuke Power Plant Owner Says NY Can't Bar Water Discharges
The owner of the shuttered Indian Point nuclear power plant sued the state of New York on Thursday, alleging a law banning discharges of radioactive materials into the Hudson River unlawfully infringes on the federal government's authority.
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April 18, 2024
School, Library Supporters Call FCC Wi-Fi Plan Cost Effective
A trio of school and library groups defended a Federal Communications Commission plan to fund Wi-Fi hot spots in education, saying the conservative Heritage Foundation mischaracterized the initiative as wasteful.
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April 18, 2024
AT&T, Pittsburgh Settle Dispute Over Cell Site Fees, Delays
The city of Pittsburgh has created a new fee schedule for small wireless communications facilities, which AT&T agreed will resolve the telecom firm's claims that the city effectively prevented its service expansion with its prior fee schedule, according to a joint stipulation filed in Pennsylvania federal court.
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April 18, 2024
T-Mobile, Others Rip 'Hodgepodge' Forced Store Closings Suit
T-Mobile says it doesn't belong in a suit accusing it and another company of misleading store owners by promising it would open hundreds of new stores in the wake of its $26 billion merger with Sprint in 2020 only to turn around and shut the plaintiffs down.
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April 18, 2024
Texas Can't Stop Income Program Meant To Help The Poor
A Houston judge on Thursday allowed a Harris County guaranteed income program to move forward, shutting down a bid from the Lone Star State to block the program less than a week before residents are scheduled to begin receiving payments.
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April 18, 2024
New Va. Law Prohibits NCAA From Limiting Athlete NIL Deals
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Thursday signed into law a landmark state bill that allows schools in the state to enter into name, image and likeness deals with athletes while prohibiting the NCAA and other institutions from punishing the athletes or the schools for cutting the NIL agreements.
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April 18, 2024
Missouri AG Launches Probe Into Delta-8 Products
Missouri's Republican attorney general has launched an investigation into four companies purportedly manufacturing or selling vapes and other products containing hemp and marijuana derivatives such as CBD, delta-8 THC and delta-9 THC.
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April 18, 2024
BLM Prioritizes Conservation On Federal Land In Final Rule
The Biden administration finalized a rule Thursday that prioritizes the conservation of federal lands through new initiatives like leasing frameworks that center on restoration and mitigation.
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April 18, 2024
Commerce Chided For Not Explaining Itself In Catfish Cases
The U.S. Court of International Trade has kicked the final decision in a 2019 review of catfish duties back to the U.S. Department of Commerce, saying the agency flubbed basic administrative law by failing to "show its work" amid crisscrossing claims.
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April 18, 2024
FCC Probing Causes Of 911 Outage Across Four States
The Federal Communications Commission said Thursday it will investigate what caused widespread 911 outages in Nevada, Texas, South Dakota and Nebraska.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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Conn. Data Privacy Enforcement Takeaways For Cos.
In light of the Connecticut attorney general's recently released report on its enforcement of the Connecticut Data Privacy Act, which focuses on companies' privacy policies, protections of sensitive data and more, businesses can expect increased enforcement scrutiny — especially in areas that are the subject of consumer complaints, say Paul Pittman and Abdul Hafiz at White & Case.
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How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts
Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.
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Opinion
NY Shouldn't Pair 421-a Restoration And Good Cause Eviction
The good cause eviction system of rent control should not be imposed in New York, nor should its legislation be tied to renewal of the 421-a tax abatement program, which New York City desperately needs, says Alexander Lycoyannis at Holland & Knight.
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Opinion
OFAC Should Loosen Restrictions On Arbitration Services
The Office of Foreign Assets Control regulations should be amended so that U.S. persons can provide arbitration services to sanctioned parties — this would help align OFAC policy with broader U.S. arbitration policy, promote efficiency, and effectively address related geopolitical and regulatory challenges, says Javier Coronado Diaz at Diaz Reus.