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Public Policy
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May 15, 2024
6th Circ. Frees Ex-Ohio Pol Pending Bribery Appeal
A former member of the Cincinnati City Council convicted of bribery and attempted extortion in connection with a sports betting redevelopment project spearheaded by a former Cincinnati Bengals player can stay out of prison while an appeal plays out, the Sixth Circuit said Wednesday.
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May 15, 2024
McGirt Ruling Should Be In 'Full Force' In Tulsa, U.S. Says
The federal government wants to intervene in a challenge by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation to the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, that seeks to block city officials from asserting criminal jurisdiction over tribe members on tribal lands, arguing the municipality is violating federal law reiterated in a 2020 high court ruling.
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May 15, 2024
Don't Make Network Outage Reporting Mandatory, FCC Told
Telecommunications industry groups are telling the Federal Communications Commission that rules requiring mandatory broadband outage reporting would burden small and rural providers and potentially distract from outage response.
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May 15, 2024
Arrested Ga. Lawmakers Say 'Disruption Statute' Is Overbroad
Attorneys for U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, state Rep. Park Cannon and several Georgia residents who were arrested for protesting in the rotunda of the Georgia State Capitol in 2018 and 2021 told the Georgia Supreme Court on Wednesday that the law used to justify their arrests is unconstitutionally overbroad.
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May 15, 2024
Mass. Senate Aide Alleges Retaliation After Bias Complaint
A constituent services aide to a Massachusetts state senator is alleging that the lawmaker and his former chief of staff stonewalled his requests for accommodation after a leg injury left him unable to climb stairs, then iced him out after he filed a complaint with the state's anti-discrimination agency.
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May 15, 2024
Anti-Trans Groups Fail To Block Wash. Youth Shelter Law
A federal judge on Wednesday threw out a lawsuit filed by two anti-transgender groups challenging a Washington state law intended to ensure shelter for teens seeking gender-affirming care or reproductive health services, ruling that speculating on possible injury was not enough to clear a standing hurdle.
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May 15, 2024
Feds, Pesticide Cos. Seek More Time To Find Mediator
The Federal Trade Commission and agricultural chemical companies Syngenta and Corteva are seeking extra time to select a mediator as they litigate claims that the manufacturers leverage loyalty programs to suppress competition from cheaper generic pesticides.
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May 15, 2024
House Panel Weighs Baltimore Bridge Rebuilding Costs
Rebuilding Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge may cost up to $1.9 billion and take at least four years, as accident investigators continue to examine how a cargo ship slammed into the bridge in March and knocked it down, officials told a House panel Wednesday.
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May 15, 2024
Lawmakers Move To Kill DOL's ERISA Fiduciary Regs
A group of 16 mostly Republican senators introduced a resolution Wednesday to overturn the U.S. Department of Labor's new rule broadening who qualifies as a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, saying the regulations threaten Americans' ability to save for retirement.
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May 15, 2024
FTC Chair Khan Defends Request For 25% Budget Increase
Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina M. Khan defended a 25% budget increase request during a House appropriations hearing Wednesday, calling it "healthy" that aggressive Biden administration merger enforcement has made antitrust considerations top of mind for companies mulling transactions.
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May 15, 2024
Amid Controversy, Gov. Names Tribal Police Chief As Liaison
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has appointed the former Pine Ridge Reservation chief of police as her administration's new tribal liaison, saying that after he "bravely testified" before a U.S. Senate committee about the cartel presence on tribal lands, he found himself without a job.
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May 15, 2024
House Dems Launch Task Force To Address High Court 'Crisis'
A group of House Democrats on Wednesday launched a task force seeking to bring more transparency and accountability to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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May 15, 2024
Ga. Says Plaintiffs Firing Blanks At Controversial Voting Law
In a slew of filings Monday, the state of Georgia renewed its urging that a federal judge grant the state a win in one of the most wide-ranging challenges to its 2021 election voting overhaul bill, arguing that the plaintiffs can't marshal "any competent evidence" to support their suit.
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May 15, 2024
House Panel Advances Tax-Exempt Org Oversight Bills
The House Ways and Means Committee approved a package of bills Wednesday that would increase scrutiny of foreign donations to tax-exempt organizations, including legislation that would require those organizations to publicly report the donations.
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May 15, 2024
Wage Damages Update Isn't Retroactive, NJ Justices Say
The New Jersey Supreme Court on Wednesday held an amendment to the state's wage laws adding liquidated damages and extending the statute of limitations should only be applied to conduct that occurred after its effective date, backing the dismissal of some claims brought by laborers alleging unpaid pre- and post-shift work.
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May 15, 2024
Rio Grande Is A 'Creek,' Texas Tells 5th Circ. In Barrier Rehearing
The state of Texas told the full Fifth Circuit on Wednesday that the Rio Grande is "little more than a creek with an excellent publicist" as it pushed the court to vacate an order that would require it to remove a floating barrier intended to keep migrants out of the country.
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May 15, 2024
Michigan Can't Shake Lawsuit Over Prison's Scabies Outbreak
The director of the Michigan Department of Corrections and other high-ranking officials must face claims that they allowed an outbreak of scabies in a women's prison to go untreated for years, a federal judge has ruled.
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May 15, 2024
Data On Harm Intrigues Pa. Justices In Hospital Closure Spat
While tasked with considering how much deference appellate panels must give trial courts in matters involving preliminary injunctions, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday was equally curious about whether one such injunction needed to be supported by data showing that a hospital's closure would irrevocably hurt a Delaware County community.
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May 15, 2024
Split High Court Allows La. To Use Revised Election Map
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Louisiana can use its revised congressional map during the 2024 election cycle, pausing a federal judicial panel's ruling that lawmakers likely violated the U.S. Constitution when they redrew the state's map to address voter dilution claims and created a second majority-Black voting district.
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May 15, 2024
FCC Could Require ISP Reports On Internet Routing Security
The Federal Communications Commission will vote on a plan next month to require the largest broadband providers to file confidential reports on security of the internet's main routing technology, the Border Gateway Protocol.
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May 15, 2024
Minn. Tax Court OKs Trim To Restaurant Property's Value
A Minnesota restaurant property should have its valuation lowered after the property owner provided a more reliable appraisal report, the state Tax Court ruled.
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May 15, 2024
Hemp Co. Settles Sales Dispute With Fla. Regulators
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has inked a deal with a hemp-product maker that accused the agency of overstepping its bounds and using stop-sale orders to block it from selling its hemp products outside the state.
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May 15, 2024
House Judiciary Chair Seeks Docs On IRS Backdating Probe
The House Judiciary Committee's Republican chairman asked an IRS watchdog to reveal findings from investigations into allegations of IRS employee misconduct, including in a high-profile $38 million conservation easement deduction case in which the agency admitted to backdating evidence.
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May 15, 2024
EPA Urges La. Court Not To Broadly Block Civil Rights Regs
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has told a Louisiana federal judge that the state's bid to block EPA regulations that involve disparate impact components would inappropriately impact the EPA's authority beyond the state's own agencies.
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May 15, 2024
Colo. Will Extend Property Tax Assessment Rate Cuts
Colorado will extend its current temporary property tax rate reductions into 2024 and will lower tax rates for future years under a bill signed by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis.
Expert Analysis
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What New Waste Management Laws Signal For The Future
Several states have enacted extended producer responsibility and recycling labeling laws that will take effect in the next few years and force manufacturers to take responsibility for the end of life of their products, so companies should closely follow compliance timelines and push to innovate in the area, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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Untangling The Legal Complexities Of Trade Secrets And AI
With broad adoption of generative artificial intelligence, some have suggested trade secret law is the best means for protecting innovations, but while this protection may apply to all forms of information, the breadth of coverage may make identifying the information and later misappropriation difficult, say Joshua Lerner and Nora Passamaneck at WilmerHale.
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A Look At 3 Noncompete Bans Under Consideration In NYC
A trio of noncompete bills currently pending in the New York City Council would have various effects on employers' abilities to enter into such agreements with their employees, reflecting growing anti-noncompete sentiment across the U.S., say Tracey Diamond and Grace Goodheart at Troutman Pepper.
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Reducing Risk While DOJ Plans New Whistleblower Rewards
In light of the Department of Justice's newly announced plan to create a comprehensive whistleblower reward program to fill the gaps in the current patchwork of federal incentives, companies should mitigate their risk of external claims now by implementing internal systems where employees can confidently and anonymously report concerns, say Caleb Hayes-Deats and Walter Hawes at MoloLamken.
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Series
Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.
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DOJ's Safe Harbor Policy May Quietly Favor M&A Enforcement
In a change that has received little attention, the U.S. Justice Department's recently codified safe harbor policy essentially reads the Antitrust Division's criminal enforcement out of the policy entirely, and now appears to favor merger enforcement in antitrust, rather than criminal enforcement, as originally intended, say Daniel Oakes and James Attridge at Axinn.
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Takeaways From The 2023 DOJ Fraud Section Report
Attorneys at Wiley discuss notable trends from the U.S. Department of Justice's recently reported Fraud Section activity last year and highlight areas of enforcement to watch for in the future, including healthcare fraud and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations.
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Draft Pay Equity Rule May Pose Contractor Compliance Snags
The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council's recently proposed rule that would prohibit government contractors from requesting certain job applicants' salary history seems simple on the surface, but achieving compliance will be a nuanced affair for many contractors who must also adhere to state and local pay transparency laws, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.
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7 Takeaways From CFPB Circular On Digital Comparison Tools
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new guidance regarding digital comparison-shopping platforms for financial services products and services offers fresh insights into the bureau's interpretation of the abusiveness standard and expands on principles underlying its previous guidance on the topic, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.
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How Policymakers Can Preserve The Promise Of Global Trade
Global trade faces increasing challenges but could experience a resurgence if long-held approaches adjust and the U.S. accounts for factors that undermine free trade's continuing viability, such as regional trading blocs and the increasing speed of technological advancement, says David Jividen at White & Case.
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10 Areas To Watch In Aerospace And Defense Contracting Law
The near future holds a number of key areas to watch in aerospace and defense contracting law, ranging from dramatic developments in the space industry to recent National Defense Authorization Act updates, which are focused on U.S. leadership in emerging technologies, say Joseph Berger and Chip Purcell at Thompson Hine.
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Opinion
Proposed MDL Management Rule Needs Refining
Proponents of the recently proposed Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16.1 believe it may enhance efficiency in multidistrict litigation proceedings if adopted, but there are serious concerns that it could actually hinder plaintiffs' access to justice through the courts — and there are fundamental flaws that deserve our attention, says Ashleigh Raso at Nigh Goldenberg.
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How New SEC Rule May Turn DeFi Participants Into 'Dealers'
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced a new rule to amend its definition of a securities "dealer," but the change could have concerning implications for decentralized finance and blockchain, as the SEC has suggested it may subject DeFi participants to registration requirements and other regulations, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
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Opinion
Litigation Funding Needs Regulating To Meet Ethics Standards
Third-party litigation funding can provide litigants with access to the legal system, but, as recent cases show, the funding agreements carry the potential for exploitation and may conflict with core aspects of the attorney-client relationship, making the need for a balanced regulation self-evident, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.
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Opinion
Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year
As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.