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Public Policy
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April 24, 2024
Energy Charter Treaty Backlash Hints At Broader Arbitration Woes
Lawmakers in Europe on Wednesday overwhelmingly consented to the European Union's withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty, adding to an increasing global backlash against investor-state arbitration that was also laid bare in a vote by Ecuadorians decisively rejecting the mechanism this past weekend.
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April 24, 2024
Muscogee Supreme Court To Decide Descendants' Citizenship
Two descendants of those enslaved by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation are in limbo as they await a decision from the tribe's high court on whether they can apply for citizenship — a ruling that could pave the way for others to be eligible for healthcare and other benefits under federal law.
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April 24, 2024
FCC OKs Detroit TV Deal — If Certain Conditions Are Met
The Federal Communications Commission approved the $75 million sale of a Michigan-based television station to Mission Broadcasting, but conditioned the sale on terms meant to ensure that Nexstar, the country's largest TV station group owner, does not have de facto control of the station.
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April 24, 2024
Takeaways From The FTC's Noncompetes Ban
The first legal challenges to the Federal Trade Commission's new ban on essentially all noncompete agreements that employers impose on workers have already been filed, but questions remain, not just on the rule's legal viability, but also on the likelihood of follow-on rulemakings and the rule's exact reach.
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April 24, 2024
1st Circ. Upholds Feds' Vineyard Wind Project Approval
The First Circuit on Wednesday affirmed a lower court ruling rejecting Massachusetts residents' challenge to the federal government's approval of a wind energy project off the coast of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, saying federal regulators adequately analyzed the projects' effects on right whales.
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April 24, 2024
Wash. AG Wants RFK Jr., Ex-NBA Star's Anti-Vax Suit Tossed
Washington's attorney general urged a federal judge Tuesday to toss a lawsuit brought by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on behalf of NBA legend John Stockton trying to shield doctors who make anti-vaccine statements, arguing a state medical board has the right to penalize medical providers for spreading COVID-19 misinformation.
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April 24, 2024
3 Takeaways On How AI Is Forcing Publicity Rights To Evolve
As digital replicas of someone's voice, image or likeness become easier to create with the help of artificial intelligence, this new era of deepfakes is shining a spotlight on the nation's patchwork of right-of-publicity laws and raising questions over when Congress may act to pass a national framework.
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April 24, 2024
DEA's Upcoming Decision On Cannabis Likely To Be Litigated
The potential loosening of federal restrictions on marijuana is likely to be litigated for years, and the pro-legalization camp would do well to pool resources to build the most persuasive evidentiary record it can, a leading cannabis advocate said Wednesday.
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April 24, 2024
Panel Reinstates Suit Over Hospital Workers' COVID Deaths
A New Jersey appellate panel on Wednesday reinstated a suit seeking to hold two hospitals liable for the COVID-19 deaths of a hospital aide and a nurse during the early stages of the pandemic, saying the trial judge made improper findings of fact regarding allegedly reckless conduct.
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April 24, 2024
Feds Plan 12 Offshore Wind Lease Sales Through 2028
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said Wednesday the government will hold up to 12 offshore wind energy lease sales over the next five years now that updated regulations for renewable energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf have become final.
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April 24, 2024
Meet The Attorneys Arguing Trump's Immunity At High Court
A Missouri solicitor general-turned-law firm founder will square off Thursday against a U.S. solicitor general's office veteran who is a member of an elite group of U.S. Supreme Court bar attorneys in a special oral argument session over former President Donald Trump's bid for immunity from federal criminal charges alleging he interfered in the 2020 presidential election.
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April 24, 2024
Pacifica Will Pay $25K For Station Ad Violations, FCC Says
Pacifica Foundation Inc. has agreed to pay a $25,000 fine and enter into a compliance plan to resolve allegations that it allowed an iconic New York public radio station to air several shows promoting products without identifying the program sponsors.
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April 24, 2024
Feds' 'Sparse' Explanations Call For Remand, Says Rebar Co.
An error and "sparse" justification underpinning a countervailing duty assessment required the U.S. Court of International Trade to remand the results of the fifth review of Turkish rebar tariffs, counsel told CIT Judge Gary S. Katzmann on Wednesday.
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April 24, 2024
Trump Media Exec Urges GOP To Probe Stock 'Manipulation'
Devin Nunes, CEO of Trump Media Technology & Group Corp., is urging key House Republicans to investigate "anomalous trading" involving shares of the company that owns former President Donald Trump's social media platform, marking Nunes' latest effort to call attention to alleged signs of manipulation, according to a regulatory filing Wednesday.
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April 24, 2024
GOP Reps Seek IRS Nonprofit Info After China Reports
House Ways and Means Republicans asked the Internal Revenue Service to provide information about how it monitors tax-exempt organizations for possible violations of their status after reports China may be funding and improperly influencing nonprofits, according to a letter sent Wednesday.
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April 24, 2024
Borrower Asks Full 4th Circ. To Hear Debt Canceling Case
A student loan borrower has asked the full Fourth Circuit to rehear his claims that a Pennsylvania loan servicer thwarted forgiveness of his federal student loans, arguing that the circuit court had overlooked parts of the loan servicing agreement that provided important context to his argument.
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April 24, 2024
US Solar Cos. Call For Duties On Cells From Southeast Asia
Seven U.S. solar manufacturers on Wednesday called on the U.S. government to impose duties on solar cells from four Southeast Asian countries, saying a surge in production in those countries — much by Chinese-owned companies — has been undercutting the domestic market.
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April 24, 2024
Watchdog Says ICE Paid $25.3M For Empty Detention Space
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agreed to review its contract with private prison operator GEO Group Inc. in California after a federal watchdog found it paid $25.3 million for hundreds of unused beds.
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April 24, 2024
DOJ Wants To Weigh In On Texas Google Ad Tech Discovery
The U.S. Department of Justice asked a federal judge Wednesday for permission to file a statement of interest in a Texas-led lawsuit accusing Google of anticompetitive conduct in the display advertising market, writing that the states' request for certain discovery items may violate an order in a substantially similar suit the DOJ is pursuing in Virginia.
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April 24, 2024
TikTok To Take Divestment Bill To Court
TikTok vowed on Wednesday to challenge in court new legislation requiring ByteDance Ltd. to divest the popular social media app or face a ban in the U.S., a pledge made the same day President Biden signed the measure into law.
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April 24, 2024
'Net Neutrality' Timeline: From Brand X To Biden-Era Brawl
The legal fight over how to treat broadband service hits a new milestone Thursday in Washington, the latest in a dispute that started a generation ago, soon after consumers began widely using the internet in the 1990s.
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April 24, 2024
Congress Didn't OK FCC's 'Disparate Impact' Ban, Critics Say
Business groups told the Eighth Circuit on Wednesday that the Federal Communications Commission's new rules against discrimination in broadband deployment should be overturned because Congress never intended that the agency use a sweeping "disparate impact" liability standard.
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April 24, 2024
Groups Back Intuit's 5th Circ. Challenge To FTC Over Ads
Business and conservative groups defended tax software giant Intuit Inc. in its Fifth Circuit constitutional challenge to the Federal Trade Commission's findings that the company engaged in deceptive advertising, saying the agency acts as both prosecutor and jury and that its administrative judges have unchecked power.
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April 24, 2024
Hawaii High Court Affirms Timeshare Property Tax Is Legal
Timeshares in Maui County, Hawaii, were properly taxed using a timeshare property classification because the classification is both constitutional and in line with the county's code, the state Supreme Court affirmed.
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April 24, 2024
Group Fights SpaceX's FCC Grants After Musk's Actions In War
A pro-Ukraine nonprofit is urging the Federal Communications Commission to halt spectrum assignments to Elon Musk's SpaceX and launch an investigation into the CEO's "erratic" behavior, arguing that his alleged meddling in U.S. foreign policy could disqualify him from exercising control over the company's Starlink satellite network system.
Expert Analysis
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New Proposal Signals Sharper Enforcement Focus At CFIUS
Last week's proposed rule aimed at broadening the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States' enforcement authority over foreign investments and increasing penalties for violations signals that CFIUS intends to continue expanding its aggressive monitoring of national security issues, say attorneys at Kirkland.
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4 Ways AI Tools Can Improve Traditional Merger Analyses
Government officials at the American Bar Association's annual antitrust spring meeting last week reinforced the view that competition cases will increasingly rely on sophisticated data analysis, so companies will likewise need to use Big Tech quantitative techniques to improve traditional merger analyses, say Patrick Bajari, Gianmarco Calanchi and Tega Akati-Udi at Keystone.
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What FinCEN Proposed Customer ID Number Change Means
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recent request for comment on changing a requirement for banks to collect full Social Security numbers at account sign-up represents an important opportunity for banks to express their preferability, as communicating sensitive information online may carry fraud or cybersecurity risks, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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How China's IP Proposal Could Affect US Brands' TM Strategy
Proposed amendments to China's Trademark Law aimed at improving the application and enforcement processes could make some common U.S. brand protection strategies moot, and may require brand owners to more carefully explain marks' use or nonuse, say attorneys at Neal Gerber.
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Traversing The Web Of Nonjudicial Grievance Mechanisms
Attorneys at Covington provide an overview of how companies can best align their environmental and human rights compliance with "hard-law" requirements like the EU's recently approved Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive while also navigating the complex global network of existing nonjudicial grievance mechanisms.
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An NYDFS-Regulated Bank's Guide To Proper Internal Audits
As certification deadlines for compliance with the New York State Department of Financial Services’ transaction monitoring and cybersecurity regulations loom, lawyers should remember that the NYDFS offers no leeway for best efforts — and should ensure robust auditing and recordkeeping processes for clients, say attorneys at Arnall Golden.
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A Look At Global Employee Disconnect Laws For US Counsel
As countries worldwide adopt employee right to disconnect laws, U.S. in-house counsel at corporations with a global workforce must develop a comprehensive understanding of the laws' legal and cultural implications, ensuring their companies can safeguard employee welfare while maintaining legal compliance, say Emma Corcoran and Ute Krudewagen at DLA Piper.
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Opinion
States Should Follow Federal Lead On Expert Evidence Rules
The recently amended Federal Rule of Evidence 702 will help ensure expert testimony in federal courts reflects adequate data and reliable methods properly applied to a given case, and state courts — home to the overwhelming majority of U.S. litigation — should adopt similar changes, says retired attorney Michael Harrington.
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Opinion
Post-Moelis Del. Corp. Law Proposal Would Hurt Stockholders
The proposed Delaware General Corporation Law amendment in response to the Court of Chancery's recent opinion in West Palm Beach Firefighters' Pension Fund v. Moelis would upend the foundational principle of corporate law holding that directors govern corporations in the interest of stockholders — and the potential harm would be substantial, say attorneys at Block & Leviton.
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Strategies For Navigating Compliance Monitorships
As independent compliance monitorships continue to be a favored tool of the government in resolving corporate enforcement matters, counsel should have a firm grasp on best practices for selecting a monitor, preparing the company and ensuring a productive relationship between the parties, say attorneys at WilmerHale.
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How DEI Programs Are Being Challenged In Court And Beyond
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's affirmative action decision last year declaring the consideration of race in university admissions unconstitutional, employers should keep abreast of recent litigation challenging diversity, equity and inclusion training programs, as well as legislation both supporting and opposing DEI initiatives in the workplace, say attorneys at Skadden.
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An Energy Industry Case Study In Expropriation Risk
Andrés Chambouleyron at Berkeley Research breaks down how expropriation risk and damage mitigation calculations vary considerably by different energy sources, and uses Argentina as a case study for how energy investors might protect their interests.
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Blocked JetBlue-Spirit Deal Illustrates New Antitrust Approach
The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent successful block of a merger between JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines demonstrates antitrust enforcers’ updated and disparate approach to out-of-market benefits versus out-of-market harms, say Lisa Rumin and Anthony Ferrara at McDermott.
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At 'SEC Speaks,' A Focus On Rebuilding Trust Amid Criticism
At the Practising Law Institute's SEC Speaks conference last week, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission leadership highlighted efforts to rebuild and restore trust in the U.S. capital markets by addressing investor concerns through regulatory measures and enforcement actions, emphasizing the need for cooperation from market participants, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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Series
Fla. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1
Early 2024 developments that could have a notable impact on Florida's finance community include progress on a bill that would substantially revise the state Securities and Investor Protection Act, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's final rule capping late fees for larger credit card issuers, say Benjamin Weinberg and Megan Riley at Leon Cosgrove.