Public Policy

  • March 26, 2024

    FCC Urged To Protect Consumers During Subsidy Wind-Down

    With the Affordable Connectivity Program set to run out of money next month, an urban broadband advocacy group is pushing the Federal Communications Commission to put rules in place to protect participants as the program winds down.

  • March 25, 2024

    Lender Groups Sue Over Colorado's Rate 'Opt-Out' Law

    A coalition of lender trade groups filed suit Monday to block Colorado officials from enforcing a new, impending law to rein in high-cost online lending by out-of-state banks, alleging it violates federal law and risks harming Colorado borrowers instead of helping them.

  • March 25, 2024

    Florida Becomes Latest To Restrict Teens' Social Media Use

    Florida's governor signed legislation Monday that bans kids who are 13 and under from creating social media accounts and requires 14- and 15-year-olds to get their parents' permission before joining these sites, a move that comes as similar laws in other states are being struck down on constitutional grounds. 

  • March 25, 2024

    In High Court Sentencing Case, It's Everyone V. Gibson Dunn

    As the U.S. Supreme Court scrutinizes severe sentencing of repeat offenders, one view is backed by the Biden administration, defense bar groups, incarceration reformers and a household name among appellate advocates. And then there's the view backed by a few lawyers at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

  • March 25, 2024

    Walmart Blocks DOJ Proceedings Over Immigration Records

    The federal government cannot continue pursuing proceedings before the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer against Walmart for alleged violations of immigration-related recordkeeping requirements, a Georgia federal judge ruled Monday, saying the office's administrative law judges unconstitutionally carry out federal law without presidential oversight.

  • March 25, 2024

    Crypto Group, Apparel Co. Sue Over SEC Crypto Policy

    A Texas-based apparel company on Monday teamed up with a crypto industry group to sue the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over an alleged pattern of enforcement against crypto firms, which the brand said threatens its business since it distributed its own digital token.

  • March 25, 2024

    Difficult Issues May Blur Choice On Investment Protection

    Contradictory stances toward investment protection within Latin America — including at least one country completely reversing its previous position on the issue — illustrate that while investment arbitration is facing very legitimate criticisms, a country's stance on the issue isn't always black and white.

  • March 25, 2024

    Conn. Justice Chides Legislature In Landlord Lien Case

    Bemoaning what he perceived as an unclear statute and its unilluminating legislative history, Connecticut Supreme Court Justice Steven D. Ecker on Monday lamented having to make a significant policy decision about whether a city or a landlord should be financially liable for tenants displaced after fire damaged a large apartment.

  • March 25, 2024

    Judge Skeptical Of Ark. Social Media Law But Doesn't Block It

    An Arkansas federal judge appeared skeptical that the state's law limiting minors' social media access would survive a recent constitutional challenge but has allowed the state to continue with limited discovery on whether the law sufficiently targets only platforms that allegedly cause the most harm to underage users.

  • March 25, 2024

    Bank Groups Ask 5th Circ. To Block CFPB Card Late-Fee Rule

    Bank trade groups on Monday escalated their fight against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's credit card late-fee rule, asking the Fifth Circuit to intervene and stay the regulatory measure after a Texas federal judge declined to act on their request for an immediate injunction last week.

  • March 25, 2024

    Cable Biz Org. Seeks Delay Of Title II Regs On Small Providers

    A cable industry group is pressing the Federal Communications Commission to defer by six months imposing "core" Title II rules on small internet service providers if it decides to move ahead with a net neutrality regime in the coming months.

  • March 25, 2024

    Wild Horses Can't Drag Ga., Feds Into Enviro Suit, Judge Told

    U.S. and Georgia government officials have again asked a Peach State federal court to throw out claims they illegally neglected feral horses on Cumberland Island, arguing a revised lawsuit from conservation groups still can't show they are responsible for damage committed by the animals.

  • March 25, 2024

    Congress Urged To Renew FCC Auctions, Broadband Fund

    Dozens of public interest groups want Congress to jump-start the Federal Communications Commission's spectrum auctions and use the proceeds to pour new funds into the Affordable Connectivity Program, fixing two problems confronting the FCC at once.

  • March 25, 2024

    Amgen Sues Colorado After Drug's 'Unaffordable' Rating

    Amgen has sued the Colorado Prescription Drug Affordability Review Board in federal court after receiving a determination that one of its arthritis drugs is "unaffordable," saying the board is using unconstitutionally "unguided discretion" to impose arbitrary price controls on patent-protected drugs.

  • March 25, 2024

    IHS Fears Budget Cuts Over Tribal Healthcare Funding Case

    Federal government attorneys told the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday that Indian Health Services might be forced to cut its budget by 40% if two Native American tribes prevail in their bids to uphold rulings that ordered they be reimbursed millions in administrative healthcare costs.

  • March 25, 2024

    Colo. Justices Say Insurer's Vintage Car Exclusion Holds Up

    Colorado's justices on Monday ruled that specialty insurance policies for vintage cars can limit uninsured motorist coverage when they work "in tandem" with a policy for a regular-use vehicle, with the court finding that antique car policies warrant "different treatment."

  • March 25, 2024

    NOAA Allots $60M To Help Columbia River Salmon

    The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it plans to allocate $60 million of Inflation Reduction Act funding to pay for overdue maintenance and repairs at hatchery facilities in the Columbia River Basin, which will further tribal priorities and help address climate change impacts facing salmon and steelhead populations.

  • March 25, 2024

    GOP Reps. Re-Up Demand For Biden Classified Docs Info

    Two top Republicans sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday threatening to possibly hold him in contempt of Congress if he doesn't answer their subpoena for materials related to the special counsel's investigation of President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents.

  • March 25, 2024

    Ill. Atty Fights To Keep Reinstatement Dispute In DC Court

    An Illinois attorney argued Monday that her lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Justice and its immigration component's refusal to reinstate her practice before federal immigration courts belongs in D.C. federal court, where the DOJ is based, not Virginia.

  • March 25, 2024

    Kroger Says Sweetened Merger Deal Will Sink Antitrust Doubts

    Kroger told a Colorado state judge Monday that it plans to "enhance" its $24.6 billion Albertson's merger to satisfy federal and state regulators, a plan it did not yet describe in detail and that Colorado said it has not seen.

  • March 25, 2024

    Waiting For Car Security Checks Is Work, Calif. Justices Say

    Time spent by workers undergoing an employer's security check that includes an inspection of the worker's personal vehicle is compensable as hours worked, but time spent driving between the security gate and the parking lot is not, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday, answering a Ninth Circuit panel's queries.

  • March 25, 2024

    DOJ Slammed For Backing GEO Group In Detainee Wage Fight

    A group of immigrant detainees has urged the Ninth Circuit to reject the federal government's stance that a privately run detention center in Tacoma is exempt from Washington's minimum wage, saying the United States has failed to point to any conflicting federal laws.

  • March 25, 2024

    Mich. Justices Asked To Review Duration Of Income Tax Cut

    A coalition of Michigan lawmakers, business groups and residents asked the state Supreme Court on Monday to review an appeals court's decision that said a cut to Michigan's income tax rate in 2023 was in effect for only one year.

  • March 25, 2024

    Fla. Pharmacy Says It Was Cut From Federal PrEP Program

    A Florida pharmacy says it was abruptly shut out of a federal program that provides free access to preexposure prophylaxis HIV-prevention medication, asking a D.C. federal judge on Monday to force the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and two contractors to reinstate the pharmacy to the program.

  • March 25, 2024

    Texas Challenge To HHS Adoption Discrimination Rule Tossed

    A Texas federal judge has scrapped a lawsuit challenging an Obama-era rule prohibiting recipients of adoption-related federal funding from discriminating based on gender and sexual orientation, writing that the federal government's decision not to enforce the regulation moots the case. 

Expert Analysis

  • A New Push To Clear Up Marijuana's Foggy Legal Status

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    A recently publicized U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommendation to reschedule marijuana has reignited discourse over the drug's federal legal status — and although rescheduling would mitigate the legal risks for the industry and drastically increase the resources available for industry participants, the path forward will not be clear cut, say Joseph Cioffi and Louis DiLorenzo at Davis+Gilbert.

  • Wildfire Challenges For Utility Investors: Liability Theories

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    The greater frequency and scale of wildfires in the last several years have created operational and fiscal challenges for electric utility companies, including new theories of liability and unique operational and risk management considerations — all of which must be carefully considered by utility investors, say David Botter and Lisa Schweitzer at Cleary.

  • Under The Hood Of The SEC Securitization Conflict Rule

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    Elanit Snow and Julia Vitter of Proskauer consider the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently finalized rule that prohibits conflicts of interest in certain securitization transactions, uncovering what the new regulation does and doesn’t entail, why it was adopted, and how commenters' remarks affected the process.

  • Series

    Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.

  • Can A DAO Be Sued? SDNY Case May Hold The Answer

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    A case pending in the Southern District of New York will examine whether decentralized crypto co-op MakerDAO is a partnership with the capacity to be sued in federal court, and the decision could shape how legal frameworks will adapt to accommodate blockchain technologies moving forward, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • The Road Ahead For Florida's Drug Importation Program

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    Though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Florida's drug importation program in January, a series of hurdles — including requisite buy-in from Canada — and potential legal challenges must be addressed before importation can begin, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Tips For Counsel Seeking Balance In The ESG Political Divide

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    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.

  • High Court Social Media Speech Ruling Could Implicate AI

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    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.

  • Practical Steps For Navigating New Sanctions On Russia

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    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.

  • Justices' Trump Ballot Ruling: Purposivism In Textualist Garb

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    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.

  • Assessing CDC's Revised Guideline On Opioid Prescriptions

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    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.

  • Opinion

    UK Whistleblowers Flock To The US For Good Reason

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    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.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC

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    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.

  • Opinion

    There Is No NCAA Supremacy Clause, Especially For NIL

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    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.

  • Zero-Point Offender Eligibility May Hinge On Meaning Of 'And'

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    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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