Public Policy

  • October 21, 2024

    High Court Will Review Clean Air Act Jurisdiction Cases

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review Tenth Circuit and Fifth Circuit rulings that reached different conclusions about whether legal challenges to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency air pollution rules belong in the D.C. Circuit.

  • October 21, 2024

    Justices Nix GOP States' Intervention In Asylum Rule Talks

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a group of Republican states' attempt to intervene in settlement talks between immigrant rights groups and the Biden administration over a rule limiting asylum at the southern border.

  • October 18, 2024

    Law360 MVP Awards Go To Top Attys From 74 Firms

    The attorneys chosen as Law360's 2024 MVPs have distinguished themselves from their peers by securing hard-earned successes in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-breaking deals.

  • October 18, 2024

    Fintech Group Challenges CFPB's Buy Now, Pay Later Policy

    The Financial Technology Association on Friday asked a D.C. federal court to strike down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's first-ever rule directed at the fintech-dominated market for buy now, pay later loans, claiming that it violates procedural requirements and "misunderstands" relevant law. 

  • October 18, 2024

    Texas Federal Judge Owned Tesla Stock After Taking X Suit

    A Texas federal judge overseeing a high-profile case between X Corp. and a media watchdog bought and sold shares of Elon Musk's automotive company Tesla the same year that X filed the suit, according to financial disclosure reports.

  • October 18, 2024

    Justices Urged To Undo Ruling Against Horse Racing Law

    The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority has pressed the U.S. Supreme Court to vacate a Fifth Circuit ruling against a federal law delegating horse safety regulation to the horse-racing authority, arguing that the law's framework is regularly upheld by other courts, according to a petition.

  • October 18, 2024

    Oklahoma Brings Title X Funding Cut Fight To Justices

    Oklahoma is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Tenth Circuit's decision allowing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to cut Title X funding over the state's refusal to refer family planning patients for abortion care following the high court's Dobbs decision last year.

  • October 18, 2024

    Colo. County, Enviros Back DC Ruling In High Court Rail Fight

    Conservation groups and a Colorado county are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm a D.C. Circuit ruling that overturned federal approval of a rail project proposed to haul crude oil out of Utah's Uinta Basin, as justices set arguments for a challenge to that ruling for Dec. 10.

  • October 18, 2024

    Walmart Scores Quick Appeal In FTC's Money Transfer Suit

    An Illinois federal judge refused Friday to reconsider a prior decision trimming the Federal Trade Commission's suit alleging Walmart facilitated fraud through its money transfer services, while allowing Walmart to seek interlocutory review regarding the FTC's litigating authority. 

  • October 18, 2024

    How Texas Legislators Blocked 1st 'Shaken Baby' Execution

    A bipartisan group of Lone Star State legislators stopped what would have been the nation's first execution for a conviction based on a "shaken baby syndrome" diagnosis by raising a novel separation-of-powers question about whether legislative subpoenas or death warrants carry more authority.

  • October 18, 2024

    Jan. 6 Witness Said Trump Speech May Have Been 'Political'

    Donald Trump's speech at a rally before the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol may have been "political" rather than in his official capacity as president, witness testimony unsealed Friday in his D.C. election interference case said.

  • October 18, 2024

    FWS Can't Block Cactus Rule Records Release, Group Says

    A Colorado conservation group claims that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has failed to turn over public records related to a proposed rule to remove a cactus species from its list of threatened and endangered species.

  • October 18, 2024

    FTC Appeals Noncompete Ban Loss To 5th Circ.

    The Federal Trade Commission gave notice Friday that it would seek Fifth Circuit intervention against a Texas federal judge's decision to block its ban on employment noncompete agreements.

  • October 18, 2024

    NY County Says Tribe Wants Special Treatment In 911 Row

    New York's Cayuga County has asked a federal court to dismiss the Cayuga Nation's lawsuit accusing it and another county of refusing to forward 911 calls happening on tribal land to the tribe's police department without payment, saying it doesn't owe the tribe special treatment.

  • October 18, 2024

    Ill. Justices Find Broad COVID Immunity For Health Facilities

    The Illinois Supreme Court on Friday read broad immunity into an emergency order that immunized healthcare facilities aiding the state's COVID-19 response, saying the order shields those facilities from ordinary negligence claims during that time, not just ones directly relating to their pandemic care.

  • October 18, 2024

    What Attorneys Expect From Harris And Trump On Patents

    Patents have scarcely been mentioned during the presidential campaign, but attorneys say that positions taken by the candidates suggest Donald Trump would favor stronger patent rights, while Kamala Harris would focus on steps to make drugs and other patented inventions more widely available.

  • October 18, 2024

    Wash. AG Must Face Christian Org.'s Suit Against Bias Law

    A Washington federal judge won't toss a Christian nonprofit's lawsuit challenging the state's antidiscrimination law, saying the dispute is not entirely resolved by the state attorney general's recent pledge not to go after the organization for hiring only Christians for two open positions.

  • October 18, 2024

    States, Public Health Groups Defend EPA Power Plant Rule

    A group of 21 states and the District of Columbia called on the D.C. Circuit on Friday to reject myriad challengers' attempts to unravel the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's plan to control greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

  • October 18, 2024

    FCC Tells Provider Carrying Bank Scam Calls To Cut It Out

    The Federal Communications Commission on Friday told a Miami-based advertising company to stop transmitting scam robocalls, warning that if it doesn't comply, all its call traffic may be cut off by voice service providers.

  • October 18, 2024

    US Fights PetroSaudi Bid To Limit $380M Seizure

    The U.S. on Friday slammed a PetroSaudi company's request for a California federal court to clarify that officials can only seize 5% of a $380 million award, calling the request an improper attempt at revisiting a 3-year-old court ruling.

  • October 18, 2024

    'Chaos' At New Mich. Jail Is Forcing Longer Stays, Suit Says

    A former detainee at Wayne County, Michigan's month-old jail alleged in a lawsuit that the center's "operational and administrative chaos," including staff shortages and computer system stoppages, has led to people getting lost in the system and being held for days after they were ordered released.

  • October 18, 2024

    HHS Slams Hackensack Meridian's Chevron-Inspired Suit

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has torn into a suit from New Jersey's largest healthcare network over Medicare reimbursements, arguing the network has "chosen to blaze a path … that is both prohibited by Congress and unsanctioned by precedent."

  • October 18, 2024

    US Treasury Awards $500M To Boost Small Tribal Businesses

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury wrapped up its approvals of $500 million in applications from tribal nations, marking the largest federal investment in Indian Country in the nation's history in Native American-owned small businesses that is expected to yield as much as $5 billion in additional financing support.

  • October 18, 2024

    FTC Won't Disqualify ALJ in H&R Block False Ad Fight

    The Federal Trade Commission denied a request by H&R Block to stop an administrative law judge from overseeing a proceeding that accuses the tax preparation company of deceptive advertising, saying Friday that ALJs don't have unconstitutional job protections as the company claimed.

  • October 18, 2024

    Hong Kong Regulators Unveil Plans To Quicken IPOs

    Hong Kong regulators and stock exchange officials announced a plan on Friday to accelerate their time frames for reviewing initial public offerings, a bid to improve the region's attractiveness for new listings amid intense global competition.

Expert Analysis

  • CFPB's Earned Wage Access Rule Marks Regulatory Shift

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's newly issued interpretive rule on earned wage access products, classifying them as extensions of credit, marks a significant shift in their regulatory landscape and raises some important questions regarding potential fringe cases and legal challenges, say Erin Bryan and Courina Yulisa at Dorsey & Whitney.

  • How Calif. Justices' Prop 22 Ruling Affects The Gig Industry

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    The California Supreme Court's recent upholding of Proposition 22 clarifies that Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other companies in the gig industry can legally classify their drivers as independent contractors, but it falls short of concluding some important regulatory battles in the state, says Mark Spring at CDF Labor.

  • Look For Flags On Expert Claims After Sunday Ticket Reversal

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    A California federal judge’s recent reversal of a jury’s $4.7 billion antitrust verdict in the NFL Sunday Ticket case indicates that litigants may be inclined to challenge expert testimony admissibility under Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, and that judges may increasingly accept such challenges, say attorneys at Kutak Rock.

  • How Justices Upended The Administrative Procedure Act

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    In its recent Loper Bright, Corner Post and Jarkesy decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the Administrative Procedure Act in ways that undermine Congress and the executive branch, shift power to the judiciary, curtail public and business input, and create great uncertainty, say Alene Taber and Beth Hummer at Hanson Bridgett.

  • How Corner Post Affects Enviro Laws' Statutes Of Limitations

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve Board has helped to alter the fundamental underpinnings of administrative law — and its plaintiff-centric approach may have implications for some specific environmental laws' statutes of limitations, say Chris Leason and Liam Martin at Gallagher and Kennedy.

  • Opinion

    DOL's Impending Mental Health Act Regs Should Be Simplified

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    The U.S. Department of Labor should consider revising these six issues in its forthcoming Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act regulations to ease the significant compliance hurdles for group health plan sponsors, says Alden Bianchi at McDermott.

  • Parsing FY 2024 DOJ Criminal Healthcare Fraud Enforcement

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    While the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division's strike force on healthcare fraud enforcement action shows an impressive doubling of criminal indictments, a closer look at the data offers important clues about underlying trends, including the comparably modest, accompanying increase in associated intended loss, say Roderick Thomas and Kathleen Cooperstein at Wiley.

  • Haste Is Priority For Participation In New Green Card Program

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    Immigration practitioners should determine their clients' eligibility under the Biden administration’s new policy to help certain noncitizens, particularly those married to U.S. citizens, to apply for green cards, and do so without delay given uncertainty tied to the upcoming election, says Brad Brigante at Brigante Law.

  • How Gov't AI Protections May Affect Contractors' Data Rights

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    The U.S. Senate’s proposed National Defense Authorization Act for 2025, which includes provisions to maintain the government's data rights when contracting for artificial intelligence, should prompt contractors to examine how to protect their own rights when the current data rights framework is applied to AI, say Tyler Evans and Caitlin Conroy at Steptoe.

  • Jarkesy May Thwart Consumer Agencies' Civil Penalty Power

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy not only implicates future SEC administrative adjudications, but those of other agencies that operate similarly — and may stymie regulators' efforts to levy civil monetary penalties in a range of consumer protection enforcement actions, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Trump's Best Hush Money Appeal Options Still Likely To Fail

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    The two strongest potential arguments former President Donald Trump could raise in appealing his New York hush money conviction seem promising at first, but precedent strongly suggests they will still ultimately fail — though, of course, Trump's unique position could lead to surprising results, says former New York Supreme Court Justice Ethan Greenberg, now at Anderson Kill.

  • Tips For Tax Equity-Tax Credit Transfers That Pass IRS Muster

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    Although the Internal Revenue Service has increased its scrutiny of complex partnership structures, which must demonstrate their economic substance and business purpose, recent cases and IRS guidance together provide a reliable road map for creating legitimate tax equity structures, say Ian Boccaccio and Michael Messina at Ryan Tax.

  • How Cos. With Chinese Suppliers Should Prep For Biotech Bill

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    A proposed bill to prohibit government-affiliated life sciences companies from contracting with Chinese biotech companies of concern may necessitate switching to other sources for research and supplies, meaning they should begin evaluating supply chains now due to the long lead times of drug development, say John O'Loughlin and Christina Carone at Weil Gotshal.

  • Opinion

    Texas Judges Ignored ERISA's Core To Stall Fiduciary Rule

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    Two recent rulings from Texas federal courts, which rely on a plainly wrong reading of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act to effectively strike a forthcoming rule that would impose functional fiduciary duties onto sellers of investment services, may expose financially unsophisticated 401(k) participants to peddlers of misleading advice, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.

  • Inside OCC's Retail Nondeposit Investment Products Refresh

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    In addition to clarifying safe and sound risk management practices generally, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's revised booklet on retail nondeposit investment products updates its guidance around certain sales practices in light of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's adoption of Regulation Best Interest, say attorneys at Debevoise.

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