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Public Policy
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June 13, 2024
Biden Picks CFTC's Goldsmith Romero For FDIC Chair
The White House said Thursday that President Joe Biden will nominate Christy Goldsmith Romero, a Democratic member of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, for the top job at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
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June 13, 2024
Mass. High Court Approves Tipped Wage Ballot Measure
Massachusetts' highest court on Thursday gave its blessing to a November ballot question asking voters to increase the state's minimum wage for tipped workers, finding that pairing the measure with a provision to allow tip pooling is part of an overall public policy goal to boost wages for all service industry employees.
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June 13, 2024
FTC Urged To Get Moving On Stalled Privacy Rulemaking
Nearly three dozen consumer advocacy groups are calling on the Federal Trade Commission to stop dragging its feet on efforts announced almost two years ago to craft sweeping data privacy and security rules, arguing that time is running out for the agency to clamp down on companies' "historic" drive to amass personal information and track consumers online.
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June 12, 2024
Oklahoma Justices Toss Tulsa Race Massacre Survivors' Suit
The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought by survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre in the affluent Black community of Greenwood in 1921, acknowledging as legitimate their "grievance with the social and economic inequities" created by the decimation, but finding that it falls outside public nuisance doctrine.
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June 12, 2024
Senate Confirms 2 FERC Nominees, Puts 3rd Nominee On Deck
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed two nominees to fill vacant commissioner slots at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and scheduled a Thursday vote for a third nominee.
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June 12, 2024
Tillis Told Drug Patents Are Too Complex For Easy Answers
When and how generic drugs enter the marketplace varies widely among different drugs and isn't necessarily related to how many patents are covering those drugs, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said Wednesday in a report requested by a top member of the U.S. Senate's Intellectual Property Subcommittee.
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June 12, 2024
Menendez Wanted Certain Case Scrutinized, US Atty Testifies
New Jersey U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger took the stand Wednesday in the bribery trial against onetime friend Sen. Robert Menendez, telling a New York federal jury he had to rebuff the senator's request for a "careful" look at a case against one of the men alleged to have bribed Menendez.
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June 12, 2024
Senate Dems Admonish Roberts As Ethics Reform Stalls
Several senior Democratic senators chided Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday for failing to take responsibility for or address the U.S. Supreme Court's ethics issues, vowing to continue fighting Republican opposition and to pass court reform legislation unless the chief justice makes improvements.
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June 12, 2024
FTC Tells DC Circ. It Can Modify $5B Meta Privacy Deal
The Federal Trade Commission told the D.C. Circuit on Wednesday that it has the authority to reopen its in-house proceedings in order to revise a $5 billion privacy settlement with Meta Platforms, saying the courts do not have oversight of the agency's administrative order.
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June 12, 2024
DeSantis Doesn't Have To Turn Over Judicial Advisers' Info
A Florida appeals court on Wednesday affirmed the dismissal of a petition to force Gov. Ron DeSantis to turn over information about the conservative advisers he consults to vet judicial nominees, but refused to affirm the lower court's conclusion that executive privilege shielded the governor from producing the documents.
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June 12, 2024
6th Circ. Judge Asks If Ad Limit Fight Destined For High Court
Sixth Circuit judges wondered if Republicans will have to take their challenge to limits on political parties' spending on candidate campaign ads to the U.S. Supreme Court for relief, questioning Wednesday if there's wiggle room to depart from a 20-year-old high court case upholding the limits.
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June 12, 2024
House IP Panel Eyes Transparency For Litigation Funders
A congressional committee on Wednesday began discussing whether to require more transparency of third-party litigation funding agreements to stem what lawmakers say are abusive patent lawsuits and national security concerns if hostile foreign governments meddle with cases anonymously.
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June 12, 2024
ND Lawmakers Want In On Voting Rights Suit, 8th Circ. Told
The North Dakota Legislative Assembly is asking the Eighth Circuit to reverse a lower court's order that denied its intervention in a bid to redraw the state's 2021 redistricting maps, arguing that two tribes' adopted voting map should be vacated and the lawmakers should be afforded a chance to come up with a remedial plan.
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June 12, 2024
'83 Wolfpack Suit May Throw NIL Peace For A Loop
As the NCAA cheered a settlement aimed at marshaling payments to athletes for their names, images and likenesses last week, experts say a new suit from one of college basketball's most historic teams illustrates the shortcomings of a hasty effort to right past wrongs.
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June 12, 2024
USPTO Updates PTAB Review, Assignment Procedures
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has finalized its rule governing how draft Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions will be distributed within the agency, and has updated its policy for assigning cases within the PTAB, according to a Wednesday notice in the Federal Register and agency statement, respectively.
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June 12, 2024
FDIC Head Must Go To Change Status Quo, GOP Reps. Say
House Republicans on Wednesday criticized Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Martin Gruenberg for not immediately resigning in the wake of a probe of the agency's workplace culture, but some Democrats took issue with the scope of a report on the investigation's findings while applauding his rumored successor.
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June 12, 2024
1st Circ. Finds PREPA Bondholders Have $8.5B In Valid Liens
The First Circuit said Wednesday that bondholders of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority have valid liens worth $8.5 billion on the revenue of the utility, reversing a lower court's ruling but leaving it up to the bankruptcy court to determine what effect that has on the restructuring plan.
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June 12, 2024
Tribes Say Court Must Examine Spill Risks In Gold Mine Row
Half a dozen tribes that oppose a large open-pit gold mine along the Kuskokwim River in southwest Alaska have urged a federal judge to vacate a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers authorization for the project, saying the government has wrongly interpreted environmental concerns.
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June 12, 2024
Chopra Rejects Fresh 'Earnings' Attack On CFPB Funding
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra told U.S. senators on Wednesday that an emerging line of attack on his agency's funding doesn't hold water, brushing aside a legal theory that has bubbled up in the aftermath of a recent U.S. Supreme Court defeat for critics of the agency.
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June 12, 2024
Teams Can't Prop Up Fox Philly TV License, Group Says
The group of advocates calling for Fox's Philadelphia affiliate to lose its broadcast license over its parent company's 2020 election coverage is pushing back against claims from three of the city's sports teams, saying the station's sports content is beside the point.
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June 12, 2024
Wash. Urges 9th Circ. To Toss Pot Licensure Challenge
Washington's cannabis authority has asked the Ninth Circuit to reject an effort by an out-of-state retailer to block the state's social equity program from awarding retail licenses, arguing that a motion for preliminary injunction is moot now that the trial court has tossed the entire lawsuit with prejudice.
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June 12, 2024
New Border Rules 'Blatantly' Flout US Asylum Law, Suit Says
Immigrant rights groups sued the Biden administration Wednesday in Washington, D.C., federal court over a new policy that largely halts asylum for migrants crossing the border in between ports of entry, saying the policy echoes unlawful Trump-era asylum bans.
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June 12, 2024
Texas Anesthesia Co. Appealing To Duck FTC Suit To 5th Circ.
U.S. Anesthesia Partners Inc. gave notice Wednesday that it will ask the Fifth Circuit to review a Texas federal judge's mid-May decision refusing to toss Federal Trade Commission allegations of a monopolistic "roll-up" of Lone Star State anesthesia practices.
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June 12, 2024
Judge Says Biden Admin Must Allow Show Loophole, For Now
A Texas federal judge has ordered the Biden administration to stop enforcing a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives rule that seeks to close what is known as the gun show loophole by requiring many private sellers to register as dealers and perform background checks before transacting gun sales.
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June 12, 2024
Oil Cos. Ignore Precedent In Climate Change Row, Tribes Say
Two Washington tribes seeking to remand their consolidated cases against several oil industry giants to state court say the defendants' arguments of complete preemption in their efforts to keep the climate change litigation in the federal circuit misconstrues precedent, including claims to vindicate aboriginal title.
Expert Analysis
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A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System
As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.
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Opinion
State-Regulated Cannabis Can Thrive Without Section 280E
Marijauna's reclassification as a Schedule III-controlled substance comes at a critical juncture, as removing marijuana from being subjected to Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code is the only path forward for the state-regulated cannabis industry to survive and thrive, say Andrew Kline at Perkins Coie and Sammy Markland at FTI Consulting.
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Asset Manager Exemption Shifts May Prove Too Burdensome
The U.S. Department of Labor’s recent change to a prohibited transaction exemption used by retirement plan asset managers introduces a host of new costs, burdens and risks to investment firms, from registration requirements to new transition periods, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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Pay-To-Play Deal Shows Need For Strong Compliance Policies
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, through its recent settlement with Wayzata, has indicated that it will continue stringent enforcement of the pay-to-play rule, so investment advisers should ensure strong compliance policies are in place to promptly address potential violations as the November elections approach, say attorneys at WilmerHale.
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Key Takeaways From FDA Final Rule On Lab-Developed Tests
Michele Buenafe and Dennis Gucciardo at Morgan Lewis discuss potential consequences of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recently finalized rule regulating lab-developed tests as medical devices, and explain the rule's phaseout policy for enforcement discretion.
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A Look At New IRS Rules For Domestically Controlled REITs
The Internal Revenue Services' finalized Treasury Regulations addressing whether real estate investment trusts qualify as domestically controlled adopt the basic structure of previous proposals, but certain new and modified rules may mitigate the regulations' impact, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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7 Effects Of DOL Retirement Asset Manager Exemption Rule
The recent U.S. Department of Labor amendment to the retirement asset manager exemption delivers several key practical impacts, including the need for managers, as opposed to funds, to register with the DOL, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Kansas Workers' Comp. Updates Can Benefit Labor, Business
While the most significant shake-up from the April amendment to the Kansas Workers Compensation Act will likely be the increase in potential lifetime payouts for workers totally disabled on the job, other changes that streamline the hearing process will benefit both employees and companies, says Weston Mills at Gilson Daub.
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4 Sectors Will Likely Bear Initial Brunt Of FTC 'Junk Fees' Rule
If the Federal Trade Commission adopts its comprehensive proposed rule to ban unfair or deceptive fees across the U.S. economy, many businesses — including those in the lodging, event ticketing, dining and transportation sectors — will need to reexamine the way they market and price their products and services, say attorneys at Skadden.
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What Lies Behind Diverging US And UK Insolvency Trends
Contrasting U.K. and U.S. insolvency trends highlight the importance of policy interventions in shaping consumer financial outcomes and economic recovery, and while the U.K.'s approach seems to have mitigated issues, the U.S. faces challenges exacerbated by economic conditions and policy transitions, says Thomas Curran at Thomas H. Curran Associates.
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Liquidity Risk Management Tops NCUA Exam Priorities
As credit unions map their regulatory initiatives and audit plans, they should look to the National Credit Union Administration’s annual supervisory priorities, which include five important examination areas, including liquidity management and interest rate risk, say Juan Arciniegas and Judy Chen at Chapman and Cutler.
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Protecting IP May Be Tricky Without Noncompetes
Contrary to the Federal Trade Commission's view, trade secret law cannot replace noncompetes' protection of proprietary information because intellectual property includes far more than just trade secrets, so businesses need to closely examine their IP protection options, say Aimee Fagan and Ching-Lee Fukuda at Sidley.
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Regulating Resurrected Species Under The ESA
As the prospect of extinct species being resurrected from DNA and reintroduced into the wild grows closer, an analysis of the Endangered Species Act suggests that it could provide a thoughtful, flexible governance framework for such scenarios, say Caroline Meadows and Shelby Bobosky at the SMU Dedman School of Law.
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A Look At FERC's Plan To End Reactive Power Compensation
A recent notice of proposed rulemaking indicates that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is likely to eliminate compensation for reactive power within the standard power factor range — causing significant impacts for the electric power industry, which relies on income from providing this service, say Norman Bay and Matthew Goldberg at Willkie and Vivian Chum at Wright & Talisman.
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How FTC's Noncompete Rule May Affect Exec Comp Packages
In the event the Federal Trade Commission's final noncompete rule goes into effect as currently contemplated, companies will need to take stock of how they structure post-employment executive compensation arrangements, such as severance agreements and clawbacks, says Meredith O'Leary at King & Spalding.