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Public Policy
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April 30, 2024
State Telecom Roundup: Tech Companies As Public Utilities
It's long-settled law that common carriers and public utilities can't discriminate or deny service without good reason, which is perhaps why there is a push in at least three different states to have the definition of a common carrier expanded to cover tech titans like Google and Facebook.
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April 30, 2024
Trump Held In Contempt For Trashing Witnesses In NY Trial
A New York state judge on Tuesday found former President Donald Trump in contempt of court for repeatedly violating a gag order in his criminal hush money case by publicly attacking expected witnesses, including his former attorney Michael Cohen.
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April 30, 2024
Coverage Recap: Day 5 Of Trump's NY Hush Money Trial
Law360 reporters are providing live updates from the Manhattan criminal courthouse as Donald Trump goes on trial for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments ahead of the 2016 election. Here's a recap from day five.
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April 30, 2024
EPA Finalizes Methylene Chloride Ban
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday finalized a rule banning all consumer uses and most industrial and commercial uses of methylene chloride, a chemical regulators say can increase cancer risks and cause reproductive damage with repeat exposure.
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April 29, 2024
Judge Rejects 2 Challenges To Medicare Drug Price Talks
A New Jersey federal judge on Monday shot down a pair of challenges to the Medicare drug price negotiations, extending a string of court victories for the Biden administration as it defends the talks as entirely voluntary.
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April 29, 2024
'Hell No': Judge Rejects Ex-NSA Worker's Lighter Sentence Bid
A Colorado federal judge on Monday sentenced a former National Security Agency employee to nearly 22 years in prison for trying to sell classified national security information to someone he believed to be a Russian agent, calling the conduct "as close to treasonous as you can get."
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April 29, 2024
Aviation Co. Fights Delay Of Russian Planes Coverage Suit
A Florida-based aircraft leasing company has pushed back on its insurers' request to pause its coverage suit for $700 million worth of airplanes reappropriated by Russian airlines after the Ukraine war began, saying the insurers' own litigation against reinsurers should have no bearing on its coverage claims.
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April 29, 2024
5th Circ. Urged To Block CFPB's Credit Card Late Fee Rule
Banking industry trade groups have called for the Fifth Circuit to act quickly to put the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's $8 credit card late fee standard on hold, arguing that large credit card issuers stand to suffer "substantial" losses if it goes into effect even for just one day.
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April 29, 2024
9th Circ. Upholds NRC's Exemption For Diablo Canyon Plant
A Ninth Circuit panel ruled Monday that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission did not act arbitrarily or capriciously when it allowed Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to belatedly renew its license to continue operating California's last remaining nuclear power plant.
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April 29, 2024
House Passes Bill To Curb Online Child Exploitation
The House by voice vote passed a bipartisan bill on Monday night aimed at better curbing online child sexual exploitation by improving the nation's centralized reporting system, which now goes to the president's desk.
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April 29, 2024
Ohio, Ky. Reps. Again Try To Abolish PTAB
U.S. Reps. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., have introduced a pair of bills aiming to overrule much of current patent law, including abolishing the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and making injunctions more common.
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April 29, 2024
9th Circ. Scraps Trans Law Opinion After High Court Ruling
The Ninth Circuit on Monday scrapped its 2023 opinion blocking an Idaho law that would have banned transgender women from competing in sports following the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision allowing enforcement of another Idaho law permitting a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, explaining that a revised opinion is needed.
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April 29, 2024
High Court Uncertainty Stalls SEC Case Against Marcum CPA
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has agreed to stay an in-house proceeding against a partner at accounting firm Marcum LLP accused of failing to properly oversee public company audits, saying that an impending U.S. Supreme Court ruling could call into doubt the agency's ability to fine the accountant.
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April 29, 2024
TikTok Law Likely To Withstand Appeal, FCC Member Says
A federal law banning TikTok unless it's divested from its Chinese parent company is likely to survive upcoming judicial challenges because it differs in key ways from a recently blocked Montana law affecting TikTok, a member of the Federal Communications Commission said.
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April 29, 2024
Texas Judge Says X Can Access Watchdog's Internal Docs
A Texas federal judge has ruled that X Corp. can access the internal communications and donor lists of a media watchdog the tech company accused of spurring advertisers to ditch the social media platform, saying the watchdog hadn't shown a good enough reason to pause discovery.
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April 29, 2024
Biz Groups Fight Conn. Ban On 'Captive Audience' Meetings
A Connecticut law that lets workers skip employers' meetings to discuss unionization violates employers' right to free speech, a coalition of business groups argued in Connecticut federal court, seeking a pretrial win on allegations that the law violates the U.S. Constitution and federal labor law.
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April 29, 2024
5th Circ. Ponders If There Were Claims In 'Patient Mistake' Suit
If an insurer says there's no claim, might a claim still have been made, a skeptical Fifth Circuit panel pondered at oral arguments Monday, considering whether a healthcare company's settlement paid for mistakenly approving out-of-state treatment of a Florida Medicaid patient was covered by insurance.
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April 29, 2024
Apple Says Nothing's Changed To Revive COVID App Suit
Apple urged a California federal judge not to reopen a tossed antitrust lawsuit over the company's refusal to distribute a COVID-19-tracking app on the App Store, arguing that neither new European Union law nor Epic Games' jury win over Google change the dynamics of a case that has favored the iPhone maker at every turn.
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April 29, 2024
Don't Put Cable 'Junk Fee' Rules On Biz Services, FCC Told
Cable providers are asking the Federal Communications Commission to leave business services out of the commission's plans to end cable "junk fees," saying that doing otherwise would jeopardize lower rates negotiated by the businesses.
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April 29, 2024
Trans Patients In NC, W.Va. Prevail In 4th Circ. Health Fight
The Fourth Circuit on Monday affirmed two lower court decisions ordering North Carolina and West Virginia to end discriminatory exclusions for coverage of gender-affirming medical care for transgender people in both states, finding the lower courts properly struck down the policies as "textbook sex discrimination."
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April 29, 2024
USPTO Seeks Input On How AI Use Should Affect Patentability
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office wants public input on how the proliferation of artificial intelligence should affect the office's evaluation of patentability, such as in the consideration of what qualifies as prior art and in assessments of a "person having ordinary skill in the art."
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April 29, 2024
GSA Guides Agencies On Responsible Generative AI Buying
The U.S. General Services Administration on Monday issued guidance to federal agencies for buying generative artificial intelligence services and related hardware, intended to ensure that emerging technology is used "responsibly and effectively."
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April 29, 2024
Ex-COO Of Mo. Charity Gets 3 Years For Bribing Officials
The former chief operating officer of a Missouri-based healthcare charity was sentenced to three years in prison Monday after admitting she and her husband, the charity's ex-chief financial officer, conspired to bribe elected officials in Arkansas, according to Missouri federal court documents.
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April 29, 2024
Court Can Make Widow Pull $2.5M From Swiss Bank, US Says
A Colorado federal court can force a widow to send $2.5 million from a Swiss bank to the U.S. to repay her late husband's penalties and interest for failing to report his foreign accounts, the U.S. told the court.
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April 29, 2024
US, Tribes Defend Water Rule Against States', Biz Groups' Suit
The federal government and several Native American tribes on Friday asked a North Dakota federal judge to toss a lawsuit by two dozen states challenging a rule defining the reach of the Clean Water Act's jurisdiction.
Expert Analysis
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Assigning Liability In Key Bridge Collapse May Be Challenging
In the wake of a cargo ship's collision with Baltimore's Key Bridge last month, claimants may focus on the vessel's owners and the agencies responsible for the design and maintenance of the bridge — but allocating legal liability to either private or governmental entities may be difficult under applicable state and federal laws, says Clay Robbins at Wisner Baum.
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Highlights From The 2024 ABA Antitrust Spring Meeting
U.S. merger enforcement and cartels figured heavily in this year's American Bar Association spring antitrust meeting, where one key takeaway included news that the Federal Trade Commission's anticipated changes to the Hart-Scott-Rodino form may be less dramatic than many originally feared, say attorneys at Freshfields.
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What FERC's Disclosure Demands Mean For Cos., Investors
Two recent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission orders reflect the commission's increasingly meticulous approach to reviewing corporate structures in applications for approval of proposed consolidations, acquisitions or changes in control — putting the onus on the regulated community to track and comply with ever-more-burdensome disclosure requirements, say attorneys at Willkie.
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IRS Sings New Tune: Whistleblower Form Update Is Welcome
In a significant reform at the Internal Revenue Service's Whistleblower Office, the recently introduced revisions to the Form 211 whistleblower award application use new technology and a more intuitive approach to streamline the process of reporting allegations of tax fraud committed by wealthy individuals and companies, says Benjamin Calitri at Kohn Kohn.
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Strategies For Challenging A Fla. Grand Jury Report's Release
A Florida grand jury’s recent report on potential wrongdoing related to COVID-19 vaccines should serve as a reminder to attorneys to review the myriad legal mechanisms available to challenge the lawfulness of a grand jury report’s publication and expunge the names of their clients, says Cary Aronovitz at Holland & Knight.
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Macquarie Ruling Raises The Bar For Securities Fraud Claims
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision last week in Macquarie Infrastructure v. Moab Partners — holding that a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule does not forbid omissions in company disclosures unless they render other statements false — is a major setback for plaintiffs pursuing securities fraud claims against corporations, say attorneys at Skadden.
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Tenn. Law Protecting Artists From AI Raises Novel Issues
Tennessee recently enacted a law that extends the right of publicity protection to individuals' voices in an attempt to control the proliferation of artificial intelligence in the music industry, presenting fascinating questions about the First Amendment, the fair use doctrine and more, say attorneys at Davis Wright.
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Consumer Privacy Takeaways From FTC Extraterritorial Action
With what appears to be its first privacy-related consent agreement with a non-U.S. business, the Federal Trade Commission establishes that its reach is extraterritorial and that consumer internet browsing data is sensitive data, and there are lessons for any multinational business that handles consumer information, say Olivia Greer and Alexis Bello at Weil.
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FDIC Bank Merger Reviews Could Get More Burdensome
Recently proposed changes to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. bank merger review process would expand the agency's administrative processes, impose new evidentiary burdens on parties around competitive effects and other statutory approval factors, and continue the trend of long and unpredictable processing periods, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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Calif. Housing Overhaul May Increase Pressure On Landlords
Two recently enacted California laws signal new protections and legal benefits for tenants, but also elevate landlords' financial exposure at a time when they are already facing multiple other hardships, says Laya Dogmetchi at Much Shelist.
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A Look At Ex Parte Seizures 8 Years Post-DTSA
In the eight years since the Defend Trade Secrets Act was enacted, not much has changed for jurisprudence on ex parte seizures, but a few seminal rulings show that there still isn’t a bright line on what qualifies as extraordinary circumstances warranting a seizure, say attorneys at Finnegan.
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Series
Whitewater Kayaking Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Whether it's seeing clients and their issues from a new perspective, or staying nimble in a moment of intense challenge, the lessons learned from whitewater kayaking transcend the rapids of a river and prepare attorneys for the courtroom and beyond, says Matthew Kent at Alston & Bird.
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Navigating Kentucky's New Consumer Privacy Law
On April 4, Kentucky passed a new law that imposes obligations on affected businesses relating to the collection, use and sale of personal data — and those operating within the state must prepare for a new regulatory landscape governing the handling of consumer data, say Risa Boerner and Martha Vázquez at Fisher Phillips.
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New Wash. Laws Employers Should Pay Attention To
The Washington Legislature ended its session last month after passing substantial laws that should prompt employers to spring into action — including a broadened equal pay law to cover classes beyond gender, narrowed sick leave payment requirements for construction workers and protections for grocery workers after a merger, say Hannah Ard and Alayna Piwonski at Lane Powell.
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This Earth Day, Consider How Your Firm Can Go Greener
As Earth Day approaches, law firms and attorneys should consider adopting more sustainable practices to reduce their carbon footprint — from minimizing single-use plastics to purchasing carbon offsets for air travel — which ultimately can also reduce costs for clients, say M’Lynn Phillips and Lisa Walters at IMS Legal Strategies.