Public Policy

  • June 10, 2024

    New State Appeals Court Is Constitutional, Texas Says

    The Texas Health and Human Services Commission asked the state's high court to reject a petition by Dallas County seeking a declaration that the newly created Fifteenth Court of Appeals is unconstitutional, saying the legislature indeed can create an appeals court with subject-matter jurisdiction.

  • June 10, 2024

    NYC Probation Officer Interviews Trump Ahead Of Sentence

    A New York City probation officer questioned Donald Trump in a remote video interview on Monday, a month before the former president is slated to be sentenced in the wake of his felony conviction in the Manhattan district attorney's hush money case.

  • June 10, 2024

    9th Circ. Partially Revives Puget Sound Pollution Row

    The Ninth Circuit sided with an environmental group Monday in a regulation enforcement case against the Port of Tacoma, Washington, partially overturning a lower court to find previous iterations of state stormwater permitting rules do extend across marine cargo terminals and other transportation facilities.

  • June 10, 2024

    DOJ, FDA Form Task Force To Crack Down On Illegal E-Cigs

    The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday said that a federal multi-agency task force has been founded to stop illegal sales of e-cigarettes.

  • June 10, 2024

    Pension Fund Repays PBGC $8M In Excess Financial Aid

    The U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday that a pension provider for workers in graphic communications has paid back more than $8 million in excess funds it received through a financial assistance program administered by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.

  • June 10, 2024

    Sen. Cassidy Releases Trade Facilitation Framework

    Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., released a policy document Monday outlining priority areas for a forthcoming bill to update U.S. customs law, emphasizing streamlined procedures and technology updates to speed up processing at the border.

  • June 10, 2024

    Feds Want Ex-Army Officer's FTCA Claims Cut From Suit

    A former major general's defamation lawsuit against the U.S. Army over an alleged domestic assault should be partially tossed, the federal government told a Pennsylvania federal judge Friday, arguing that soldiers can't sue the Army for incidents that happened while they were serving.

  • June 10, 2024

    IHS Urges Budget Shift After High Court Healthcare Ruling

    The Indian Health Service, following a divided U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming that the federal government is liable for the reimbursement of millions in administrative healthcare costs for two Native American tribes, is urging Congress to shift its budget appropriations for fiscal year 2026 to protect the agency's overall health.

  • June 10, 2024

    Health Data Co. Says Rival's Request Risks Patient Security

    A healthcare data company pushed back against claims in Maryland federal court that it blocks a rival's access to nursing home patient data used to identify potential complications, saying the rival is asking to disable security measures that prevent attacks on its system.

  • June 10, 2024

    NY Lawmakers Pass Kids Social Media Addiction Bill

    New York lawmakers have passed a bill that will rein in social media algorithms from delivering addictive content to minors and sent it to Gov. Kathy Hochul's desk for approval, which is widely expected.

  • June 10, 2024

    Baltimore Lands $45M Deal With Allergan In Opioid Litigation

    Baltimore has put to rest its claims that Allergan played a part in the opioid crisis, reaching a $45 million settlement with the pharmaceutical company, an amount the city called "unprecedented" in an announcement on Monday.

  • June 10, 2024

    Colo. DA Defends Interviewing Ex-Wife Of Murder Case Judge

    A Colorado district attorney on Monday denied that she botched a high-profile murder case targeting a husband in his wife's disappearance, telling a disciplinary panel that her concerns about the judge's honesty justified sending an investigator to interview the jurist's ex-spouse.

  • June 10, 2024

    NY Governor Appoints New Interim Head Of Pot Regulator

    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday announced new leadership appointments to the state's cannabis regulator, following the release of an investigative audit that blasted the agency for inefficiencies and precipitated the stepping down of its inaugural executive director.

  • June 10, 2024

    'Junk Fee' Suit Against Hilton Shipped Back To State Court

    A D.C. federal judge has sent back to state court a traveler advocacy group's lawsuit accusing Hilton of tricking hotel guests into paying "junk fees" late in the booking process, rejecting the hotel chain's bid to litigate the proposed class action in federal court.

  • June 10, 2024

    Permanent Residents Say Iowa Removal Law Will Ensnare Them

    Immigrant advocacy group Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice responded on Monday in Iowa federal court to the state's argument that lawful permanent residents are exempted from a law empowering officials to arrest and remove previously deported noncitizens, saying no such exception exists.

  • June 10, 2024

    FCC Urged To Add Missing Persons Code For Tribes

    Tribal leaders urged the Federal Communications Commission to consider adding a missing persons code specific to Indigenous people as it upgrades the Emergency Alert System.

  • June 10, 2024

    Cut Penalties For Rural Buildout Shortcomings, FCC Urged

    A trade group representing electric cooperatives is joining the chorus of industry interests calling for the Federal Communications Commission to reduce penalties for companies that withdraw from federally backed rural broadband projects, saying the commission rules should not be "punitive" when build-outs stop making sense.

  • June 10, 2024

    Deputy Sheriff Denies Lying About Groping In $11M Case

    The wife of a south Georgia sheriff who allegedly assaulted and jailed a man after she said he groped her in a gas station denied her accusations were false in response to an $11 million-plus federal civil rights lawsuit against the couple.

  • June 10, 2024

    Exxon Says Activist Investor Could Still Target Core Business

    Exxon Mobil Corp. sought Monday to keep alive its lawsuit against Arjuna Capital LLC in Texas federal court, arguing that the activist investor could still work behind the scenes to submit climate-related shareholder proposals despite promises in court that it will not.

  • June 10, 2024

    Unclaimed Property Group Backs Disney At Mich. High Court

    An unclaimed property holder trade organization urged the Michigan Supreme Court to affirm that the state waited too long to demand that Disney and a restaurant company remit unclaimed property, arguing that third-party auditors' lax oversight allowed examinations to languish beyond the statute of limitations.

  • June 10, 2024

    USPTO Makes Filing Delist Requests Slightly Easier

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will begin to make it easier for anybody to ask the agency to delist "precedential" administrative board rulings, it announced by email on Monday.

  • June 10, 2024

    Split 4th Circ. Tosses Suit Over 'Forever Chemicals' In NC

    The Fourth Circuit ruled Monday that environmental groups couldn't challenge in district court the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's selection of particular so-called forever chemicals for testing after the agency agreed, at the groups' request, to research the chemicals' effects in North Carolina.

  • June 10, 2024

    Software Alliance Urges Congress To Tackle Deepfakes

    The Software Alliance, a trade group that includes Microsoft Corp., Adobe Inc. and IBM, urged Congress Monday to pass legislation that addresses the proliferation of digital replicas made possible with artificial intelligence, telling lawmakers that unauthorized deepfakes harm artists who rely on their reputation and public recognition.

  • June 10, 2024

    Big Tech Urges US Reprisal Over Canada's Impending DST

    The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative should open formal dispute proceedings with the Canadian government in response to a 3% digital services tax that is expected to soon pass in the Canadian Senate, business groups with members in the U.S. tech industry said Monday.

  • June 10, 2024

    3 Takeaways From Cigna's Win In 9th Circ. Rehab Claim Fight

    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision finding Cigna is off the hook for $8.6 million in out-of-network mental health and substance use disorder treatment claims against employee benefit plans administered by the insurer could discourage similar litigation, benefits attorneys say. Here are three key takeaways from the decision.

Expert Analysis

  • Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content

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    From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.

  • A Changing Regulatory Landscape For Weight Loss Drugs

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    As drugs originally approved to treat diabetes become increasingly popular for weight loss purposes, federal and state regulators and payors are increasing their focus on how these drugs are prescribed, and industry participants should pay close attention to rapidly evolving compliance requirements, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • The State Of Play In DEI And ESG 1 Year After Harvard Ruling

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    Almost a year after the U.S. Supreme Court decided Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, attorney general scrutiny of environmental, social and governance-related efforts indicates a potential path for corporate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to be targeted, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Compliance Considerations For New Data Protection Law

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    Sam Castic at Hintze Law discusses how to determine if your organization is covered by the newly enacted Protecting Americans' Data from Foreign Adversaries Act, the scope of the law's restrictions, and how to go about compliance as its June 23 effective date approaches.

  • Proposed Semiconductor Buy Ban May Rattle Supply Chains

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    The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council's recent proposed rulemaking clarifies plans to ban government purchases of semiconductors from certain Chinese companies, creating uncertainty around how contractors will be able to adjust supply chains that are already burdened and contracted to capacity, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • CFPB Poised To Up The Ante After Supreme Court Victory

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    When the U.S. Supreme Court emphatically ruled last week that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding structure did not violate the Constitution, the agency boasted that it was "here to stay," signaling that it is moving full steam ahead with its regulatory, enforcement and supervisory agenda, says Jim Sandy at McGlinchey Stafford.

  • Opinion

    NEPA Final Rule Unlikely To Speed Clean Energy Projects

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    A recent final rule from the White House Council on Environmental Quality purports to streamline federal environmental reviews to accelerate the construction of renewable energy infrastructure — but it also expands consideration of climate change and environmental justice, creating vast new opportunities for litigation and delay, says Thomas Prevas at Saul Ewing.

  • Diving Deep Into Sweeping NY Financing Bill — And Its Pitfalls

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    A New York bill seeking to impose state usury limits onto a broader variety of financing arrangements and apply lender licensing requirements to more diverse entities would present near-insurmountable compliance challenges for lenders and retailers, say Kate Fisher and Tom Quinn at Hudson Cook.

  • Opinion

    USPTO's Proposed Disclaimer Rule Would Harm Inventors

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s recently proposed rule on terminal disclaimers will make the patent system less available to inventors and will unfairly favor defendants in litigation, say Stephen Schreiner at Carmichael IP and Sarah Tsou at Omni Bridgeway.

  • What The FTC Report On AG Collabs Means For Cos.

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    The Federal Trade Commission's April report on working with state attorneys general shows collaboration can increase efficiency and consistency in how statutes are interpreted and enforced, which can minimize the likelihood of requests for inconsistent injunctive relief that can create operational problems for businesses, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

  • New Crypto Reporting Will Require Rigorous Recordkeeping

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    The release of a form for reporting digital asset transactions is a pivotal moment in the Internal Revenue Service's efforts to track cryptocurrency activities that increases oversight by requiring brokers to report investor sales and exchanges, say Shaina Kamen and Max Angel at Holland & Knight.

  • A Comparison Of FDIC, OCC Proposed Merger Approaches

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    Max Bonici and Connor Webb at Venable take a closer look at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's respective bank merger proposals and highlight certain common themes and important differences, in light of regulators continually rethinking their approaches to bank mergers.

  • Series

    Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.

  • Behind Court Challenges To The FTC's Final Noncompete Rule

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent final rule banning noncompetes may not go into effect any time soon amid a couple of Texas federal court challenges seeking to bar the rule's implementation, which will likely see appeals all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, says Michael Elkins at MLE Law.

  • Colo. Lending Law Could Empower State-Chartered Banks

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    Lending programs that rely on rate exportation by state banks should pay close attention to legislative activity and ongoing litigation surrounding Colorado's decision to opt out of rate exportation, which could set a precedent that state-chartered banks have power on par with national banks, says Tom Witherspoon at Stinson.

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