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Public Policy
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May 22, 2024
Nursing Home Asks Ill. Justices For Broad COVID Immunity
An Illinois nursing home facing wrongful death suits over an outbreak of COVID-19 told the state's highest court Wednesday that plaintiffs were trying to have it "both ways," by claiming Gov. J.B. Pritzker's grant of pandemic-related immunity to healthcare facilities was both clear and ambiguous.
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May 22, 2024
Calif. Justices Debate Time To Sue To Change Insurer's Practices
A California state attorney urged the California Supreme Court on Thursday to revive a policyholder's Unfair Competition Law claim against State Farm, saying the law's four-year statute of limitation applies over an insurance law's one-year period because the policyholder is seeking a change to its claim-handling practices, not damages.
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May 22, 2024
Arizona Officials Spar Over Stay In Voting Rights Fight
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes is asking a federal district court to deny a bid by the state's top lawmakers and the Republican National Committee to pause a decision to bar provisions of voting legislation from being enforced, arguing that a change this close to an election would create confusion.
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May 22, 2024
US House Passes Crypto Bill Over SEC, White House Dissent
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a Republican-led framework to regulate digital assets despite pushback from many Democrats, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the White House, which questioned whether the bill will actually provide the clarity it promises.
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May 22, 2024
Fla. Gaming Compact Contradicts Law, High Court Told
Two Florida casino operators seeking to undo a sports gaming compact between the state and the Seminole Tribe fired back at the federal government's claims that the agreement is legal, arguing that its language contradicts the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
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May 22, 2024
Feds And Enviro Groups Fight Utah Counties' High Court Bid
The United States, a Colorado county and five environmental groups are fighting a bid by a coalition of Utah counties to win a U.S. Supreme Court review of a D.C. Circuit decision revoking federal approval of a rail line to transport crude oil from the state.
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May 22, 2024
Monsanto's Appellate Win Won't Nix $438M PCB Loss
A Washington state trial judge has declined to throw out a $438 million judgment against Monsanto in one of a series of PCB poisoning suits tied to a school site, rejecting the company's argument that the judgment cannot stand on the heels of a state appellate court ruling reversing another plaintiffs' win in the case group.
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May 22, 2024
Seattle Sues Train Cos. Over Bike Track-Crossing Suits
The city of Seattle says two short-line railroads have breached agreements to maintain liability insurance and indemnify the city in lawsuits from cyclists injured crossing tracks along a perilous stretch of a popular bike trail, according to a complaint filed in Washington state court.
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May 22, 2024
Ex-Citi Exec Says She Was Asked To Lie To OCC
A former Citibank NA managing director hired to bring the bank into compliance with regulatory obligations has accused the bank and its chief operating officer of wrongful termination and retaliation in a suit Wednesday, alleging she was fired for not reporting false information to authorities.
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May 23, 2024
Sunsetting Section 230 Gains Traction On Both Sides Of Aisle
Everyone at Wednesday's House subcommittee hearing, from left to right, seemed to agree that it's time to ditch the Communications Decency Act's hotly contested Section 230, which shields online platforms from liability for content posted by third parties.
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May 22, 2024
Antitrust Judge Questions Apple's Phil Schiller On New Fees
A California federal judge deciding whether Apple has complied with her ban on App Store anti-steering rules questioned Apple fellow Phil Schiller on Wednesday on Apple's new program imposing 27% fees on out-of-app transactions, saying "all the new program does is maintain the anti-competitive environment" for the company's benefit.
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May 22, 2024
Binance.US Beats Fla. Regulator's Suspension Order
A Florida state appeals court agreed with Binance.US on Wednesday that the state's financial regulator shouldn't have denied the cryptocurrency exchange the ability to do business in the state after its affiliate and founder pled guilty last year, and that the agency didn't follow proper procedure in blocking Binance's operations.
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May 22, 2024
Feds To Extend Plea Offer To Oath Keepers Atty In Jan. 6 Case
Federal prosecutors said Wednesday that they plan to extend a plea offer to an attorney for the far-right Oath Keepers group charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, but the specifics of the offer could depend on the U.S. Supreme Court's stance on a federal statute often used to prosecute alleged Capitol rioters.
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May 22, 2024
DC Judge Ships CFTC Election Betting Suit Back To Texas
A federal judge in the District of Columbia said Wednesday that a case challenging a Commodity Futures Trading Commission ban on an elections betting platform should never have been sent to her court, shipping the lawsuit back to Texas over the objections of the agency.
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May 22, 2024
Ga. Lender Asks Panel To Free It From Unsolicited Check Case
A Georgia lending institution asked the Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday to reverse a trial court's decision not to free it from a lawsuit alleging it violated the Georgia Fair Business Practices Act by sending out an unsolicited live check that was stolen and cashed by an unknown party.
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May 22, 2024
9th Circ. Denies States' Bid To Weigh In On Asylum Limits
A split Ninth Circuit on Wednesday denied several states' motion to intervene in the Biden administration's bid to settle a lawsuit challenging a rule limiting asylum, saying the states lack interests warranting their involvement in settlement negotiations.
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May 22, 2024
Youths Take Second Crack At Constitutional Climate Suit
A group of young plaintiffs on Monday made their second attempt at a lawsuit alleging that the Constitution guarantees "a life-sustaining climate system" and that the federal government unconstitutionally discriminates against children by favoring the fossil fuel industry's interests over children's.
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May 22, 2024
Justices' CFPB Alliance May Save SEC Courts, Not Chevron
A four-justice concurrence to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's unique funding scheme last week carries implications for other cases pending before the court that challenge the so-called administrative state, or the permanent cadre of regulatory agencies and career government enforcers who hold sway over vast swaths of American economic life.
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May 22, 2024
Solar Cell Duties May Inadvertently Crush Domestic Industry
A bevy of new duty rules on solar cell imports from Asia, coupled with a government investigation instigated by domestic producers unconventionally claiming to protect future homegrown manufacturing, could backfire on the Biden administration's efforts to boost the nascent domestic sector.
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May 22, 2024
Fla. Judge Won't Pause Russian Planes Coverage Suit
A Florida judge on Wednesday refused to pause an aircraft leasing company's coverage suit for $700 million worth of airplanes reappropriated by Russian airlines after the Ukraine war began, denying a request by some of the company's insurers to wait until litigation in the U.K. is resolved.
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May 22, 2024
1st Circ. Affirms UBS Win In Puerto Rico Pension Fight
The First Circuit said public pensioners in Puerto Rico can't advance their claims that UBS Financial Services illegally underwrote $3 billion in bonds, ruling that the island's financial restructuring plan transferred the right to those claims to a special committee.
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May 22, 2024
FDA Must Act On Sexual Side Effects Of SSRIs, Suit Says
The Food and Drug Administration should be forced to warn the public about the serious sexual side effects of a certain class of depression medications after sitting on a petition asking it to do just that for more than six years, a new lawsuit says.
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May 22, 2024
FCC Weighs Requiring AI Disclosures In Political Ads
The Federal Communications Commission will soon decide if it needs new rules requiring disclosure of content generated with artificial intelligence in radio and TV political ads.
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May 22, 2024
Boies Urges Judge To Rethink Precedential Cannabis Case
Attorney David Boies, representing a group of cannabis companies challenging federal marijuana prohibition, told a Massachusetts federal judge Wednesday that his clients' case should proceed because a U.S. Supreme Court case governing marijuana policy is out of date.
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May 22, 2024
Judgeship Threatened If Trump Aide Didn't Flip, Atty Says
An attorney representing Donald Trump's personal aide urged a Florida federal judge Wednesday to dismiss an indictment alleging obstruction in the investigation of whether the former president illegally kept documents after leaving office, saying a government attorney threatened to derail a potential judicial nomination if his client didn't cooperate.
Expert Analysis
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HHS' Updated Tracking Tech Guidance Offers Little Clarity
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights' updated guidance on the use of online tracking technologies appears more focused on legal issues raised in ongoing litigation with the American Hospital Association and less on practical guidance for covered entities, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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8 Tips As GCs Prep For New SEC Climate Disclosure Rules
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently adopted rules governing climate-related disclosures represent a major change to the existing public company disclosure regime, so in-house counsel should begin to evaluate existing systems and resources related to emissions data, and identify the changes that will need to be made, say attorneys at Bracewell.
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A Defense Strategy For Addressing Copyright Fee-Shifting
Permissive fee-shifting under Section 505 of the Copyright Act poses unique challenges for copyright defendants, carrying an outsize impact on the economic incentive structure in copyright litigation, but relying on a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure may offer a potential solution by allowing defendants to recover attorney fees, say Hugh Marbury and Molly Shaffer at Cozen O'Connor.
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Opinion
DOJ Press Office Is Not Fulfilling Its Stated Mission
The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs’ apparent practice of issuing press releases when someone is indicted or convicted, but not when a defendant prevails, undermines its stated mission to disseminate “current, complete and accurate” information, and has negative real-world ramifications, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.
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An Overview Of Key Financing Documents In Venture Capital
The Delaware Chancery Court’s recent Moelis decision highlights the importance of structuring corporate governance around investor demand, meaning early-stage companies seeking venture funding through sales of preferred stock should understand the legal documents needed to do so successfully, say Daniel Bell-Garcia and Tristan Kaisharis at Winstead.
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Opinion
Expanded Detention Will Not Solve Immigration Challenges
The recently defeated bipartisan border package included provisions that would increase funding for detention, a costly distraction from reforms like improved adjudication and legal representation that could address legitimate economic and public safety concerns at much lower cost, say Alexandra Dufresne and Kyle Wolf at Cornell University.
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Ready Or Not, Big Tech Should Expect CFPB Surveillance
In light of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's proposed plan to supervise large companies providing the vast majority of digital money transfers, not only will Big Tech have to prepare for regulation previously reserved for traditional banks, but the CFPB will also likely face some difficult decisions and obstacles, says Meredith Osborn at Arnold & Porter.
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Opinion
Neb. Justices Should Weigh IRC Terms In Dividend Tax Case
Nebraska’s highest court, which will hear oral arguments in Precision CastParts v. Department of Revenue on April 1, should recognize that the Internal Revenue Code provides key clues to defining “dividends received or deemed to be received,” and therefore limits Nebraska’s tax on foreign-sourced corporate income, says Joseph Schmidt at Ryan.
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What New Waste Management Laws Signal For The Future
Several states have enacted extended producer responsibility and recycling labeling laws that will take effect in the next few years and force manufacturers to take responsibility for the end of life of their products, so companies should closely follow compliance timelines and push to innovate in the area, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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Untangling The Legal Complexities Of Trade Secrets And AI
With broad adoption of generative artificial intelligence, some have suggested trade secret law is the best means for protecting innovations, but while this protection may apply to all forms of information, the breadth of coverage may make identifying the information and later misappropriation difficult, say Joshua Lerner and Nora Passamaneck at WilmerHale.
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A Look At 3 Noncompete Bans Under Consideration In NYC
A trio of noncompete bills currently pending in the New York City Council would have various effects on employers' abilities to enter into such agreements with their employees, reflecting growing anti-noncompete sentiment across the U.S., say Tracey Diamond and Grace Goodheart at Troutman Pepper.
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Reducing Risk While DOJ Plans New Whistleblower Rewards
In light of the Department of Justice's newly announced plan to create a comprehensive whistleblower reward program to fill the gaps in the current patchwork of federal incentives, companies should mitigate their risk of external claims now by implementing internal systems where employees can confidently and anonymously report concerns, say Caleb Hayes-Deats and Walter Hawes at MoloLamken.
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Series
Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.
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DOJ's Safe Harbor Policy May Quietly Favor M&A Enforcement
In a change that has received little attention, the U.S. Justice Department's recently codified safe harbor policy essentially reads the Antitrust Division's criminal enforcement out of the policy entirely, and now appears to favor merger enforcement in antitrust, rather than criminal enforcement, as originally intended, say Daniel Oakes and James Attridge at Axinn.
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Takeaways From The 2023 DOJ Fraud Section Report
Attorneys at Wiley discuss notable trends from the U.S. Department of Justice's recently reported Fraud Section activity last year and highlight areas of enforcement to watch for in the future, including healthcare fraud and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations.