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Public Policy
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April 29, 2024
Justices Won't Hear Musk's Case Against SEC Gag Order
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said it will not review the terms of a settlement Elon Musk entered into with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission six years ago, keeping intact a Second Circuit decision that upheld the terms of a deal that said the Tesla CEO must receive preauthorization before making certain social media posts about the car manufacturer.
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April 29, 2024
Justices To Weigh RICO Injury Scope In CBD Case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a case brought by a trio of CBD companies asking the justices to establish whether a plaintiff can bring a personal injury claim under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
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April 26, 2024
Law360 Reveals Titans Of The Plaintiffs Bar
In the past year, plaintiffs have won settlements and judgments for millions and billions of dollars from companies such as Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Facebook and Fox News, with many high-profile cases finally wrapping up after years of fighting. Such cases — involving over-the-top compensation packages, chemical contamination, gender discrimination and data mining — were led by attorneys whose accomplishments earned them recognition as Law360's Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar for 2024.
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April 26, 2024
Remote Class, Medical News, More: Texas High Court Roundup
The Supreme Court of Texas ruled on a handful of issues Friday, including the liability of universities for switching to remote learning, the responsibility of an employer for not providing a worker with concerning medical news and how a settlement credit should be applied to a final judgment.
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April 26, 2024
Ex-McKinsey Partner Says Firm Made Him Opioids 'Scapegoat'
A former McKinsey & Co. partner lobbed defamation claims at the consulting firm, claiming Friday that it lied to the government and the public about his purported role in deleting evidence amid government investigations into the firm's work with opioid manufacturers, an alleged scheme designed to make him the "scapegoat."
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April 26, 2024
Trump Casts Tabloid Deal As 'Standard Operating Procedure'
Donald Trump's attorneys tried to undermine Manhattan prosecutors' lead witness in his criminal trial on Friday, casting his deal to boost his presidency with the help of a friendly tabloid baron as nothing more than a savvy business relationship that was perfectly legal.
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April 26, 2024
New PTAB Briefing Plan Likely To Get Patent Owner Pushback
A proposed rule to create a separate round of briefing in Patent Trial and Appeal Board cases about whether the board should use its discretion to deny review may rankle patent owners, attorneys say, since it could effectively restrict their available arguments in many cases.
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April 26, 2024
TikTok Ban Reveals Congress' Power In Place Of CFIUS Limits
The new law calling for TikTok's Chinese parent company to sell the app or get banned in the U.S. reflects the limits of national security reviews and shows how Congress and the president may bolster, or circumvent, them going forward.
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April 26, 2024
HHS Finalizes Bolstered Sexual Orientation Bias Protections
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Friday unveiled a final rule designed to beef up protections against discrimination in healthcare, in particular protecting access to healthcare for the LGBTQ+ community as well as for other vulnerable populations.
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April 26, 2024
Senate Bill Would Vet FCC Rural Program Applicants
A bill that would make the vetting process tougher for rural broadband telecoms trying to get their hands on Federal Communications Commission-provided high-cost subsidies may advance Wednesday if all goes well during committee.
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April 26, 2024
St. John's Hoops Players Say NCAA Can't Block Their Play
Two St. John's University basketball players sued the NCAA Friday in New York, saying it arbitrarily denied them waivers for its "five-year rule" that prohibits student-athletes from competing in more than four seasons in any one sport, after they lost a season during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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April 26, 2024
Orgs Ask Biden, Congress To Impel Ligado Order's Reversal
It's time for the Federal Communications Commission to retract its controversial order allowing satellite communications company Ligado Networks to operate over a slice of spectrum known as the L-band, over 100 groups have banded together to tell Congress and the Biden administration.
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April 26, 2024
2nd Circ. Revives NY's Low-Income Broadband Pricing Law
The Second Circuit has breathed new life into a New York state law that requires internet service providers to offer reduced-price broadband plans, ruling Friday that a lower court was wrong to block the law nearly three years ago.
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April 26, 2024
CFTC Receives Competing Visions For AI's Regulatory Future
Business lobbyists have urged the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to lean on existing regulations to address the financial industry's use of artificial intelligence, while skeptics say those regulations don't go far enough to guard against the technology's potential to spur market crashes and data breaches.
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April 26, 2024
4 Takeaways From Final EPA Power Plant Rules
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's long-awaited rule limiting greenhouse gas emissions from power plants accelerates the timeline for the electricity sector's transition away from fossil fuels, though there's plenty of legal and political uncertainty to consider. Here are four key takeaways from the EPA's power plant moves.
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April 26, 2024
Wash. Judge Doubts He Can Block Kroger Merger
A Washington state judge expressed "serious doubts" Friday he could block the $24.6 billion Kroger and Albertsons merger but declined to dismiss the state attorney general's lawsuit seeking to derail the deal, saying that the state still had more narrowly tailored remedies to address its anti-competition concerns.
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April 26, 2024
Europeans Try To Ease Dispute Process In Canada Trade Pact
The European Commission on Friday proposed new rules to help small and medium-sized businesses access a yet-to-be established investor court that was included in the bloc's nearly seven-year-old trade deal with Canada.
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April 26, 2024
Rail Group Sues Minnesota Over New Hazmat Safety Fee Law
The lead lobbying group for the largest freight railroads sued Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison in federal court on Friday, challenging a state law requiring railroads to dedicate $2.8 million for responding to hazardous material incidents.
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April 26, 2024
Sen. Panel Set To Vote On Dems' Spectrum Auction Bill
A Senate panel plans to vote on a bill that would renew the Federal Communications Commission's spectrum auction powers and address a shortfall in the agency's national security program.
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April 26, 2024
Feds Probe Tesla Autopilot Recall Fix Amid 'Misuse' Risks
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating whether Tesla's software update following a December recall, intended to more clearly warn drivers to stay alert and attentive while using its vehicles' Autopilot advanced driver-assistance system, effectively addressed the risks of "driver misuse."
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April 26, 2024
Crypto Atty's Senate Bid Takes Detour For SEC-Coinbase Suit
The pro-cryptocurrency attorney vying to unseat Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts added to his pro bono work in the digital asset space on Friday by taking up the mantle for Coinbase users in the crypto exchange's ongoing battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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April 26, 2024
Support For 9th Circ. Rehearing In Oak Flat Dispute Mounting
At least 100 religious and nonprofit groups, law scholars, Native American coalitions and tribes are urging the Ninth Circuit to consider a full panel en banc hearing on a challenge to block a copper mining company from destroying a sacred Indigenous religious site in central Arizona.
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April 26, 2024
Judge Made Right Call To Save DHS Parole Program, Feds Say
The Biden administration has assured a Texas federal judge that he made the right call tossing a lawsuit that Republican-led states launched challenging a parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, saying evidence showed that the program didn't financially harm the states.
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April 26, 2024
Custodia Balks At KC Fed's $25K Legal Bill After Account Suit
Custodia Bank on Friday urged a Wyoming federal judge not to award the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's request for roughly $25,000 in attorney fees and litigation costs in a suit that the cryptocurrency-focused bank recently lost, saying the payout could deter others from pursuing "David and Goliath" lawsuits against the government.
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April 26, 2024
Thomas' Long Quest To Undo A 'Grave Constitutional Error'
A quarter-century after Justice Clarence Thomas cast a pivotal vote against jury trial rights and rapidly regretted it, his relentless campaign to undo the controversial precedent is suddenly center stage with a serious shot at succeeding, as judges and lawyers increasingly deem the decision dubious and the U.S. Supreme Court chips away at its edges.
Expert Analysis
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Preparing For Possible Calif. Criminal Antitrust Enforcement
Though a recent announcement that the California Attorney General's Office will resume criminal prosecutions in support of its antitrust enforcement may be mere saber-rattling, companies and their counsel should nevertheless be prepared for interactions with the California AG's Antitrust Section that are not limited to civil liability issues, say Dylan Ballard and Lillian Sun at V&E.
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What To Know About IRS' New Jet Use Audit Campaign
The Internal Revenue Service recently announced plans to open several dozen audits scrutinizing executive use of company jets, so companies should be prepared to show the business reasons for travel, and how items like imputed income and deduction disallowance were calculated, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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ShapeShift Fine Epitomizes SEC's Crypto Policy, And Its Flaws
A recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission order imposing a fine on former cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift for failing to register as a securities dealer showcases the SEC's regulation-by-enforcement approach, but the dissent by two commissioners raises valid concerns that the agency's embrace of ambiguity over clarity risks hampering the growth of the crypto economy, says Keith Blackman at Bracewell.
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California Shows A Viable Way Forward For PFAS Testing
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has no good way of testing for the presence of specific per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances in food packaging — but a widely available test for a range of fluorine compounds that's now being used in California may offer a good solution, says Vineet Dubey at Custodio & Dubey.
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2nd Circ. Adviser Liability Ruling May Shape SEC Enforcement
The Second Circuit’s recent decision in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Rashid, applying basic negligence principles to reverse a finding of investment adviser liability, provides a road map for future fraud enforcement proceedings, says Elisha Kobre at Bradley Arant.
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In Bribery Case, High Court's Past Is Probably Prologue
The U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear oral arguments in Snyder v. U.S. on the issue of whether federal law criminalizes gratuities that are not tied to an explicit quid pro quo, and precedent strongly indicates the court will limit an expansive reading of the bribery statute, say attorneys Sami Azhari and Don Davidson.
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Stay Interviews Are Key To Retaining Legal Talent
Even as the economy shifts and layoffs continue, law firms still want to retain their top attorneys, and so-called stay interviews — informal conversations with employees to identify potential issues before they lead to turnover — can be a crucial tool for improving retention and morale, say Tina Cohen Nicol and Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey.
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What To Know About State-Level Health Data Privacy Laws
Companies that handle consumer health data, including those in the retail sector, should take a conservative approach when interpreting the scope of new health privacy laws in Washington, Nevada and Connecticut, which may include development of privacy notices, consent procedures, rights request response processes and processor contracts, say attorneys at Hunton.
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New Concerns, Same Tune At This Year's SIFMA Conference
At this year's Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association conference on legal developments affecting the financial services industry, government regulators’ emphasis on whistleblowing and AI washing represented a new refrain in an increasingly familiar chorus calling for prompt and thorough corporate cooperation, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
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Ruling In La. May Undercut EPA Enviro Justice Efforts
A Louisiana federal court's recent decision in Louisiana v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will likely serve as a template for other states to oppose the EPA's use of disparate impact analyses in Title VI civil rights cases aimed at advancing environmental justice policies and investigations, say Jonathan Brightbill and Joshua Brown at Winston & Strawn.
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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.