Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Public Policy
-
May 29, 2024
2nd Circ. Unsure If Error Kept Murder Exonerees' Case Alive
A Second Circuit judge expressed doubt Wednesday that a lower court erred in declining to grant qualified immunity to two Connecticut police officers whose actions allegedly contributed to the wrongful convictions of two men for a 1985 murder, noting that a key piece of evidence challenging prosecutors' theory remains shrouded in mystery.
-
May 29, 2024
11th Circ. Backs SEC Win In Trader's Challenge To 'Dealer' Tag
An Eleventh Circuit panel on Wednesday affirmed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's win in a suit accusing a microcap stock trader of earning $21.5 million while operating as an unregistered dealer, further solidifying the regulator's argument that so-called toxic lenders are considered unregistered dealers.
-
May 29, 2024
NY Jury Eyes Trump Tower 'Conspiracy' As Deliberations Start
Jurors in Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial ended their first day of deliberations Wednesday without a verdict, as the panel appeared to home in on testimony about a key 2015 meeting where the alleged scheme was hatched.
-
May 29, 2024
ND Lawmakers Oppose High Court Review In Subpoena Row
Two North Dakota tribes' effort to toss an Eighth Circuit ruling voiding subpoenas on state lawmakers as part of Voting Rights Act litigation isn't worthy of U.S. Supreme Court review, the North Dakota State Legislative Assembly said Wednesday in urging the high court not to take up the case.
-
May 29, 2024
NC State Is Blocking Probe Of PCBs In Building, Court Told
North Carolina State University is trying to exploit the judicial process in order to destroy evidence of building contamination, a cancer-stricken professor told a state appeals court Tuesday in a bid to advance plans for a carcinogen inspection.
-
May 29, 2024
MGM Gambler's Missing $3M Heads To Mich. Supreme Court
The Michigan Supreme Court said Wednesday it will consider whether a state law governing online gambling preempts a woman's lawsuit claiming MGM's online betting arm refused to pay her $3.2 million in winnings from online roulette, after the casino said the payout was a mistake.
-
May 29, 2024
Feds, Dreamers Tell 5th Circ. That Fight For DACA Isn't Over
The Biden administration and recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program urged the Fifth Circuit to reverse an order that held the program unlawful, saying the program has a chance of surviving in light of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings.
-
May 29, 2024
FCC Chief Floats Plan To Cut Down On Orbital Satellite Debris
The Federal Communications Commission's chair proposed new rules Wednesday aiming to reduce the chances of spacecraft explosions that leave debris in orbit.
-
May 29, 2024
News Orgs. Say State 'Eclipsing' Honesty In Uvalde Doc Row
A coalition of news outlets led by the Texas Tribune told an appeals court Tuesday that the state's request to seal its appellate brief in a long-running dispute over records related to the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde is an attempt by law enforcement to "eclipse" transparency into the tragedy.
-
May 29, 2024
South Baltimore Citizens Call On EPA For Incinerator Relief
Baltimore has turned a blind eye to South Baltimore residents suffering from respiratory diseases and persistently urging the city to transition away from Maryland's largest trash incinerator to zero-waste infrastructure for dealing with refuse, two environmental groups and a residents group say in an administrative complaint Wednesday.
-
May 29, 2024
TikTok Ban Gets Expedited Sept. Hearing Date At DC Circ.
The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday agreed to expedite the briefing schedule for a constitutional challenge against a federal law banning TikTok from the United States unless it severs its ties with its Chinese parent company, ByteDance Ltd., with oral arguments set to be heard this fall.
-
May 29, 2024
PJM Watchdog Challenges FERC's Meeting Roadblock
Monitoring Analytics, the independent market monitor for regional transmission organization PJM Interconnection, is asking the D.C. Circuit to review a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission order from March allowing PJM to keep the monitor out of its liaison committee meetings.
-
May 29, 2024
Benefits Trade Group Urges Changes To New York PBM Regs
A trade group representing large employers who sponsor employee benefit plans warned New York's insurance regulator that a proposal affecting pharmacy benefit managers — which act as intermediaries between pharmacies, drugmakers and insurers — will trigger litigation without changes before they're finalized to eliminate conflicts with federal benefits law.
-
May 29, 2024
EPA Inspector General Decries Lack Of Funding To Congress
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Inspector General Sean W. O'Donnell expressed concern over his office's lack of funding in a report to Congress on Wednesday, saying the 2024 budget is lower than it was 13 years ago, despite increased oversight responsibilities and personnel costs.
-
May 29, 2024
Handbag Cos. Seek FTC In-House Delay For Fed. Court Row
Tapestry and Capri are asking the Federal Trade Commission to delay an in-house challenge to the planned $8.5 billion merger combining the parent companies of Coach and Michael Kors, arguing the FTC's separate request for a preliminary injunction in New York federal court should take precedence.
-
May 29, 2024
New Colo. Law Targets AI Deepfakes In Political Ads
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has signed a bill that aims to crack down on the malicious use of artificial intelligence for producing political messaging.
-
May 29, 2024
FDA Sued Over Controversial Lab Test Rule
A clinical lab trade group that has been highly critical of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's new final rule on laboratory-developed tests filed a lawsuit late Wednesday, saying the agency doesn't have the authority to regulate the tests as medical devices.
-
May 29, 2024
Iowa Immigration Law Challengers Want Identities Kept Secret
Two women using pseudonyms to challenge an Iowa law empowering state officials to deport certain immigrants resisted the state attorney general's efforts to publicly identify them, saying they fear the threat of removal as well as persecution from anti-immigrant extremists.
-
May 29, 2024
Texas Judge Bans Using $1.4B Border Wall Funds For Repairs
A Texas federal judge on Wednesday permanently blocked the White House from using $1.4 billion of border wall construction funding for barrier repair, rejecting requests from landowners, contractors and environmental groups to reconsider the scope of the ban.
-
May 29, 2024
Ga. Elections Board Member Sues Over Record Access
A Republican member of Georgia's Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections has filed a lawsuit alleging that the board and the county's elections director are preventing her from performing her duties by denying her access to election records and processes.
-
May 29, 2024
Judge Says Texas Can't Relitigate DHS Parole Program
A Texas federal judge won't reconsider a March decision dismissing the Lone Star State's challenge to the Biden administration's parole program for Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, saying Texas is trying to relitigate the court's conclusion that it lacks standing.
-
May 29, 2024
6 Questions For FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez
A year after she was nominated for the Federal Communications Commission's third Democratic seat, Anna Gomez says she's steadily progressing toward goals tied to connectivity, innovation, public safety and media localism in what she calls the "best job I've had in my career."
-
May 29, 2024
Fire Chiefs Want FirstNet In Charge Of Revamped 4.9 GHz
Firefighters across the country want the Federal Communications Commission to know that they're in favor of the agency's plan to turn the revamped 4.9-gigahertz public safety band over to a single, nationwide manager.
-
May 29, 2024
Kansas Gov. Sets June Special Session On Taxes
The Republican-led Kansas Legislature will meet in a special session June 18 to consider tax relief legislation, the state's governor said Wednesday, calling for compromise following her veto of a bill to reduce income tax rates.
-
May 29, 2024
Neoprene Co. Calls EPA Rule Deadline 'Surprise Switcharoo'
A Louisiana-based neoprene manufacturer is asking the D.C. Circuit to immediately block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from enforcing a chemical emissions rule that will directly impact the company.
Expert Analysis
-
The Drawbacks Of Banking Regulators' Merger Review Plans
Recent proposals for bank merger review criteria by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. share common pitfalls: increased likelihood of delays, uncertainties, and new hurdles to transactions that could impede the long-term safety and soundness of the banks involved, say attorneys at WilmerHale.
-
Opinion
The FTC's Noncompete Rule Is Likely Dead On Arrival
The Federal Trade Commission's April 23 noncompete ban ignores the consequences to the employees it claims to help — but the rule is unlikely to go into effect provided the ideological makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court remains the same, say Erik Weibust and Stuart Gerson at Epstein Becker.
-
Wave Of Final Rules Reflects Race Against CRA Deadline
The flurry of final rules now leaping off the Federal Register press — some of which will affect entire industries and millions of Americans — shows President Joe Biden's determination to protect his regulatory legacy from reversal by the next Congress, given the impending statutory look-back period under the Congressional Review Act, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.
-
Unpacking The Bill To Extend TCJA's Biz-Friendly Tax Breaks
Attorneys at Skadden examine how a bipartisan bill currently being considered by the U.S. Senate to save the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's tax breaks for research and development costs, and other expiring business-friendly provisions, would affect taxpayers.
-
'Beauty From Within' Trend Poses Regulatory Risks For Cos.
Companies capitalizing on the current trend in oral supplements touting cosmetic benefits must note that a product claim that would be acceptable for an externally applied cosmetic may draw much stronger scrutiny from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration when applied to a supplement, say Natalie Rainer and Katherine Staba at K&L Gates.
-
Perspectives
Criminal Defendants Should Have Access To Foreign Evidence
A New Jersey federal court recently ordered prosecutors to obtain evidence from India on behalf of the former Cognizant Technology executives they’re prosecuting — a precedent that other courts should follow to make cross-border evidentiary requests more fair and efficient, say Kaylana Mueller-Hsia and Rebecca Wexler at UC Berkeley School of Law.
-
How Cos. Can Prep For New Calif. Privacy Regulations
The California Privacy Protection Agency has been very active in the first quarter of 2024 and continues to exercise its rulemaking authority with proposed draft regulations, so retailers should prepare for California Consumer Privacy Act enforcement and figure out how best to comply, say attorneys at Dentons.
-
Fed. Circ. Defines Foreign IP Damages, Raises New Questions
In Brumfield v. IBG, the Federal Circuit recently clarified which standard determines the extraterritoriality of the patent statute after the U.S. Supreme Court's WesternGeco decision, opening a new avenue of damages for foreign activities resulting from certain domestic activities while also creating some thorny questions, say Amol Parikh and Ian Howard at McDermott.
-
EPA Chemical Safety Rule Raises Questions About Authority
Stakeholders should consider the practical and economic costs of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recently finalized rule imposing novel board reporting regulations for certain chemical plants and refineries, which signals that the agency may seek a role in regulating corporate governance, say attorneys at Sidley.
-
Series
Being An Equestrian Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Beyond getting experience thinking on my feet and tackling stressful situations, the skills I've gained from horseback riding have considerable overlap with the skills used to practice law, particularly in terms of team building, continuing education, and making an effort to reset and recharge, says Kerry Irwin at Moore & Van Allen.
-
Bracing For The CFPB's War On Mortgage Fees
As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau homes in on the legality of certain residential mortgage fees, the industry should consult the bureau's steady stream of consumer lending guidance for hints on its priorities, say Nanci Weissgold and Melissa Malpass at Alston & Bird.
-
Deciding What Comes At The End Of WTO's Digital Tariff Ban
Companies that feel empowered by the World Trade Organization’s recent two-year extension of the ban on e-commerce tariffs should pay attention to current negotiations over what comes after the moratorium expires, as these agreements will define standards in international e-commerce for years to come, say Jan Walter, Hannes Sigurgeirsson and Kulsum Gulamhusein at Akin Gump.
-
DOE Funding And Cargo Preference Compliance: Key Points
Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the U.S. Department of Energy will disburse more than $62 billion in financing for innovative energy projects — and recipients must understand their legal obligations related to cargo preference, so they can develop compliance strategies as close to project inception as possible, say attorneys at White & Case.
-
Georgia's Foreign Lobbying Bill Is Not A FARA Copycat
Though a recently passed bill in Georgia aims to mirror the transparency goals of the federal Foreign Agents Registration Act by imposing state-specific disclosure requirements for foreign lobbyists, the legislation’s broad language and lack of exemptions could capture a wider swath of organizations, say attorneys at Holtzman Vogel.
-
FTC Noncompete Ban Signals Rising Labor Focus In Antitrust
The Federal Trade Commission’s approval this week of a prohibition on noncompete agreements continues antitrust enforcers’ increasing focus on labor, meaning companies must keep employee issues top of mind both in the ordinary course of business and when pursuing transactions, say attorneys at Skadden.