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Public Policy
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September 17, 2024
Blumenauer Pushes House Speaker To Put Pot Bill To Vote
U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., on Monday urged House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring bipartisan cannabis legislation to a vote following revelations that Richard Nixon admitted privately that marijuana was "not particularly dangerous" while he publicly waged the war on drugs.
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September 17, 2024
Univ. Can Expand Coastal Campus, Mass. Appeals Court Says
A Massachusetts university has no obligation to preserve for public use 12 acres of land in a coastal town just north of Boston, the state's intermediate-level appeals court ruled.
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September 17, 2024
Instagram Changing Teen Accounts As Pressure Mounts
Instagram announced changes Tuesday to its user experience for those under age 18 as it faces increasing concern about children's online safety.
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September 17, 2024
Competitiveness Outranks Climate In New EU Commission
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shifted her focus from climate change to boosting competitiveness as she proposed her team of commissioners for the next five-year mandate Tuesday, handing out key jobs covering everything from competition enforcement to trade policy.
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September 17, 2024
Conn. AG Balks At Avangrid's $2.55B Take-Private Deal
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and Consumer Counsel Claire E. Coleman want the state's utility watchdog to probe a Spanish energy firm's $2.55 billion proposal to take a Constitution State-based utility private, citing fears about reduced regulatory oversight amid soaring electricity and gas prices.
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September 17, 2024
Doctors To End UK Strikes After Accepting 22% Pay Rise
Junior doctors in England have accepted a pay deal that will increase salaries by 22.3% over two years, ending 18 months of strikes.
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September 16, 2024
Senate Confirms Tenn, Prosecutor To 6th Circ.
The U.S. Senate Monday confirmed federal prosecutor Kevin Ritz to join the Sixth Circuit bench along a 48-46 party line vote following vocal objections from the senior senator from Tennessee over the past few months.
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September 16, 2024
Pot Co. Execs Go To 9th Circ. In Investment Scam Case
A California cannabis company and its co-founders on Monday appealed a federal court decision booting them from the securities industry and holding them liable for roughly $6 million tied to a medical marijuana investment scam, the same day that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission asked the court to order a third individual to pay up for his part in the alleged scam.
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September 16, 2024
9th Circ. Won't Review Tribal Jurisdiction In Virus Suit
An en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit on Monday upheld a panel's finding that the Suquamish Tribal Court has jurisdiction over the tribe's coronavirus coverage dispute with its insurers, though a dissent claimed the panel decision "gutted any geographic limits of tribal court jurisdiction."
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September 16, 2024
5th Circ. Judge Chides High Court Calls in Abortion Pill Case
U.S. Circuit Judge James C. Ho on Monday threw shade at the U.S. Supreme Court and the Biden administration over what he described as side-switching on federal conscience laws for doctors.
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September 16, 2024
Judges Examine Who Has Free Speech Rights In TikTok Case
A D.C. Circuit panel on Monday pressed lawyers for the federal government as well as TikTok and its users to parse whether full First Amendment protections apply to the social media platform's foreign owners as well as to its users despite congressional worries that the platform is vulnerable to interference by a potential overseas adversary.
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September 16, 2024
Why A Tactic In The Youth Climate Change Battle Is Risky
Young people suing the federal government for sweeping changes to climate policy are trying a new tactic, filing a mandamus petition in the U.S. Supreme Court in an effort to get their case to trial. But some lawyers are worried the tactic may backfire, limiting the opportunity for others to use the courts to wage climate battles, experts told Law360.
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September 16, 2024
La. Grants Automatic Tax Relief To Hurricane Francine Victims
Louisiana taxpayers affected by Hurricane Francine may receive an automatic extension for filing state tax returns, the state's Department of Revenue announced Friday.
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September 16, 2024
Biden Methane Rule Is Gov't Overstep, ND Judge Rules
The Biden administration can't enforce a rule aimed at curbing methane gas emissions from federally held oil and gas leases in a coalition of Republican-led states led by North Dakota after a federal judge found the states had sufficiently shown the government may have overstepped its authority.
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September 16, 2024
DOL Faces 2 More Suits Over H-2A Farmworker Labor Rule
The U.S. Department of Labor was hit Friday with two lawsuits attacking its new regulation protecting union-related activities for agricultural workers on seasonal H-2A visas — less than a month after a Georgia federal judge paused the regulation.
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September 16, 2024
Treasury Cuts 'Zero Basis' Rule In Final Estate Tax Regs
The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday said it would not keep a rule that set a zero value for the unreported property of an estate in final regulations on the requirement that an heir's basis in inherited property be consistent with the property's value for estate tax purposes.
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September 16, 2024
Banking Pro Returns To Sullivan & Cromwell
A former deputy general counsel at the Federal Reserve Board has rejoined Sullivan & Cromwell LLP's financial services group as a partner in New York, the firm said Monday.
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September 16, 2024
DOJ Special Counsel Hur Among Duo Joining King & Spalding
King & Spalding LLP announced Monday that Robert Hur, the former special counsel who declined to prosecute President Joe Biden earlier this year over his handling of classified documents, was rejoining the firm alongside fellow U.S. Department of Justice attorney Leah Grossi.
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September 16, 2024
Feds Misapplied L-Visa Criteria In Denial, Colombian Biz Says
A Colombian business has sued U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services after being denied an application to transfer an executive to oversee its American subsidiary, telling a D.C. federal court that the agency misapplied the criteria for approving L-1A visas.
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September 16, 2024
2 Former High-Ranking FDNY Officers Charged With Bribery
Two former high-ranking New York City Fire Department chiefs were charged in a federal indictment unsealed Monday with taking bribes to fast-track fire safety plan reviews and inspections for certain businesses.
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September 16, 2024
French EU Commissioner Quits In Dispute With Von Der Leyen
France's candidate to serve as European Union commissioner for the next five-year mandate resigned abruptly Monday, accusing commission President Ursula von der Leyen of "questionable governance" and of asking France to replace him.
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September 16, 2024
Nothing Novel About Trump Ex-Atty's Case, Justices Told
Former President Donald Trump urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject his former attorney Michael Cohen's bid for another look at his suit claiming he was imprisoned as payback for his memoir about his time as Trump's so-called fixer, arguing there's nothing novel about the matter.
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September 16, 2024
Nebraska Medical Cannabis Initiatives Will Be On Nov. Ballot
Initiatives to legalize medical marijuana in Nebraska will appear on the ballot come November, despite some evidence of fraud in the signature-collecting petition process, according to state election officials.
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September 16, 2024
IRS Floats Definition Of 'Covered Month' For Premium Credit
The IRS on Monday proposed expanding the definition of a "covered month" for purposes of the health insurance premium tax credit to include the first month of the grace period for which an individual does not pay the premium in full but still receives coverage.
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September 16, 2024
IRS Cancels Hearing On 'Basket Contract' Transactions Rule
The Internal Revenue Service canceled a hearing on proposed rules that would flag what are known as basket option contracts as potentially abusive listed transactions, according to a notice released Monday.
Expert Analysis
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Bank M&A Continues To Lag Amid Regulatory Ambiguity
Bank M&A activity in the first half of 2024 continued to be lower than in prior years, as the industry is recovering from the 2023 bank failures, and regulatory and macroeconomic conditions have not otherwise been prime for deals, say Robert Azarow and Amber Hay at Arnold & Porter.
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FTC's Drug Middlemen Probe Highlights Ongoing Scrutiny
The Federal Trade Commission's interim staff report on its inquiry into pharmacy benefit managers suggests that the industry will remain under an enforcement microscope for the foreseeable future due to concerns about how PBMs affect drug costs and accessibility, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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How High Court Ruling Is Shaping Homelessness Policies
The U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson to allow enforcement of local ordinances against overnight camping is already spurring new policies to manage homelessness, but the court's ruling does not grant jurisdictions unfettered power, say Kathryn Kafka and Alex Merritt at Sheppard Mullin.
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DOJ Paths To Limit FARA Fallout From Wynn's DC Circ. Win
After the D.C. Circuit’s recent Attorney General v. Wynn ruling, holding that the government cannot compel retroactive registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the U.S. Department of Justice has a few options to limit the decision’s impact on enforcement, say attorneys at MoFo.
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Series
Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.
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A Look At The Regulatory Scrutiny Facing Liquid Restaking
Recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement actions highlight the regulatory challenges facing emerging financial instruments like liquid restaking tokens and services, say Daniel Davis and Alexander Kim at Katten.
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Del. Dispatch: Director Caremark Claims Need Extreme Facts
The Delaware Court of Chancery recently dismissed Caremark claims against the directors of Centene in Bricklayers Pension Fund of Western Pennsylvania v. Brinkley, indicating a high bar for a finding of the required element of bad faith for Caremark liability, and stressing the need to resist hindsight bias, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
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Series
After Chevron: Challenges Loom For PBGC Actions
After Loper Bright, two recent actions taken by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. already under scrutiny seem destined to be challenged and resolved under the new standard of judicial deference, which will greatly affect employers with potential withdrawal liability exposure, say Robert Perry and David Pixley at Jackson Lewis.
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Opinion
USPTO AI Patent Guidance Leaves Questions Unanswered
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s recent guidance on artificial intelligence patent eligibility is unlikely to answer many of the open questions that AI patent applicants face, as it includes nominally new analysis that applicants can adopt to analyze their inventions, say attorneys at Fenwick & West.
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Illinois BIPA Reform Offers Welcome Relief To Businesses
Illinois' recent amendment to its Biometric Information Privacy Act limits the number of violations and damages a plaintiff can claim — a crucial step in shielding businesses from unintended legal consequences, including litigation risk and compliance costs, say attorneys at Taft.
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Unpacking Executive Privilege, Contempt In Recent Cases
The U.S. House of Representatives’ recent move to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress is the latest example in a growing trend of executive privilege disputes, and serves as a warning to private citizens and corporate leaders who are in communication with the president, says Kristina Moore at Womble Bond.
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Gilead Drug Ruling Creates Corporate Governance Dilemma
If upheld, a California state appellate court's decision — finding that Gilead is liable for delaying commercialization of a safer HIV drug to maximize profits on another drug — threatens to undermine long-standing rules of corporate law and exposes companies to liability for decisions based on sound business judgment, says Shireen Barday at Pallas.
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5 Insights Into FDIC's Final Rule On Big-Bank Resolution Plans
Although the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s recently finalized rule expanding resolution planning requirements for large banks was generally adopted as proposed, it includes key changes related to filing deadlines, review and feedback, and incorporates lessons learned — particularly from last year's bank failures, say attorneys at Cleary.
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3 Notes For Arbitration Agreements After Calif. Ruling
After last month's California Supreme Court decision in Ramirez v. Charter Communications invalidated several arbitration clauses in the company's employee contracts as unconscionable, companies should ensure their own arbitration agreements steer clear of three major pitfalls identified by the court, say attorneys at Cooley.
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Opinion
Focus On Political Stances May Weaken Labor Unions
Recent lawsujits and a bill pending in the U.S. House of Representatives call attention to the practice of labor unions taking political stances with which their members disagree — an issue that may weaken unions, and that employers should stay abreast of, given its implications for labor organizing campaigns, workplace morale and collective bargaining, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.