Public Policy

Expert Analysis

• Weakening The CDA Would Have Unintended Consequences

  

  Recent legislative efforts to amend the Communications Decency Act and remove Section 230 protection from websites that facilitate sex trafficking are commendable, but the vague language in the proposed legislation could open the door for the plaintiffs’ bar to file vexatious lawsuits against even law-abiding websites, says Charles Harris of Mayer Brown LLP.

• Obama's Overlooked Antitrust Legacy

  

  There is an Obama antitrust legacy of aggressive enforcement, particularly on mergers, but this legacy is mostly ignored. The antitrust bar should care about this oversight, says Kelsey Shannon of the Lynn Law Firm.

• What S&P, FTSE Actions Mean For Multiclass Share Structures

  

  Recent actions by the S&P Dow Jones and FTSE Russell highlight growing concerns within the investment community regarding multiclass voting structures. However, it is unlikely these actions will have a uniform impact on every multiclass company, say attorneys with King & Spalding LLP.

• Time To Lift The Ban On Foreign Control Of US Reactors

  

  An outdated legal restriction prohibits foreign ownership or control of U.S. commercial nuclear reactor licenses. Foreign companies nonetheless invest in U.S. reactors, but must partner with U.S. firms, which distorts the marketplace. Properly vetted foreign companies owning U.S. reactor licenses would promote the country's economic interests without endangering security, says John Matthews of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP.

• 5 Tips For A Successful Legal Blog

  

  David Coale, leader of the appellate practice at Lynn Pinker Cox & Hurst LLP, shares his insights into what works — and what does not — when setting up and maintaining a legal blog.

• Opinion

  It’s Time To Fix FIFRA Preemption

  

  Pesticides, like drugs and other products whose safe use is heavily regulated by the federal government, simply should not be subject to the whims of local government officials. The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act is long overdue for an amendment that would expressly and unequivocally preempt all local regulation of pesticide sale and use, says Lawrence Ebner of Capital Appellate Advocacy PLLC.

• OCC Opens The Debate On Volcker Rule Reform

  

  The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency recently issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking that represents the first concrete step toward reforming the regulations that implement the Volcker Rule. The OCC’s willingness to issue the ANPR reflects a forward-thinking approach that will have a significant long-term impact on financial market participants, say attorneys with Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP.

• Personnel Is Policy: Succession Possibilities At The CFPB

  

  It is not entirely clear whether the Dodd-Frank Act or the Federal Vacancies Reform Act would control succession in the event of Director Richard Cordray’s resignation from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But there will be real and significant differences in the operation of the CFPB depending on which statute prevails, say Andrew Sandler and Benjamin Olson of Buckley Sandler LLP.

• DTSA Developments Raise Inadvertent Disclosure Questions

  

  In Fres-co Systems v. Hawkins, the Third Circuit recently applied what appears to be the inevitable disclosure doctrine. The opinion did not distinguish between the plaintiff’s claims under the Defend Trade Secrets Act and the Pennsylvania Uniform Trade Secrets Act, so the mere threat of misappropriation may be sufficient under both statutes to warrant granting a preliminary injunction, say attorneys with Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice LLP.

• Series

  Judging A Book: Kopf Reviews Posner's 'Federal Judiciary'

  

  There is a wonderful sketch of Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner dressed in a black robe with arms outstretched as if they were the billowing wings of a lean vulture. He is kicking a human brain down a hallway and wearing a half-smile that looks for all the world like a sneer. That sketch is the perfect metaphor for both Judge Posner and his new book, "The Federal Judiciary: Strengths and Weaknesses," says U.S. District Judge Ri... (continued)