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June 11, 2024
Hedge Fund Anson Settles With SEC Over Cannabis Shorts
The American and Canadian entities overseeing hedge fund Anson Funds agreed on Tuesday to pay $2.25 million to end a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into their allegedly hidden relationship with an activist investment firm that shorted a pair of cannabis stocks.
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June 11, 2024
DOL's H-2A Protections Rule Flouts Labor Law, GOP AGs Say
The U.S. Department of Labor's final rule including protections for foreign farmworkers within the H-2A visa program doesn't comport with federal labor law, a group of Republican attorneys general claimed in Georgia federal court, saying the rule doesn't give the same rights to U.S. citizen workers.
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June 11, 2024
Miss. Urges 5th Circ. To Approve Ban On Medical Pot Ads
The state of Mississippi has told the Fifth Circuit that it should uphold state restrictions barring advertising for medical marijuana, saying that the First Amendment cannot protect such speech because marijuana is federally illegal.
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June 11, 2024
Texas, Mont. Sue HHS Over ACA Trans Discrimination Rule
Texas and Montana filed suit against the Biden administration seeking to halt its rule clarifying the application of the Affordable Care Act's nondiscrimination protections to gender identity, saying the new regulations infringe on states' autonomy and force them to violate their own laws.
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June 11, 2024
Abbott Taps General Counsel, Austin Partners For New Courts
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced his first appointments to the statewide business court and the Fifteenth Court of Appeals on Tuesday, roughly three months before the state's newest courts are set to begin taking cases.
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June 11, 2024
FCC Looks To Fine Telecom $2.6M For Failing To Pay Fees
The Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday it plans to fine a Texas telecom $2.65 million for failing to pay required fees to support an array of FCC programs, including low-income subsidies, services for disabled consumers and phone number portability.
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June 11, 2024
JPML Consolidates AT&T Data Breach Suits In Texas
Thirty lawsuits brought against AT&T over a data breach that left 70 million customers' information on the dark web are being consolidated in the Northern District of Texas, with the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ruling that proximity to AT&T headquarters will bring added efficiency to the proceedings.
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June 11, 2024
DOE Urges DC Circ. To Extinguish Furnace Rule Fight
The U.S. Department of Energy on Monday defended its tighter energy efficiency standards for furnaces and water heaters, telling the D.C. Circuit that arguments that the new regulations unlawfully force a costly switch to new appliances are meritless.
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June 11, 2024
Texas AG Urges DC Circ. To Revive Media Matters Probe
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wants the D.C. Circuit to revive his investigation into progressive media watchdog Media Matters' reporting on the social media platform X, saying the D.C. federal court had no authority to interfere with the probe.
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June 11, 2024
Spat Over Texas Trial, Vacation Plans Ends With New Date
A Texas appeals court has dismissed a tech company's mandamus petition stating that a Harris County court scheduled a trial in its case despite several attorney vacation letters after the parties said the trial court moved the date.
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June 11, 2024
5th Circ. Won't Adopt Rule On AI-Drafted Docs
The Fifth Circuit has decided this week not to adopt a proposed rule requiring attorneys to verify that documents were not written using generative artificial intelligence, or if they were, that they were checked for accuracy by humans.
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June 11, 2024
J&J Inks $700M Deal To End AGs' Talc Marketing Suits
Forty-three state attorneys general on Tuesday said there has been a $700 million nationwide settlement and a consent judgment has been reached with Johnson & Johnson that ends claims it misled consumers about the safety of its talc products.
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June 11, 2024
Wilson Elser Attys Officially Exit Airline Suit After Filing Gaffe
A Texas state judge has approved American Airlines' request for the departure of its Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP legal team that blamed a young child for a then-flight attendant's alleged covert bathroom recording, a week after the same lawyers were replaced from a similar suit in North Carolina federal court.
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June 11, 2024
After Circling Globe, IP Litigator Returns To Fish & Richardson
Fish & Richardson PC has strengthened its intellectual property litigation group in Houston with a familiar face who left the firm over a year ago to trot the globe with his wife.
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June 11, 2024
Immigration Firm Says Rival Poached Workers And Stole TM
A Washington immigration law firm specializing in visas for domestic violence and sex trafficking victims is accusing a competing Texas firm of poaching its employees and stealing a Spanish phrase it registered a trademark for — "Arreglar sin salir!" — which translates to "fix without leaving."
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June 10, 2024
ATF Says States Lack Standing In Suit Over Gun Show Rule
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told a federal judge in Texas that a coalition of Republican-led attorney generals could not prove how a rule closing the so-called gun show loophole harmed the states.
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June 10, 2024
New State Appeals Court Is Constitutional, Texas Says
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission asked the state's high court to reject a petition by Dallas County seeking a declaration that the newly created Fifteenth Court of Appeals is unconstitutional, saying the legislature indeed can create an appeals court with subject-matter jurisdiction.
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June 10, 2024
Home Flooding Was Unavoidable, Agency Tells Appeals Court
A Texas river management agency has told a state appeals court that a group of Houston residents' properties would have flooded regardless of its actions to mitigate Hurricane Harvey's effects, urging the appellate court to overturn a trial court order denying its bid for release from the residents' suit.
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June 10, 2024
Bloomberg's Utility Bond Changes Hurt Consumers, Suit Says
Bloomberg LP was hit with a proposed class action by California and Texas electricity customers who claim the company reclassified certain bonds issued by utility companies to elevate their perceived risk and hike interest rates, a move they say benefited institutional investors but imposed increased costs on electricity customers.
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June 10, 2024
Exxon Says Activist Investor Could Still Target Core Business
Exxon Mobil Corp. sought Monday to keep alive its lawsuit against Arjuna Capital LLC in Texas federal court, arguing that the activist investor could still work behind the scenes to submit climate-related shareholder proposals despite promises in court that it will not.
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June 10, 2024
Judge Orders Site Worker To Film Drone Video In Cancer MDL
A state judge said Monday that additional drone video of cleanup efforts at a contaminated rail yard sought by Houston residents living near the site must be taken by a Union Pacific Railroad Co. employee following a dispute over allegedly improper drone videos filmed over the site last month.
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June 10, 2024
EPA Air Compliance Rule Trumps State Powers, DC Circ. Told
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency usurped state authority when it issued a final rule changing the deadline for states to submit Clean Air Act compliance plans for power plants and other existing facilities within their borders, 25 Republican-led states told the D.C. Circuit.
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June 10, 2024
5th Circ. Upends Dallas School District Win In Age Bias Suit
The Fifth Circuit reinstated a lawsuit from a Dallas school district worker who said she was passed over for promotions and fired because she was in her mid-50s, saying a trial court held her to too high a standard when it threw out her lawsuit.
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June 10, 2024
Chemical Manufacturer Beats Rehire Order In Fight With Union
A Texas federal judge has vacated an arbitration award ordering a chemical and ammunition manufacturer to rehire an employee who it accused of lying about receiving confidential information from a union steward, finding the award didn't draw its essence from the union contract.
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June 10, 2024
Amid FBI Probe, Troubled Law Firm Gets Fees Win At 5th Circ.
An embattled Texas law firm has won another shot to secure fees for its work on hurricane-related cases in Louisiana, the Fifth Circuit ruled, one day after the FBI revealed it was investigating the firm over its client solicitation practices.
Expert Analysis
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What To Know As CFPB Late Fee Rule Hangs In Limbo
Though the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's final credit card late fee rule faces an uncertain future due to litigation involving injunctions, emergency petitions and now a venue dispute, card issuers must understand how to navigate the interim period and what to do if the rule takes effect, say attorneys at Steptoe.
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Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent
As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.
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NY Combined Hearing Guidelines Can Shorten Ch. 11 Timeline
The Southern District of New York’s recently adopted guidelines on combining the processes for Chapter 11 plan confirmation and disclosure statement approval may shorten the Chapter 11 timeline for companies and reduce associated costs, say Robert Drain and Moshe Jacob at Skadden.
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Opinion
The FTC And DOJ Should Backtrack On RealPage
The antitrust agencies ought to reverse course on their enforcement actions against RealPage, which are based on a faulty legal premise, risk further property shortages and threaten the use of algorithms that are central to the U.S. economy, says Thomas Stratmann at George Mason University.
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Opinion
Bankruptcy Judges Can Justly Resolve Mass Tort Cases
Johnson & Johnson’s recent announcement of a prepackaged reorganization plan for its talc unit highlights that Chapter 11 is a continually evolving living statute that can address new types of problems with reorganization, value and job preservation, and just treatment for creditors, says Kenneth Rosen at Ken Rosen Advisors PC.
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Series
Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge at Robinson Bradshaw.
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5th Circ. Venue-Transfer Cases Highlight Mandamus Limits
Three ongoing cases filed within the Fifth Circuit highlight an odd procedural wrinkle that may let district courts defy an appellate writ: orders granting transfer to out-of-circuit districts, but parties opposing intercircuit transfer can work around this hurdle to effective appellate review, says Charles Fowler at McKool Smith.
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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EPA Heavy-Duty Vehicle GHG Rules Face Bumpy Road Ahead
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for owners and operators of heavy-duty vehicles are facing opposition from both states and the transportation industry, and their arguments will mirror two pending cases challenging the EPA's authority, says Grant Laizer at Adams and Reese.
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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.
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A Look At M&A Conditions After FTC's Exxon-Pioneer Nod
The Federal Trade Commission's recent consent decree imposing several conditions on Exxon Mobil's acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources helps illustrate key points about the current merger enforcement environment, including the probability of further investigations in the energy and pharmaceutical sectors, say Ryan Quillian and John Kendrick at Covington.
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FTC Theories Of Harm After Anesthesia Co. Ruling
As Federal Trade Commission litigation against U.S. Anesthesia Partners proceeds following a Texas federal court's recent decision to dismiss a private equity sponsor from the suit, the case attempts to incorporate and advance some of the commission's theories of competitive harm from the final 2023 Merger Guidelines, say attorneys at Mintz.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: May Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses four notable circuit court decisions on topics from automobile insurance to securities — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including circuit-specific ascertainability requirements and how to conduct a Daubert analysis prior to class certification.
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Perspectives
Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.