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Public Policy
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January 30, 2025
RFK Blasts Industry 'Puppets' Amid HHS Nomination Fight
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Thursday that federal scientific panels are rife with conflicts of interest that have turned them into "sock puppets" for industry, as he faced a second day of intense questioning on Capitol Hill and sought support for his nomination as secretary of health and human services.
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January 30, 2025
6th Circ. Wonders If Trump NLRB Shake-Up Moots Memo Suit
Sixth Circuit judges wrestled Thursday with what to do with a legal challenge to a memo penned by the National Labor Relations Board's former general counsel given her recent firing and expected shifts in the agency's policy direction under President Donald Trump.
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January 30, 2025
Atty Should Lose License In Billing Scandal Case, Judge Says
A San Fernando Valley attorney colluded with attorneys for the city of Los Angeles in a water utility class action for which he received a $1.65 million fee and later sought to hire hackers to spy on the judge presiding over the class suit, a State Bar of California judge has found.
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January 30, 2025
NC Biz Court Bulletin: Sanctions Miss, Philip Morris Refund
In the second half of January, the North Carolina Business Court tussled with sanctions against a biogas company, heard claims an insurer tried to deliberately embarrass Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP and ordered an $11 million tax refund for Philip Morris.
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January 30, 2025
Muscogee Nation Sues Oklahoma DAs In Sovereignty Dispute
The Muscogee (Creek) Nation has filed a pair of lawsuits against Oklahoma District Attorneys Carol Iski and Matthew Ballard, accusing them of illegally prosecuting Native Americans for conduct committed on tribal lands despite the Supreme Court's 2020 McGirt ruling, days after the Cherokee, Chickasaw and Choctaw nations moved to intervene in similar U.S. government complaints.
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January 30, 2025
Gov't Urges High Court To OK 2nd 'Buffalo Billion' Trial
The federal government asked the U.S. Supreme Court to clear the way for a second trial in a public corruption case tied to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's "Buffalo Billion" development initiative, saying prosecutors should be allowed to pursue charges under a different theory after the justices undid the original convictions.
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January 30, 2025
Pa. Pot Panels Not 'Arbitrary' In Assigning Different Scores
A Pennsylvania appeals panel rejected a petition from a dispensary owner who challenged the state Department of Health's denial of one of his applications, finding the DOH wasn't arbitrary just because two of his proposed locations received different scores on their identical applications.
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January 29, 2025
Trump Orders Guantánamo Prep For 30K 'Criminal' Migrants
President Donald Trump on Wednesday directed the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to prepare Naval Station Guantánamo Bay to detain tens of thousands of "high-priority criminal" undocumented migrants, a move he previewed before signing an anticipated law aimed at detaining migrants charged with certain offenses.
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January 29, 2025
Trump Orders Target Protests, 'Indoctrination' In K-12 Schools
President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued a trio of executive orders related to education, including an order that prohibits "radical indoctrination" of children by teaching "anti-American ideologies" in K-12 schools, one that targets protests and "campus antisemitism," and another that calls for a federally funded school choice initiative.
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January 29, 2025
'DO NOT RESPOND': CFPB Union Calls Buyout Email A Trap
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's union has urged staff at the agency to refrain from responding to the Trump administration's buyout offer for federal employees, describing it as a potential trap and suggesting they consider marking it as spam instead.
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January 29, 2025
Meta To Pay $25M To End Trump's Account Suspension Suit
Meta Platforms confirmed Wednesday that the company and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, have agreed to pay $25 million to settle the lawsuit that President Donald Trump filed after the social media company suspended his account following the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol over concerns he would incite further attacks.
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January 29, 2025
Apple Will Appeal Denial Of Bid To Defend Google Search Deal
Apple said Wednesday that it will appeal an order refusing to let it intervene in the government's search monopolization case against Google to defend a multibillion-dollar revenue-sharing deal that makes Google the default search engine for the Safari browser.
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January 29, 2025
5th Circ. Rejects Outside Bid To Defend CFPB Small-Biz Rule
The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday stood by its decision to refuse two advocacy groups' request to help defend the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's small business lending data rule, a day after the bureau and the suing banking trade groups pushed back and said they are fine to litigate themselves, without intervention.
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January 29, 2025
Pension Plans Seek Trader's Testimony In $2B Tax Fraud Suit
Pension plans and individuals who Denmark's government alleges received fraudulent refunds have asked a New York federal court to allow U.K. court testimony into the record from a trader who Danish authorities say masterminded a $2.1 billion tax fraud, saying it shows he deceived other participants.
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January 29, 2025
Quakers Sue To Keep ICE Raids Away From Churches
Groups representing scores of Quaker congregations are asking a Maryland federal court to block a new U.S. Department of Homeland Security policy authorizing immigration enforcement actions in previously protected areas such as churches, and to declare the policy unconstitutional.
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January 29, 2025
Gov't Contractors Want More Clarity On Trump Orders
Vague requirements in Trump administration orders affecting federal spending and differing implementations in related agency directives have left federal contractors confused and seeking more clarity from the government, a contractor industry group said Wednesday.
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January 29, 2025
USPTO Backlog 'Unacceptable,' Trump's Commerce Pick Says
Commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick said at his confirmation hearing Wednesday that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's backlog of unexamined patent applications is "unacceptable," and pledged to work to reduce it so that patents are issued more quickly.
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January 29, 2025
German National Again Ordered To Pay $4.6M In Fraud
A Massachusetts federal judge on Wednesday ordered a German national to hand over $4.6 million in profits and interest from a multinational pump-and-dump scheme, money that the government says was parked overseas by his son.
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January 29, 2025
GOP Sen. Wants 'New' FCC To Review Soros-Audacy Deal
Now that the Federal Communications Commission is under Republican leadership, one Republican senator wants the new chair to review the agency's decision to approve Soros Fund Management's acquisition of an ownership interest in radio station owner Audacy.
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January 29, 2025
8th Circ. Rejects Oglala Rancher's Cattle Theft Appeal
The Eighth Circuit has rejected an appeal by an Oglala Sioux rancher who looked to undo a lower court's finding that he was afforded due process before several head of his cattle were impounded when found to be improperly grazing on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
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January 29, 2025
CPSC Wants Baby Sleep Co.'s Weighted Blanket Suit Tossed
The Consumer Product Safety Commission urged a D.C. federal court to toss a suit brought by Dreamland Baby Co., saying it and one of its commissioners acted within their authorities when warning the public against using weighted blankets for infants, like the ones the company makes.
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January 29, 2025
Noem Revokes Extension Of Protections For Venezuelans
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday revoked a decision that extended temporary deportation protections for about 600,000 Venezuelans.
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January 29, 2025
New DOT Chief Orders Fuel Economy Standards Redo
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy has ordered the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to retool its "extraordinarily stringent" vehicle fuel economy standards, immediately diving into President Donald Trump's rollback of Biden-era policies aimed at bolstering electric vehicles.
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January 29, 2025
5th Circ. Says DOT Must Redo Airline Fees Disclosure Rule
The Fifth Circuit has ordered the U.S. Department of Transportation to reassess its rule requiring airlines to more clearly disclose add-on fees upfront, saying the Biden administration failed to properly consider public comments on how costly it would be for airlines to comply with the 2024 mandate.
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January 29, 2025
Senate Confirms Former Rep. Lee Zeldin To Lead EPA
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed former New York congressman Lee Zeldin to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Exercising On My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer
While I originally came to the Peloton bike for exercise, one cycling instructor’s teachings have come to serve as a road map for practicing law thoughtfully and mindfully, which has opened opportunities for growth and change in my career, says Andrea Kirshenbaum at Littler.
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5 Drug And Device Developments That Shaped 2024
The last year saw significant legal developments affecting drug and device manufacturers, with landmark decisions and regulatory changes that require vigilance and agility from the industry, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.
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Takeaways From SEC's Mixed Results In '24 Crypto Litigation
Though the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new leadership seems likely to create a more favorable cryptocurrency regulatory environment, it must also confront the consequences of, and lingering questions raised by, the SEC's 2024 policy of investigating and charging cryptocurrency trading platforms for operating unregistered exchanges, say attorneys at Dechert.
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Opinion
Aviation Watch: How Court Nixed Boeing Plea Deal Over DEI
A Texas federal court's rejection of the plea agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice and Boeing over the 737 Max aircraft gratuitously injected the court's views on diversity, equity and inclusion into a case that shouldn't have been a criminal matter in the first place, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.
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How To Manage During A Trade Dispute With USMCA Partners
Companies can try to minimize the potential impacts of future tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods, and uncertainty about future trade relations, by evaluating supply chains, considering how they may be modified, and engaging with the new administration over exemptions and the upcoming review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Reviewing The High Court's Approach To Free Speech Online
As the U.S. Supreme Court began addressing the interplay between the First Amendment and online social media platforms, its three opinions from last term show the justices adopting a nuanced approach that recognizes that private citizens, public employees and online platforms all have First Amendment rights, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.
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Series
In The CFPB Playbook: A Sprint To The Finish Line
The fourth quarter of 2024 was an impressive demonstration of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's ability to regulate, enforce and supervise, even on borrowed time following the election results, and we should expect the current bureau to run nonstop until Jan. 20, say attorneys at Covington.
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3 Factors Affecting Retail M&A Deals In 2025
Retailers considering mergers and acquisitions this year face an evolving antitrust environment, including a new administration under President-elect Donald Trump, revised merger guidelines and a precedent set last year by a canceled $8.5 billion handbag merger, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
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What FARA Enforcement In 2024 Reveals For The Year Ahead
A number of developments, from indictments to legislation, shaped the Foreign Agents Registration Act enforcement landscape last year, and following the U.S. Department of Justice's recently released long-awaited proposed amendments to the law, 2025 shows no signs of slowing down, says Tessa Capeloto at Wiley.
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How New Fraud Enforcement Tool Affects Gov't Contractors
Government contractors will likely face greater scrutiny under the recently enacted Administrative False Claims Act, which broadens federal agencies' authority to pursue low-dollar fraud claims, but contractors may also find the act makes settlement of such claims easier to negotiate, say attorneys at Wiley.
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Predicting What's Next For SEC By Looking At Past Dissents
While Paul Atkins' nomination to be the next chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has taken center stage, an analysis of Republican Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda's past votes and dissents provides a preview of where enforcement may shift in the new administration, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
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FTC Picks Augur Pro-Business Bent For Much Of Economy
President-elect Donald Trump's choice of two top Federal Trade Commission officials suggests a business-friendly climate for a significant portion of the U.S. economy, with noteworthy exceptions of continued scrutiny of healthcare and Big Tech companies, excluding artificial intelligence, say attorneys at BCLP.
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Takeaways From 2024's Emerging IP Licensing Trends
Themes in intellectual property licensing from the past year – including artificial intelligence; risk management; and name, image and likeness rights – highlight key considerations for navigating an evolving landscape, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
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Top 10 Legal Issues This Year For Transportation Industry GCs
General counsel must carefully consider numerous legal and policy challenges facing the automotive and transportation industry in the year to come, especially while navigating new technologies, regulations and global markets, says Francesco Liberatore at Squire Patton.
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Exploring Venue Strategy For Trump-Era Regulatory Litigation
Litigation will likely play a prominent role in shaping policy outcomes during the second Trump administration, and stakeholders have several tools at their disposal to steer regulatory litigation toward more favorable venues, say attorneys at Covington.