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Public Policy
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February 04, 2025
Colo. Hid Problems With Fiber-Optic Install Project, Suit Says
A Colorado telecommunications contractor has sued the state Department of Transportation for allegedly hiding problems with a fiber-optic installation project that delayed completion for two summers, claiming the department has refused to properly compensate it for the hold-ups.
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February 04, 2025
Pushing The Envelope In Climate Law: Murder Charges
Climate change legal advocates are pointing to wildfires in Los Angeles, hurricanes in the Southeast and a regulation-averse presidential administration as evidence that local prosecutors should begin going after fossil fuel companies with criminal charges — up to and including homicide.
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February 04, 2025
Mich. Supreme Court Says City's Electricity Fee Is Illegal Tax
A franchise fee added to East Lansing, Michigan, residents' energy bills is a disguised tax, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled Monday, saying the fee was used to raise revenue for the city without first being approved by voters.
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February 04, 2025
Trump Trans Care Order Usurps Congress' Power, Suit Says
The Trump administration overstepped when it issued an executive order cutting off gender-affirming care for people under 19, a group of transgender adolescents, young adults and their families told a Maryland federal court Tuesday, arguing the president is trying to usurp Congressional authority by forcing federally funded hospitals to discriminate.
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February 04, 2025
4th Circ. Keeps NC Judge's Ballot Battle In State Court
The Fourth Circuit will let a North Carolina state court decide the fate of a contested associate justice race that remains unresolved months after the election, but the panel left the door open for a district court to decide any leftover federal constitutional issues.
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February 04, 2025
5th Circ. Backs Biden's Gov't Contractor Wage Hike
The Fifth Circuit upended on Tuesday a ruling that blocked an executive order increasing the minimum wage for federal contractors to $15 per hour, saying former President Joe Biden acted within his authority when he put forward the regulation because it was intended to promote economy and efficiency.
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February 04, 2025
11th Circ. Urged To Adopt 'Consensus' On Officers' Immunity
A Georgia woman who was subjected to a strip and cavity search while visiting her husband in prison urged the full Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday to build on its prior ruling that her rights had been violated and to sweep away the prison officials' defenses of qualified immunity.
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February 04, 2025
External Revenue Service Could Help Solve Unpaid Duty Issue
President Donald Trump's call for a new agency designed to collect trade revenue, billed as the External Revenue Service, may be more than a flashy concept and could tackle lingering inefficiencies associated with duty collection, experts say.
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February 04, 2025
Trump To Sign 'Keeping Men Out Of Women's Sports' Order
President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Wednesday that will ban transgender female athletes from competing in women's sports, according to an announcement from Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C.
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February 04, 2025
NJ Wildlife Regulator Is Unconstitutional, Ex-Legislator Argues
A former New Jersey state senator urged an appeals court Tuesday to revive his nonprofit company's suit challenging the constitutionality of the state's hunting and fishing regulatory agency, arguing it's the only policymaking body in the state controlled by a single private organization.
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February 04, 2025
Coinbase Taps BigLaw Firms In Bid To End Crypto 'Debanking'
Crypto exchange Coinbase urged regulators Tuesday to clarify that banks can offer crypto custody and execution services, submitting a letter featuring a report from three BigLaw firms asserting that federal laws and regulations already allow banks to wade further into digital asset activities.
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February 04, 2025
Lawmakers Hit Replay On Bill For Singers' Radio Royalties
Lawmakers in Congress have reintroduced legislation that would require radio broadcasters to pay artists when playing their music, a measure that would address what the recording industry has called a legal loophole in which songwriters and publishers get paid — but not performers and labels — when radio stations play their music.
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February 04, 2025
Don't Let Trump's Changes Touch Patent Office, IP Attys Urge
U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order shake-ups have drawn the ire of intellectual property lawyers, who are complaining about how the prospect of mass resignations of federal workers, a hiring freeze and the end of telework policies will impact their work in front of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
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February 04, 2025
Auto Cos., Mass. AG Make Final Case In 'Right To Repair' Fight
The stagnated four-year battle over a Massachusetts law requiring vehicle manufacturers to provide open access to vehicle telematics software saw its final salvos Tuesday as attorneys for an automotive industry group and the state clashed over the merits of the federal preemption case.
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February 04, 2025
White House Lacks Authority To Issue NEPA Regs, Judge Says
The White House Council on Environmental Quality has no authority to issue binding National Environmental Policy Act regulations, a North Dakota judge has ruled, scrapping challenged regulations the Biden administration had enacted.
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February 04, 2025
Ex-NJ Mayor Gets Probation For Defying Public Office Ban
The former mayor of the third-largest city in New Jersey has been sentenced to three years of probation for trying to retake the mayoral office in 2022, in violation of a 2017 judicial order banning him from running for or holding public office, the state attorney general and the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability announced Tuesday.
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February 04, 2025
NY Advocates Urge Pols To Enact Sentencing Reforms
New York lawmakers on Tuesday joined former prisoners and families of incarcerated people in Albany to urge elected officials and Gov. Kathy Hochul to enact bills that would reshape state sentencing laws that critics say are both too harsh and ineffective in deterring crime.
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February 04, 2025
RI Says Flavored Vape Ban Is 'Rational,' And Must Stand
The state of Rhode Island is urging a federal court to throw out a suit by two retailers challenging the state's ban on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, saying the plaintiffs can't show that there's no rational basis for the law.
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February 04, 2025
Apple Asks DC Circ. To Pause Google Search Case For Appeal
Apple has asked the D.C. Circuit to pause the remedies phase of the landmark monopolization case targeting Google's search dominance, arguing it needs to intervene to protect its contracts with Google that are worth billions of dollars each year.
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February 04, 2025
Cherokee Nation, Group Spar Over Ark. Casino License Docs
A federal district court is set to determine if the officers of a ballot issue committee backing an Arkansas amendment that revoked a Cherokee Nation business' casino license and the public affairs firm must hand over documentation in the dispute.
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February 04, 2025
Wash. Gov. Orders Look At Data Centers' Tax Revenue Impact
Washington's governor issued an executive order directing the state's Department of Revenue to create a work group to examine the impact of data centers on the state's tax revenue and economy and recommend policies to address tax revenue needs in relation to other priorities.
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February 04, 2025
Southern Glazer's Wants FTC Unfair Pricing Suit Canned
Southern Glazer's asked a California federal judge Monday to dismiss the Federal Trade Commission's first price discrimination lawsuit in 25 years, arguing that even if the "mistaken economic theory" undergirding it holds true, dissents from the FTC's Republicans illustrate why the case fails anyway.
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February 04, 2025
Docs Say DEA Didn't Put All Documents In Pot Hearing Record
A group of doctors who had petitioned to halt the Drug Enforcement Administration's hearings on whether to reschedule cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act are asking the D.C. Circuit to order the agency to add documents to the record that they say have been wrongly excluded.
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February 04, 2025
Trump Names Sen. Cruz Aide To Lead NTIA
The White House is nominating Arielle Roth, a top aide to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and an outspoken critic of what she called the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's "woke social agenda," to head up the agency.
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February 04, 2025
DOJ Criminal Division Leader Joins White & Case's DC Shop
White & Case LLP announced on Tuesday it was growing its white collar team with the addition of partner Brent Wible, who told Law360 Pulse that it was time for him to step back into private practice following a five-year stint with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Expert Analysis
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High Court Could Further Limit Deference With TCPA Fax Case
The Supreme Court's decision to hear McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson, a case involving alleged junk faxes that centers whether district courts are bound by Federal Communications Commission rules, offers the court a chance to possibly further limit the judicial deference afforded to federal agency interpretations of statutes, says Samantha Duke at Rumberger Kirk.
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Politicized OIGs Could Target Federal Employees, Contractors
After President Donald Trump fired nearly 20 inspectors general last week, it’s worth exploring how the administration could use Offices of Inspectors General to target federal employees and contractors, why it would be difficult to fight this effort, and one possible bulwark against the politicization of these watchdogs, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.
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Future Of Crypto-Asset Classification Is In 2nd Circ.'s Hands
A definitive ruling from the Second Circuit in a rare interlocutory appeal in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's ongoing court battle with Coinbase could finally establish clear guidelines on the classification of digital assets, influencing how they are regulated and traded in the U.S., say attorneys at Manatt.
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5 Ways To Create Effective Mock Assignments For Associates
In order to effectively develop associates’ critical thinking skills, firms should design mock assignments that contain a few key ingredients, from messy fact patterns to actionable feedback, says Abdi Shayesteh at AltaClaro.
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Overseas Investment Rule Calls For Compliance Caution
Investors should be leery of who and what they are investing in now that the federal outbound investment regime, effective Jan. 2, has extended the governement's regulatory reach to businesses and parties not previously subject to trade restrictions, says Thaddeus McBride at Bass Berry.
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Opinion
Revised Fla. Rules Of Civil Procedure Will Modernize Litigation
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
The landmark amendments to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure that took effect on Jan. 1 may require significant adjustments to practice and case management approaches, but the changes should ultimately reduce the cost and burden of modern litigation, and foster a more efficient and equitable justice system, says retired Florida state judge Ralph Artigliere.
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Assessing Gary Gensler's Legacy At The SEC
Gary Gensler's tenure as U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chair is defined by a record of commonsense regulation in some areas and social activism in others, and by increasing judicial skepticism about the SEC's authority to fulfill its regulatory, enforcement, administrative law and adjudicatory functions, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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Opinion
Legal Personhood Can Give Natural Entities Their Day In Court
Granting legal personhood to natural entities like the River Thames, or vulnerable species like the Pacific bearded seal and Arctic ringed seal, could protect them from ecological threats and the vagaries of politics, and help us transform our relationship with nature, says Sachin Nandha at the International Centre for Sustainability.
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5 Factors From Biden's Final Worker Antitrust Guidelines
The recent Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice's joint antitrust guidelines for business activities affecting workers cap a flurry of final announcements from the Biden administration, but it's unclear whether the agencies will maintain their support for these measures in the Trump administration, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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Calif. Cannabis Decision Deepens Commerce Clause Divide
In Peridot Tree v. Sacramento, the Eastern District of California joined a growing minority of courts that have found the dormant commerce clause inapplicable to state-regulated marijuana, and the Ninth Circuit will soon provide important guidance on this issue, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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Takeaways From DOJ Fraud Section's 2024 Year In Review
Attorneys at Paul Weiss highlight notable developments in the U.S. Department of Justice Fraud Section’s recently released annual report, and discuss what the second Trump administration could mean for enforcement in the year to come.
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4 Employment Law Areas Set To Change Under Trump
President Donald Trump's second term is expected to bring significant changes to the U.S. employment law landscape, including the potential for updated worker classification regulations, and challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion that are already taking shape, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Recent Suits Show Antitrust Agencies' Focus On HSR Review
The U.S. Department of Justice's suit this month against KKR for inaccurate and incomplete premerger filings, along with other recent cases, highlights the agency's increasing scrutiny of Hart-Scott-Rodino Act compliance for private equity firms, say attorneys at Willkie.
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The 7th Circ.'s Top 10 Civil Opinions Of 2024
Attorneys at Jenner & Block examine the most significant decisions issued by the Seventh Circuit in 2024, and explain how they may affect issues related to mass arbitration, consumer fraud, class certification and more.
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Insurance Considerations For LA Wildfire Recovery
Businesses and homeowners affected by the destructive Southern California wildfires must act swiftly and strategically to navigate the complexities of the insurance recovery process, including by identifying all applicable policies, documenting damage thoroughly and keeping abreast of relevant state law, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.