Public Policy

  • December 02, 2024

    Mining Cos. Ask Justices To Sink Peruvians' Pollution Claims

    The Renco Group Inc., owned by U.S. billionaire Ira Rennert, has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn an Eighth Circuit ruling that greenlit a lawsuit filed by more than 2,000 Peruvians who are seeking to hold The Renco Group and other companies liable for alleged lead poisoning tied to a smelting and refining complex in rural Peru.

  • December 02, 2024

    Solar Cos. Ask High Court To Review Vermont-Imposed Fine

    Allco Renewable Energy Ltd. and several other companies pursuing a solar generation project in Bennington, Vermont, are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to wade into their row with the Vermont Public Utility Commission and hold that it had no authority to impose a civil penalty on them without a jury trial.

  • December 02, 2024

    FCC Chair Makes Last-Ditch Plea For 'Rip And Replace'

    The Federal Communications Commission's chief called on key lawmakers to act soon to fund a program for securing telecom network equipment that faces a $3.08 billion shortage.

  • December 02, 2024

    DEA Asserts Its Role As Proponent Of Pot Rescheduling Plan

    The Drug Enforcement Administration on Monday affirmed it was acting as the proponent of a proposal to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana, and the administrative law judge said supporters of rescheduling would not get an opportunity to cross-examine DEA witnesses.

  • December 02, 2024

    Freshfields Lands Onetime SEC Acting Enforcement Head

    Freshfields has added a litigation partner in its Washington, D.C., office who brings with her nearly 17 years of government experience including time as acting director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement division, according to a Monday announcement.

  • December 02, 2024

    White House Urges Agencies To Boost Small Biz Contracting

    The White House has urged federal agencies to more closely scrutinize federal contractors' subcontracting plans and to standardize their forecasts of upcoming procurement opportunities, efforts it said were intended to boost small business participation in government contracting.

  • December 02, 2024

    IRS Finalizes Partnership Liability Regs After 11 Years

    The Internal Revenue Service unveiled final regulations governing the allocation of partnership liabilities 11 years after releasing the proposed rules, saying no subsequent legislative and regulatory changes had taken place to compel the agency to otherwise renew the rulemaking process.

  • December 02, 2024

    Ark. Governor Wants Out Of Cherokee Casino License Row

    Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is asking a federal district court to be removed as a defendant and for an overall dismissal of a challenge to a state amendment that revoked a Cherokee Nation business' casino license, arguing the Oklahoma tribe doesn't have any property interest in the case.

  • December 02, 2024

    Australia Passes Public Country-By-Country Reporting

    Multinational businesses with large operations in Australia are required to publicly disclose information about their operations in tax havens as designated by the government under a country-by-country reporting law that lawmakers adopted following a two-year saga over concerns about the data's confidentiality.

  • December 02, 2024

    NC Judge Is 2nd To Reverse Senior Status Plans After Election

    A second federal judge appointed by a Democratic president has reversed his decision to take senior status in the wake of former President Donald Trump's win in the 2024 presidential election.

  • December 02, 2024

    Circle K Fights How Denver Counts Tobacco-To-School Span

    The convenience store chain Circle K is suing Denver to challenge the city's application of a law requiring tobacco sales occur no closer than 1,000 feet from schools, alleging in a state court complaint that an erroneous approach to distance measurements will limit Circle K's ability to open new stores.

  • December 02, 2024

    Shipping Industry Braces For Waves Of New Trump Tariffs

    After a holiday weekend marked by a fresh round of tariff threats from President-elect Donald Trump, the shipping and logistics industry is beginning to feel the heat, warning companies to prepare for massive upheaval if Trump follows through.

  • December 02, 2024

    Atty Seeks DEA Communications On Rescheduling

    An attorney is suing the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration under the Freedom of Information Act, seeking communications between the agency and anti-legalization activists as the agency holds a hearing on whether to reschedule the drug under the Controlled Substances Act.

  • November 27, 2024

    Google Wants 9th Circ. To Undo Play Store Ruling In Epic Row

    Google has pressed the Ninth Circuit to reverse an injunction forcing it to allow third-party app distribution on its Play Store, arguing that the lower court's ruling will "directly undercut Google's efforts to compete against Apple and the iPhone."

  • November 27, 2024

    Fla. Judge Halts School Board Depos In Book Ban Suit

    A Florida federal judge ordered a partial stay that temporarily halts depositions of Escambia County School Board members in a First Amendment challenge to a ban on certain books, but deferred staying the entire case until an appeal before the Eleventh Circuit is resolved.

  • November 27, 2024

    Texas Tells 5th Circ. EPA Botched Ozone Compliance Orders

    The state of Texas called on the Fifth Circuit to vacate part of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency action requiring the state to revise its plan addressing "moderate" nonattainment of ground-level ozone standards for the Dallas, Houston and San Antonio areas, in light of the cities' upgrade to "serious" nonattainment.

  • November 27, 2024

    GM, Cruise Say DPA Has No Bearing On Securities Fraud Suit

    General Motors and its driverless car unit Cruise LLC have told a Michigan federal judge that Cruise's deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice over a San Francisco pedestrian accident doesn't help investors in a proposed securities fraud class action.

  • November 27, 2024

    Elon Musk Targets CFPB With Call To 'Delete' Agency

    Billionaire Elon Musk has called for abolishing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, writing on his social media platform X — formerly known as Twitter — that the government should "Delete CFPB" and "there are too many duplicative regulatory agencies."

  • November 27, 2024

    Cable Biz Urges FCC To Scrap Customer Service Reg Plan

    The cable lobby says the Federal Communications Commission should drop plans for new customer service rules on the industry because it lacks legal authority to impose the requirements.

  • November 27, 2024

    Wash. Appeals Court Slams Brakes On Lucid EV Dealerships

    Automaker Lucid can't sell its electric vehicles directly to Washington consumers, a state appellate court has ruled, agreeing with regulators that granting the company the necessary license would violate a state law designed to protect car dealers from unfair competition from manufacturers.

  • November 27, 2024

    DOL Sued For OSHA Info In NJ Amazon Warehouse Deaths

    The U.S. Department of Labor has been hit with a lawsuit by a labor advocate seeking records related to investigations of three deaths at Amazon.com Inc.'s "notoriously hazardous warehouses" in New Jersey in 2022, saying the agency failed to comply with Freedom of Information Act deadlines.

  • November 27, 2024

    Arkansas Can't Bring Suit Against Crypto Miner For Now

    An Arkansas federal judge has temporarily barred state officials from taking action against a Chinese-born U.S. citizen's crypto mining operation after he challenged the investigation against him and the laws underpinning it as discriminatory and unconstitutional.

  • November 27, 2024

    Texas Backs Off Title X Suit On Contraceptives To Minors

    Federal health officials are no longer enforcing a rule in Texas that tied funding to contraceptive access for minors, Texas officials told a court Tuesday as it asked to dismiss a suit it had filed against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

  • November 27, 2024

    Judge Says City Can't Block Washington Tribe's ER Shelter

    A federal judge on Wednesday granted a Washington tribe's bid to block the city of Toppenish from preventing it from operating a 24-hour emergency cold weather shelter, saying upcoming freezing weather would cause irreparable harm and warrants the service.

  • November 27, 2024

    Biden Administration Adds 65K Additional H-2B Work Visas

    The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it has created a temporary rule to add 64,716 additional temporary H-2B work visas for the third year in a row to be doled out to businesses struggling with staffing issues. 

Expert Analysis

  • How The Presidential Election Will Affect Workplace AI Regs

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    The U.S. has so far adopted a light-handed approach to regulating artificial intelligence in the labor and employment area, but the presidential election is unlikely to have as dramatic of an effect on AI regulations as it may on other labor and employment matters, say attorneys at Littler.

  • Election Could Bring Change In Weather For Offshore Wind

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    Under another Trump administration, the offshore wind sector would encounter substantial headwinds, as Trump's policy track record emphasizes fossil fuel dominance and environmental rollbacks, while a Harris victory would likely further entrench the pro-renewable energy stance taken by the Biden administration, say attorneys at Jones Walker.

  • A Look At Grewal's Record-Breaking Legacy After SEC Exit

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    Gurbir Grewal resigned as director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Enforcement last month after more than three years on the job, leaving behind a legacy marked by record numbers of penalties and enforcement actions, as well as mixed results in aggressive lawsuits against major crypto players, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Opinion

    PREVAIL Bill Is Another Misguided Attempt To Restrict PTAB

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    The decade-long campaign against the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board — currently focused on the PREVAIL Act that's slated for markup in the Senate — is not really about procedural issues, and it is not aimed at securing more accurate patentability decisions, says Clear IP's Joseph Matal, former acting director at the USPTO.

  • Striking A Balance Between AI Use And Attorney Well-Being

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    As the legal industry increasingly adopts generative artificial intelligence tools to boost efficiency, leaders must note the hidden costs of increased productivity, and work to protect attorneys’ well-being while unlocking AI’s full potential, says Ed Sohn at Factor.

  • Insurance Industry Impacts If DOL Fiduciary Rule Is Revived

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    If implemented following an ongoing appeal at the Fifth Circuit, the U.S. Department of Labor’s rule expanding the Employee Retirement Income Security Act's definition of "fiduciary" could chill insurance agents’ and brokers' ability to sell annuities, and lead to an increase in breach of fiduciary duty lawsuits, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Boosting Confidence In Pennsylvania's Election System

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    As Election Day nears, Pennsylvania is facing an intense flurry of litigation, including an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court centered on mail-in and provisional ballots, but the state's election system is robust, and attorneys from all practice areas have an important role to play in ensuring confidence in and access to our election system, says Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie.

  • Takeaways From The IRS' Crypto Doc Summons Win

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    A recent First Circuit decision holding that taxpayers do not have a Fourth Amendment reasonable expectation of privacy in cryptocurrency transaction records should prompt both taxpayers and exchanges to take stock of past transactions and future plans, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • A Novel Expansion Of Alien Tort Statute In 9th Circ.

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    The Ninth Circuit's Doe v. Cisco rehearing denial allows a new invocation of the Alien Tort Statute to proceed, which could capture the U.S. Supreme Court's attention, and has potentially dramatic consequences for U.S. companies doing business with foreign governments, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Empathy In Mediation Offers A Soft Landing For Disputes

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    Experiencing a crash-landing on a recent flight underscored to me how much difference empathy makes in times of crisis or stress, including during mediation, says Eydith Kaufman at Alternative Resolution Centers.

  • Series

    Being An Artist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My work as an artist has highlighted how using creativity and precision together — qualities that are equally essential in both art and law — not only improves outcomes, but also leads to more innovative and thoughtful work, says Sarah La Pearl at Segal McCambridge.

  • Election Outcome Could Reshape Financial Industry

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    The policies of the next presidential administration and Congress will shape the landscape of financial services in the U.S. — including banking, mortgage, investment and credit services — for years to come, affecting Wall Street investors and aspiring homeowners alike, say Alexander Hecht and Frank Guinta at Mintz.

  • How Judiciary Can Minimize AI Risks In Secondary Sources

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    Because courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence and other safeguards do not address the risk of hallucinations in secondary source materials, the judiciary should consider enlisting legal publishers and database hosts to protect against AI-generated inaccuracies, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • 3 Steps For Companies To Combat Task Scams

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    On the rise in the U.S., the task scam — when scammers offer a victim a fake work-from-home job — hurts impersonated businesses by tarnishing their name and brand, but companies have a few ways to fight back against these cons, says Chris Wlach at Huge.

  • NY Tax Talk: Questions In Corporate Franchise Tax Regs Case

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    In the first challenge to New York's Corporate Franchise Tax regulations — Paychex v. Department of Taxation and Finance — the court has an important opportunity to provide clarity on a major retroactive application issue, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

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