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| TOP NEWS ACA Likely To Survive High Court Ruling On Mandate The Affordable Care Act seems likely to survive a Republican challenge at the Supreme Court after potential swing votes Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. and Justice Brett Kavanaugh expressed skepticism Tuesday that a 2017 congressional change renders the entire statute unconstitutional. Analysis 4 Key Moments As Justices Debate ACA's Fate Eagerly awaited oral arguments in a Republican-led legal challenge to the entire Affordable Care Act featured remarks from U.S. Supreme Court justices indicating that the case is likely doomed but might end up resolving a significant debate over when Americans have standing to challenge federal laws.
Analysis Barr's Election Fraud Memo Leaves Ex-Prosecutors Queasy U.S. Attorney General William Barr departed from long-standing U.S. Department of Justice policy Monday night with a memo permitting federal prosecutors to investigate any "substantial" allegations of voting irregularities, in a move former prosecutors described Tuesday as "disheartening" and "disgusting."
Analysis Will Biden Upend Sports Gambling? Don't Bet On It, Attys Say Advocates for legalizing sports betting notched another series of victories last week with voters in three more states approving ballot measures, but even with changes in Washington, experts don't expect the federal government to step into the fray just yet. Lame-Duck Senate Turns To Judges, Starting With Ohio Pick Senators returned to Washington with a full agenda for the short lame-duck session including pandemic relief, government funding and confirming perhaps 20 more judges — starting Tuesday with an Ohio district court pick and including up to three appellate judges.
Pa.'s Top Election Official Defends Ballot Cure Extension Pennsylvania's top election official called on a state court Tuesday to throw out a petition from President Donald Trump's reelection campaign challenging the additional three days that mail-in and absentee voters have to cure issues with verifying their identities, saying that extension matches the extra time available to receive their ballots.
Suit Demanding Captions On Fla. Legislative Videos Advances The Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday allowed the National Association of the Deaf and one of its members to move forward with a suit accusing the state of Florida of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by not providing captions on video of proceedings in the Florida Legislature.
DLA Piper Atty Leaving Firm To Become Second Gentleman Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' husband, Douglas C. Emhoff, is transitioning out of his position as a partner at DLA Piper as he prepares to take on the role as the nation's first-ever second gentleman, the firm and campaign confirmed to Law360 on Tuesday. Trump Is Trying To Suppress Pa. Voters, Advocacy Groups Say Groups including the Pennsylvania chapters of the League of Women Voters and the NAACP on Tuesday accused President Donald Trump's campaign of trying to disenfranchise voters as it challenges the result of last week's election in the wake of its declared loss over the weekend.
Analysis SEC Actions Likely To Spur Further Private Markets Growth The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent vote to expand private capital-raising options and ease related rules governing unregistered offerings could accelerate the booming growth of private capital markets, drawing divided reactions as to whether the development bodes well. GOP Senator Urges End To Fed's COVID-19 Lending Facilities A top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee said at a Tuesday hearing that the Federal Reserve's coronavirus emergency lending facilities have done their job and should be wound down sooner rather than later, even as Democrats on the committee urged further support for the economy. Biden Taps Obama-Era CFTC Head For Financial Reg Review President-elect Joe Biden announced Tuesday that Gary Gensler, the former U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission chairman known for his hard-line approach to regulation under the Obama administration, will spearhead his transition team's review of the government's financial regulators. Ex-Mulvaney Rival Will Lead Biden's CFPB Review Team The Biden-Harris transition team on Tuesday named its agency review team that will be responsible for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, unveiling a roster led by a former official at the agency who contested Mick Mulvaney's 2017 appointment as its acting director. 4th Circ. Suspends Mountain Valley Pipeline Construction The Fourth Circuit said the Mountain Valley Pipeline can't immediately take advantage of a Clean Water Act permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers while the court considers a challenge by environmental groups that argue the government acted unlawfully. Biden Taps Obama Staffers, Greens For Agency Review Teams President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday announced that he's picked a diverse team of former Obama administration officials, green group advocates, academics and attorneys to lead a review of federal agencies overseeing environmental, energy, Native American and other matters before he takes office.
11th Circ. Won't Rethink Medicare Secondary Payer Ruling The Eleventh Circuit has shut down a bid by insurers to reconsider a panel's holding that downstream health care providers can sue primary insurers for nonpayment under the private right of action in the Medicare Secondary Payer Act.
Series AGs In A Pandemic: Weiser Talks Colo. Health Orders Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser explains how his office collaborated with local governments to enforce COVID-19 public health orders, and how moral suasion and education have limited the need for civil and criminal penalties against businesses. Top Hotel CEOs Urge New Government To Step Up Virus Relief The CEOs of nine major hotel companies have urged a post-election Congress and presidential administration to do a better job of supporting the hospitality industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, and said a divided government in 2021 should improve the chances of getting workable economic relief. Coronavirus Regulations: A State-By-State Week In Review A resurgence of COVID-19 cases swept through the nation over the past week, prompting the revival of mitigation measures in New Jersey and Illinois restaurants and additional community testing sites in Delaware. Trump White House Report Calls For 'Pro-Growth' IP Policies The Trump administration has issued a new report calling for more protection and prioritization of the U.S.'s "inventive and creative capacity" in the enforcement of intellectual property law.
Obama Staffers, Union Heads Stack Biden's DOT Review Team President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday selected former Obama administration officials and labor union and local transit agency heads to steer an agency review team for the U.S. Department of Transportation, offering a glimpse at the former vice president's transportation and infrastructure priorities. Analysis 6 Members Of Biden's Labor Transition Team To Watch President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday named a slew of Obama administration alumni who will help tackle the handoff of the government’s labor and employment agencies from the Trump administration. Here, Law360 takes a look at six key members of Biden's labor transition team. Religious Liberty Climbing EEOC's Priority List, GC Says EEOC general counsel Sharon Fast Gustafson has convened a working group to delve into claims of religious discrimination and believes that more cases pitting sex bias against religious rights are on the horizon, she said during a panel discussion Wednesday that included several top Trump administration labor officials. NLRB Members Dish On Recent Big-Ticket Developments The National Labor Relations Board's members offered an overview of its recent accomplishments during a legal conference Wednesday. Here is a look at what the labor board’s members had to say about key decisions and regulations. Analysis Access To Rivals' Data Drives EC Amazon Antitrust Case Long-standing complaints that Amazon misuses its access to third-party seller information in its dual roles as retail platform and as retailer came to a head Tuesday in European Union allegations that could prove an important test of how competition enforcers on both sides of the Atlantic treat online platforms' access to vast stores of data. Amazon Faces EU Antitrust Charges Of Abusing 'Dual' Roles The European Commission on Tuesday accused Amazon of breaking the European Union's antitrust rules by "distorting" competition in online markets, setting up a legal clash between the megaretailer and the bloc's competition enforcers. FTC Probes Illumina's $8B Deal For Cancer Detection Biz The Federal Trade Commission has told Illumina that it wants to look more deeply into the biotech giant's planned $8 billion acquisition of Grail Inc., Illumina said. LA, Outfront Take Down Billboard Antitrust Suit, For Now A California federal judge on Monday dismissed an antitrust suit accusing the city of Los Angeles of scheming with Outfront Media Inc. to allow the outdoor advertising giant to skirt sign ordinances, while also teeing up the showdown for another round of pleadings.
TikTok Asks DC Circuit To Block Trump's Divestment Order TikTok parent ByteDance asked the D.C. Circuit to review a Trump administration order that could force the parent to divest the popular Chinese-owned video-sharing app by Thursday, noting that it is in the middle of negotiations with Oracle and Walmart and has gotten mixed information from the administration.
FCC, FTC Commissioners Share Big Tech Privacy Concerns Two Republican commissioners from the Federal Communications and Trade commissions spoke out on their concerns over data privacy and Section 230 — a federal internet liability shield that protects social media platforms from lawsuits over user-posted content — during a Tuesday panel on social media regulations hosted by the Federalist Society. Biden Picks BigLaw Privacy Pros For DHS, DOJ Review Teams The leaders of the cybersecurity and privacy practices at Mayer Brown LLP and Paul Hastings LLP are among the experts that President-elect Joe Biden's transition team announced have been tapped to help shape the future course of the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and Justice. Firm Committed Malpractice In Severed Leg Row, Insurer Says An insurer has asked a New Jersey federal court to find that Florio Perrucci and two firm attorneys committed malpractice by not asserting certain immunity defenses on behalf of state agencies in litigation over a multivehicle collision that cost a woman her leg.
DOD Intelligence, Policy Chiefs Resign After Esper's Firing A trio of senior U.S. Department of Defense officials including its policy and intelligence chiefs have joined fired former Defense Secretary Mark Esper in exiting the Pentagon, allowing a controversial former nominee to step into the policy role. Senate Proposes $696B Defense Spending Bill For 2021 The Senate Appropriations Committee introduced a $696 billion bill on Tuesday to fund the U.S. Department of Defense for 2021, setting up clashes with the House of Representatives over issues such as border wall funding.
Boeing Defends Withholding Crash Docs In 737 Max RICO Suit Boeing said it's temporarily barred by the National Transportation Safety Board from sharing information on the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes while investigations are ongoing, and consumers spearheading a Texas racketeering case over the 737 Max are misconstruing disclosure rules to try and gain access to information.
EU Begins Levying $4B In Tariffs On US Over Boeing Subsidy The long-running trade dispute between the European Union and the U.S. over tax subsidies received by American aircraft manufacturer Boeing kicked up a notch Tuesday when the EU began levying an additional $4 billion in tariffs on U.S. imports.
Biden Taps Diverse Trade Team To Aid Transition Process President-elect Joe Biden will rely on a diverse roster of business, labor and legal experts to help shape his trade policy, the transition team announced Tuesday, offering the first hint as to how the former vice president will take up the Trump administration's mantle in a closely watched policy area. Calif. AG Among Possible Picks For DHS Head, Senate Seat California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is a strong contender for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security secretary role in the incoming Joe Biden administration and for the U.S. Senate seat left open by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, experts tell Law360. DC Circ. Won't Revive Bond Cos.' Due Process Claims The D.C. Circuit found Tuesday that bail-bond companies had "multiple avenues" to protest breach determinations and refused to revive claims seeking a halt on the U.S.' efforts to collect on immigration bonds that were breached after noncitizens who were allegedly given faulty notices to appear in court failed to show.
GOP Senators Want $2B For Border Wall In Spending Bill Senate Republicans called for nearly $2 billion in border wall funding in a draft spending bill released Tuesday, teeing up tough negotiations with the Democratic-controlled House to resolve stark differences between the two chambers' proposals.
ICE Deporting Witnesses In Probe Into Ga. Doctor, Attys Say The U.S. government nearly deported a witness in an ongoing investigation into allegations that women held at a Georgia detention facility were subjected to non-consensual medical procedures, while several other witnesses are slated for imminent removal, lawyers told Law360. Visa Seekers Say Trump Can't Use Virus To Limit Immigration More than 240 visa applicants brought a proposed class action over federal visa restrictions Monday, alleging that President Donald Trump doesn't have the authority to restrict immigration because of high unemployment caused by COVID-19. Navajo Citizens, Drilling Cos. Back BLM's Fracking Permits A slew of oil and gas groups, as well as Navajo Nation citizens, have asked a New Mexico federal judge not to grant environmental groups' request to stop companies from fracking near archaeological and cultural sites in northwest New Mexico.
IHS Proposes Rule To Improve Buy Indian Act Implementation The Indian Health Service has proposed regulations intended to boost the number of procurement contracts it awards to Native American-owned and controlled businesses, according to the agency and a notice published Tuesday in the Federal Register.
Indian Affairs Vet To Lead Biden-Harris DOI Transition Team President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris announced Tuesday that they have chosen former assistant secretary for Indian Affairs and Chickasaw citizen Kevin Washburn to take charge of the team reviewing the U.S. Department of the Interior for the incoming administration. FCC Nominee Grilled Over His Part In Social Media Bias Probe A Connecticut Democrat vowed Tuesday to block the advancement of a Republican FCC nominee until he promises to recuse himself from a Trump administration crackdown on social media bias currently pending before the commission. FCC Told To Halt 'Controversial' Work Until Biden Takes Office House Democrats have asked the Federal Communications Commission to press pause on any "controversial" or "partisan" rulemakings until President-elect Joe Biden's administration takes office.
Empowered By Election Wins, House Dems Push Pot Reform Following a sweep of state cannabis legalization measures at the polls, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote in December on a historic bill to remove marijuana as a Schedule I drug.
NJ Assembly Speaker Calls For Additional Local Pot Fees The speaker of New Jersey's Assembly called for placing an additional local fee on cannabis sales as state lawmakers push forward a bill to create a regulated system for selling adult-use recreational cannabis.
Pot Co. Seeks High Court Review Of IRS Summons Fight A Colorado marijuana business has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review whether the Internal Revenue Service has the right to subpoena financial documents for state-legal cannabis entities.
High Court Seems To Seek Balance In Agency Draft Disclosure The recent U.S. Supreme Court oral argument in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service v. Sierra Club, during which the justices grappled with the question of when draft agency documents should be subject to public disclosure, suggests that they are searching for a middle ground between the positions of the litigants, say Svend Brandt-Erichsen and Brooke Wahlberg at Nossaman. DEA Hemp Rule Could Lose Edge Under Biden Admin. Although the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's recent rule on THC concentration in hemp products appears to put processors at greater risk of federal criminal prosecution for products exceeding the legal limit, the election of Joe Biden as president may signal a return to the nonprosecution directive of the Obama presidency, say E.K. McWilliams and Wade Thomson at Jenner & Block.
Opinion High Court Is Not The Arbiter Of Disputed Election Results Contrary to Justice Samuel Alito's apparent inclination to overturn the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's deadline extension for mail-in ballots, the U.S. Constitution provides that any disagreement as to a state's choice of electors is to be settled by Congress, not the U.S. Supreme Court, says Frances Goins at Ulmer & Berne. Navigating PPP Loan Forgiveness Risks: Part 2 — Lenders Lenders and third parties should be aware of the risks surrounding misuse of Paycheck Protection Program funds and abuse of the loan-forgiveness process, and take steps to identify potential or suspected fraud, say attorneys at Blank Rome. Opinion Biden Independent Contractor Plan Sends Confusing Message President-elect Joe Biden’s inconsistent campaign plan for independent contractors supports enforcement of existing laws against intentional worker misclassification while also proposing a challenging-to-meet federal classification standard modeled after California’s A.B. 5, says Richard Reibstein at Locke Lord.
Biden Taps BigLaw Brainpower For Transition Squad About two dozen BigLaw lawyers will help plan President-elect Joe Biden's takeover of the federal government, the transition team announced Tuesday, including a Jones Day partner who will prime the Department of Justice and two federal election commissions even as her colleagues help represent the GOP in mail-in voting litigation. Analysis As Private Citizen Litigant, Trump Still Has Cards To Play As he faces going back to life as a private citizen, President Donald Trump still has some legal Hail Marys to throw as he tries to head off the civil and criminal legal challenges awaiting him after his time in office ends. Lincoln Project Lobs Attacks Against Jones Day, Porter Wright Lincoln Project, a well-known anti-Trump, Republican political action committee, has launched social media campaigns targeting the lawyers at Jones Day and Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP, condemning them for their roles in abetting President Donald Trump's legal battles to challenge the results of the 2020 election. Davis Polk Partners Whiter Than Trump Judges, Ex-Atty Says A Black former Davis Polk associate suing the firm for racial discrimination lodged a fresh complaint on the docket this week claiming the firm's partnership ranks are less diverse than the Trump administration's judicial picks. Orrick Latest BigLaw Firm To Pay Out Salary Lost To Virus Orrick will begin offering restoration payments to lawyers and staff who experienced salary cuts this year, the firm said Tuesday, making it the latest BigLaw firm to make employees whole for compensation reductions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Baker McKenzie Named Top BigLaw Firm On Social Media Baker McKenzie is the savviest BigLaw firm in the U.S. when it comes to digital marketing strategies on platforms including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube, according to the 2020 Social Law Firm Index. Lessons From 2020 In-House Attys Will Draw On Next Year It will be crucial for legal departments to strengthen relationships with law firms, experiment with alternative fee arrangements, and tap into both existing and new technologies as the pandemic continues into 2021, two in-house lawyers said Tuesday. Q&A When GCs Need Answers, A Modern Detective Can Help Private investigator Tyler Maroney is more likely to be distilling data to help general counsel chase down a hotline tip about corporate corruption than he is to be hiding in the shadows snapping secretive photos like the gumshoes of yesteryear. Here, he tells Law360 what modern-day P.I.'s bring to the table when probing internal matters at a company. West Pharmaceutical Hires Segal Group GC West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. announced Tuesday that Kimberly Banks MacKay, The Segal Group Inc.'s top attorney, will be joining its staff as a senior vice president and general counsel. Hanes' Top Atty Retiring Next Year Clothing giant HanesBrands Inc. announced Tuesday that its general counsel and chief administrative officer, Joia M. Johnson, will retire in May. USPTO Appoints Ex-Koch Industries, Gaming Co. Atty As GC The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said Tuesday that it has appointed a new general counsel who recently served as a top lawyer for a Nevada gaming company and previously worked as chief counsel at Koch Industries. English Soccer Group Names Sports Law Bigwig Interim Chief The Football Association, the governing body of English soccer, has tapped a prominent sports lawyer as an interim replacement for the former chairman, who stepped down after making derogatory statements about Black, Asian and female athletes. First Openly Gay Justice Confirmed To Calif. High Court Judge Martin Jenkins has become the California Supreme Court's first openly gay member and only the fifth Black justice to serve in the court's history, after his appointment was unanimously confirmed Tuesday. Virus Risk Forces Weeklong Closure Of 2 Calif. Courthouses California's Mendocino County Superior Court has closed for a week after two separate COVID-19 exposures were reported the week of Nov. 2, the court announced Monday. Alaska High Court Says No Need For Diploma Privilege The Alaska Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a bid by seven law school graduates to receive licenses to practice without taking the state bar exam because of concerns about the coronavirus, ruling that the bar association has taken sufficient steps to make testing sites safe. NJ Justices Challenge Ethics Behind Atty Keyword Search The New Jersey Supreme Court cast doubt Tuesday on an ethics panel's opinion that attorneys could pay to influence internet search results in order to display their firm websites when competing lawyers' names are searched, saying the maneuver could disadvantage the competitors. Google Tries To Sink Antitrust Suit Over Online Display Ads Google has asked a California federal court to toss antitrust claims by a putative class that contends the search engine giant and its parent company have established a monopoly in online display advertising, arguing they have failed to allege an actual market. Judge Says Klayman Appeal Of $2.8M Verdict May Be Too Late A petition by conservative legal firebrand Larry Klayman, former head of Judicial Watch, to overturn a $2.8 million judgment over trademark and contract breaches in favor of the activist organization he founded faced resistance from a D.C. Circuit judge who suggested Klayman's motion was filed too late for the appellate court to resolve the matter. Ex-MoFo Attys Blast Firm's Bid To End Maternity Bias Claims Two former Morrison & Foerster LLP lawyers who claim they faced hostility for taking advantage of the company's maternity leave policy hit back in California federal court at the firm's claims they had not advanced because their performance was lacking. CORRECTION: FirstEnergy Top Attys Split Amid Bribery Probe FirstEnergy Corp. has parted ways with its chief legal officer and its general counsel, the latest in a string of high-profile departures at the electric utility as it faces a federal corruption investigation. Law Firm Leaders: Sher Tremonte's Sher and Tremonte Sher Tremonte partners and co-founders Justin M. Sher and Michael Tremonte spoke to Law360 about how the litigation boutique is navigating an already-changing industry amid the "new normal" under the pandemic.
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