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| TOP NEWS Trump Bars Investments In Cos. That Aid Chinese Military President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that would bar transactions in publicly traded securities that end up supporting the Chinese military, stating that the Chinese government has "exploit[ed] United States investors to finance the development and modernization of its military." Gibson Dunn Alum Confirmed To Florida District Court Senators on Thursday confirmed a federal prosecutor and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP alumna to be a trial judge in the Southern District of Florida, continuing the Republican drive to confirm as many judges as possible before the year's end.
Trump Aims To Halt Pa. Vote Certification Amid Election Row President Donald Trump moved Thursday to delay certification of Pennsylvania's vote count pending the outcome of his federal court lawsuit alleging a flawed voting system, while, in a separate filing, Pennsylvania's Secretary of State asked for Trump's suit to be dismissed.
Pa. Judge Rejects Ballots Cured After Original Deadline A Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court judge ruled Thursday that the state's top election official lacked the authority to extend the deadline for voters to fix issues with verifying their identities and ordered ballots that were cured after the original Nov. 9 deadline to not be counted.
Census Bureau Asks Calif. Judge To End 'Replan' Challenge The U.S. Census Bureau has urged a California federal judge to toss a suit contesting the agency's accelerated plan to complete the national count, saying claims the bureau's bid to meet deadlines will lead to an inaccurate count rely on "the same flawed logic" that led the U.S. Supreme Court to stay an earlier ruling.
NY Judges, Court Staff Slam Proposed Budget Cuts New York state judges and court staff lambasted cuts to the judicial budget in a New York State Assembly hearing on Thursday, warning that the state's justice system is already spread too thin to weather more austerity. Houston Lawyers Assoc. Tells Judge New Group Infringing A Harris County judge is contemplating whether the newly-formed Houston Black Lawyers Association is diluting the brand and infringing the "goodwill and reputation" of the Houston Lawyers Association, which was formed 65 years ago at a time when Black attorneys weren't allowed to join the Houston Bar Association. DC Circ. Unlikely To Revive Cato's SEC Gag Rule Challenge The D.C. Circuit offered little hope Thursday for the Cato Institute's bid to revive its constitutional challenge to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's so-called gag order barring entities that reach settlements with it from publicly denying charges against them after judges expressed doubts the libertarian think tank has standing to sue. CFPB Won't Drop Credit Reporting Dispute Deadline Relief The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is standing by regulatory relief it granted to the credit reporting industry at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, declining consumer advocates' calls to stop giving industry members leeway on legally mandated deadlines for conducting error dispute investigations.
Interview 9 Questions For Calif. Air Board Leader Mary Nichols California Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols has led the agency for 13 years and established herself as a leader in not just the Golden State, but for others and even the federal government on air pollution and regulation issues. Nichols recently spoke with Law360 about some of the key issues facing CARB and the nation regarding air pollution, climate change and how the incoming Biden administration could shake things up. Transmission Co. Wants Justices To Review Minn. Grid Law A transmission developer has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Minnesota law that gives in-state electric transmission companies a right of first refusal before out-of-state companies can build and operate new lines, arguing the "flagrantly discriminatory" law violates the U.S. Constitution's dormant commerce clause.
Nurses' Union Survey Finds Hospitals Still Short On PPE Hospitals are still lacking in personal protective equipment to deal with COVID-19 as the U.S. experiences record new daily cases, according to the results of a survey of 15,000 nurses released Thursday by National Nurses United. Coronavirus Litigation: The Week In Review Airbnb allegedly hasn't kept its promise to reimburse customers for canceled bookings, Walmart can't escape all claims over its temporary return policy amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and the University of San Diego is the latest to be sued by students demanding refunded tuition because of campus closures. Twitter Contributes $100M For Launch Of Social Justice Fund Twitter is contributing $100 million and partnering with a national association of community development financial institutions to help launch a social justice-oriented investment fund aimed at providing $1 billion for communities of color and those affected by poverty, according to a statement Thursday. CNN Cancels Trump Campaign's Russia Story Libel Suit A Georgia federal judge Thursday granted CNN's bid to dismiss a suit by Donald Trump's reelection campaign claiming an article on the media giant's website falsely alleged the campaign considered seeking Russia's help in the 2020 election, ruling that the campaign failed to plead that the statement was made with actual malice.
3rd Circ. Doubts Bridge Agency Bound By Pa. Building Rules The Third Circuit on Thursday appeared skeptical of Pennsylvania's argument that states can impose their construction regulations on the bi-state agency in charge of Delaware River bridges, as the commonwealth sought to undo a district court's finding that the agency isn't subject to such authority. NLRB GC Fleshes Out Mail-in Vote Guidance National Labor Relations Board regional directors need to have solid data on how COVID-19 is impacting a city or county to justify a mail-in union election, according to a memo from the NLRB's general counsel.
DOL Finalizes Registration Rule For Pooled Employer Plans The U.S. Department of Labor finalized regulations Thursday outlining how financial institutions can begin offering a new type of retirement plan, a pooled employer plan, starting Jan. 1.
W.Va. Health Agencies Sued For Not Covering Trans Benefits A transgender Medicaid participant, a state worker and his dependent hit West Virginia agencies and several top government officials with a proposed class action in federal court Thursday, challenging provisions in the state's Medicaid and employee health insurance plans that deny coverage for transgender people.
Calif. Truckers Cite Prop 22 In AB 5 Fight At 9th Circ. The California Trucking Association told the Ninth Circuit that the recent success of a California ballot measure that allows gig economy businesses to classify workers as independent contractors furthers its argument that the state's worker classification test is preempted by federal law.
Scalia Calls Calif. Gig Law Rebuke 'Warning' To Progressives Last week's vote by Californians approving a ballot measure shielding gig businesses from a law forcing them to provide employment benefits to drivers was a "referendum" on progressives' efforts to make Uber and others treat workers as employees, Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia said Thursday. FTC Mulls Reviewing 'Nascent Competitor' Buys The Federal Trade Commission is eyeing ways to open its merger review analysis to deals that come in under financial reporting thresholds, the agency's top policy staffer said on Thursday, as antitrust enforcers take a hard look at major firms that scoop up so-called nascent competitors. Antitrust Dems Optimistic For New Congress, Administration The top Democrats on the House and Senate antitrust subcommittees expressed optimism Thursday that lawmakers can update U.S. competition enforcement, in particular through potentially bipartisan-friendly efforts to generate more funding for federal watchdogs, regardless of which party controls the Senate. Judge Says DeVos' Sex Assault Rule May Bar Too Much Proof A Massachusetts federal judge suggested Thursday that new rules implemented by the U.S. Department of Education and its secretary, Betsy DeVos, that limit schools' responsibilities to investigate sexual harassment claims under Title IX may go too far in limiting what evidence can be presented in a hearing. IRS Aims For Carried Interest Final Regs In Dec., Official Says The Internal Revenue Service is hoping to wrap up final rules on carried interest as well as business interest expense regulations by the end of the year, a government official said Thursday. SF Officials Approve 1-Year Tax Reprieve For Pot Businesses San Francisco's Board of Supervisors has voted to hold off on imposing local taxes on cannabis businesses until the end of 2021 after delays in the business permitting process hampered the industry's ability to get off the ground in the city. Sen. Warren Unlikely To Lead Treasury, Tax Pro Says President-elect Joe Biden is unlikely to tap Sen. Elizabeth Warren to lead the U.S. Department of the Treasury during his administration because the margin for control in the Senate will be tight, a tax professional said Thursday. DC Judge Says No Transfer, No Ban In Temporary Status Fight The government has failed to convince a D.C. federal judge that a suit challenging a policy that blocks people with temporary immigration protections from becoming permanent residents doesn't belong in his court. DHS Warns Of Admitting 'Abusers' If Asylum Regs Challenged The U.S. Department of Homeland Security fired back Tuesday at a lawsuit challenging its new asylum restrictions, claiming that the agency should not be forced to admit "child abusers, alien smugglers, wife beaters, stalkers, serial drunk drivers, various fraudsters, or persons who commit gang violence."
Migrants Ready Challenge To Deportations In 9th Circ. More than 100 migrants are preparing to challenge a California federal court's ruling in the Ninth Circuit over whether the court has the authority to stop their removal orders that were issued under a now-vacated asylum rule.
Justices Told Of Due Process Issues Without Bond Hearings The American Civil Liberties Union asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reject the Trump administration's position that undocumented immigrants who have re-entered the United States can be detained indefinitely, even when their deportation is far from certain.
Shkreli's Objections To FTC Prison Comms Access Tossed A New York federal judge overruled objections from incarcerated "pharma bro" Martin Shkreli regarding the Federal Trade Commission's access to his prison telephone communications, in the FTC's legal challenge against Shkreli on charges of monopolizing sales of the anti-parasitic drug Daraprim.
FCC Told 5.9 GHz Plan Could Unfairly Help Auto Tech Owners A vehicle safety systems maker has told the FCC that if it wants to set aside the 5.9-gigahertz spectrum band for cutting-edge automotive cellular use, the agency should ensure all participants in the auto sector get a fair shake to license the technology involved.
Facebook Asks FCC To Ink Permissive 6 GHz Rules Facebook is a fan of the FCC's contested plan to open up the already occupied 6 GHz band to unlicensed wireless devices, but wants the agency to steer clear of any plans to cap power levels at very low limits.
Fla. Senate Withdraws Bid To Dismiss In Pot Proposal Case The Florida Senate has withdrawn its motion to dismiss the state attorney general's request for the Florida Supreme Court to consider whether a ballot measure that would legalize marijuana for adult use could be put to voters, noting that the proposal's backers have enough signatures to be on the 2022 ballot.
State Pot Regulators Join Forces To Share Best Practices Cannabis regulators in 19 states on Thursday announced the formation of a new group to facilitate conversations about how to devise and enact policies for states and local jurisdictions with legal marijuana markets. NJ Moves To Decriminalize Pot, Downgrade Mushrooms A New Jersey Senate committee on Thursday advanced legislation that would decriminalize the possession of up to six ounces of marijuana and downgrade a charge for having so-called magic mushrooms, a proposal that one lawmaker said doesn't go far enough but shows the Garden State is starting to "right its wrongs." Opinion Populist Fervor Is Upending Antitrust Policy By threatening to break up tech companies instead of imposing conduct remedies or fines, House Democrats' and the U.S. Department of Justice's populist agendas risk punishing companies for helping consumers and could stifle business innovation, says Aurelien Portuese at the Brussels School of Governance. What To Expect From US Trade Policy In The Biden Era President-elect Joe Biden’s administration will shift focus away from transactional relationships, focusing instead on multilateralism and rebuilding relations with key allies, even if a number of Trump administration trade initiatives live on, say attorneys at Squire Patton. Business Community Mostly Wins On Tax Ballot Measures Thanks to corporate efforts, voters across the country rejected a range of state and local ballot measures that would have raised taxes, with the exception of San Francisco, where a slew of changes will create significant compliance challenges for businesses, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland. Justices May Not Alter Religious Freedom Precedent In Fulton One issue the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia was whether to overturn the 30-year-old precedent for scrutinizing laws alleged to violate religious freedoms, but the discussion during oral argument suggests the court’s decision may sidestep the issue, say Austin Nimocks and Cory Liu at Ashcroft Law Firm. Building Owners Face An Even Stricter NYC Climate Plan New York City building owners and real estate developers should regard the city council's recent vote to expand strict greenhouse gas emissions limits to more buildings as an affirmation of the city's aggressive plans to address climate change, says Raymond Pomeroy at Stroock. What Amazon's Workplace Safety Win Means For Employers While a New York federal court recently dismissed Amazon employees' lawsuit alleging COVID-19-related workplace safety inadequacies, employers should not relax — there are a number of steps they can and should take to protect their workers and reputations during the pandemic, say attorneys at Greenwald Doherty. Avoiding 6 Common E-Discovery Production Pitfalls Vanessa Barsanti and Sarah Mahoney at Redgrave explore how attorneys can prevent collateral discovery disputes by efficiently overseeing the electronic document review process and ensuring the integrity of the information provided to opposing counsel.
Analysis How The Presidential Race Shifted State Judiciaries In some of the presidential election’s battleground states, the top of the ballot played a role in shaping state judiciaries, flipping party control or narrowing the partisan divide on some states’ highest courts. Analysis A 'Cold Civil War' Catches GCs In The Middle Jones Day and Porter Wright Morris & Arthur triggered a social media firestorm over election-related work for President Donald Trump and the GOP, exposing not only those firms to reputational risk, but also the corporations and their general counsel who do business with them, some observers say. Law Students Boycott 4 Firms For Repping Trump Campaign More than 100 law students have signed a pledge to boycott Jones Day and three other law firms for representing the Republican National Committee in Trump-aligned lawsuits that attempt to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election. Snell & Wilmer Out In Ariz. As Trump Election Suits Draw Ire Snell & Wilmer LLP has withdrawn as counsel for the Republican National Committee in an Arizona lawsuit claiming presidential election poll workers in Maricopa County gave voters incorrect instructions that invalidated their votes, a move that came to light as large law firms have come under fire for work in election-related lawsuits. Atlanta Law Firms Deny Conflict In Georgia Election Suits Atlanta-based law firms Taylor English Duma LLP and Robbins Ross Alloy Belinfante Littlefield LLC on Thursday denied an alleged conflict of interest over their involvement in representing Georgia election officials in one voting suit and the Donald Trump campaign and Georgia Republicans in another. Alito Scorches COVID-19 Restrictions In Political Speech In a fiery speech Thursday night, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Jr. said public health measures to combat the coronavirus had placed "previously unimaginable restrictions on individual liberty" and warned against giving too much power to state officials. 4 Mistakes Partners Make When Managing Remote Associates How law firm partners manage teams of associates was turned on its head this spring as the legal world switched to remote work due to the coronavirus pandemic, and nine months later there are still some kinks that need to be worked out. Stoel Rives To Dole Out Retroactive Pay After COVID-19 Cuts Stoel Rives LLP announced Thursday that it plans to retroactively pay its lawyers and staff who saw cuts this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Baker McKenzie Ushers In Year-End Bonus Season Baker McKenzie set in motion the 2020 year-end bonus season this week, informing U.S. associates that they could receive up to $100,000 in one-time payments and that its offerings could increase if other law firms set their scales higher. Dorsey Snags Akerman Partner In Bid For NYC, LatAm Growth Dorsey & Whitney LLP has snagged the former managing partner of Akerman LLP's New York office to co-lead its Latin American and Caribbean practice and expand the firm's footprint in New York. K&L Gates Kicks Off Training Program For Female Associates K&L Gates LLP is launching a business training program to help female associates who are starting in the legal profession to boost their career potential, the Pittsburgh-based firm has announced. WeWork, Chief Legal Officer In Early Talks About Splitting Up WeWork's chief legal officer is in the initial stages of leaving the co-working and real estate company, an individual familiar with the talks told Law360 on Thursday. AIG Taps GC For Expanded Duties American International Group Inc. has expanded its general counsel's role to global head of communications and government affairs, the insurance conglomerate announced Thursday. Epiq Expands Legal Services Menu With Hyperion Buy Legal services provider Epiq Systems Inc. announced Thursday that it acquired business and technology consulting practice Hyperion Global Partners to expand its suite of services. Legal Services Biz Can't Skip Out On Data Breach Suit Yet A California federal judge has refused to dismiss a proposed class action against legal services company Epiq Systems Inc. over a recent data breach, but signaled he may be willing to dismiss it in the future depending on what discovery reveals. Many In Judiciary Frown On Lifetime Appointments A national judicial training organization said a majority of judges it surveyed oppose the idea of federal appointments being for life, believing that such a system removes jurist accountability and has turned the federal judiciary into a "partisan weapon." EDTX Trial Suspended After Juror, Attorney Get COVID-19 A trial in the Eastern District of Texas has been suspended after multiple participants, including a juror and an attorney, tested positive for COVID-19, Law360 confirmed on Thursday. Mass. Chief Justice Nominee Vows 'Unbiased' Leadership Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Associate Justice Kimberly S. Budd promised a confirmation panel on Thursday that she'd bring "calm, steady and unbiased leadership" to the state's judiciary system if they approve her nomination to become the court's next chief justice. Podcast Law360's The Term: A Good Day For The ACA The U.S. Supreme Court appears likely to once again uphold the Affordable Care Act after a hearing on Tuesday. In this week's episode of The Term, the team breaks down key moments from the arguments, and what the presidential election means for the Supreme Court.
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