On July 10, 2024, a Baltimore City Circuit Court judge dismissed a complaint brought by the City of Baltimore against 25 fossil fuel manufacturers, seeking to hold them liable on numerous state-law theories, including for...more
In reversing a lower court ruling, the D.C. Court of Appeals makes actionable vague, aspirational statements of sustainability as deceptive and misleading representations under the D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act...more
In City of Baltimore v. BP, et al., court holds that nuisance and tort claims are preempted by federal law and beyond the limits of state law....more
8/2/2024
/ BP PLC v Mayor and City Council of Baltimore ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Manufacturers ,
Natural Gas ,
Nuisance ,
Oil & Gas ,
Preemption ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Tort
With Assembly Bill A3556C, New York joins a growing list of states considering or enacting broad bans on the sale and distribution of products containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances ("PFAS")....more
4/1/2024
/ Environmental Policies ,
Importers ,
Industrial Products ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Manufacturers ,
New York ,
PFAS ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Retail Market ,
State and Local Government
Business groups in California challenge the constitutionality of new climate reporting laws. ...more
In Short -
The Situation: The California legislature passed landmark climate bills that surpass emissions disclosure requirements of any other existing state law. The bills are branded as the nation's first comprehensive...more
9/28/2023
/ California ,
CARB ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Doing Business ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainability
In Short -
The Background: The prevalence of generative artificial intelligence ("GenAI") is rapidly expanding, providing vast opportunities for efficiency and innovation, while also creating new risks....more
8/7/2023
/ Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Data Privacy ,
End-Users ,
EULA ,
Innovation ,
Liability ,
License Agreements ,
Machine Learning ,
Popular
In Short -
The Situation: Commercial policyholders are increasingly being targeted by climate change lawsuits alleging that greenhouse gas emissions from their normal operations—and the alleged failure to take...more
A Connecticut district court acquitted six defendants of criminal antitrust violations arising out of alleged employee no-poach agreements, marking the first dismissal of a U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division's...more
The proposed amendment to NY law establishes a right to contribution for cost-recovery claims for settling parties in tort actions who clean up PFAS contamination.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances ("PFAS") are synthetic...more
The Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") is soliciting comments regarding the efficiency, costs, benefits, and regulatory impact of its Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims ("Green Guides")....more
Nearly every board of a publicly traded company in the European Union, United Kingdom, or United States will have considered and, for most, reported on ESG matters. And it is not just public companies. In what has been little...more
We believe our proposed changes support all market participants' common objectives of investor protection and fair and efficient capital markets.
...more
6/20/2022
/ Capital Markets ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investment ,
Investor Protection ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
SEC Comment Letter Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
In 2018, the FCC deregulated broadband internet access service, repealed its 2015 net neutrality rules, and specified that these actions were intended to preempt state net neutrality laws. On appeal, the D.C. Circuit upheld...more
2/7/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Broadband ,
FCC ,
Infrastructure ,
Internet ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
Net Neutrality ,
Open Internet Rules ,
Preemption ,
Public Utility ,
Telecommunications
The Ninth Circuit approved use of statistical analysis that relies on averaging but reversed class certification because the district court failed to resolve whether more than a de minimis number of putative class members...more
Indictment is DOJ's second recently filed in the North District of Texas.
The Department of Justice ("DOJ") has brought a criminal indictment against a corporate defendant for agreeing with competitors not to solicit...more
The Development: Congress unanimously passed and before leaving office, President Trump signed into law, the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act ("CHIRA"). CHIRA limits application of the McCarran-Ferguson Act, an...more
The Situation: New technologies incorporating AI create questions about how product liability principles will apply and adapt.
The Issue: Legislatures and courts have not addressed how product liability laws apply to new...more
3/23/2018
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Automation Systems ,
Automotive Industry ,
Indemnification ,
Manufacturers ,
Popular ,
Product Defects ,
Retailers ,
Software Developers ,
Strict Product Liability ,
Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) ,
Warranties