Understanding the New DEI Executive Order: What's the Tea in L&E?
Federal Government Urges Court of Appeals to Uphold Constitutionality of FCA Qui Tam Provisions - In a brief filed earlier this week, the US federal government has urged the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the...more
The constitutionality of the Universal Service Fund (USF) funding mechanism is currently being litigated, and its future has long been the subject of debate in Congress. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit found the...more
The new small business finance rule passed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) requires “Covered” financial institutions to collect and report data on applications for credit for small businesses. This rule,...more
The continued legal challenges to the constitutionality of certain aspects of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) and National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) took a potentially significant turn in a decision issued by...more
On December 5, 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ), filed a Notice of Appeal in response to a U.S. District Court’s recently issued, nationwide preliminary injunction stopping the reporting obligations under the Corporate...more
A recent Florida district court decision declared that the False Claims Act’s (FCA) qui tam provision violates the Constitution by vesting executive power in private whistleblowers (relators) that have not been appointed by...more
Mandatory disclosure obligations significantly changed for federal grant recipients, sub-recipients, and applicants on October 1, 2024. The amended federal regulation establishing these mandatory disclosures (2 C.F.R. §...more
This landmark decision, if upheld on appeal, has the potential to drastically reduce the number of False Claims Act actions brought against government contractors. A U.S. District Court in Florida held that the qui tam...more
On September 30, 2024, in U.S. ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates LLC, Judge Kathryn Mizelle in the Middle District of Florida dismissed a qui tam action under the False Claims Act (“FCA”) on the basis that the...more
On September 4, 2024, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied D. Allen Blankenship’s challenge to enjoin the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) disciplinary action...more
You might think the laws of King Edward I of England (1239-1307), George Washington’s whisky distillery, and an 1807 “Treatise on the Law of Idiocy and Lunacy” have little to do with the federal criminal code of 2024. And you...more
On June 27, 2024, the United States Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in SEC v. Jarkesy, ruling that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) use of in-house tribunals for civil penalties in securities fraud...more
A federal judge in Texas recently cast new doubt on the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) ability to oversee labor disputes, agreeing with SpaceX that the agency’s Board Members and Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) are...more
Pending decision could have significant impact on schools, libraries and consumers that rely on the programs funded by the USF - Although the impact will not likely be immediate, and it may be further changed on appeal, on...more
On July 24, 2024, on a petition for rehearing en banc, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held in Consumers’ Research v. FCC (Consumers’ Research) that the current funding mechanism for the Universal...more
On June 27, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States, in a 6-3 ruling, held that when the Securities Exchange Commission seeks civil monetary penalties from defendants for securities fraud, the Seventh Amendment gives...more
In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court has overruled the Chevron doctrine, fundamentally altering the landscape of administrative law and significantly impacting federal tax administration. Six justices, with Chief Justice...more
The U.S. Supreme Court overruled Chevron deference in its decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo on June 28, 2024. Chevron – a central doctrine of administrative law – had stood since 1984....more
The Supreme Court took the long-anticipated step of overruling Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U. S. 837 (1984). The majority decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo means that...more
The United States Supreme Court has effectively vanquished the Chevron doctrine, which has governed the power of federal agencies to interpret federal statutes for the last 40 years. In recent years, the Chevron doctrine has...more
Forty years ago, the Supreme Court adopted a doctrine that has allowed federal agencies to make the final call on interpreting ambiguous laws. Today, the court overruled that doctrine and held that courts, not agencies, are...more
In a monumental opinion issued today, the U.S. Supreme Court in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo overruled Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., holding (6-3) that deference to an agency's...more
On June 20, the U.S. Supreme Court released its opinion in the closely watched case of Moore v. United States. In a 7-2 decision, the court upheld the constitutionality of the mandatory repatriation tax (MRT), also referred...more
When the CPSC finds that a product is defective and constitutes a substantial product hazard, it will ask a company to voluntarily undertake a corrective action, commonly called a recall. If the company refuses to take such...more
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado may have a profound impact on inclusionary zoning ordinances and bylaws in Massachusetts. I suspect few of those regulations – if challenged – will...more