Understanding the New DEI Executive Order: What's the Tea in L&E?
Key Takeaways - - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated a $57 million fine levied by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) against AT&T. - The court ruled the FCC's in-house enforcement proceedings...more
Several states have made attempts to provide the animal production industry protection against unlawful interference by enacting so-called Ag-Gag laws. A wave of litigation is challenging these laws as unconstitutional,...more
On March 19, 2025, U.S. District Court Judge Stephanie Rose of the Southern District of Iowa determined that Iowa Code § 727.8A—a law passed in 2021 that prohibits unauthorized access to private property in order to record...more
The qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act allow individuals to file suit on behalf of the United States and to receive a share of the resulting financial settlement or judgment. Filing a qui tam case is not just a formal...more
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 Honorable Pauline Newman, Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, has been battling her suspension from the Court imposed by the Judicial Council for two years (including proceedings leading...more
As an update to our post on the Corporate Transparency Act, on December 3, 2024, a federal district court issued a nationwide preliminary injunction pertaining to the Corporate Transparency Act in Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v....more
On December 11, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, sitting en banc, ruled that The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (Nasdaq) cannot enforce previously adopted listing rules requiring Nasdaq-listed companies to have...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
There is important news regarding the Beneficial Owners Interest (BOI) report based upon a recent District Court decision in Texas. In the case of Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc., et al. v. Garland, et al., Case No. 4:24-cv-478,...more
On December 3, 2024, the Eastern District of Texas issued a nationwide preliminary injunction suspending enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), less than a month before the deadline. The ruling temporarily...more
What’s Happening with MEPA Right Now (And Why You Should Care) - If you need a permit from a Montana state agency, you have a project on state land, or you need the state to take any kind of action to complete your...more
On September 16, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard oral arguments in the seminal case of TikTok, Inc. v. Garland, which centers around the potential ban of TikTok under the Protecting...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, the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida dismissed a False Claims Act (FCA) case on the grounds that the qui tam provision of the FCA is unconstitutional. This ruling will almost...more
Last month, a federal district court struck down Missouri's anti-ESG rules that would prohibit investment advisors from utilizing ESG factors when making investment decisions (absent written consent of the client). ...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 July 26, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida permanently blocked Florida’s Stop WOKE Act, which restricted the types of anti-harassment and antidiscrimination training that employers can...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 Monday, June 3, 2024, the Eleventh Circuit of Appeals held that the “Fearless Strivers Grant Contest, an entrepreneurship funding competition open only to businesses owned by black women” was “substantially unlikely to...more
UPDATED 5/30/2024: Prop. 209 became law on December 5, 2022, but was immediately challenged by the Arizona Creditors Bar Association and several other organizations as unconstitutionally vague and internally inconsistent....more
On March 1, 2024, a federal district court ruled in National Small Business United v. Yellen that the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), about which we wrote earlier, is unconstitutional. The U.S. Treasury Department has...more
On March 5, 2024, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas struck down key provisions of the Minority Business Development Act of 2021, which promotes the provision of business development services...more
On March 11, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal with the Eleventh Circuit to appeal the decision by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama (Northeastern Division) that held...more