Alerts

As a ready reference for real estate industry professionals utilizing title insurance, below is a comparison and limited analysis of certain aspects of the annual financial statements of a cross section of active title insurance companies.

On July 19, the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas denied a motion to dismiss Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX), which claimed sovereign immunity in a suit brought by a group of providers.

On July 29, the US government proposed big changes to rules about supporting or exporting to foreign military, intelligence, and security entities.

After a year marked by student protests on university campuses nationwide, including encampments and commencement ceremony walk-outs, universities are scrambling to prepare for students’ return to campus the upcoming Fall Semester.

As the prevalence of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to rise, complex questions regarding the regulation of AI data scraping remain relevant to both website owners and web data collection companies.

Earlier this year, the US Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision in Starbucks Corp. v. McKinney, adopted a more restrictive test for evaluating requests for injunctive relief under Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act in order to maintain the status quo during the pendency of unfair labor practice (ULP) proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

On July 24, the Massachusetts Legislature passed legislation that will impact many Massachusetts employers in terms of their “pay transparency practices” for current employees and future applicants.

In a recent opinion, Smith et al. v. UnitedHealth Group Inc. et al., the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) class action suit brought by health plan participants.

Welcome to the Summer 2024 issue of “FCA Enforcement & Compliance Digest,” our quarterly newsletter in which we compile essential updates on False Claims Act (FCA) enforcement trends, litigation, agency guidance, and compliance tips.

Previously, we discussed how the US Supreme Court’s opinion in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce could create opportunities for private litigants to challenge health care-related agency actions.

Forty years ago, the US Supreme Court’s decision in Chevron USA, Inc. v. National Resources Defense Council, 46 US 837 (1984), upended administrative law practice. In brief, that case, for which the “Chevron doctrine” is named, instructed courts to defer to an implementing agency’s reasonable interpretation of statutes under its purview. Chevron mandated a two-step process when interpreting such statutes.

With terms like “net zero” and “carbon positive” proliferating in marketing jargon across industries, the US Department of Energy (DOE) has recently stepped in to clarify what constitutes a “zero emissions” building.

Headlines that Matter for Companies and Executives in Regulated Industries

Eight consumer products and technology companies were put on notice that restricting consumers’ right to repair violates federal law.

On July 16 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jointly issued warning letters to five companies for illegally selling “copycat” food products containing delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

Since the inception of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), importers globally have started to become acutely aware of potential forced labor risks hidden beneath intricate supply chains.

The US Supreme Court recently overturned its ruling in Chevron USA, Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., changing the landscape for federal agency rulemaking and actions, particularly in the health care industry.

On June 27, the US Supreme Court issued an opinion in SEC v. Jarkesy that limits the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) ability to administratively seek civil penalties against defendants for securities fraud.

This month in Pettiford v. Branded Management Group, LLC, the Massachusetts Appeals Court took a novel approach to vicarious liability, holding that the failure of a restaurant’s employees to stop the allegedly racist actions of a wayward cook created grounds for the company’s potential liability.

Headlines that Matter for Companies and Executives in Regulated Industries

In July 2023, US Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), along with US Representatives Lori Trahan (D-MA) and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), introduced legislation to improve access to critical care for children with complex medical conditions that may not be available in their home state.

On June 7, Adam Hart, a former employee of McKesson Corporation, filed a petition for certiorari to the US Supreme Court.

Employers supplementing their workforce with temporary workers may be out of luck if they wish to rely on arbitration agreements between the temporary helper and the staffing provider.

On the penultimate day of its term, in Loper Bright v. Raimondo, the US Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference, which required that courts defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of the relevant law, as long as that interpretation was reasonable.

On June 28, the US Supreme Court overruled the Chevron doctrine, significantly reducing the power of federal agencies’ staff acting as experts in interpreting federal statutes.