On January 21, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” (the Order), which seeks to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies...more
1/28/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Litigation ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
Trump Administration
The Biden Administration’s focus on climate change mitigation is showcased in a prosecution recently announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Cali- fornia against Michael Hart, who is accused of smuggling...more
On November 7, 2023, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that California’s Prop 65 warning for glyphosate—the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup®—violates the First Amendment. The court determined that...more
On June 1, 2023, the Supreme Court decided a pair of closely watched False Claims Act (FCA) cases, U.S. ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc., No. 21-1326, and U.S. ex rel. Proctor v. Safeway, Inc., No. 22-111....more
6/5/2023
/ Drug Pricing ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Materiality ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Misrepresentation ,
Objective Falsity ,
Pharmacies ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Safeco Insurance Co of America v Burr ,
Scienter ,
SCOTUS ,
Subjective Standard ,
Universal Health Services Inc v United States ex rel Escobar ,
US ex rel Thomas Proctor v Safeway Inc ,
US ex rel Tracy Schutte et al v SuperValu Inc et al
On April 18, the Supreme Court heard oral argument and what has been billed as the most important False Claims Act (FCA) case in a decade. Since the FCA was enacted in the Civil War era, it has been the primary tool for the...more
5/9/2023
/ False Billing ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Objective Falsity ,
Pharmacies ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Reimbursements ,
Scienter ,
SCOTUS ,
Whistleblowers
On January 13, 2023, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in a pair of consolidated cases from the Seventh Circuit that could result in one of the most consequential False Claims Act (FCA) decisions since the FCA was amended...more
Companies considered to be “major” or “significant” US federal government contractors soon may be required to provide climate disclosures as part of the Biden Administration’s suite of policies designed to achieve net-zero...more
12/13/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Comment Period ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Net Zero ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Disclosure ,
System For Award Management (SAM) ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
Recent actions by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) aim to institutionalize environmental justice as a key agency function and support development of tools, guidance and policies to advance it. A newly formed...more
Designation of PFAS as Hazardous Substances -
On September 6, 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designated two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (collectively, PFAS) as “hazardous substances” under the...more
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Biden Administration’s signature legislative achievement, includes several provisions aimed at fighting climate change by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The law represents the...more
9/2/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Carbon Capture and Sequestration ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Justice ,
Federal Funding ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Investment Tax Credits ,
Mineral Leases ,
Oil & Gas ,
Popular ,
Production Tax Credit
Future federal environmental settlements are likely to include more creative remedies to address the impacts of violations on communities, thanks to recent policy changes at the US Department of Justice (DOJ)....more
7/25/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Air Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Environmental Violations ,
New Rules ,
Regulatory History ,
Settlement ,
Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) Policy
On May 26, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to allow the Biden administration to continue using the social cost of carbon estimates in its regulatory analyses, developed pursuant to an executive order from President Joe Biden....more
6/14/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Executive Orders ,
NHTSA ,
Obama Administration ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Trump Administration
On May 26, 2022, the United States Supreme Court ruled to allow the Biden Administration to continue using the social cost of carbon estimates in its regulatory analyses, developed pursuant to President Biden’s Executive...more
On May 12, seventeen states filed a petition for review of EPA’s decision to reinstate California’s authority to set its own motor vehicle emissions standards. The petition was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C....more
The Biden Administration will propose a rule “in the very near future” requiring major vendors supplying products and services to the federal government to report their greenhouse gas emissions and other climate-related...more
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan recently announced a series of significant actions to advance environmental justice. The U.S. Department of Justice...more
5/12/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Public Comment ,
Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) Policy ,
Tribal Lands