LEGAL NEWSLINE

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed newly passed legislation that aims to reform the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), which business groups have long criticized as a vehicle for rampant lawsuit abuse that offers little in the way of worker protections.

Mayer Brown announced today that Andrew Olmem, a co-leader of its Financial Services, Regulatory & Enforcement practice, was named managing partner of the firm’s Washington DC office, effective June 1.

Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office played a key role last week in a major nationwide enforcement action against licensed medical professionals allegedly involved in fraudulent health care schemes.

An indictment was unsealed last week in Boston charging Christy Parker, 26; Alexander Smalls, 25; Cory Primo, 42; Avvani Jeffers, 22; Tre’sean Reid, 21; and Tyreik Reid, 20, with conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and other related charges.

On July 5, 2024, several opinions were filed in various legal cases across civil and criminal matters. Below are the highlights of these decisions:

Earlier this week, the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) approved only 50% of the electric rate increase requested by Indiana Michigan Power Company (I&M), reducing the hike by more than $16 million following intervening testimony from Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. Last fall, the company filed a request for a $34 million rate increase or 9.9% hike for residential customers. Additionally, I&M sought to increase the residential customer monthly service charge by 59% and the small commercial customer monthly service charge by nearly 90%. The company also sought...

An Alaska woman pleaded guilty on Wednesday to evading taxes on income she earned from the business she operated.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has filed an emergency application with the United States Supreme Court to halt the SAVE student loan repayment plan. "The Supreme Court already ruled in another case that the Biden administration doesn’t have the authority to waive hundreds of billions of student loan repayments," said Attorney General Wilson. "But President Biden is trying to go around that and do it anyway. This is classic grandstanding by the President of the United States. It would mean all taxpayers will be saddled with paying off billions of dollars of these...

Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced today that a Providence man has been sentenced in Providence County Superior Court to serve two consecutive life sentences at the Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI) for the murder of 38-year-old Jorge Garcia at Roque’s Café in Providence in 2021.

The New York Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation (OSI) has initiated an investigation into the death of a civilian following an encounter with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) in Queens on July 4, 2024.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that the California Department of Justice (DOJ), pursuant to Assembly Bill 1506 (AB 1506), is investigating and will independently review an officer-involved shooting (OIS) that occurred on July 4, 2024, in Hemet, California. The incident, which resulted in the death of one individual, took place around 1:30 a.m. and involved the Hemet Police Department.

Jeffrey Strenkowski, a seasoned telecommunications attorney, has joined Troutman Pepper’s Washington, D.C. office as a partner in the firm’s Energy Practice.

McGuireWoods has won an important U.S. Supreme Court case involving a challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency’s rule known as the Good Neighbor Plan, a federal program that seeks to regulate ozone-forming emissions from power plants and other industrial sources in 23 states.

U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion dismissing the petitions for certiorari in Moyle v. United States and United States v. Idaho as improvidently granted.

Attorney General Tim Griffin today issued the following statement announcing he has sent a letter on behalf of 20 state attorneys general supporting the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act (ICC Act), legislation sponsored by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) to protect American civil and military officials from unlawful prosecutions by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley will discuss border security during a panel discussion Friday at the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) Conference being held in W. Va.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed apermanent injunction and sided with Attorney General Lynn Fitch agreeingthat the Tax Mandate in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) “unlawfullyforc[es] the States to adopt certain tax policies” and noting that it exceeds.

Attorney General John M. Formella announces that the Hillsborough County – Southern District Grand Jury has returned two indictments charging Alexi Ramos, age 33, with two class A felony counts of Theft by Unauthorized Taking or Transfer.

New York Attorney General Letitia James released the following statement after the United States Supreme Court dismissed petitions for certiorari in Idaho v. U.S. and Moyle v. U.S. and allowed a preliminary injunction by the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho to stay in place, which allows hospitals in Idaho to provide emergency abortion care as required by the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).

Baker McKenzie is pleased to announce the appointment of Anna Marina De Vivo as a new partner.