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Public-Private Partnerships On The Rise

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 04.22.09

In "Funding America's Infrastructure Needs: Public-Private Partnerships May Help Close Infrastructure Gap," in the March 2009 issue of Construction Briefings, Steve McBrady of C&M examines the increasing use of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in American infrastructure, as the federal government, states, and localities seek innovative mechanisms for upgrading and operating critical infrastructure. The recently passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Obama administration's proposal for a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank, and the upcoming Transportation Re-Authorization bill, will bolster these efforts and generate increased focus on the use of PPPs across the country.

Insights

Client Alert | 3 min read | 06.12.26

DOJ Guidance Backs Away From Disparate Impact Liability

On June 9, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a formal opinion concluding that the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission’s (EEOC) existing interpretations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) disparate-impact liability, including the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP), are unconstitutional. According to the opinion, EEOC’s prior interpretations contemplate liability based on disproportionately adverse effects alone, without regard to an employer’s likely intent, rather than treating disparate impact as an evidentiary mechanism to “smoke out” intentional discrimination. DOJ found that this approach functions as a “qualified racial-proportionality mandate” that places “a racial thumb on the scales, often requiring employers to evaluate the racial outcomes of their policies, and to make decisions based on (because of) those racial outcomes.” The opinion fulfills one mandate of Executive Order 14281, which rejected disparate-impact liability insofar as it “creates a near insurmountable presumption that unlawful discrimination exists wherever there are any differences in outcomes among different [demographic groups].”...