Public Policy

  • March 12, 2025

    Senate Confirms Trump's Pick For DOL Deputy Leader

    The U.S. Senate on Wednesday in a party-line vote confirmed President Donald Trump's nominee for deputy labor secretary, the second-in-command of the U.S. Department of Labor.

  • March 12, 2025

    Texas Urges Court Not To Let DuPont Out Of PFAS Lawsuit

    Chemical companies DuPont and Corteva are leaning on a "fraudulent transfer scheme" in order to exit a lawsuit accusing them of making and selling forever chemicals despite knowing about their toxic nature, the state of Texas said Tuesday, urging a federal court not to give them the out.

  • March 12, 2025

    Canada Announces Steel, Aluminum Retaliatory Tariffs On US

    Canada will impose CA$29.8 billion ($20.7 billion) in retaliatory tariffs in response to the 25% rates that President Donald Trump has levied on all steel and aluminum imports, a senior Canadian government official announced on Wednesday.

  • March 12, 2025

    Final Google Fixes Keep Apple Payments, DOJ Tells DC Circ.

    The U.S. Department of Justice doubled down on its arguments against permitting Apple to intervene in the upcoming remedies phase of its Google search monopoly lawsuit, arguing that the newly submitted final version of its sought fixes show Apple would keep getting payments it wants protected.

  • March 12, 2025

    Judge Narrows Injunction In Florida Migrant Transport Case

    A Florida federal judge narrowed a statewide injunction blocking a state law that criminalizes the transportation of unauthorized immigrants, saying the injunction should apply only to the plaintiffs who have established standing in the case.

  • March 12, 2025

    Judge Blocks Order Limiting Perkins Coie Government Access

    A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday halted enforcement of the Trump administration's executive order against law firm Perkins Coie LLP that cited issues including its representation of Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential run, calling the order "viewpoint discrimination, plain and simple."

  • March 12, 2025

    Property Tax Can Fund Retired Cops' Insurance, Panel Says

    A Michigan state appeals court on Tuesday said property taxes imposed by four municipalities to cover the cost of health insurance for retired firefighters and police officers are not illegal, finding a law established before a constitutional amendment barring new taxes without a public vote allowed taxation for broad retirement benefits.

  • March 12, 2025

    White House Urged To Back Patent Eligibility Bill To Aid AI

    The Council for Innovation Promotion has urged the Trump administration to support a legislative overhaul of patent eligibility law and reconsider patent office guidance on the issue as the White House aims to ensure the U.S. plays a dominant role in artificial intelligence.

  • March 12, 2025

    Ex-Smartmatic Execs Seek FCPA Reprieve After Trump Order

    Two former executives of electronic-voting system developer Smartmatic asked a Florida federal judge on Wednesday to push back the schedule in their bribery case while the U.S. Department of Justice reviews pending Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases.

  • March 12, 2025

    As Perkins Coie Fights Order, How Will Other Firms Respond?

    Perkins Coie LLP, represented by Williams & Connolly LLP, is challenging President Donald Trump's executive order revoking its security clearance and launching investigations into its diversity efforts. But other firms have remained silent, raising questions about the order's potential effects on how firms handle public policy litigation, publicly support their right to defend all clients and pursue hiring initiatives.

  • March 12, 2025

    Arizona Lawmakers Reintroduce $5B Tribal Water Rights Act

    A bipartisan group of Arizona federal lawmakers reintroduced a bill to finalize a $5.1 billion water rights settlement for three Indigenous tribes in the Colorado River Basin that, if approved, will resolve one of the Grand Canyon State's longest-running water disputes.

  • March 12, 2025

    HHS To Eliminate 6 Regional Offices For Legal Staff

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday it will close six out of 10 regional offices where attorneys for the agency work.

  • March 12, 2025

    Harvard Docs Say Gov't Censored Articles With Gender Terms

    A pair of Harvard Medical School researchers sued the Trump administration in Massachusetts federal court on Wednesday, claiming their work was erased from a government-run patient safety website because their articles contained terms like "LGBTQ" and "transgender."

  • March 12, 2025

    UK Enforcers Double Down On Apple Mobile Browser Worries

    A new report from British competition enforcers claims that Apple and Google's dominance in mobile operating systems and browsers limits competition and innovation in the United Kingdom, while encouraging regulators to consider imposing pro-competition requirements on the tech giants.

  • March 12, 2025

    Catholic Charity Group Says Frozen Refugee Funds Abnormal

    Catholic Charities Fort Worth argued before a D.C. federal judge on Wednesday that a purported pause on federal funding for refugee resettlement programs is abnormal and illegal, urging the court to unlock more than $36 million intended for resettling refugees in Texas.

  • March 12, 2025

    ND Lawmakers OK Recommending Tribal Land Taxation Study

    North Dakota would direct state lawmakers to consider studying issues related to the taxation of land owned by enrolled tribal members who reside on Native American reservations under a bill passed by the state Legislative Assembly and headed to the governor.

  • March 12, 2025

    NY Judge Tees Up Bail, Venue Fights For Columbia Activist

    A Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday ordered expedited briefing on whether a Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate student who was arrested on Saturday should be granted bail pending his release petition, and on where the case belongs, saying there's "some need for speed here."

  • March 12, 2025

    DOL Escapes Writers' Suit Over Contractor Rule, For Now

    A Tennessee federal judge tossed a suit from two freelance writers seeking to block the U.S. Department of Labor's new rule regulating whether workers are independent contractors or employees under federal law, saying the writers can't show that the regulation would hurt their career opportunities.

  • March 11, 2025

    Payday Lenders Want One More High Court Bout With CFPB

    Payday lender groups have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to again take up their challenge to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule finalized during President Donald Trump's first term, this time seeking an appeal focused on the rule's allegedly "tainted" origin.

  • March 11, 2025

    Feds Unsure When It Can Resume Refugee Program

    A "deterioration of functions" in the federal government's refugee program means the U.S. Department of State can't currently tell how long it will take to restore the program under a recent order in Washington federal court, the Trump administration informed the court.

  • March 11, 2025

    DOGE Must Quickly Cough Up Records To Watchdog Group

    A D.C. federal judge has ordered the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency to promptly hand over requested records on its role in mass firings and "dramatic disruptions" to federal programs to a watchdog group, finding that the public will likely be "irreparably harmed" if DOGE keeps dragging its feet.

  • March 11, 2025

    Dems Rip Trump's 'Sham' Invasion Claim As Power Grab

    Democratic lawmakers led by the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee demanded on Tuesday that President Donald Trump rescind his Jan. 20 proclamation promising states "protection against invasion" by migrants, arguing that Trump is illegally using the "sham" claim of invasion as a pretext to expand executive power unconstitutionally.

  • March 11, 2025

    NJ Justices Say NY Doc Can't Be On Med Mal Verdict Form

    The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that an anesthesiologist accused of causing a patient's death during surgery can't have the verdict sheet at the upcoming trial apportion blame to a New York doctor who was never named as a party in the suit.

  • March 11, 2025

    USPTO Acting Director To Review Bitcoin, Railway Patents

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's current acting director made some of her first moves wading into patent board rulings, deciding last week to take a closer look at two board decisions involving blockchain mines and railway signs.

  • March 11, 2025

    Conn. Judge Puzzled By Agency's 'Flip-Flop' On Rehab Permit

    A Connecticut appellate judge said Tuesday that a state agency's recommendation to reject a residential substance use treatment facility in the town of Kent, followed by its "flip-flop" to approve the plan without any changes to the underlying facts, "truly puzzles me."

Expert Analysis

  • Reading The Tea Leaves On Mexico, Canada And China Tariffs

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    It's still unclear whether the delay in the imposition of U.S. tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports will result in negotiated resolutions or a full-on trade war, but the outcome may hinge on continuing negotiations and the Trump administration's possible plans for tariff revenues, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • DOJ Memos Likely To Increase Mandatory Minimum Charges

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    In line with previous administrations’ pingpong approach to sentencing policy, new U.S. Department of Justice leadership recently rescinded Biden-era memos on charging decisions, cabining prosecutorial discretion and likely leading to more mandatory minimum sentences, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • A Closer Look At FDX's New Role As Banking Standard-Setter

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    Should the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau let ​​​​​​​stand the decision empowering Financial Data Exchange as an industry standard-setter, it will be a significant step toward broader financial data-sharing, but its success will depend on industry adoption, regulatory oversight and consumer confidence, say attorneys at Clark Hill.

  • Opinion

    High Court Must Acknowledge US History Of Anti-Trans Laws

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    Despite Justice Amy Coney Barrett's claim to the contrary during oral arguments in U.S. v. Skrmetti, U.S. governments at every level have systematically discriminated against transgender people, and the U.S. Supreme Court must consider this historical context in upcoming cases about transgender issues, says Paisley Currah at the City University of New York.

  • What To Expect In Crypto Banking After SEC Nixed Guidance

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    With the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently rescinding its controversial cryptocurrency accounting guidance, the industry's focus will turn to the potentially significant hurdle to crypto banking posed by the federal banking regulators, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

  • Antitrust In Retail: Rude Awakening For FTC In Tempur Sealy

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    A Texas federal court's recent denial of a Federal Trade Commision order to stop a giant mattress merger because of lack of evidence on market segments shows that such definitions are only a viable path for regulating vertical mergers if antitrust agencies provide adequate documentation, says David Kully at Holland & Knight.

  • Fund Names Rule FAQs Leave Some Interpretative Uncertainty

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    Although recently released FAQs clarify many specific points of the 2023 expansion to the Investment Company Act's fund names rule, important questions remain about how U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission staff will interpret other key terms when the end-of-year compliance date arrives, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • How Design Thinking Can Help Lawyers Find Purpose In Work

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    Lawyers everywhere are feeling overwhelmed amid mass government layoffs, increasing political instability and a justice system stretched to its limits — but a design-thinking framework can help attorneys navigate this uncertainty and find meaning in their work, say law professors at the University of Michigan.

  • Justices' Certiorari Denial Leaves Interstate Tax Questions

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    Since the U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to review a Philadelphia resident’s claim that her Delaware state income taxes should be credited against her city wage tax liabilities, constitutional questions about state and local tax distinctions linger, and some states may continue to apply Supreme Court precedent differently, say attorneys at Dentons.

  • The Fate Of Biden-Era Clinical Study Guidance Under Trump

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    Draft guidance about the study of sex and gender differences in medical product development issued by the outgoing Biden administration currently faces significant uncertainty and litigation potential due to the Trump administration's executive orders and other actions, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Biden-Era M&A Data Shows Continuity, Not Revolution

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    While the federal antitrust agencies under former President Joe Biden made broad claims about increasing merger enforcement activity, the data tells a different story, with key claims under Biden coming in at the lowest levels in decades, say attorneys at Covington.

  • What Travis Hill's Vision For FDIC Could Portend For Banks

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    If selected to lead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in a permanent capacity, acting Chairman Travis Hill is likely to prioritize removing barriers to innovation and institution-level growth, emphasizing the idea that eliminating rules, relaxing standards and reducing scrutiny will reinvigorate the industry, say attorneys at Mitchell Sandler.

  • 10 Issues To Watch In Aerospace And Defense Contracting

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    This year, in addition to evergreen developments driven by national security priorities, disruptive new technologies and competition with rival powers, federal contractors will see significant disruptions driven by the new administration’s efforts to reduce government spending, regulation and the size of the federal workforce, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • Will Independent Federal Agencies Remain Independent?

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    For 90 years, members of multimember independent federal agencies have relied on the U.S. Supreme Court's 1935 ruling in Humphrey's Executor v. U.S. establishing the security of their positions — but as the Trump administration attempts to overturn this understanding, it is unclear how the high court will respond, says Harvey Reiter at Stinson.

  • High Court Sentencing Case Presents Legal Fork In The Road

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    On Feb. 25, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Esteras v. U.S. about the factors trial courts may consider when imposing a sentence of imprisonment after revoking supervised release, and the justices’ eventual decision may prioritize either discretion or originalism, says Michael Freedman at The Freedman Firm.

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