Public Policy

  • January 16, 2025

    US Attorney In North Carolina's Middle District To Retire

    U.S. Attorney Sandra Hairston of the Middle District of North Carolina will retire effective Saturday after a lengthy tenure helping put away violent felons and recovering millions of dollars in False Claims Act litigation while supporting and expanding programs and initiatives to help reduce recidivism and violent crimes.

  • January 16, 2025

    Trump Taps Williams & Connolly's Sarah Harris As Acting SG

    Sarah M. Harris of Williams & Connolly LLP will serve as acting U.S. solicitor general for President-elect Donald Trump while his permanent pick undergoes the confirmation process.

  • January 16, 2025

    L3Harris CEO Urges Musk, Ramaswamy To Limit Bid Protests

    L3Harris Technologies' CEO published an open letter Wednesday to leaders of the new U.S. Department of Government Efficiency — billionaire Elon Musk and ex-presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy — calling on them to overhaul the defense contracting process and limit bid protests to three per year, per contractor, among other changes.

  • January 16, 2025

    FCC Rejects TV License Attacks As Leadership Switch Nears

    The Federal Communications Commission rejected four controversial petitions targeting major news broadcasters Thursday, dispensing with the cases just days before Donald Trump reclaims the White House and installs a Republican majority on the commission.

  • January 16, 2025

    UK CMA Settles Sports Betting Company Divestiture

    Spreadex has appealed an order from the U.K.'s competition enforcer commanding it to sell off a sports betting company that it acquired in 2023, but in the meantime, it is taking all the necessary steps to comply with the agency's order.

  • January 16, 2025

    SEC's General Counsel Barbero To Exit As Trump Takes Office

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Thursday that General Counsel Megan Barbero will depart the agency on the day of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, capping a nearly two-year run that saw the agency face setbacks to its regulatory powers before conservative courts, but also notch some important wins.

  • January 16, 2025

    Biden Makes Final Push To Fortify US Cybersecurity Posture

    President Joe Biden took the latest step toward boosting the nation's cybersecurity Thursday, issuing an executive order that requires software vendors that work with the government to prove they're meeting certain security standards and promote the use of artificial intelligence for cyberdefense.

  • January 16, 2025

    7th Circ. Mulls Preemption Of HUD's Disparate-Impact Rule

    A Seventh Circuit judge said Thursday he found it odd that a trade association for insurers was bringing a facial challenge to a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rule governing disparate-impact claims under the Fair Housing Act that would effectively require "a 50-state survey to adjudicate."

  • January 16, 2025

    Trump's HUD Pick Opposes Telework, Backs Opportunity Zones

    Eric Scott Turner, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said he would bring the agency's largely remote workforce back to the office and boost a popular incentive for development in testimony before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.

  • January 16, 2025

    Tribes, ND Spar Over High Court's Voting Rights Order

    Two North Dakota tribes say a decision by the Supreme Court rejecting an appeal over the state's voting subdistricts forecloses the secretary of state's argument that race was a predominant factor in redrawing the districts.

  • January 16, 2025

    GOP Describes FTC Dems' Last Days As 'Farcical,' 'Senseless'

    Democratic enforcers at the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission are on a blitz of guidelines and complaints in their last days at the agencies, a push increasingly assailed by FTC Republicans who've said Democratic-specific efforts to enshrine antitrust safeguards for workers and more "has no future."

  • January 16, 2025

    Cherokee, Feds Reach $80M Settlement In Accounting Fight

    The Cherokee Nation and the federal government have settled a dispute for $80 million after a D.C. federal court last year determined that the U.S. had not fulfilled its duty to provide the tribe with a full accounting of its federal trust assets, ending nearly a decade of litigation.

  • January 16, 2025

    Trump AG Nominee Pam Bondi's Net Worth Tops $12M

    President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, Pam Bondi, has a net worth of over $12 million and holds stock in Trump's media company, according to financial disclosures shared with Law360. 

  • January 16, 2025

    Trump's DOT Pick Says Air Safety, New Tech Big Priorities

    President-elect Donald Trump's would-be transportation secretary pledged to oversee a leaner and more efficient U.S. Department of Transportation focused on expediting project permitting, prioritizing mega infrastructure projects, and ensuring that Boeing and aviation safety gets "back on track."

  • January 16, 2025

    DHS Unit Clarifies EB-2 National Interest Waiver Eligibility

    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have unveiled new guidance clarifying the eligibility criteria for EB-2 employment-based immigration petitions for applicants with advanced degrees or exceptional ability in the sciences, arts or business to get national interest waivers.

  • January 16, 2025

    Quarry, Conn. Town Eye Settlement In $9.5M Shutdown Feud

    The town of East Haven, Connecticut, and a quarry owner are in settlement talks to end both a lawsuit and an appeal of the owner's $10.6 million bench trial win on claims he was forced to shut down operations for improper political reasons, a federal district court filing indicates.

  • January 16, 2025

    Gov't Wants Time During Epic, Google's 9th Circ. Face-Off

    When Epic Games and Google face off next month at the Ninth Circuit, the federal government is hoping it will get a few minutes to state its case for why the appellate court shouldn't overturn an order forcing Google to allow alternative app stores on its platform, the government said in a recent motion.

  • January 16, 2025

    FDIC Case Belongs In Fed. Court After Jarkesy, 5th Circ. Told

    A former Herring Bank executive argued in a Fifth Circuit brief that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s in-house enforcement proceedings against him denied him his right to a jury trial in federal court, saying the allegations against him involve legal issues that have historically been decided by juries.

  • January 16, 2025

    Antitrust's 'Moment' Has Arrived, Thanks To Biden Enforcers

    As President-elect Donald Trump retakes the White House, with antitrust picks operating under a mandate to go after Big Tech and "censorship" with enforcement that's vigorous, but not stifling, which key parts of President Joe Biden's competition law legacy may last and what won't are coming into focus.

  • January 16, 2025

    NC Gov. Boosts Abortion Safeguards Amid 'Alarming Attacks'

    North Carolina's newly minted Gov. Josh Stein on Thursday in one of his first official acts rolled out an executive order that shores up abortion protections in the Tar Heel state, joining the ranks of other Democratic politicians seeking to cement progressive priorities ahead of a second Trump administration.

  • January 16, 2025

    USPTO Seeks Views On 'Traditional Knowledge' IP Treaty

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office requested comments Thursday on whether the U.S. should sign an international treaty that could require patent applicants to disclose if an invention draws on the traditional knowledge of indigenous people, which has concerned business groups.

  • January 16, 2025

    Browns Stadium Fight Belongs In Ohio State Court, Judge Told

    The city of Cleveland has sued the Browns in Ohio state court in an attempt to block the NFL team's planned stadium move, as the city and the state are urging the judge in a separate federal case to toss the team's bid to relocate to the suburbs.

  • January 16, 2025

    7th Circ. Judges Ask TSA Who Gets To Define 'Emergency'

    A Seventh Circuit judge on Thursday questioned how much deference the court should give to the Transportation Security Administration's definition of an "emergency" in a railway's lawsuit claiming TSA skipped normal rulemaking procedures to impose cybersecurity mandates on freight rail companies without pointing to an emergency that warranted it.

  • January 16, 2025

    PE Exec Nominated To Lead Fannie, Freddie Regulator

    President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday he will nominate Bill Pulte, the CEO of private equity firm Pulte Capital, to lead the agency regulating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

  • January 16, 2025

    Trump EPA Pick Faces Climate Questions, Dodges Details

    President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday tried to steer clear of controversy at a Senate confirmation hearing, taking a conciliatory tone, deferring judgment on specific matters and promising to exercise independence.

Expert Analysis

  • Justices Seem Focused On NEPA's Limits In Utah Rail Case

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    After last month's oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, the court appears poised to forcefully reiterate that the National Environmental Policy Act requires federal agencies to review only those environmental impacts within their control, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • A Look At PCAOB's Record-Breaking Enforcement In 2024

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    The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in 2024 brought more enforcement actions against auditors and imposed increasingly higher monetary penalties, showing that it was not afraid to exercise its power to fine and reprimand firms, a trend that will likely continue in 2025, say attorneys at Briglia Hundley.

  • Complying With Seasonal Product Labeling Requirements

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    Though the holiday season is in the rearview, many seasonal alcohol products remain in the market, and producers should ensure that their labels comply with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau's additional requirements for such products, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • The OIG Report: Preparing For Oversight In 2025

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    Across sectors, Office of Inspector General work plans and challenge reports for 2025 provide a trove of information on the issues and industries that will likely be the focus of government oversight in the year to come, says Diana Shaw at Wiley.

  • What To Expect In Higher Ed Enforcement Under Trump

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    Colleges and universities should prepare for shifting priorities, as President-elect Donald Trump is likely to focus less on antitrust cases and more on foreign relations policy, while congressional oversight of higher education continues to increase, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • Series

    Exercising On My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While I originally came to the Peloton bike for exercise, one cycling instructor’s teachings have come to serve as a road map for practicing law thoughtfully and mindfully, which has opened opportunities for growth and change in my career, says Andrea Kirshenbaum at Littler.

  • 5 Drug And Device Developments That Shaped 2024

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    The last year saw significant legal developments affecting drug and device manufacturers, with landmark decisions and regulatory changes that require vigilance and agility from the industry, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • Takeaways From SEC's Mixed Results In '24 Crypto Litigation

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    Though the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new leadership seems likely to create a more favorable cryptocurrency regulatory environment, it must also confront the consequences of, and lingering questions raised by, the SEC's 2024 policy of investigating and charging cryptocurrency trading platforms for operating unregistered exchanges, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Opinion

    Aviation Watch: How Court Nixed Boeing Plea Deal Over DEI

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    A Texas federal court's rejection of the plea agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice and Boeing over the 737 Max aircraft gratuitously injected the court's views on diversity, equity and inclusion into a case that shouldn't have been a criminal matter in the first place, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

  • How To Manage During A Trade Dispute With USMCA Partners

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    Companies can try to minimize the potential impacts of future tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods, and uncertainty about future trade relations, by evaluating supply chains, considering how they may be modified, and engaging with the new administration over exemptions and the upcoming review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Reviewing The High Court's Approach To Free Speech Online

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    As the U.S. Supreme Court began addressing the interplay between the First Amendment and online social media platforms, its three opinions from last term show the justices adopting a nuanced approach that recognizes that private citizens, public employees and online platforms all have First Amendment rights, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Series

    In The CFPB Playbook: A Sprint To The Finish Line

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    The fourth quarter of 2024 was an impressive demonstration of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's ability to regulate, enforce and supervise, even on borrowed time following the election results, and we should expect the current bureau to run nonstop until Jan. 20, say attorneys at Covington.

  • 3 Factors Affecting Retail M&A Deals In 2025

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    Retailers considering mergers and acquisitions this year face an evolving antitrust environment, including a new administration under President-elect Donald Trump, revised merger guidelines and a precedent set last year by a canceled $8.5 billion handbag merger, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • What FARA Enforcement In 2024 Reveals For The Year Ahead

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    A number of developments, from indictments to legislation, shaped the Foreign Agents Registration Act enforcement landscape last year, and following the U.S. Department of Justice's recently released long-awaited proposed amendments to the law, 2025 shows no signs of slowing down, says Tessa Capeloto at Wiley.

  • How New Fraud Enforcement Tool Affects Gov't Contractors

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    Government contractors will likely face greater scrutiny under the recently enacted Administrative False Claims Act, which broadens federal agencies' authority to pursue low-dollar fraud claims, but contractors may also find the act makes settlement of such claims easier to negotiate, say attorneys at Wiley.

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