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Public Policy
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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."
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March 11, 2025
Trump Admin Shutters EPA's Enviro Justice Office
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday dissolved its more than 30-year-old environmental justice and civil rights office, the latest in a string of EPA actions targeting efforts to ease pollution burdens on historically disadvantaged communities.
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March 11, 2025
Insurer Says It's Off The Hook For Pay Transparency Suit
Houston Casualty Co. said Tuesday that its liability insurance policy does not cover an underlying lawsuit accusing a Washington company that owns McDonald's franchises of violating the state's pay transparency law for job postings.
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March 11, 2025
Perkins Coie Slams Trump's Executive Order Retaliation
Perkins Coie LLP sued the Trump administration Tuesday over an executive order targeting the firm for its diversity-focused hiring efforts and its representation of certain political figures including former Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, calling the order "an affront to the Constitution" that aims to chill future representation of certain clients.
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March 11, 2025
'Congress Never Came Up' In CFPB Firing Talks, Worker Says
A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau employee recounted before a D.C. federal judge on Tuesday a frantic effort to fire 1,200 agency staffers before a court order halted it, saying the prospect of first securing congressional approval was never mentioned.
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March 11, 2025
Pharmacies To Appeal In Bid To Keep Making Weight Loss Drug
A group of compounding pharmacies said Monday they would appeal to the Fifth Circuit after a Texas federal judge denied an injunction that would allow compounding pharmacies to produce a lucrative weight loss drug.
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March 11, 2025
NTSB Flags Helicopters Near DCA As 'Intolerable Risk'
The National Transportation Safety Board recommended Tuesday that helicopter flights near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport be permanently restricted following January's deadly midair collision over the Potomac River, saying helicopter traffic in the vicinity of a key airport runway poses an "intolerable risk to aviation safety."
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March 11, 2025
Trade Court Affirms Use Of Indian Data For Catfish Duties
The U.S. Court of International Trade upheld the Department of Commerce's decision to use Indian data over Indonesian data to determine antidumping duties for Vietnamese catfish, despite protests to the contrary from the Catfish Farmers of America.
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March 11, 2025
Utilities Want FCC To Clarify TCPA Prior Consent Rule
Power utilities asked the Federal Communications Commission to clarify that federal law allows companies to contact customers about participating in company demand management programs, particularly by calling and texting customers during peak load periods encouraging them to shift energy consumption to nonpeak times.
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March 11, 2025
Hedge Fund Group Sends SEC Its Regulatory Wish List
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should reevaluate rules that impose "significant, unjustified costs and burdens on investors and other market participants with little to no corresponding benefits," the Managed Funds Association said in a letter to the regulator Tuesday.
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March 11, 2025
NJ Residents Push To Repackage Contaminated Water Claims
Residents of National Park, New Jersey, asked a state appellate court panel for permission to revive and amend their proposed class claims over contaminated water, arguing Tuesday that the allegations are a matter for tort law, not contract law.
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March 11, 2025
Judge Rules Tribal Immunity Bars Minn. Casino Lawsuit
A federal district court judge on Tuesday dismissed a challenge by a commercial casino and horse racetrack operator that claimed several Minnesota tribal entities are illegally dominating the state's gambling industry through Class III gaming.
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March 11, 2025
Feds Push Back On Enviro Orgs., Tribes In Yellowstone Bison Case
The Interior Department is asking a federal court to reconsider orders that allowed environmental groups to intervene and add two more federal agencies as necessary parties to a challenge over the management of the bison population in Yellowstone National Park, arguing the move is an attempt to hijack the litigation.
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March 11, 2025
NY's Banking Regulator Hangs 'Help Wanted' Sign In DC
At a Washington, D.C., appearance on Tuesday, New York's top financial services regulator Adrienne Harris had a message for the legions of federal financial agency employees who have been cut loose by the Trump administration in recent weeks: She's hiring.
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March 11, 2025
EPA Officially Cuts $20B In Funding For Climate Projects
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday canceled $20 billion in congressionally approved grant funding for climate change projects that it had frozen for weeks and criticized as wasteful and out of step with the Trump administration's priorities.
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March 11, 2025
Trump, Ontario Back Down After Two-Day Trade Flare-Up
President Donald Trump called off additional tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum Tuesday after the Ontario government dropped a briefly imposed surcharge on electricity exports, the White House told Law360 on Tuesday evening.
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March 11, 2025
Senate Confirms Gail Slater To Lead DOJ Antitrust
The Senate voted 78-19 on Tuesday to confirm Gail Slater to be assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division at the U.S. Department of Justice.
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March 11, 2025
6th Circ. Won't Revisit FCC's Tanked Net Neutrality Rules
The Sixth Circuit on Tuesday turned down a bid by public interest groups for a full-court rehearing of January's decision to overturn the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules.
Expert Analysis
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How Private Securities Suits Complement SEC Enforcement
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement is vital to the healthy functioning of markets, but government enforcement alone is not enough to ensure meaningful monetary recoveries for investor losses due to securities law violations, say attorneys at Bernstein Litowitz.
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The Case For Compliance During The Trump Administration
Given the Trump administration’s shifting white collar enforcement priorities, C-suite executives may have the natural instinct to pare back compliance initiatives, but there are several good reasons for companies to at least stay the course on their compliance programs, if not enhance them, say attorneys at Riley Safer.
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Opinion
Despite Noble Intentions, Va. Usury Bill Is Bad For Consumers
A Virginia bill purportedly aimed at eradicating predatory online bank lending actually does nothing to achieve that goal, and instead would limit credit opportunities for state residents, says Catherine Brennan at Hudson Cook.
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Opinion
Undoing An American Ideal Of Fairness
President Donald Trump’s orders attacking birthright citizenship, civil rights education, and diversity, equity and inclusion programs threaten hard-won constitutional civil rights protections and decades of efforts to undo bias in the law — undermining what Chief Justice Earl Warren called "our American ideal of fairness," says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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A Look At HHS' New Opinion On Patient Assistance Programs
A recent advisory opinion from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General follows a recent trend of blessing patient assistance program arrangements that implicate the Anti-Kickback Statute, as long as they are structured with appropriate safeguards to minimize the risk of fraud and abuse, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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Employer Tips For Wise Use Of Workers' Biometrics And Tech
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Employers that collect employee biometric data and operate bring-your-own-device policies, which respectively offer better corporate security and more flexibility for workers, should prioritize certain best practices to protect the privacy and rights of employees and safeguard sensitive internal information, says Douglas Yang at Sheppard Mullin.
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How Trump EPA Could Fix Carbon Combustion Residuals Rule
The Trump administration is likely targeting the recently adopted carbon combustion residual rule, especially since it imposes very stringent, detailed and expedited requirements on coal power plants — but even if the rule is not vacated entirely, there are measures that could greatly reduce its regulatory burden, says Stephen Jones at Post & Schell.
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Expect To Feel Aftershocks Of Chopra's CFPB Shake-Up
Publications released by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau personnel in the last days of the Biden administration outline former Director Rohit Chopra's long-term vision for aggressive state-level enforcement of federal consumer financial laws, opening the doors for states to launch investigations and pursue actions, say attorneys at Hudson Cook.
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The Rising Need For The Selective Prosecution Defense
In a political climate where criminal and civil prosecution on the basis of political affiliation, constitutionally protected speech or other arbitrary classification is increasingly likely, existing precedent shows why judges should be more open to allowing a selective prosecution defense, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Unprecedented Firings And The EEOC's Shifting Agenda
While President Donald Trump's unprecedented firing of Democratic Equal Employment Opportunity Commission members put an end to the party's voting majority, the move raises legal issues, as well as considerations related to the EEOC's lack of a quorum and shifting regulatory priorities, says Ally Coll at the Purple Method.
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How New SBA Rule May Affect Small Government Contractors
By limiting competition from larger entities, the Small Business Administration's recently published final rule may help some small government contractors, but these restrictions on set-aside work following a merger, acquisition or sale may also deter small businesses' long-term growth, say attorneys at Akerman.
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Nippon Order Tests Gov't Control Over Foreign Investments
The U.S. government is primarily interested in restraining foreign transactions involving countries of concern, but former President Joe Biden’s January order blocking the merger of Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel shows that all foreign direct investments are under the federal government’s microscope, say attorneys at Blank Rome.
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Opinion
Inconsistent Injury-In-Fact Rules Hinder Federal Practice
A recent Third Circuit decision, contradicting a previous ruling about whether consumers of contaminated products have suffered an injury in fact, illustrates the deep confusion this U.S. Supreme Court standard creates among federal judges and practitioners, who deserve a simpler method of determining which cases have federal standing, says Eric Dwoskin at Dwoskin Wasdin.
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How Trump Orders Roll Back Energy Efficiency Mandates
President Donald Trump's first-day executive orders — including a freeze on administrative rules, an order to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, and a directive to broaden consumers' appliance choices — have shifted federal policy on energy efficiency, and bring new considerations for companies engaging with the U.S. Department of Energy, say attorneys at HWG.
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What Financial Intermediaries Can Expect From New Admin
Understanding the current regulatory landscape of consumer financial services — and anticipating how it might evolve under Trump 2.0 — is essential for brokers, lead generators and digital platforms, and they should consider strategies for managing regulatory uncertainty, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.