Public Policy

  • January 07, 2025

    JPMorgan Ditches Climate Coalition Ahead Of Trump 2.0

    JPMorgan Chase & Co. on Tuesday joined a slew of banks in departing the United Nations-convened Net Zero Banking Alliance, apparently bowing to regulatory pressure and jumping ship ahead of a second Trump term.

  • January 07, 2025

    'Cyber Trust Mark' To Soon Adorn Smart Devices, Gov't Says

    The makers of internet-connected devices such as home security cameras and voice-activated assistants will soon be able to obtain a label to certify that their products meet certain cybersecurity standards, under a new program officially launched by the Biden administration Tuesday. 

  • January 07, 2025

    9th Circ. Upholds Ore. Ban On Secret Audio Recordings

    A split en banc Ninth Circuit panel on Tuesday upheld as constitutional an Oregon law prohibiting secret audio recordings of people's conversations, ruling in a published opinion that the statute was narrowly tailored to Oregon's significant interest in ensuring its residents know when their conversations are recorded, even in public.

  • January 07, 2025

    Bill To Protect Wounded Knee Massacre Site Reintroduced

    A federal bill seeking to preserve a section of land at Wounded Knee Creek, where about 150 Lakota Indians were killed by the U.S. Army more than a century ago, has been reintroduced to the U.S. House for consideration during the Trump administration.

  • January 07, 2025

    Ex-Ill. Speaker Madigan Testifies In His Racketeering Trial

    Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan took the stand in his own defense Tuesday, testifying that he neither traded his public office for private gain nor demanded or accepted anything valuable in exchange for his official action, adding that he was "very angry" to learn that people who he'd recommended for jobs did little to no work.

  • January 07, 2025

    Cato Institute Urges Justices To Hear Jury Right Case

    The Cato Institute asked the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday to accept a social media influencer's certification petition over the denial of a jury trial for a misdemeanor, saying the erosion of the Constitutional jury right for "all crimes" goes against the founders' intentions.

  • January 07, 2025

    Feds Urge 9th Circ. To Uphold Ringed Seal Protections

    The federal government and environmentalists on Monday asked the Ninth Circuit to keep Endangered Species Act protections for Arctic ringed seals in place and reject Alaska's effort to roll them back.

  • January 07, 2025

    9th Circ. To Let Feds Argue In Wash. ICE Inspection Law Fight

    The Ninth Circuit has said the U.S. government can participate in oral arguments over a blocked Washington law that allowed the state to inspect conditions at a privately-run immigration detention facility in Tacoma.

  • January 07, 2025

    Conn. AG, Feds Reach 3rd Dentist Kickback Settlement

    A joint investigation by state and federal law enforcement has netted its third settlement with a Connecticut dentist accused of using illegal patient recruiting tactics to rip off Medicaid.

  • January 07, 2025

    Cannabis Reformers Move To Oust DEA From Pot Hearings

    The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has worked behind the scenes to undermine an administrative process that will determine whether federal restrictions on marijuana are relaxed, a group of reformers alleged in a new filing submitted to an agency tribunal.

  • January 07, 2025

    Navajo Nation Sues Feds Over Judicial Funding, Again

    The Navajo Nation alleges in a pair of lawsuits in D.C. federal court that the U.S. Department of the Interior wrongly rejected the tribe's funding proposals for its judicial branch, kicking off a new chapter in a long-running legal saga over yearly funding for the federally recognized tribe.

  • January 07, 2025

    4th Circ. Says Farm Bill Does Not Preempt Va. Hemp Law

    The Fourth Circuit affirmed Tuesday that the federal farm bill legalizing hemp nationwide did not preempt Virginia's new law reining in intoxicating products containing THC derived from hemp.

  • January 07, 2025

    FCC Urged To Revisit New Robocall Penalty Plan

    Voice providers are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to ease robocall reporting requirements, with one prominent telecom trade group calling a potential agency proposal to fine companies $10,000 for submitting false or inaccurate compliance reports "unnecessarily punitive."

  • January 07, 2025

    Detroit Flooding Class Quizzed On Decision To Skip Expert

    A Michigan appellate panel pressed flooding victims Tuesday to explain why they didn't use an expert to bolster their case that a regional water authority's neglect led to a mass flooding event in 2021, with the judges giving away little about whether they would ultimately revive the claims.

  • January 07, 2025

    Biden Designates Two New National Monuments In California

    President Joe Biden on Tuesday designated two sites in California as national monuments amid years of calls from Native American tribes and state and federal lawmakers, in turn protecting 848,000 acres from development.

  • January 07, 2025

    'Unflattering' Story Not Defamatory, Gannett Says

    A tax firm's defamation suit against USA Today should be tossed, the newspaper's owner told Texas justices Monday, arguing that a 2021 investigative series was not defamatory even if its "gist" was "unflattering."

  • January 07, 2025

    5 Argument Sessions Benefits Attys Should Check Out In Jan.

    The U.S. Supreme Court will hear from Cornell University workers looking to revive a retirement plan mismanagement suit and a former firefighter who says federal disability bias law protects post-employment benefits, while circuit courts will weigh gender-affirming care restrictions and a battle over pension annuity payments. Here, Law360 looks at five arguments that benefits attorneys ought to keep an eye on this month.

  • January 07, 2025

    Mont. Bill Floats Mine, Data Center Property Tax Changes

    Montana would lower the property tax rate imposed on metal mines, certain agricultural land and railroads but raise the rate on data center property as part of a bill introduced in the state Senate.

  • January 07, 2025

    Mich. Town Tries To Ditch $5M Suit Over Dispensary Flip-Flop

    A Michigan township accused of greenlighting, and then blocking, a developer's special-use permit for a marijuana dispensary said Tuesday the developer suing it for $5 million never actually got the required prequalification from the state.

  • January 07, 2025

    DOJ Revamps Process For Federal Real Estate Deals

    The U.S. Department of Justice has replaced "outdated provisions" that guided how federal agencies acquired real property with 10 new federal provisions that have the goal of "promoting government efficiency and saving taxpayer funds," the DOJ said Tuesday.

  • January 07, 2025

    Top Groups Lobbying The FCC

    The Federal Communications Commission heard from advocates more than 50 times in December on issues ranging from prison phone rates to the use of artificial intelligence in text messages, shared use of the airwaves, marketing consent rules and more.

  • January 07, 2025

    Ligado Gets OK To Tap $939M DIP Amid Spectrum Spat

    Satellite and spectrum business Ligado Networks received a Delaware bankruptcy judge's approval Tuesday to borrow a share of $939 million in Chapter 11 financing that the company will use to repay high-ranking debt and support itself during the case.

  • January 07, 2025

    Khan Says FTC Approach A Bulwark To Trump 'Backsliding'

    Outgoing Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina M. Khan on Tuesday defended the Biden administration's aggressive tack against corporate power and concentration, telling CNBC that while it's "natural" Facebook and Amazon might seek a "sweetheart deal" from the Trump administration, the past four years have made "backsliding" more difficult.

  • January 07, 2025

    Cos. Seek Pause Of Retention Credit Processing In Litigation

    Two companies that helped clients obtain pandemic-era employee retention tax credits asked Arizona federal district court Tuesday to pause the IRS' use of a system for automatically processing claims, saying harm caused by this process cannot be remedied after litigation.

  • January 07, 2025

    DHS Releases 'Playbook' For AI Public Sector Deployment

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a framework on Tuesday for what it referred to as the "reasonable adoption" of generative artificial intelligence technologies based on lessons learned from the agency's various pilot programs.

Expert Analysis

  • The Future Of GLP-1 Policy After Drug Shortage Ends

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    If and when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration determines that GLP-1 RA drugs are no longer in short supply, regulators will face questions of how to balance access to GLP-1 RAs with statutory and policy considerations applicable to compounded drugs, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Gov't Scrutiny Of Workplace Chat Apps Set To Keep Growing

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    The incoming Trump administration and Republican majorities in Congress are poised to open numerous investigations that include increasing demands for entities to produce communications from workplace chat apps, so companies must evaluate their usage and retention policies, say attorneys at Orrick.

  • Del. Dispatch: The 2024 Corporate Cases You Need To Know

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    The Delaware Court of Chancery in 2024 issued several decisions that some viewed as upending long-standing corporate practices, leading to the amendment of the Delaware General Corporation Law and debates at some Delaware corporations about potentially reincorporating to another state, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • 2024 Regulatory Developments For Bank-Fintech Partnerships

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    Joseph Silvia at Duane Morris reviews a handful of particularly noteworthy 2024 updates regarding bank-fintech partnerships, including federal banking agencies issuing a number of important pieces of guidance that reiterate and update previous guidance in the area of third-party risk management.

  • 2025's Midmarket M&A Terrain May Hold A Few Bright Spots

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    Attorneys at Stoel Rives assess middle-market merger and acquisition trends, and explain why many dealmakers have turned cautiously optimistic about the sector's 2025 prospects, despite potential inflation and new Federal Trade Commission rules.

  • Top 10 Whistleblowing And Retaliation Events Of 2024

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    From a Florida federal court’s ruling that the False Claims Act’s qui tam provision is unconstitutional to a record-breaking number of whistleblower tips filed with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, employers saw significant developments in the federal and state whistleblower landscapes this year, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • The Implications Of 2024's AI Rules And Regs For Patent Attys

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    Christina Huang, John Smith and Devin Stein at Faegre Drinker review this year's new rules and regulations on the development and use of artificial intelligence — from the Biden administration, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the American Bar Association and various states — as they apply to patent attorneys.

  • When US Privilege Law Applies To Docs Made Outside The US

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    As globalization manifests itself in disputes over foreign-created documents, a California federal court’s recent trademark decision illustrates nuances of both U.S. privilege frameworks and foreign evidentiary protections that attorneys must increasingly bear in mind, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • How Texas Bill Would Transform Noneconomic Damages

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    Large noneconomic damage awards in personal injury cases have grown exponentially in Texas in recent years, but newly introduced legislation would cap such damages, likely requiring both the plaintiff and defense bars to recalibrate their litigation strategies, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • Changes To Expect From SEC Under Trump Nominee

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    President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of Paul Atkins for U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chair will likely lead to significant shifts in the Division of Enforcement's priorities, likely focused on protecting retail investors and the stability of the capital markets, say attorneys at Morrison Foerster.

  • Executive Orders That Could Affect Financial Services In 2025

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    The incoming Trump administration is likely to quickly revive or update a number of prior executive orders, and possibly issue new ones, that could affect financial services by emphasizing market discipline rather than regulatory initiatives to drive change in the industry, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • The State Of USPTO Rulemaking At The End Of Vidal's Term

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    As U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director, Kathi Vidal placed a particular emphasis on formal rulemaking — so as she returns to private practice this week, attorneys at Irell take stock of which of her proposals made it across the finish line, and where the rest stand on the cusp of a new administration.

  • How New Merger Filing Rules Will Affect Economic Advocacy

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    New rules from the antitrust agencies significantly change the Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger notification process and will necessitate rigorous economic analysis earlier in the merging process as the information provided in the filings reflects important antitrust considerations, says Andrea Asoni at Charles River.

  • What Loper Bright And Trump 2.0 Mean For New Transpo Tech

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, combined with the incoming Trump administration's deregulatory agenda, will likely lead to fewer new regulations on emerging transportation technologies like autonomous vehicles — and more careful and protracted drafting of any regulations that are produced, say attorneys at Venable.

  • 'Minimal Participant' Bar Is Tough To Clear For Whistleblowers

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    Under the U.S. Department of Justice’s corporate whistleblower pilot program, would-be whistleblowers will find it tough to show that they only minimally participated in criminal misconduct while still providing material information, but sentencing precedent shows how they might prove their eligibility for an award, say attorneys at MoloLamken.

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