Public Policy

  • September 18, 2025

    Dems Demand DOJ Explain Binance Plea Deal Compliance

    U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and two of her Democratic colleagues have asked U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi for information on Binance's compliance with its 2023 plea agreement stemming from anti-money laundering lapses, pointing to President Donald Trump's ties to the crypto exchange.

  • September 18, 2025

    DC Circ. Judge Says PJM Monitor May Have 'Hint Of Paranoia'

    The D.C. Circuit didn't seem so sure Thursday morning that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was flouting the rules by denying an independent market monitor access to its liaison committee meetings, with one judge saying the monitor seemed to be exhibiting a "hint of paranoia."

  • September 18, 2025

    7th Circ. Judge Wary Of Ex-Firefighter's Free Speech Position

    A Seventh Circuit judge on Thursday said an attorney for a former Chicago firefighter seeking to revive a suit claiming he was unlawfully fired for a series of memes and other statements posted on Facebook seemed to be making a "hyperbolic" argument that public employers cannot regulate speech outside the workplace.

  • September 18, 2025

    2nd Circ. To Weigh EFTA's Scope In NY's Citi Wire Fraud Case

    The Second Circuit has granted Citibank's request for an appeal in its fight with New York Attorney General Letitia James over the bank's response to incidents of online wire transfer fraud, agreeing to review whether key federal consumer protections for electronic payments apply to wire transfers initiated over the internet.

  • September 18, 2025

    Calif. Slams Truck-Makers' Bid To Block Emissions Regs

    California has told a federal judge that truck manufacturers seeking to renege on their commitments to follow stringent state emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks in the coming years aren't entitled to an injunction now, and the Trump administration cannot bulldoze California into falling in line.

  • September 18, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Hears 'Settled Expectations' Are 'Lawless' In IP Feud

    SanDisk Technologies Inc. and its former parent have become the latest challengers at the Federal Circuit to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's discretionary denial practices, taking aim at its acting director's holdings that patent owners eventually have the right to assume their patents won't be challenged.

  • September 18, 2025

    DC Judge Included In Senate's Bloc Confirmation

    A judge for the Superior Court of Washington, D.C., was confirmed on Thursday as part of the en bloc confirmation of 48 nominees to various positions following Republicans voting in favor of changing the rules.

  • September 18, 2025

    Groups Look To Block EPA's $3B Grant Cuts Amid Appeal

    Conservation, tribal groups, and local and county governments are looking to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from terminating a $3 billion climate grant program while they appeal a decision that dismissed their claims, arguing that public interest and equities weigh heavily in their favor.

  • September 18, 2025

    FTC Greenlights Amazon Prime Trial For Next Week

    A Seattle federal judge has cleared the Federal Trade Commission's consumer protection case against Amazon to go to trial on Monday, finding the company violated at least one requirement of an e-commerce law, yet jurors must still decide if it clearly disclosed Prime subscription terms to users and offered simple cancellation methods.

  • September 18, 2025

    HHS Shutters Miami Organ Donor Org. For 'Unsafe' Practices

    Federal health officials have decertified a Miami-based organ procurement organization that arranges organ donations after an investigation found a pattern of "unsafe" practices, marking the first time the federal government has revoked the certification of such a group, according to an announcement Thursday from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 

  • September 18, 2025

    IRS Discloses Details On ICE Agreement In Data Sharing Row

    The U.S. government disclosed additional details Thursday on the agreement between the IRS and immigration enforcement authorities to share confidential tax return information, including who had necessary permissions to access the disclosures, following a D.C. federal judge's order in a lawsuit seeking to end the interagency data sharing.

  • September 18, 2025

    Army Challenges Tribe's Claims In Burial Dispute At 4th Circ.

    The U.S. Army told the Fourth Circuit this week that a tribe seeking the repatriation of remains from a former Pennsylvania Native American boarding school was wrong to claim that it couldn't find living relatives of the entombed children, citing a news article pointing to the existence of those relatives.

  • September 18, 2025

    9th Circ. Won't Stay Venezuelans' TPS Win Amid Feds' Appeal

    The Ninth Circuit denied on Wednesday the Trump administration's latest emergency-stay request, which would have let the government continue to unwind temporary protected status for 600,000 Venezuelans as it challenges its summary-judgment loss on appeal, rejecting the government's argument that the U.S. Supreme Court's prior stay ruling in the case controls.

  • September 18, 2025

    Gov't Told GPS Signal Jamming Growing Far Worse

    More than a dozen trade groups banded together to tell federal agencies that GPS signal jamming is a growing concern to U.S. industries in international waters and airspace.

  • September 18, 2025

    EPA Will Maintain Hazardous Designations For PFOA, PFOS

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said it will defend the Biden administration's decision to list two common forever chemicals as hazardous substances under the federal Superfund law.

  • September 18, 2025

    EPA Pitches Plan For Past Renewable Fuel Exemptions

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed to reallocate some portion of the biofuel blending volumes it exempted 175 small fuel refiners from in August to overall blending requirements for the next two years.

  • September 18, 2025

    Conn. Banking Chief Orders $4.9M Restitution In School Fraud

    Connecticut's banking commissioner has ordered two companies connected to Putnam Science Academy, a private high school in northeastern Connecticut, and two of its leaders to repay investors more than $4.9 million for allegedly perpetrating an affinity fraud scheme.

  • September 18, 2025

    Illinois Woman Loses Suit Over National Forest Hiking Injury

    An Illinois federal judge has thrown out a woman's claims against the federal government over injuries she sustained when she cut her leg on a jagged metal post in Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois, saying the government is immune to some of her claims and there is insufficient evidence to back up the rest.

  • September 18, 2025

    DOI Escapes Osage Nation's $4.9M Self-Determination Suit

    A D.C. federal judge threw out a $4.9 million lawsuit over self-determination by the Osage Nation on claims that the U.S. Department of the Interior unlawfully rejected the tribe's final offer to amend a multiyear funding agreement with the DOI's Bureau of Indian Affairs.

  • September 18, 2025

    Circuit Split On Felon Gun Ban Could Set Up High Court Review

    A growing divide among federal appellate courts on how a gun ban for felons fits within the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 expansion of individuals' right to carry firearms in public could force the high court to revisit the Second Amendment.

  • September 18, 2025

    DOJ's Slater Says Google Search Fixes Set AI 'Foundation'

    The head of the Justice Department Antitrust Division left the door open Thursday to appealing a D.C. federal judge's rejection of the government's most sweeping remedies proposals targeting Google's search monopoly, even as she used New York City remarks to tout the fixes the government did manage to win.

  • September 18, 2025

    Senate Confirms Squires To Lead USPTO

    The U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed Dilworth Paxson LLP partner John Squires to serve as the next U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director.

  • September 18, 2025

    Senate Confirms Trump's Pick To Lead DOL Benefits Arm

    The Senate confirmed fiduciary liability insurance expert Daniel Aronowitz on Thursday to lead the U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits division, which oversees regulation and enforcement of employer-provided health and retirement plans.

  • September 18, 2025

    Trump Forms Emergency Board In Long Island Rail Dispute

    President Donald Trump has established a presidential emergency board to investigate an ongoing contract dispute between the Long Island Rail Road Co. and a group of unions representing its employees, the White House announced in an executive order Tuesday.

  • September 18, 2025

    Senators Intro Bill To Boost Contractor Price Transparency

    Senators from both sides of the aisle laid out legislation that would require certain defense contractors to tell contracting officers when the price of a product or service provided under a contract surpasses the amount they proposed in their offer.

Expert Analysis

  • Cos. Face EU, US Regulatory Tension On Many Fronts

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    When the European Union sets stringent standards, companies seeking to operate in the international marketplace must conform to them, or else concede opportunities — but with the current U.S. administration pushing hard to roll back regulations, global companies face an increasing tension over which standards to follow, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • How EU Is Tweaking Enviro Laws After US Trade Deal

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    While a recent joint statement from the European Union and the U.S. in the wake of their trade deal does not mention special treatment for U.S. companies, the EU's ongoing commitment to streamline its sustainability legislation suggests an openness to addressing concerns raised by the U.S., say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • The Consequences Of OCC's Pivot On Disparate Impact

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    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's recent move to stop scrutinizing facially neutral lending policies that disproportionately affect a protected group reflects the administration's ongoing shift in assessing discrimination, though this change may not be enough to dissuade claims by states or private plaintiffs, says Travis Nelson at Polsinelli.

  • FDA Transparency Plans Raise Investor Disclosure Red Flags

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recently announced intent to publish complete response letters for unapproved drugs and devices implicates certain investor disclosure requirements under securities laws, making it necessary for life sciences and biotech companies to adopt robust controls going forward, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Rising USCIS Denials May Signal Reverse On Signature Policy

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    Increasingly, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services appears to be issuing denials and requests for evidence in cases where petitioners digitally affix handwritten signatures to paper-based petitions, upending a long-standing practice with potentially grave consequences for applicants, says Sherry Neal at Corporate Immigration.

  • Series

    Being A Professional Wrestler Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Pursuing my childhood dream of being a professional wrestler has taught me important legal career lessons about communication, adaptability, oral advocacy and professionalism, says Christopher Freiberg at Midwest Disability.

  • 2 Calif. Cases Could Reshape Future Of Trap-And-Trace Suits

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    A California federal judge's recent dismissal of two California Invasion of Privacy Act cases demonstrates an inherent contradiction in pen register and trap-and-trace claims, teeing up a Ninth Circuit appeal that could either breathe new life into such claims or put an end to them outright, says Matthew Pearson at Womble Bond.

  • How FDIC Appeals Plan Squares With Fed, OCC Processes

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    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s recent proposal to revise its appeals process merits a fresh comparison to the appeals systems of the Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and would provide institutions with greater transparency and independence, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • How GILTI Reform Affects M&A Golden Parachute Planning

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    Deal teams should evaluate the effect of a recent seemingly technical change to U.S. international tax law on the golden parachute analysis that often plays a critical part of many corporate transactions to avoid underestimating its impact on an acquirer's worldwide taxable income following a triggering transaction, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • SEC Rulemaking Radar: The Debut Of Atkins' 'New Day'

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's regulatory flex agenda, published last week, demonstrates a clear return to appropriately tailored and mission-focused rulemaking, with potential new rules applicable to brokers, exchanges and trading, among others, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • Restored Charging Project Funds Revive Hope For EV Market

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    While 2025 began with a host of government actions that prompted some to predict the demise of the U.S. electric vehicle market, the Trump administration's recent restoration of federal funding for EV charging infrastructure under new terms presents market participants with reason for optimism, says Levi McAllister at Morgan Lewis.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Adapting To The Age Of AI

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    Though law school may not have specifically taught us how to use generative artificial intelligence to help with our daily legal tasks, it did provide us the mental building blocks necessary for adapting to this new technology — and the judgment to discern what shouldn’t be automated, says Pamela Dorian at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Ch. 11 Ruling Voiding $2M Litigation Funding Sends A Warning

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    A recent Texas bankruptcy court decision that a postconfirmation litigation trust has no obligations to repay a completely drawn down $2 million litigation funding agreement serves as a warning for estate administrators and funders to properly disclose the intended financing, say attorneys at Kleinberg Kaplan.

  • A Changing Playbook For Fighting Records Requests In Del.

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    The Delaware Supreme Court's recent decision in Wong v. Amazon, reversing the denial of an inspection demand brought by a stockholder, serves as a stark warning to corporations challenging books and records requests, making clear that companies cannot defeat such demands solely by attacking the scope of their stated purpose, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

  • Tesla Verdict May Set New Liability Benchmarks For AV Suits

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    The recent jury verdict in Benavides v. Tesla is notable not only for a massive payout — including $200 million in punitive damages — but because it apportions fault between the company's self-driving technology and the driver, inviting more scrutiny of automated vehicle marketing and technology, says Michael Avanesian at Avian Law Group.

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