Public Policy

  • April 14, 2025

    Trump Admin Moves To Weaken Migratory Bird Protections

    The top lawyer at the U.S. Department of the Interior says the federal government lacks the power to prosecute companies that inadvertently kill federally protected migratory birds, a legal position the department took during the first Trump administration but which was overturned by a federal court in 2020.

  • April 14, 2025

    Vt. Judge Likely To Seek Tufts Student's Return For Hearing

    A Vermont federal judge hinted Monday he will likely order the government to return a Tufts University graduate student to the state for a hearing on her request to be released from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

  • April 14, 2025

    Mich. Pot Regulation Chief Wants Out Of Couple's RICO Suit

    The executive director of Michigan's Cannabis Regulatory Agency on Monday urged a federal court to deny an injunction sought by a couple aiming to shut down a neighboring cannabis processing operation, arguing he's not part of any alleged racketeering scheme and they are unlikely to succeed on their claims.

  • April 14, 2025

    Ore. Ex-Official Alleges Improper Firing Over Whiskey Scandal

    The former deputy director of Oregon's liquor and cannabis regulator has alleged in a lawsuit recently removed to federal court that he was wrongfully terminated in connection with a scandal in which agency officials were accused of pocketing rare whiskeys.

  • April 14, 2025

    Basketball Player Faces NCAA Over Transfer Rules Decree

    Attorneys for a basketball player claiming that the NCAA is blocking him from transferring to another school, despite a federal consent decree allowing it, told a West Virginia federal judge Monday that his right to play next season is being "shortchanged by the NCAA's illegal conduct.''

  • April 14, 2025

    Conservative Lawyers Seek Ethics Probe Of DC US Attorney

    A group of conservative lawyers and former prosecutors on Monday called for an attorney ethics investigation into President Donald Trump's nominee to be Washington, D.C.'s top federal prosecutor, saying the attorney has shown a "fundamental misunderstanding" of the role.

  • April 14, 2025

    10th Circ. Revives Takings Suit Over Colo. Property Law

    The Tenth Circuit revived a suit filed by Colorado residents who claimed the state unconstitutionally used its unclaimed-property law to take their properties, finding the residents sufficiently claimed the state failed to provide just compensation.

  • April 14, 2025

    FTC Joins DOJ In Targeting Anticompetitive Regulations

    The Federal Trade Commission launched a public inquiry Monday to look into reducing regulations that are hindering competition, following a similar move by the U.S. Department of Justice last month.

  • April 14, 2025

    Green Group Urges Update On Gulf Oil Well Risks

    The Center for Biological Diversity has urged a D.C. federal court to order government agencies to update their assessment of derelict offshore oil and gas facilities along the southern coast, saying the stalled decommissioning of aging infrastructure is creating a greater likelihood of an environmental disaster.

  • April 14, 2025

    Colorado Oil Co. Says Hefty Penalties Are Unlawful Taking

    An ailing oil and gas company asked a federal judge Friday to block Colorado orders requiring it to halt some operations and pay $8 million in penalties, arguing that they amount to an unconstitutional taking of its property without compensation.

  • April 14, 2025

    Top Court Ruling Dooms Suit Challenging Housing Grant Cuts

    A federal judge in Boston on Monday vacated an earlier ruling that had blocked the Trump administration from cutting $30 million in housing anti-discrimination grants, saying a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in a similar case involving teacher training grants likely strips the court of jurisdiction.

  • April 14, 2025

    NJ High Court Advances DuPont Appeal In $1B Pollution Suit

    The New Jersey Supreme Court will allow Chemours and E.I. du Pont de Nemours to appeal a trial court's ruling that a small New Jersey town has standing to bring its $1 billion pollution suit, according to a recent order.

  • April 14, 2025

    FCC Could Nix Engineer Certification Reg, Cable Biz Says

    A cable industry lobbying group said Monday the Federal Communications Commission could soon withdraw a little-known but contentious rule requiring professional engineers to certify providers' broadband mapping data.

  • April 14, 2025

    NY Judge Chided For Tossing Kid's Friend's Traffic Ticket

    A Westchester County, New York, judge who threw her title around while handling her daughter's traffic ticket in a neighboring town, and later tossed a different traffic ticket for her daughter's friend, has been hit with a public admonishment, the state's judicial watchdog announced Monday.

  • April 14, 2025

    DOJ Resists Airing Full ICE Pact On Taxpayer Data Sharing

    The U.S. government objected Monday to releasing an unredacted copy of a tax-information-sharing agreement between the IRS and immigration enforcement agencies sought by groups seeking to block the disclosure, telling a D.C. federal court that it would reveal sensitive information and law enforcement techniques.

  • April 14, 2025

    Military Voters Say Ballots Should Count In NC High Court Race

    Military and overseas voters registered in North Carolina are mounting a constitutional challenge to a Republican judge's efforts to discount their ballots, filing a federal lawsuit Monday just as the Democratic incumbent lost her bid to halt the ballot corrections process.

  • April 14, 2025

    CFPB To Vacate Credit Card Late Fee Rule In Deal With Banks

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Monday it has agreed to vacate as unlawful its $8 credit card late fee rule as part of a deal with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other trade groups to settle their litigation over the agency's Biden-era rule.

  • April 14, 2025

    EU Not 'Sitting Back' With US Tariffs, German Official Says

    "Simply sitting back" isn't an option for the European Union in response to wide-ranging tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump's administration, Germany's finance minister said Monday in defense of the bloc's countermeasures.

  • April 14, 2025

    Court OKs $7.9M Deal For UPitt Pandemic Tuition Refunds

    The University of Pittsburgh has agreed to a $7.85 million deal to end claims that it should have refunded students' tuition when it moved classes online at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a federal judge gave the deal his preliminary approval Monday.

  • April 14, 2025

    Four State Govs. Call On EPA To Increase Biofuel Targets

    Governors of Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to boost the amount of biofuel blended into fuel supplies as a way to help meet the Trump administration's domestic energy goals and strengthen investment in agriculture and rural communities.

  • April 14, 2025

    CFPB's Vought Looks To Roll Back 'Weaponized' Guidance

    Acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Russell Vought has called for a crackdown on so-called regulation through guidance at the agency, launching a sweeping review that could cull bulletins, circulars and other advisory materials dating back years.

  • April 13, 2025

    DC Circ. Limits CFPB Layoff Ban Amid Trump Admin Appeal

    A D.C. Circuit panel has cleared a path for the Trump administration to resume job cuts at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as it pursues an appeal of a preliminary injunction barring it from shutting down the agency. 

  • April 11, 2025

    DC Judge Won't Block ICE From Raiding Churches Amid Suit

    A D.C. federal judge on Friday declined to issue an injunction barring the Trump administration from carrying out immigration raids or arrests in places of worship while litigation over the raids is ongoing, ruling that religious groups haven't shown a credible threat of enforcement, "at least at this juncture."

  • April 11, 2025

    SEC Digs Into Policing Crypto Trading At Roundtable

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's acting chairman said Friday the agency should consider granting temporary regulatory relief for crypto firms while the agency crafts long-term solutions to oversee digital asset markets, one of many ideas discussed during a roundtable on tailoring regulation to crypto trading.

  • April 11, 2025

    NC Judge Keeps Bulk Of Win In High Court Ballot Fight

    North Carolina's highest court on Friday largely let stand a lower appeals court ruling siding with the Republican challenger in the state's still-undecided Supreme Court race, declining to throw out ballots based on incomplete registrations but still drawing scathing rebukes from two justices who said their colleagues were rushing to a decision "in the dark of night."

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Improv Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Improv keeps me grounded and connected to what matters most, including in my legal career where it has helped me to maintain a balance between being analytical, precise and professional, and creative, authentic and open-minded, says Justine Gottshall at InfoLawGroup.

  • TikTok Bias Suit Ruling Reflects New Landscape Under EFAA

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    In Puris v. Tiktok, a New York federal court found an arbitration agreement unenforceable in a former executive's bias suit, underscoring an evolving trend of broad, but inconsistent, interpretation of the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, say attorneys at Williams & Connolly.

  • Avoiding Pitfalls Around New Calif. Commercial Lease Law

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    A California law that became effective this year requires commercial landlords to extend certain protections previously afforded to residential tenancies, and a few key provisions of the law especially warrant reexamination of leasing and operational processes, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • How BigLaw Executive Orders May Affect Smaller Firms

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    Because of the types of cases they take on, solo practitioners, small law firms and public interest attorneys may find themselves more dramatically affected by the collective impact of recent government action involving the legal industry than even the BigLaw firms named in the executive orders, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Filial Consortium Claims' Future After Conn. High Court Ruling

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    While the Connecticut Supreme Court recently ruled for defendants in rejecting parents’ attempt to recover loss of companionship damages in a severe child injury case, there is still potential for the plaintiffs bar to lobby for a law that would allow filial consortium claims, Glenn Coffin at Gordon Rees.

  • 5 Tools To Help Existing Gov't Contracts Manage Tariff Costs

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    Five pointers can help government contractors scrutinize their existing contracts for protections like equitable adjustment and duty-free entry clauses, which may help insulate them from tariff-related cost increases, say attorneys at Covington.

  • 4th Circ. Health Data Ruling Opens Door To State Law Claims

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    In Real Time Medical v. PointClickCare, the Fourth Circuit recently clarified that state law claims can rest in part on violations of a federal law that prohibits electronic health information blocking, expanding legal risks for health IT companies and potentially creating exposure to a range of competitive implications, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • Opinion

    Lawsuits Shouldn't Be Shadow Assets For Foreign Capital

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    Third-party litigation financing amplifies inefficiencies from litigation and facilitates national exposure to foreign influence in the U.S. justice system, so full disclosure of financing arrangements should be required as a matter of institutional integrity, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

  • 2 Del. Rulings Reinforce Proof Needed For Records Demands

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    Two recent Delaware Court of Chancery decisions involving Amazon and Paramount Global illustrate the significance of the credible basis standard on books and records requests, underscoring that stockholders seeking to investigate wrongdoing must come forward with actual evidence of misconduct — not mere allegations, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • How To Accelerate Your Post-Attorney Career Transition

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    Professionals seeking to transition to nonattorney careers may encounter skepticism as nontraditional candidates, but there are opportunities for thought leadership and to leverage speaking and writing to accelerate a post-attorney career transition, say Janet Falk at Falk Communications and Evgeny Efremkin at Toronto Metropolitan University.

  • Key Takeaways From The 2025 Spring Antitrust Meeting

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    Leadership changes, shifting priorities and evolving enforcement tools dominated the conversation at the recent American Bar Association Spring Antitrust Meeting, as panelists explored competition policy under a second Trump administration, agency discretion under the 2023 merger guidelines and new frontiers in conduct enforcement, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • 3 Action Items For Innovators Amid Fintech Regulatory Pivot

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    As the federal banking agencies seek to smooth the way for banks to engage in crypto-related activities, banks and technology companies should take note of this new chapter in payments services, especially as leadership in digital financial technology becomes a national priority, says Jess Cheng at Wilson Sonsini.

  • What PFAS-Treated Clothing Tariff Bill Would Mean For Cos.

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    In keeping with a nationwide trend of greater restrictions on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, legislation pending in the U.S. House of Representatives would remove tariff advantages for PFAS-treated clothing — so businesses would be wise to proactively adapt their supply chains and review contracts to mitigate liability, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • How Tariffs May Affect Proxy Contests This Season

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    While global tariffs imposed by the Trump administration will certainly chill at least some activity this proxy season, and make defending contests significantly easier, there will likely be many new activist investments once there is more economic certainty, meaning more proxy fights this fall, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Running A Compliant DEI Program After EEOC, DOJ Guidance

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    Following recent guidance from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice that operationalized the Trump administration's focus on ending so-called illegal DEI, employers don't need to eliminate DEI programs, but they must ensure that protected characteristics are not considered in employment decisions, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

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