Public Policy

  • September 09, 2025

    2nd Circ. Allows NY AG To Curb Nonprofit's Debtor Coaching

    The Second Circuit vacated a lower court order that prevented New York Attorney General Letitia James from stopping a bankruptcy education nonprofit from advising low-income debtors Tuesday, saying that while the state's unauthorized practice of law statutes regulate speech, they are content neutral and should be reviewed under intermediate scrutiny.

  • September 09, 2025

    Ex-Copyright Chief Wants Firing Declared Invalid

    The former head of the U.S. Copyright Office who was fired by President Donald Trump has asked a D.C. federal court to declare that firing invalid, saying it was an attempt by the administration to "seize control of the Library of Congress and the U.S. Copyright Office."

  • September 09, 2025

    Mich. Judge Throws Out Charges For Fake Trump 'Electors'

    A Michigan judge on Tuesday dismissed all criminal charges against Republicans accused of acting as fake electors for President Donald Trump in the 2020 election, finding that prosecutors failed to show criminal intent.

  • September 09, 2025

    Ex-CFTC Atty Presses Religious Bias Claim At 2nd Circ.

    A former Commodity Futures Trading Commission lawyer urged an inquisitive panel of the Second Circuit Tuesday to revive the religious discrimination claims he brought alleging a "gag order" effectively banned him from praying with a friend who was serving as the agency watchdog at the time.

  • September 09, 2025

    Tribes, Enviro Orgs. Urge 9th Circ. To Halt Oak Flat Land Swap

    The U.S. and a copper mining company can't defend a federal law authorizing a land exchange in Arizona's Tonto National Forest, conservation groups and an Apache tribe told the Ninth Circuit on Monday, arguing that requirements for mining the site are unmet due to an inadequate final environmental impact statement.

  • September 09, 2025

    VC Firm's Top Atty Rejoins Skadden To Lead Tech Policy Team

    The former chief legal and policy officer at California-based Sequoia Capital is returning to Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP to lead the firm's tech policy practice, advising clients on related regulation and enforcement matters, the firm announced Tuesday.

  • September 09, 2025

    NY Pot Regulator Says Lawmakers Must Fix Proximity Issue

    The head of New York's cannabis regulatory agency said Tuesday that only the state Legislature could cure a recent destabilizing shift in regulatory interpretation that threatens to upend more than a hundred marijuana businesses.

  • September 09, 2025

    Colorado Justices Uphold Rejection Of City's Telecom Tax

    Tax ordinances in a Colorado city aimed at telecommunications providers, including a T-Mobile subsidiary, established new taxes without voter approval in violation of the state's Taxpayer Bill of Rights, the state Supreme Court ruled.

  • September 09, 2025

    4 Possible Factors In Nadine Menendez's Bribery Sentence

    The New York federal judge tasked with sentencing Nadine Menendez in the high-profile public corruption case that also ensnared her husband, a once entrenched New Jersey politician, will weigh a higher number of mitigating factors than in the usual criminal case, leaving her ultimate penalty a question mark to legal observers.

  • September 09, 2025

    Court Urged To Deny Bid To Block Captive Reporting Rules

    A Texas federal court should deny an injunction to a Texas plastics company seeking to stop the IRS from flagging microcaptive insurance plans as potentially abusive tax avoidance schemes, the U.S. argued, saying the public could lose millions of tax dollars on illegitimate transactions.

  • September 09, 2025

    DOJ, FTC Urged To Probe Drugmakers' Rebate Models

    The American Hospital Association asked the Trump administration to investigate whether major pharmaceutical companies violated antitrust laws as they push out new rebate models for a program that offers discounted drugs to healthcare providers serving low-income patients.

  • September 09, 2025

    States Urge Justices To Quickly Rule Against Trump's Tariffs

    The U.S. Supreme Court should quickly consider the appeal of the Federal Circuit's ruling that President Donald Trump's emergency tariffs are unlawful and affirm that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act doesn't provide the authority to impose duties, the states challenging the measures told the justices this week.

  • September 09, 2025

    Approach The Bench: Judge Shannon Discusses Bankruptcy

    Bankruptcy might seem like a technical and obscure practice area, but not to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon.

  • September 09, 2025

    Pentagon Finalizes Cybersecurity Rule For Contractors

    The U.S. Department of Defense released its long-anticipated final rule on Tuesday detailing how the agency will incorporate its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program, aimed at boosting cybersecurity standards across the defense industrial base, into defense contracts.

  • September 08, 2025

    NY Supreme Court Says ICE Office At Rikers Order Is Illegal

    A New York state court on Monday ruled that an executive order of New York City Mayor Eric Adams' administration that allowed for a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office at Rikers Island is "illegal," pointing to Adams' escape of federal corruption charges days ahead of the order being issued.

  • September 08, 2025

    Split Colo. Justices Back DA's Disbarment Over Judge Probe

    The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday ruled to uphold a disciplinary board's disbarment of former 11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley in a split 4-2 decision that found the issue of whether the presiding disciplinary judge should have recused himself a "close call."

  • September 08, 2025

    SoCal City, Pot Biz Won't Settle $220K Fee Suit

    The contract dispute between a Southern California municipality and a cannabis distributor over a failed deal to transport cannabis in the city and an unpaid $220,000 permit fee remains ongoing, after both sides told a California state court that settlement talks were unsuccessful.

  • September 08, 2025

    GOP Sens. OK Fla. Judge Who Dems Claim Courted Trump

    Senate Republicans voted on Monday evening to confirm to the Southern District of Florida bench Judge Edward L. Artau, a state appellate judge who ruled in favor of President Donald Trump in a defamation lawsuit when Democrats say he was simultaneously being vetted for the federal judgeship.

  • September 08, 2025

    DC Circ. Mulls Whether To Leave Whistleblower Rewardless

    The D.C. Circuit didn't seem to think it was fair that the SEC refused a million dollar reward to a whistleblower who went to the media first, even though the judges hinted Monday they thought the agency might have been within its rights to do so.

  • September 08, 2025

    Immigration Board's Undoing Of Bond Practice Stuns Attys

    A Board of Immigration Appeals decision to deny bond and require mandatory detention for anyone entering the U.S. unlawfully has stunned immigration attorneys, who say the upending of decades of precedent will leave few options beyond leaving the country.

  • September 08, 2025

    Split 4th Circ. Axes States' Challenge To Trump Admin Layoffs

    A split Fourth Circuit panel held Monday that a coalition of states doesn't have standing to sue the Trump administration over the mass firing of thousands of probationary government employees, finding that it was the employees — not the states — who "suffered the brunt of the harm" underlying the case.

  • September 08, 2025

    3rd Circ.'s Grid-Planning Ruling Will Coax States To Play Ball

    A Third Circuit decision limiting states' ability to block transmission projects already greenlighted by regional grid operators could make a federal overhaul of transmission planning policies more appealing, even as several states and utilities pursue litigation to block the changes.

  • September 08, 2025

    Unions Knock 'Flawed' 4th Circ. Injunction Take In DOGE Row

    A split Fourth Circuit panel's decision to vacate an injunction targeting the Department of Government Efficiency created a flawed framework for evaluating whether an injunction is appropriate, a coalition of unions argued Monday, asking the full Fourth Circuit to override the majority's "sharp departure from established precedents."

  • September 08, 2025

    NY AG To Fight Texas Bid To Enforce Abortion Ban Ruling

    New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday moved to intervene in a lawsuit brought by the state of Texas that seeks to enforce a money judgment against a New York doctor for providing abortion-inducing drugs to a woman via telemedicine in the Lone Star state.

  • September 08, 2025

    FCC Nears 4-Year Review Of Media Ownership Regs

    Fresh off an Eighth Circuit decision that undercut a key rule limiting companies from controlling multiple broadcast stations in the same market, the FCC will vote this month on launching its required four-year review of media ownership rules.

Expert Analysis

  • Legal Considerations Around Ibogaine As Addiction Therapy

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    Recent funding approval in Texas pertaining to the use of ibogaine for the potential treatment of substance use disorders signals a growing openness to innovative addiction treatments, but also underscores the need for rigorous compliance with state and federal requirements and ethical research standards, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • Unpacking DOJ's Suit Against Maryland Federal Bench

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    Political hoopla aside, the Trump administration’s suit naming the Maryland federal district court and all of its judges, which challenges a standing order that delays deportation upon the filing of a habeas petition, raises valid questions about both the validity of the order and the DOJ’s approach, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

  • What Calif. Insurance Ruling Means For Smoke Damage Limits

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    As California continues to grapple with an increasing number of wildfire claims, a state court's recent Aliff v. California FAIR Plan decision serves as a clear directive to insurers that policy language that narrows the scope of fire coverage below the California Insurance Code's minimum standards is impermissible, say attorneys at Wood Smith.

  • Wash. Law Highlights Debate Over Unemployment For Strikers

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    A new Washington state law that will allow strikers to receive unemployment benefits during work stoppages raises questions about whether such laws subsidize disruptions to the economy or whether they are preempted by federal labor law, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Why SEC Abandoned Microcap Convertible Debt Crackdown

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has recently dismissed several cases targeting microcap convertible debt lenders, a significant disavowal of what was a controversial enforcement initiative under the Biden administration and a message that the new administration will focus on clear fraud, say attorneys at O'Melveny.

  • Justices' Resentencing Ruling Fortifies First Step Act Tools

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Hewitt v. U.S. ruling clarifies that resentencing after vacatur must reflect the law in effect at the time of the new sentencing, ultimately strengthening the strategic tools available to defense attorneys under the First Step Act, says Benson Varghese at Varghese Summersett.

  • The Metamorphosis Of The Major Questions Doctrine

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    The so-called major questions doctrine arose as a counterweight to Chevron deference over the past few decades, but invocations of the doctrine have persisted in the year since Chevron was overturned, suggesting it still has a role to play in reining in agency overreach, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • A Rapidly Evolving Landscape For Noncompetes In Healthcare

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    A wave of new state laws regulating noncompete agreements in the healthcare sector, varying in scope, approach and enforceability, are shaped by several factors unique to the industry and are likely to distort the market, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • New PTAB Denial Processes Grow More And More Confusing

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    Guidance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office about the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's new workload management and discretionary denial processes has been murky and inconsistent, and has been further muddled by the acting director's seemingly contradictory decisions, say attorneys at Finnegan.

  • Arguing The 8th Amendment For Reduction In FCA Penalties

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    While False Claims Act decisions lack consistency in how high the judgment-to-damages ratio in such cases can be before it becomes unconstitutional, defense counsel should cite the Eighth Amendment's excessive fines clause in pre-trial settlement negotiations, and seek penalty decreases in post-judgment motions and on appeal, says Scott Grubman at Chilivis Grubman.

  • GENIUS Act Creates 'Commodity' Uncertainty For Stablecoins

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    Half a century ago, Congress made trading in onion futures on commodity exchanges unlawful, and payment stablecoins could soon face a similarly unstable fate in the markets as the GENIUS Act heads to the president's desk for signature, says Peter Malyshev at Cadwalader.

  • EU Space Act Could Stifle US Commercial Operators

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    The EU Space Act, proposed last month, has the potential to raise global standards for safety and sustainability in space, but the U.S. and EU need to harmonize their regulatory approaches to avoid imposing regulatory burdens that undermine commercial innovation and agility, say Jessica Noble and Adriane Mandakunis at Aegis Space Law.

  • Cos. Face Convergence Of Anti-Terrorism Act, FCPA Risks

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    Recent moves by the U.S. Department of Justice to classify cartels and transnational criminal organizations as terrorist groups, and to use a range of statutes including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to pursue these types of targets, mean that companies operating in certain jurisdictions are now subject to overlapping exposure, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.

  • Feds' Shift On Reputational Risk Raises Questions For Banks

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    While banking regulators' recent retreat from reputational risk narrows the scope of federal oversight in some respects, it also raises practical questions about consistency, reputational management and the evolving political landscape surrounding financial services, say attorneys at Smith Anderson.

  • Biotech Collaborations Can Ease Uncertainty Amid FDA Shift

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    As concerns persist that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's reduced headcount will impede developments at already-strapped biotech companies, licensing and partnership transactions can provide the necessary funding and pathways to advance innovative products, say attorneys at Troutman.

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