Public Policy

  • March 25, 2025

    Justices Grapple With Circuit Courts' Clean Air Act Authority

    U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday indicated they want to preserve circuit courts' jurisdiction over certain regional Clean Air Act disputes but recognized that Congress deliberately prioritized the D.C. Circuit's authority in many important areas of the law.

  • March 25, 2025

    Calif. Lawmaker Floats NY-Like Internet Pricing Cap

    A California Democrat hopes to pass legislation through the state Assembly to put a pricing cap on internet service plans for low-income households in the same way as a New York law that has survived legal challenges.

  • March 25, 2025

    NC Justices Agree To Hear Traffic Stop Smell Test Appeal

    The North Carolina Supreme Court has agreed to take up an appeal of a man's conviction for possession of a firearm by a felon after he argued that the smell of cannabis and cologne are not sufficient to justify searching his vehicle at a traffic stop.

  • March 25, 2025

    NM To Approve Turquoise Alerts For Missing Indigenous

    New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is expected to sign into law a bill that will create a new Turquoise Alert System for missing Native Americans that will allow law enforcement to quickly share information through various communications channels.

  • March 25, 2025

    Judge Questions Gov't Motives Behind Trans Passport Policy

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday appeared skeptical of arguments made by the U.S. Department of Justice that a new policy requiring passports to bear the holder's sex assigned at birth is not intended to target transgender and nonbinary people but rather create uniformity in government records. 

  • March 25, 2025

    Court Tosses Suit Alleging NY Pot Regulations Are Biased

    A New York federal judge on Tuesday dismissed an action alleging that the Empire State's cannabis social equity licensure program discriminated against white men.

  • March 25, 2025

    NJ Says NYC Congestion Pricing Fight Ripe For Decision

    The Garden State's legal battle to dismantle New York's congestion pricing program can still advance even while the Metropolitan Transportation Authority fights the federal government's withdrawal of approval for the program in Manhattan federal court, New Jersey's attorneys told a federal judge.

  • March 25, 2025

    San Diego Airport Authority Backs Alaska Air's DCA Flight Slot

    The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority is backing federal transportation regulators' decision to grant Alaska Airlines a slot exemption for long distance flights out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, telling the D.C. Circuit that Alaska's direct flights to San Diego "would produce enormous savings, efficiency, and benefits to the public at large."

  • March 25, 2025

    Academics Sue To Block Removals Of Pro-Palestine Students

    Academic groups filed a lawsuit in Massachusetts federal court on Tuesday seeking to block the Trump administration from targeting noncitizen students and faculty members who attend pro-Palestinian protests with large-scale arrests, detentions and deportations, saying it violates the First Amendment.

  • March 25, 2025

    NYPD Denied Vax Waiver To Detective, Suit Says

    A former New York City Police Department detective has filed a lawsuit against the department and city alleging he was effectively forced out after being denied a religious exemption for the COVID-19 vaccine.

  • March 25, 2025

    House Panel Split On Independent Contractor, OT Updates

    Republicans on a U.S. House subcommittee called on Tuesday for updating the Fair Labor Standards Act to more easily classify workers as independent contractors and enable overtime and paid time off swapping, while Democrats urged greater protections for employees, not a watering down of the law.

  • March 25, 2025

    NJ Casinos Urge 3rd Circ. Not To Revive Room-Pricing Suit

    Atlantic City casino-hotel owners have told the Third Circuit a lower court was right to toss a case accusing them of inflating room rates by using the same software to set prices because there's no problem with multiple businesses separately choosing to use the same service.

  • March 25, 2025

    Feds Say Immigrant Groups Can't Fight Trump Border Closure

    The Trump administration has told a D.C. federal judge that immigrant services organizations don't have standing to challenge a presidential proclamation that declared an "invasion" at the southern border and suspended noncitizens' entry and asylum claims.

  • March 25, 2025

    Judge Temporarily Blocks ICE Detention Of Columbia Student

    A Manhattan federal judge on Tuesday ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to temporarily refrain from detaining a 21-year-old Columbia University student and legal permanent resident who says she was targeted for deportation for attending a demonstration against the college's response to protests over the war in Gaza.

  • March 25, 2025

    No More C-Suite 'Deference' At FTC, Ferguson Says

    Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson took aim Tuesday at previous antitrust enforcers' "hands off" approach, which he said worried too much about stifling Big Tech's momentum and innovation and not enough about the power that online platforms "wielded over our daily lives."

  • March 25, 2025

    Jenner & Block Latest BigLaw Firm Targeted In Trump Order

    President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order aimed at Jenner & Block LLP, suspending security clearances for its employees and taking other actions in response to the firm's pro bono work and a former partner's role as a top deputy to former special counsel Robert Mueller.

  • March 25, 2025

    No Caprice In OSHA's Work Citation Rules, 11th Circ. Hears

    The Occupational Safety and Health Administration urged the Eleventh Circuit Tuesday to ignore a Georgia roofing contractor's claims that it can't be on the hook for a $158,000 fine under the agency's "capricious" multiemployer citation rule, alleging the company's counsel told it to avoid being caught on the work site to dodge liability.

  • March 25, 2025

    Judge Orders HUD To Reinstate $30M In Housing Grants

    A Massachusetts federal judge temporarily revived $30 million in housing anti-discrimination grants slashed by the Trump administration, explaining that his hands are essentially tied by a First Circuit ruling in a separate case reinstating teacher training grants.

  • March 25, 2025

    Sterlington Adds M&A Expert With 'A-List' Accolades

    When Lawrence Waks led the billion-dollar sale of Casamigos Tequila back in 2017, it was a game-changing moment that would reshape his legal career.

  • March 25, 2025

    Judge Mulls Limits On Columbia Sharing Info With Congress

    A Manhattan federal judge on Tuesday considered whether to limit Columbia University's sharing of student records with Congress after students there, including detained activist Mahmoud Khalil, claimed the Trump administration and congressional Republicans want to "punish and suppress" pro-Palestinian views.

  • March 25, 2025

    A Look At 6 States Tussling Over Tort Reform Legislation

    There are six state legislatures, mostly in the South, that are debating whether to install business-friendly tort reform legislation or dismantle medical malpractice guardrails. The bills run the gamut from potential game-changing legislation in Georgia, to efforts in Texas to cap certain types of personal injury damages.

  • March 25, 2025

    Mich. Residents, Some Claims Cut From Frozen Benefits Case

    A Michigan federal judge has slashed a union and claimants' lawsuit alleging the state's unemployment insurance agency improperly automatically denied or clawed back payments, finding that temporary COVID-19 pandemic assistance benefits are not constitutionally protected rights and the claimants received proper notice of an end to their benefits.

  • March 25, 2025

    Va. Gov. Youngkin Blocks Recreational Cannabis Sales Again

    Glenn Youngkin, the Republican governor of Virginia, on Monday once again vetoed lawmaker-approved legislation that would have taxed and regulated the sale of adult-use cannabis.

  • March 25, 2025

    Florida High Court Forms Group To Examine Judicial Security

    The Florida Supreme Court has created a new working group on judicial security and tasked it with developing a report over the next year on threat reduction, detection and response.

  • March 25, 2025

    No Easy Out In $5M Mich. Dispensary Flip-Flop Suit

    A Michigan federal court has refused to hand a win to either party in developer American 5 LLC's suit alleging a Michigan township improperly revoked its permit for a marijuana dispensary, finding that the parties hadn't resolved whether the permit was the developer's to begin with.

Expert Analysis

  • The Risk And Reward Of Federal Approach To AI Regulation

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    The government has struggled to keep up with artificial intelligence's furious pace, but while an overbroad federal attempt to adopt a more unified approach to regulating AI poses its own risks, so does the current environment of regulatory uncertainty, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Losing A Motion To Dismiss Ruling Isn't Necessarily The End

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    A recent Delaware Court of Chancery ruling, that the Manti Group had not demonstrated any conflicts of interest favoring private equity fund operator The Carlyle Group, serves as an important reminder that a decision on a pleading motion is not the end of the story, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Anticipating Direction Of Cosmetics Regulation Under Trump

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    It is unclear how cosmetics regulation reform from the last few years will fare under President Donald Trump, but the new administration's emphasis on deregulation and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s views on product safety provide some insight, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Drug Pricing Policy Trends To Expect In 2025 And Beyond

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    Though 2025 may bring more of the same in the realm of drug pricing policy, business as usual entails a sustained, high level of legal and policy developments across at least six major areas, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Drug Cartels' Terrorist Label Raises Litigation Risk For Cos.

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    President Donald Trump's planned designation of some Latin American drug-trafficking groups as foreign terrorist organizations creates an additional and little-noticed source of legal exposure: U.S. civil litigation risk involving terrorism claims by victims of those groups, say attorneys at Covington.

  • IRS Basis-Shifting Rule Poses Notable Reporting Obligations

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    While the IRS’ recently finalized rule requiring partnerships to report certain related-party basis adjustment transactions is narrower than originally proposed, taxpayers and their advisers will still need to comb through myriad transactions to comply, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • How Cos. Can Prepare Now For SEC E-Filing System Changes

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's amendments to the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval system are designed to improve access to and management of EDGAR accounts, and with the March 24 effective date fast approaching, and the transition requiring significant coordination, companies should begin planning now, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • The Tides Are Changing For Fair Access Banking Laws

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    The landscape of fair access banking laws, which seek to prevent banks from denying services based on individuals' ideological beliefs, has shifted in the last few years, but a new presidential administration provides renewed momentum for advancing such legislation against the backdrop of state efforts, say attorneys at Latham.

  • Imagine The Possibilities Of Openly Autistic Lawyering

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    Andi Mazingo at Lumen Law, who was diagnosed with autism about midway through her career, discusses how the legal profession can create inclusive workplaces that empower openly autistic lawyers and enhance innovation, and how neurodivergent attorneys can navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with disclosing one’s diagnosis.

  • A Halftime Analysis Of DOJ's Compensation Pilot Program

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    The U.S. Department of Justice appears to consider the first half of its three-year pilot program on compensation incentives and clawbacks to be proceeding successfully, so companies should expect prosecutors to emphasize the program and other compliance-related considerations early in investigations, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Opinion

    How Congress Can Stem Consumer Finance Law Uncertainty

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    In the face of rising uncertainty about consumer finance laws that are based largely on fluctuating administrative rules, Congress should cement certain existing laws into statute and clarify federal agencies' delegations of authority, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.

  • Top 10 Healthcare And Life Sciences Issues To Watch In 2025

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    Under the new Trump administration, this coming year may benefit some healthcare and life sciences stakeholders, while creating new challenges for others amid an increasingly complex regulatory environment, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Birthright Order Denies 14th Amendment's Purpose, Origin

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    President Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship invokes logic explicitly rejected by the framers of the 14th Amendment, demonstrating the administration's fundamental misunderstanding of the citizenship clauses' origins, jurisprudence, and impact on how Americans understand equality and national belonging, says Mauni Jalali at Quinn Emanuel.

  • A Look At Order Ending Federal Contractor Affirmative Action

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    To comply with President Donald Trump's executive order revoking affirmative action requirements in the next 90 days, federal contractors should focus on identification of protected groups, responsibilities of "diversity officer" positions and annual compliance reviews, says Jeremy Burkhart at Holland & Knight.

  • Parsing 3rd Circ. Ruling On Cannabis, Employee Private Suits

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    The Third Circuit recently upheld a decision that individuals don't have a private right of action for alleged violations of New Jersey's Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance and Marketplace Modernization Act, but employers should stay informed as the court encouraged the state Legislature to amend the law, say attorneys at Mandelbaum Barrett.

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