Public Policy

  • September 17, 2025

    Satellites Belong In FCC's Enviro Reviews, Agency Told

    The Federal Communications Commission can't justify excluding potentially luminous satellites from environmental reviews keyed to industries under its jurisdiction, a group fighting light pollution said.

  • September 17, 2025

    House Votes To End DC Judicial Nominations Commission

    The U.S. House of Representatives voted 218-211 along party lines on Wednesday to eliminate the commission that vets and picks potential judicial nominees for Washington, D.C.'s local courts.

  • September 17, 2025

    Charter Can't Dodge Cable Royalties In Texas, 5th Circ. Rules

    Charter Communications cannot avoid paying a 3% royalty for the use of cable permits in three Texas cities' rights of way, regardless of a change in state permitting law, the Fifth Circuit ruled Wednesday.

  • September 17, 2025

    Democrats Push Wealth Tax Targeting Billionaires' Assets

    Billionaires would pay higher taxes on their unrealized gains from property, stocks and other valuable assets under legislation reintroduced Wednesday by Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden and other congressional Democrats.

  • September 17, 2025

    Texas Justices Don't Touch Block Of Local Pot Amnesty Law

    The Texas Supreme Court will not review an appellate panel's decision blocking the city of San Marcos from going forward with a voter-approved ordinance that limited local police from enforcing laws on low-level marijuana offenses.

  • September 17, 2025

    DOJ & Google Going To Trial, Again, On Ad Tech Remedies

    The Justice Department goes to trial next week to try breaking up Google's advertising placement technology business after a Virginia federal court declared the company an illegal monopolist in ad tech.

  • September 17, 2025

    IRS-ICE Pact Allows For Mass Tax Data Swaps, DC Circ. Told

    An information sharing agreement between the IRS and immigration enforcement agencies allows for disclosure of confidential tax information on a mass scale, as evidenced by an IRS official's declaration in a taxpayer group's suit, immigration advocacy groups challenging the agreement told the D.C. Circuit on Wednesday.

  • September 17, 2025

    SEC Policy Shift Could Foreclose Some Investor Class Actions

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a policy statement Wednesday that allows the use of mandatory arbitration by new publicly traded companies as its chief seeks to "make IPOs great again," but Democrats warned the move could shut the door to shareholder class actions.

  • September 17, 2025

    Judge Won't Let Denver Slip Suit Over Bans On Gas Appliances

    A Colorado federal judge partially granted environmentalist group Sierra Club's bid to dismiss a suit filed by a coalition of industry trade groups suing Denver over the city's restrictions on certain natural gas appliances.

  • September 17, 2025

    USTR Seeks Feedback On USMCA In Advance Of Joint Review

    The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking comments on the effectiveness of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement in advance of next year's joint review of the regional trade agreement, it has announced.

  • September 17, 2025

    Ute Tribe Land Dispute Back In Court After 8-Year Stay

    A Utah federal judge on Wednesday lifted an eight-year stay in a decade-long feud over criminal prosecutions within the Ute Tribe's reservation boundaries, allowing the parties to litigate a sole issue in the case over the status of split estate surface lands.

  • September 17, 2025

    Boston Mayor Accused Of Firing Staffer To Shield Ally

    The former chief of staff for Boston's police accountability office alleged in a lawsuit launched in state court Wednesday that Mayor Michelle Wu wrongfully fired her last spring to protect a key political ally from accusations of sexual harassment.

  • September 17, 2025

    EXIM Bank Wants Suit Over $20B Mozambique LNG Project Axed

    The Export-Import Bank of the United States is asking a D.C. federal judge to toss green groups' effort to block $4.7 billion in financing for a liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique led by TotalEnergies SE.

  • September 17, 2025

    7th Circ. Pick Shrugs Off Conservative Group's Opposition

    During her confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Rebecca Taibleson, a federal prosecutor in Wisconsin tapped for the Seventh Circuit, fended off opposition to her nomination from conservative groups, antipathy that the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee called a "new low" for the committee.

  • September 17, 2025

    Ga. City, Ex-Court Admin Seek Quick Wins In Retaliation Case

    A Georgia city and its former municipal court administrator have each asked a federal judge for wins in a whistleblower suit the administrator brought alleging she had been unlawfully fired in retaliation for reporting a city council member's attempt to pressure the court for a favor.

  • September 17, 2025

    Calif. Residents Look To Block Tribe's Recognition, Casino

    A group of residents and a nonprofit are seeking an expedited order that would block a decision by the Interior Department to give federal recognition to California's Ione Band of Miwok Indians, arguing the federal government is delaying the case to make sure construction of the tribe's casino is completed.

  • September 17, 2025

    FTC Sends White House List Of Regulations For Deletion

    The Federal Trade Commission provided the White House with a report on Wednesday recommending that more than 125 regulations from agencies across the federal government be modified or deleted because they create barriers to competition.

  • September 17, 2025

    Nonprofit Loses TM Injunction Bid Against 'Making PA Better'

    A Pennsylvania federal judge has declined to bar the Pennsylvania Manufacturers' Association from using the phrase "Making PA Better" on its website in a trademark infringement case brought by a nonprofit, saying neither of the parties are engaged in commercial activity.

  • September 17, 2025

    Womble Bond Hires Longtime Clifford Chance Leader In DC

    Womble Bond Dickinson LLP has hired a career Clifford Chance LLP lawyer in Washington who served in a number of leadership roles with the firm in his more than 35 years there, including most recently as the global co-head of its risk team and leader of its U.S. regulatory investigations and financial crime group.

  • September 17, 2025

    NCDOT Dodges Liability In Fatal Snowstorm Accident

    The North Carolina Department of Transportation was freed Wednesday from having to contribute to wrongful death settlements of over $1.6 million after a North Carolina Court of Appeals panel found the department to be immune under the Emergency Management Act.

  • September 17, 2025

    Insurer Says Parkland Mass Shooting Was Multiple Occurrences

    Evanston Insurance Co. told the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday that a lower court erred when it said the term "occurrences" in an excess policy for the Broward Sheriff's Office was ambiguous and granted a win to the insured, which argued the 2018 mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida, school was one occurrence, not several.

  • September 17, 2025

    Lawmakers Ask Trump To Push UK To Ax Digital Services Tax

    Twenty-two Republican House lawmakers asked President Donald Trump to secure a commitment from the U.K. to remove its digital services tax while he's visiting the country and to reopen a trade investigation into the tax if the British government doesn't oblige.

  • September 17, 2025

    Ex-CDC Head Says RFK Jr. Urged Vax Schedule Rubber Stamp

    Susan Monarez, the former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told federal lawmakers on Wednesday she was abruptly fired just weeks into her tenure for "holding the line on scientific integrity."

  • September 17, 2025

    Pot Entrepreneur Pushes 4th Circ. To Rehear Licensing Fight

    A California cannabis entrepreneur has asked the Fourth Circuit to rehear her case after a panel rejected her bid to upend Maryland's marijuana social equity licensing program, arguing that the appellate judges' ruling turned on multiple errors of law and fact.

  • September 17, 2025

    Venezuelan Bondholder Asks 11th Circ. To Revive Suit

    The holder of a $43.2 million judgment against Venezuela over defaulted bonds asked the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday to revive its suit seeking to gain control of various Miami properties controlled by a wealthy businessman accused of bribing Venezuelan officials.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Teaching Trial Advocacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    Teaching trial advocacy skills to other lawyers makes us better litigators because it makes us question our default methods, connect to young attorneys with new perspectives and focus on the needs of the real people at the heart of every trial, say Reuben Guttman, Veronica Finkelstein and Joleen Youngers.

  • What New CFPB Oversight Limits Would Mean For 4 Markets

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    As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau continues to centralize its resources, proposals to alter the definition of larger market participants in the automobile financing, international money transfer, consumer reporting and consumer debt collection markets would reduce the scope of the bureau's oversight, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • MIT Bros.' Crypto Charges Provide Fraud Test Case For Gov't

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    As U.S. v. Peraire-Bueno, involving cryptocurrency fraud charges against brothers who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, moves forward after surviving a motion to dismiss, the case provides an early example of how the government might use the federal fraud statutes to regulate decentralized networks, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Navigating Brazil's Regulations, Incentives For Green Projects

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    Brazil's evolving environmental regulatory framework and ongoing moves to attract international capital for climate-focused projects may appeal to U.S.-based companies and investors interested in sustainable development — but taking advantage of these opportunities requires careful planning and meaningful stakeholder engagement, says Milena Angulo at Guimarães.

  • Federal AI Action Plan Marks A Shift For Health And Bio Fields

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    The Trump administration's recent artificial intelligence action plan significantly expands federal commitments across biomedical agencies, defining a pivotal moment for attorneys and others involved in research collaborations, managing regulatory compliance and AI-related intellectual property, says Mehrin Masud-Elias at Arnold & Porter.

  • Potential Paths To Modernizing The Bank Secrecy Act

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    The Bank Secrecy Act's analog design has become increasingly incompatible with today's digital financial ecosystem, but legislative reforms, coupled with regulatory adjustments including updated thresholds, feedback mechanisms and innovation sandboxes, would help adjust the act to the unique challenges of modern technology, says Matthew Biben at King & Spalding.

  • Definitions Of 'Waters Of The United States' Ebb And Flow

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    The issue of defining whether "waters of the United States" include streams and channels that sometimes have water and sometimes do not has been fraught since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2006 Rapanos decision, but a possible new rule may help property owners stay out of court, says Neal McAliley at Carlton Fields.

  • Trump Tax Law's Most Impactful Energy Changes

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    The One Big Beautiful Bill Act's deferral of begin-construction deadlines and the phaseout of certain energy tax credits will provide emerging technologies with welcome breathing room, though other changes, like the increased credit rate for sustainable aviation fuel, create challenges for developers, say attorneys at Weil.

  • Texas Property Law Complicates Financing And Development

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    A new Texas law imposing expansive state-level restrictions on properties owned by entities from designated countries creates a major obstacle for some lenders, developers and other stakeholders, as well as new diligence requirements for foreign companies, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From Texas AUSA To BigLaw

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    As I learned when I transitioned from an assistant U.S. attorney to a BigLaw partner, the move from government to private practice is not without its hurdles, but it offers immense potential for growth and the opportunity to use highly transferable skills developed in public service, says Jeffery Vaden at Bracewell.

  • Lessons From Liberty Mutual FCPA Declination

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    Liberty Mutual’s recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act resolution with the U.S. Department of Justice signals that the Trump administration is once again considering such declinations after an enforcement pause, offering some assurances for companies regarding the benefits of voluntary self-disclosure, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

  • Data Undermines USPTO's 'Settled Expectations' Doctrine

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    An analysis of inter partes review proceedings filed since 2012 appears to refute the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent stance that patent owners develop a strong settled expectation that their patents will not be challenged after being in force for six years, say Jonathan DeFosse and Samuel Smith at Sheppard Mullin, and Kenzo Kasai at NGB Corp.

  • Drafting M&A Docs After Delaware Corp. Law Amendments

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    Attorneys at Greenberg Traurig discuss how the March and June amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law affect the drafting of corporate and M&A documents, including board resolutions, governing documents, and books and records demands.

  • Advice For 1st-Gen Lawyers Entering The Legal Profession

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    Nikki Hurtado at The Ferraro Law Firm tells her story of being a first-generation lawyer and how others who begin their professional journeys without the benefit of playbooks handed down by relatives can turn this disadvantage into their greatest strength.

  • FTC Focus: When Green Goals And Antitrust Law Collide

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    A recently concluded Federal Trade Commission investigation has turned an emissions deal involving major U.S. heavy-duty truck manufacturers that was brokered by the California Air Resources Board into a cautionary tale about the potential for environmental agreements to run afoul of competition rules, say attorneys at Proskauer.

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