Public Policy

  • March 21, 2025

    SEC Guidance Moves Needle In Favor Of Private Fundraising

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent guidance on how accredited investors can self-certify when participating in broadly publicized private placements simplifies legal compliance for issuers, according to attorneys, though the jury is still out on whether market participants will embrace the new framework.

  • March 21, 2025

    FCC Probes Chinese Cos. For Alleged Illicit US Operations

    The Federal Communications Commission on Friday launched a new inquiry into Huawei, ZTE and other companies linked to the Chinese government examining whether they are still operating in the U.S. in violation of restrictions meant to curtail their operations here.

  • March 21, 2025

    PTAB Judges Told To Get Ready For Layoffs

    Administrative judges with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board should prepare themselves for layoffs, according to an email from Chief Administrative Patent Judge Scott Boalick that was shared with Law360.

  • March 21, 2025

    Fla. Tax Preparer Sentenced To Prison For $20M Fraud

    A Miami-area tax preparer was sentenced to nearly five years in prison Friday after admitting to filing thousands of individual tax returns wrongly claiming energy credits, resulting in a $20 million loss for the Internal Revenue Service, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida.

  • March 21, 2025

    Consumer Group Doesn't Belong In FERC Fight, Court Told

    An energy efficiency aggregator fighting a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission market manipulation case carrying a potential $1 billion price tag says a consumer advocate's concern over a constitutional challenge to the agency's structure can't justify its motion to intervene in the company's lawsuit.

  • March 21, 2025

    NC Panel Weighs Judge's Bid To Toss Votes In Top Court Race

    The North Carolina state appeals court grappled Friday with whether voters can be held accountable for the mistakes of election officials as they weighed the merits of Republican candidate Judge Jefferson Griffin's election protests in the still-undecided state Supreme Court race.

  • March 21, 2025

    Nonlawyer Migrant Aides See Clear Mission But Murky Future

    "Accredited representatives," a little-known and underutilized role that allows nonlawyers to represent immigrants with the federal government's authorization, are facing unprecedented demand but also an uncertain future under the Trump administration.

  • March 21, 2025

    La.'s First Nitrogen Execution Reflects Broader Method Shift

    At a time when many states are reassessing the use of lethal injections in capital punishment, Louisiana's recent use of nitrogen gas to execute a death row prisoner points to a shift in states' exploration of alternative methods, with even death by firing squad on the table.

  • March 21, 2025

    How King & Spalding Helped LGBTQ+ Vets Win Back Benefits

    More than a decade after the U.S. Department of Defense repealed its "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which kept LGBTQ+ troops in the closet, veterans who were kicked out for their sexual orientation have continued to suffer the effects of a scarlet letter placed on their discharge papers.

  • March 21, 2025

    Ga. Tort Refom Bill Gets Lawmakers' Final Approval

    Georgia lawmakers gave final approval Friday to the state's first significant civil justice overhaul legislation in two decades, sending the bill to the desk of its biggest proponent, Gov. Brian Kemp, a day after it cleared the House of Representatives.

  • March 21, 2025

    Senator Says Plan To Cut Ed. Dept. Breaks Promise To Tribes

    The vice chairman of the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee says an executive order signed by President Donald Trump that aims to dismantle the Department of Education would eliminate a critical funding source for Indigenous students and could potentially force some rural schools and tribal universities to shutter.

  • March 21, 2025

    Trump Asks NJ Judge To Send Columbia Activist Suit To La.

    The Trump administration has called on a New Jersey federal judge to transfer a petition from Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil seeking release from immigration detention to Louisiana, just one day after it was sent to the Garden State.

  • March 21, 2025

    1st Circ. Affirms Hold On Education Dept. Teacher Grant Cuts

    The First Circuit on Friday kept in place a Massachusetts federal judge's temporary block on $250 million in cuts to teacher training grants that were targeted by the Department of Education over their ties to diversity initiatives.

  • March 21, 2025

    CFPB Says Comerica Trying To Forestall Agency Suit

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau told a Texas federal judge on Friday that Comerica Bank was merely trying to use a lawsuit against the agency to forestall an enforcement action over the bank's handling of a government benefit card program.

  • March 21, 2025

    Creek Freedmen Band Wants In On Tulsa Jurisdiction Fight

    The descendants of those once enslaved by the Muscogee Creek Nation and their attorney have sought to intervene in a federal court dispute over tribal jurisdiction in Tulsa, Oklahoma, arguing they share the same objective in blocking the city's law enforcement from prosecuting tribal citizens for traffic offenses within the boundaries of its reservation.

  • March 21, 2025

    3rd Circ. Axes Ethics Claim Against Judge Critical Of Trump

    A D.C. federal judge who criticized then-candidate Donald Trump in a CNN interview last spring has escaped judicial misconduct charges, with the Judicial Council of the Third Circuit finding that the judge had not violated judicial canons in his statements regarding Trump's social media posts amid a pending legal action.

  • March 21, 2025

    DHS Again Seeks To Toss Pot Cos.' Wrongful Seizure Suit

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Friday again asked a New Mexico federal court to throw out a suit from eight cannabis companies alleging their products, cash and vehicles were wrongly seized at checkpoints.

  • March 21, 2025

    Dems Call On Trump To Reinstate Axed FTC Commissioners

    A pair of top House Democrats called on President Donald Trump on Friday to reinstate the fired Democratic commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission because their firing was a "clear violation of the law."

  • March 21, 2025

    Ex-UBS North America CEO Agrees To $4.9M FBAR Judgment

    The former North American CEO for Swiss bank UBS on Friday agreed to a $4.9 million judgment to end claims that he failed to file timely or accurate foreign bank account reports with the Internal Revenue Service between 2003 and 2013.

  • March 21, 2025

    Fed Defends Swipe Fee Cap Against Ky. Pizzeria's Challenge

    The Federal Reserve Board asked a Kentucky federal judge to uphold its existing cap on debit card swipe fees, defending the regulatory measure's substantive and procedural merits in a suit brought by a family-owned pizza shop operating in the state.

  • March 21, 2025

    DOJ Seeks To DQ Judge From Perkins Coie's Exec Order Suit

    The U.S. Department of Justice moved Friday to disqualify the D.C. federal judge presiding over Perkins Coie LLP's challenge to President Donald Trump's executive order targeting the firm for its diversity-focused hiring efforts and its political representation.

  • March 21, 2025

    Mich. Judge Dismisses $217M Dam Repair Tax Challenge

    A Michigan federal judge has dismissed a pair of lawsuits alleging a $217 million special assessment to fund the reconstruction of dams destroyed in 2020 floods was unfairly levied on certain properties, finding homeowners had the opportunity to oppose the assessment and litigate their claims in state court.

  • March 21, 2025

    DC Circ. Won't Let Apple Intervene For Google Search Fix Trial

    A D.C. Circuit panel on Friday rejected Apple's appeal seeking to participate in the remedy trial for the U.S. Department of Justice's search monopolization case against Google next month.

  • March 21, 2025

    Mass. Court Shields Welfare Workers From Child Harm Claims

    Massachusetts' highest court said Friday that child welfare workers are immune from civil claims stemming from a fatal incident in which children were left unattended at a foster home overnight, saying the oversight shortcomings didn't directly cause the harm.

  • March 21, 2025

    Judge Accused Of Bias Expresses Regret Over MDL Remarks

    The chief judge of the Eleventh Circuit has dismissed a judicial ethics complaint alleging that a Florida federal judge had shown impermissible bias in favor of women leading the multidistrict litigation over the hormonal contraceptive drug Depo-Provera, after the judge said she "regrets any misunderstanding" and took steps to address the issue.

Expert Analysis

  • Scope And Nature Of Judicial Relief Will Affect Loper's Impact

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    The practical result of post-Loper Bright rulings against regulatory actions will depend on the relief courts grant — and there has been controversy in these types of cases over whether the ruling is applied just to the parties or nationwide, and whether the action can be left in place while it's corrected, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

  • Trump's Day 1 Orders Augur Disruptions In Travel To US

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    While the orders President Donald Trump issued his first day in office didn't impose immediate entry bans as some speculated, they authorized greatly increased scrutiny of foreign nationals at U.S. consulates and ports of entry, and laid the groundwork for future actions that could significantly disrupt international travel, says Jennifer Kim at Moore & Van Allen.

  • The Implications Of E-Cigarette Cos. Taking Suits To 5th Circ.

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    The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. R.J. Reynolds over the definition of an "adversely affected" person under the Tobacco Control Act, and the justices' ruling will have important and potentially wide-ranging implications for forum shopping claims, says Trillium Chang at Zuckerman Spaeder.

  • Del. Dispatch: Lessons From Failed Albertsons-Kroger Merger

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    The allegations in Albertsons' lawsuit against Kroger following the grocery stores' blocked merger demonstrate how a target company can best ensure that a buyer timely and effectively complies with its obligations to pursue the necessary regulatory approvals for a deal, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • Series

    Adventure Photography Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Photographing nature everywhere from Siberia to Cuba and Iceland to Rwanda provides me with a constant reminder to refresh, refocus and rethink the legal issues that my clients face, says Richard Birmingham at Davis Wright.

  • How Views On Healthcare Price Transparency Are Changing

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    Regulators' attitudes toward price transparency regulation have shifted over the past several years in ways that may seem contradictory, and research into detailed rate information published by hospitals and health plans has yielded mixed results, says Matthew List at Charles River Associates.

  • What Vinyl Acetate's Prop 65 Listing Means For Cos.

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    California's recent move to add vinyl acetate to the Proposition 65 list of carcinogens, with enforcement starting later this year, will have sweeping compliance and risk implications for businesses in the retail, food and beverage, paint, adhesive, industrial manufacturing, and personal care product industries, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • How Cos. Can Respond To CFPB Digital Asset Safeguard Plan

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    Though the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposal to regulate online payment platforms via existing federal laws would create new challenges, digital payment companies that engage with the rulemaking process could help shape a win-win regulatory framework that protects consumer data and ensures the sector’s growth, says Allison Raley at Arnall Golden.

  • Navigating The Potential End Of GLP-1 Drug Shortages

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's determination of whether GLP-1 products are in shortage may affect how compounders provide these products and spur a range of litigation including patent disputes and unfair competition suits, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • High Court Could Further Limit Deference With TCPA Fax Case

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    The Supreme Court's decision to hear McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson, a case involving alleged junk faxes that centers whether district courts are bound by Federal Communications Commission rules, offers the court a chance to possibly further limit the judicial deference afforded to federal agency interpretations of statutes, says Samantha Duke at Rumberger Kirk.

  • Politicized OIGs Could Target Federal Employees, Contractors

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    After President Donald Trump fired nearly 20 inspectors general last week, it’s worth exploring how the administration could use Offices of Inspectors General to target federal employees and contractors, why it would be difficult to fight this effort, and one possible bulwark against the politicization of these watchdogs, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.

  • Future Of Crypto-Asset Classification Is In 2nd Circ.'s Hands

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    A definitive ruling from the Second Circuit in a rare interlocutory appeal in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's ongoing court battle with Coinbase could finally establish clear guidelines on the classification of digital assets, influencing how they are regulated and traded in the U.S., say attorneys at Manatt.

  • 5 Ways To Create Effective Mock Assignments For Associates

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    In order to effectively develop associates’ critical thinking skills, firms should design mock assignments that contain a few key ingredients, from messy fact patterns to actionable feedback, says Abdi Shayesteh at AltaClaro.

  • Overseas Investment Rule Calls For Compliance Caution

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    Investors should be leery of who and what they are investing in now that the federal outbound investment regime, effective Jan. 2, has extended the governement's regulatory reach to businesses and parties not previously subject to trade restrictions, says Thaddeus McBride at Bass Berry.

  • Opinion

    Revised Fla. Rules Of Civil Procedure Will Modernize Litigation

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    The landmark amendments to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure that took effect on Jan. 1 may require significant adjustments to practice and case management approaches, but the changes should ultimately reduce the cost and burden of modern litigation, and foster a more efficient and equitable justice system, says retired Florida state judge Ralph Artigliere.

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