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Public Policy

  • September 12, 2025

    Regulators Seize $86M Of Chinese-Made Vapes In Chicago

    Federal regulators seized $86.5 million in illicit vape products at a Chicago port of entry during a joint operation, according to an announcement claiming the haul is the largest single confiscation of e-cigarette products of this kind and is part of the government's "aggressive" crackdown against youth vaping and "foreign actors."

  • September 12, 2025

    New Guidance Hacks Away At Immigration Judges' Powers

    A steady stream of Board of Immigration Appeals decisions and Executive Office for Immigration Review memos, capped by recent guidance on handling constitutional claims, shows a Trump administration reining in immigration judges overseeing removal cases.

  • September 12, 2025

    4th Circ. Rules NC Felons' Voting Ban Is Unconstitutional

    The Fourth Circuit affirmed Friday that a 19th-century North Carolina law making it a crime for convicted felons to vote — even if they believed they were eligible — unconstitutionally targets Black voters and was not mooted by a 2024 amendment to the law.

  • September 12, 2025

    9th Circ. Orders Feds To Restore Refugee Agency Agreements

    The Ninth Circuit ordered the federal government to reinstate cooperative agreements with refugee resettlement agencies on Friday, saying President Donald Trump likely acted lawfully when suspending U.S. refugee admissions in January, but his administration must still provide legally mandated services to those who have already arrived.

  • September 12, 2025

    DOJ Says States Can't Reverse Grant Cuts In OMB Reg Fight

    The Trump administration urged a Massachusetts federal judge to throw out a suit brought by a score of states accusing it of misinterpreting an Office of Management and Budget regulation to slash thousands of grants, arguing they must seek relief in another forum.

  • September 12, 2025

    Amazon Says FTC Can't Subpoena Corporation For Prime Trial

    Amazon has told a Seattle federal judge that the Federal Trade Commission can't subpoena the company itself for a testimony at an upcoming trial over allegations that it tricked customers into Prime subscriptions and prevented them from undoing their membership, arguing subpoenas that do not name individuals "skirt the rules."

  • September 12, 2025

    Builders Urge 11th Circ. To Block Biden's EO Labor Mandate

    An association of builders on Friday urged the Eleventh Circuit to block a Biden administration executive order requiring labor agreements for all federal contracts exceeding $35 million, arguing the order will cause irreparable harm by increasing costs and reducing competition in the construction industry. 

  • September 12, 2025

    Mich. AG's Loss Spells Trouble For Other Fake Elector Cases

    The dismissal of charges against Michigan Republicans who participated in the so-called fake elector plot after the 2020 presidential election shows that establishing intent could be a hurdle for prosecutors as they pursue similar cases in other states, legal experts said.

  • September 12, 2025

    Fla. Ex-Atty Banned From Pro Se Suits To Win Back House

    The Florida Supreme Court has sanctioned a disbarred Tampa tax attorney and banned her from filing any more pro se complaints related to efforts to regain her house, which was taken away by court order more than eight years ago.

  • September 12, 2025

    Feds Back Chevron And Exxon In High Court Pollution Case

    The Trump administration has backed Chevron and Exxon's U.S. Supreme Court bid to overturn a ruling that Louisiana courts should hear pollution lawsuits stemming from the companies' World War II-era oil production, saying their work clearly puts the litigation in federal court.

  • September 12, 2025

    Immigration Case Dismissal Policy Stayed In 2 NYC Boroughs

    A New York federal judge on Friday ruled that immigration judges in Manhattan and the Bronx cannot, for now, summarily grant the government's oral motions to dismiss removal cases pursuant to a challenged policy, but refused to suspend immigration courthouse arrests.

  • September 12, 2025

    Ga. Jail Medical Provider Ignored Sheriff's Abuse, Suit Says

    A man who successfully brought an excessive force claim against former Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill for strapping him in a chair for so long his wrists became scarred has now filed a Georgia federal suit against a jail medical provider, its director and two people he called "Hill's designated enforcers."

  • September 12, 2025

    FCC Refuses To Revisit Denial Of 105 Low-Power FM Stations

    After denying more than 100 applications for new low-power FM radio stations across the South, the Federal Communications Commission says it's not going back on the decision.

  • September 12, 2025

    States, Tribes Say New Policy Warrants Ore. Dam Case Restart

    An Oregon federal judge granted a joint motion by two states, environmental groups and tribes to lift a five-year stay in a lawsuit over Columbia River Basin dams' hydropower practices and attempts to restore fisheries, following a Trump administration memo revoking a basin agreement.

  • September 12, 2025

    Coinbase Suggests SEC Sanctions Over Lost Gensler Texts

    Crypto exchange Coinbase is calling for possible sanctions against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission following recent revelations that the agency inadvertently deleted a year's worth of text messages sent and received by former Chair Gary Gensler.

  • September 12, 2025

    Wash. Panel Skeptical Of AG Doc Bid In Church Abuse Case

    A Washington appellate panel expressed doubt on Friday that the state attorney general could issue a sweeping subpoena to the Catholic Church in search of charitable trust funds potentially spent concealing child abuse, with one judge quipping the church's books will not have a "line item" for such expenditures.

  • September 12, 2025

    Mass. AG Says KalshiEX Running Betting Platform In Disguise

    Online "prediction market" KalshiEX LLC was hit on Friday with a lawsuit by Massachusetts regulators alleging the New York-based company is running what amounts to an unlicensed sports betting platform.

  • September 12, 2025

    When The Supreme Court Says Using Race Is OK

    The U.S. Supreme Court is allowing government agencies to expressly use race in furthering their immigration enforcement goals, while prohibiting the use of race as even one of the factors to consider in college admissions. Some legal scholars see a double standard.

  • September 12, 2025

    Justices' Tariff-Suit Review Halts Case In Texas Federal Court

    A Texas federal court has postponed further proceedings in a suit challenging President Donald Trump's emergency tariffs until the U.S. Supreme Court considers matters involving similar claims that were taken under review earlier this week.

  • September 12, 2025

    Chicago Teachers Union Beats Teacher's Race Bias Suit

    The Chicago Teachers Union won't have to face a lawsuit alleging that it discriminated against a teacher by not pursuing four grievances she filed, an Illinois federal judge ruled Friday, saying she did not put forward evidence connecting the union's inaction to her race or national origin and has "done nothing more than speculate."

  • September 12, 2025

    EPA To Spike Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday proposed repealing a 15-year-old program that requires power plants, fossil fuel and natural gas suppliers, and other facilities to report their greenhouse gas emissions, which the EPA said would save companies money.

  • September 12, 2025

    Cops Not Immune In Suit Over Fabricated Proof, 3rd Circ. Says

    The Third Circuit held in a precedential ruling Friday that police officers are not shielded by qualified immunity in malicious prosecution lawsuits involving allegations of fabricated evidence and forced confessions.

  • September 12, 2025

    Chem Industry's Goals For Toxic Substance Law Face Hurdles

    The chemical industry is pushing to overhaul a federal toxic substances law to accelerate the approval of new products, but narrow party margins in Congress, compromises built into the law and environmental groups' opposition weigh heavily against them.

  • September 12, 2025

    NC Auditor Urges Transparency After Cop Gets $305K Payout

    The North Carolina auditor's office recommended Friday that the city of Charlotte reconsider its funding sources for settlements and be more transparent about those arrangements following an investigation into the city's secretive $305,000 deal with its outgoing police chief.

  • September 12, 2025

    DOJ Fights To Keep LA Sanctuary Policy Lawsuit Alive

    The government urged a California federal judge on Thursday to reject Los Angeles' bid to dismiss its lawsuit over the city's immigration sanctuary ordinance, claiming the law discriminates against immigration agents, is preempted by federal law and is not protected by the 10th Amendment. 

Expert Analysis

  • Fleeing Or Just Leaving Quickly? 2nd Circ. Says It Depends

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    The Second Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Bardakova decision adopted a new approach for determining whether a defendant who commits a crime in the U.S., and then leaves and remains abroad, intends to avoid prosecution — making it more difficult to argue against the fugitive disentitlement doctrine in most cases, say attorneys at MoloLamken.

  • Sanctions Considerations For Reentering The Syrian Market

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    Reentering or opening new markets in Syria, now that the Trump administration has revoked certain long-standing sanctions and export controls, necessitates increased due diligence and best practices capable of adapting to a changing local environment as well as future changes in U.S. law, say attorneys at Nixon Peabody.

  • What 2 Profs Noticed As Transactional Law Students Used AI

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    After a semester using generative artificial intelligence tools with students in an entrepreneurship law clinic, we came away with numerous observations about the opportunities and challenges such tools present to new transactional lawyers, say professors at Cornell Law School.

  • Despite SEC Reset, Private Crypto Securities Cases Continue

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    While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the Trump administration has charted a new approach to crypto regulation, the industry still lacks comprehensive rules of the road, meaning private plaintiffs continue to pursue litigation, and application of securities laws to crypto-assets will be determined by the courts, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • State AGs Are Turning Up The Antitrust Heat On ESG Actions

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    Recent antitrust developments from red state attorneys general continue a trend of environmental, social and governance scrutiny, and businesses exposed to these areas should conduct close examinations of strategy and potential material risk, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Crypto Custody Guidelines Buoy Both Banks And Funds

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    A statement released last month by banking regulators — highlighting risks that the agencies expect banks holding crypto-assets to mitigate — may encourage more traditional institutions to offer crypto-asset safekeeping and thereby offer asset managers more options for qualified custodians to custody crypto-assets for their clients, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Top Takeaways From Trump's AI Action Plan

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    President Donald Trump's AI Action Plan represents some notable evolution in U.S. policy, including affirmation of the administration's trend toward prioritizing artificial intelligence innovation over guardrails and toward supporting greater U.S. private sector reach overseas, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Navigating Executive Perk Enforcement Under Trump Admin

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    While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently signaled a softer approach to executive perks, companies should remain vigilant due to the bipartisan and lengthy nature of executive perquisite cases and Chairman Paul Atkins' previous support for disclosure requirements, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • Ill. Toxic Tort Jurisdiction Law Raises Constitutional Concerns

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    Illinois' S.B. 328, purporting to broaden state courts' jurisdictional reach over out-of-state corporations, is presented as a measure aimed at facilitating recovery in toxic tort cases, but the legislation raises significant due process and dormant commerce clause issues, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Rebuttal

    BigLaw Settlements Should Not Spur Ethics Deregulation

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    A recent Law360 op-ed argued that loosening law firm funding restrictions would make BigLaw firms less inclined to settle with the Trump administration, but deregulating legal financing ethics may well prove to be not merely ineffective, but counterproductive, says Laurel Kilgour at the American Economic Liberties Project.

  • Opinion

    8th Circ. Should Reaffirm False Commercial Speech's Nature

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    The Eighth Circuit in Goldfinch Laboratory v. Iowa Pathology Associates should assert that false commercial speech is not categorically immune from antitrust scrutiny, says Daniel Graulich at the Federal Trade Commission.

  • Unpacking Ore. Law's Limits On PE Healthcare Investment

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    A recent Oregon law imposes significant restrictions on nonphysicians owning or controlling medical practices, but newly enacted amendments provide some additional flexibility in certain ownership arrangements without scuttling the law's intent of addressing concerns about the rise of private equity investment in healthcare, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Environmental Justice Is Alive And Well At The State Level

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    Even as the Trump administration has rolled back federal environmental justice policies, many states continue to prioritize it, with new regulations, strengthened enforcement of existing rules and ongoing private litigation — so companies must stay alert to how state-level EJ enforcement may affect their operations, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • What FinCEN's AML Rule Delay Means For Advisers

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    Even with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's statement last month delaying the compliance date for a rule requiring advisers to report suspicious activity, advisers can expect some level of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission oversight in connection with anti-money laundering compliance, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • 5 Ways Lawyers Can Earn Back The Public's Trust

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    Amid salacious headlines about lawyers behaving badly and recent polls showing the public’s increasingly unfavorable view of attorneys, we must make meaningful changes to our culture to rebuild trust in the legal system, says Carl Taylor at Carl Taylor Law.

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