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Public Policy

  • September 05, 2025

    Court-Ordered Programs Are Gov't Speech, 11th Circ. Says

    The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday affirmed a lower court's finding that Florida court-ordered batterers' intervention programs are government speech, upholding a win for the state over a Christian minister and counselor contesting the rejection of his Bible-based program.

  • September 05, 2025

    9th Circ. Affirms Irrigation Exemption For Calif. Water Project

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday rejected fishing industry groups' demand that the federal government require a Clean Water Act permit for a California agricultural water runoff project that's been operating without one for decades.

  • September 05, 2025

    Brown Univ. Prof Says Top Court Ruling Bolsters Habeas Bid

    A Lebanese nephrologist who teaches at Brown University under an H-1B visa argued last week that the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling this summer in Kennedy v. Braidwood Management, a case focusing on whether members of a U.S. government task force were constitutionally appointed, bolsters her argument that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers who deported her lacked the authority to do so.

  • September 05, 2025

    NC Court Rejects ParkMobile's Bid To Escape Slander Case

    ParkMobile LLC lost its bid Thursday to dodge a slander lawsuit in which the city of Asheville claimed the company misrepresented that the two were affiliated, after a three-judge panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals dismissed ParkMobile's appeal.

  • September 05, 2025

    NC Elections Board Settles DOJ Suit Over Missing Voter Info

    North Carolina election officials have agreed to update the state's voter registration database to end a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit alleging they flouted federal regulations by failing to collect driver's license or Social Security numbers when registering voters.

  • September 05, 2025

    Judicial Nominee Expands On Testimony About Ky. Pardons

    A judicial nominee for the Eastern District of Kentucky continues to distance himself from the controversial pardons issued by former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, for whom he was counsel.

  • September 05, 2025

    FCC Chief Wants To Let Prisons Jam Contraband Cellphones

    The Federal Communications Commission plans to vote this month on a plan to allow state and local prisons to jam the signals of contraband cellphones obtained by prisoners.

  • September 05, 2025

    Mass. Justices Mull Privacy Issues In Era Of Online Records

    Massachusetts' highest court heard arguments Friday in a pair of cases asking the justices to balance the public's right to access court documents against the privacy interests of potential medical malpractice victims and people charged with but later cleared of crimes.

  • September 05, 2025

    Judges Warn ICE Is Turning Courts Into Deportation Traps

    As Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers violently arrest unauthorized immigrants in court buildings' hallways, former and current judges warn that the Trump administration is using courts as a dragnet, arresting people indiscriminately and expelling them with little to no due process in a bid to fulfill President Donald Trump’s goal of mass deportations.

  • September 05, 2025

    Court Denies Vape Interests' Bid To Halt Wisconsin E-Cig Law

    A Wisconsin federal judge on Friday rejected vaping interests' motion to halt enforcement of a new state law banning the sale of e-cigarettes not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, saying they were unlikely to succeed on claims the law was preempted.

  • September 05, 2025

    Ex-Mass. Trial Court Chief Justice Tapped As DA Integrity Chief

    A longtime Massachusetts superior court judge and retired chief justice of the state's trial court has been named chief of the Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Integrity Review Bureau, tasked with investigating and reviewing potential wrongful convictions by the Boston-area district attorney's office.

  • September 05, 2025

    475 Detained In Immigration Raid At Georgia Hyundai Plant

    U.S. immigration authorities detained 475 people during a raid on a Hyundai manufacturing site in Georgia, a Homeland Security official said at a news conference on Friday.

  • September 05, 2025

    Trump Nominates 3 To Be DC Superior Court Judges

    President Donald Trump has nominated three people to serve on the District of Columbia's local courts, bringing the district one step closer to easing its vacancy crisis.

  • September 05, 2025

    DHS Lets Immigration Officers Make Arrests, Carry Guns

    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services finalized a regulation Friday to expand the agency's law enforcement authority by allowing its officers to carry guns, execute warrants and carry out arrests related to the investigation and enforcement of civil and criminal immigration violations.

  • September 05, 2025

    Tribal Groups Urge Justices To Address Religious Violations

    Three Native American advocacy groups are backing a former Louisiana prisoner's U.S. Supreme Court petition for damages after guards forcibly shaved his head, arguing that the case presents issues vital to Indigenous cultural survival.

  • September 05, 2025

    EU Fines Google $3.5B For Giving Leg Up To Co.'s Ad Tech

    European Union antitrust enforcers hit Google with a €2.95 billion ($3.5 billion) fine Friday for the same conduct targeted by the U.S. Department of Justice's successful monopoly case, intentional efforts to give its advertising placement technology business a leg up over the competition.

  • September 05, 2025

    DC Circ. Revives Emergency Defense Rule For Air Polluters

    The D.C. Circuit on Friday restored air pollution-emitting facilities' right to defend themselves against alleged violations of the Clean Air Act by blaming emergency circumstances, finding that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's attempt to ban the practice was unlawful.

  • September 05, 2025

    Ørsted Investors Back $9.4B Rights Issue After US Order

    Ørsted AS said Friday that its shareholders have thrown their weight behind a 60 billion Danish kroner ($9.4 billion) rights issue, amid a legal battle against an order from the Trump administration to stop work on an offshore wind farm.

  • September 04, 2025

    Feds Seek Stay On Court Order Releasing Foreign Aid Billions

    The Trump administration urged the D.C. Circuit on Thursday to stay a federal judge's order that it release billions in frozen foreign aid pending its appeal, saying the disbursement will likely be "impossible" to recover according to the international aid organization plaintiffs' "own description of their financial condition."

  • September 04, 2025

    18 States Fight Trump Admin's Bid To End Haitian Protections

    A coalition of 18 states led by Massachusetts, California and New York has thrown its weight behind immigrants challenging the Trump administration's effort to remove temporary protected status for more than 250,000 Haitians in D.C. federal court, arguing TPS-eligible Haitians contribute $4.4 billion annually to the U.S. economy.

  • September 04, 2025

    11th Circ. Says 'Alligator Alcatraz' Can Stay Open For Now

    A split Eleventh Circuit Thursday paused a Florida federal judge's order that preliminarily ordered the federal government to begin winding down the immigration detention center dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," saying the government likely didn't need to prepare an environmental impact report for the facility built on the Florida Everglades.

  • September 04, 2025

    Trump's DOJ Sets Sights On Boston's Sanctuary City Status

    The U.S. Department of Justice Thursday sued the city of Boston, its mayor, police commissioner and police department over the city's sanctuary laws, claiming that the city is illegally impeding the federal government from enforcing immigration laws.

  • September 04, 2025

    Split 3rd Circ. Rejects Janssen, Bristol Myers Pricing Appeal

    A split Third Circuit panel Thursday shot down another challenge to the Medicare drug pricing negotiation, this time rejecting a consolidated appeal from Bristol Myers Squibb and Janssen and upholding a lower court's finding that the program is indeed voluntary and therefore constitutional.

  • September 04, 2025

    NJ Transit Urges Justices To Affirm Its Sovereign Immunity

    New Jersey Transit is a sovereign arm of the state of New Jersey and should be immune from out-of-state lawsuits according to U.S. Supreme Court precedent, attorneys for the agency told the justices in a brief filed Thursday.

  • September 04, 2025

    Doc Tells 1st Circ. Acquitted Conduct Marred Drug Sentence

    A Massachusetts psychiatrist convicted over an alleged scheme to import and dispense nonapproved forms of addiction medication on Thursday told the First Circuit the trial judge wrongly ran afoul of limitations on the consideration of acquitted conduct in federal sentencings when handing him a three-year prison term.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • High Court E-Cig Ruling Opens Door For FDA Challenges

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    There will likely be more challenges to marketing denial orders brought before the Fifth Circuit following the Supreme Court's recent ruling in U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co., where litigants have generally had greater success, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Opinion

    Small-Plane Black Box Mandate Would Aid Probes, Lawsuits

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    Given climbing fatality rates from small-plane and helicopter crashes, and the evidentiary significance of cockpit voice recordings in litigation and investigations, the Federal Aviation Administration should mandate black boxes in smaller aircraft, despite likely judicial challenges over privacy and cost-benefit calculations, says Jeff Korek at Gersowitz Libo.

  • Untangling 'Debanking' Exec Order And Ensuing Challenges

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    President Donald Trump's recent executive order on the practice of closing or refusing to open accounts for high-risk customers has heightened scrutiny on "debanking," but practical steps can help financial institutions reduce the likelihood of becoming involved in investigations, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • What FDIC's Asset Threshold Raise Would Mean For Banking

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    If the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. goes through with its plan to raise asset thresholds that determine regulatory intensity, it could free billions in compliance costs and bolster regional and community banks, but risk of oversight gaps are making this a contested area in banking policy, says Jessica Groza at Kohr Jackson.

  • 2nd Circ. Ruling Gives Banks Shield From Terrorism Liability

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    A recent Second Circuit dismissal strengthens the position of international banks facing claims they indirectly helped terrorist organizations and provides clearer guidance on the boundaries of secondary liability, but doesn't provide absolute immunity, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • Calif. Board's Financial-Grade Climate Standards Raise Stakes

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    After the California Air Resources Board's recent workshop, it is clear that the state's climate disclosure laws will be enforced with standards comparable to financial reporting — so companies should act now to implement assurance-grade systems, formalize governance responsibilities and coordinate reporting across their organizations, says Thierry Montoya at Frost Brown.

  • Series

    Coaching Cheerleading Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    At first glance, cheerleading and litigation may seem like worlds apart, but both require precision, adaptability, leadership and the ability to stay composed under pressure — all of which have sharpened how I approach my work in the emotionally complex world of mass torts and personal injury, says Rashanda Bruce at Robins Kaplan.

  • Unpacking The BIS Guidance On Chinese AI Chip Use

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    In response to May guidance from the Bureau of Industry and Security, which indicates the agency considers a wide but somewhat unclear range of activities involving Chinese integrated circuits to be in violation of its General Prohibition 10, companies should consider adopting enhanced due diligence to determine how firm counterparties may be using the affected chips, says Peter Lichtenbaum at Covington.

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