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Public Policy

  • July 17, 2025

    Justices' 'Tea Leaves' Don't OK Illegal FTC Firing, Court Says

    A D.C. federal judge ordered the restoration of a fired Federal Trade Commission Democrat's job Thursday, setting up a D.C. Circuit clash that could go to the U.S. Supreme Court on her conclusion that President Donald Trump violated a law permitting the termination of FTC members only for cause.

  • July 17, 2025

    EU Approves Luxembourg Beverage Deal With Fix

    European enforcers have approved beverage producer and distributor Brasserie Nationale's planned purchase of a Luxembourg-based wholesaler, after the companies agreed to unload a portion of the business that sells to hotels, restaurants and cafes in the country.

  • July 17, 2025

    FCC Asks 5th Circ. To Reinstate $57M AT&T Data Privacy Fine

    The Federal Communications Commission is asking for the full Fifth Circuit to take up an April panel decision finding the commission's in-house adjudications unconstitutional, arguing that a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision "effectively abrogated" the precedent that the panel ruling for AT&T was partly predicated on.

  • July 17, 2025

    Senators Float 'Patent Thicket' Bill To Limit Generic Litigation

    A bill floated in the U.S. Senate would limit the use of so-called patent thickets that are asserted by major pharmaceutical companies in litigation to restrict generic competition.

  • July 17, 2025

    EPA Merging Offices As Reorganization Continues

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday said it's consolidating and shuffling some of its internal offices, including those handling finance and enforcement, the latest in a series of changes and cutbacks at the EPA.

  • July 17, 2025

    Texas AG Sues Nat'l Org. Over Trans Swimmer Participation

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a state lawsuit against U.S. Masters Swimming Inc. and its state chapters, accusing the entity of violating Texas law by allowing transgender women to compete with cisgender women in swim meets.

  • July 17, 2025

    6 Cases For Patent Attys To Watch In The Second Half Of 2025

    The Federal Circuit is considering major questions about when delays in prosecuting patents become bad faith and whether the acting U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director is legally allowed to apply new rules retroactively. Here's what you need to know about these cases and others that attorneys are keeping an eye on for the rest of the year.

  • July 17, 2025

    Wis. Senators Send List Of Bipartisan 7th Circ. Picks To Trump

    The senators from Wisconsin, one Republican and one Democrat, have sent President Donald Trump a list of five candidates for the seat of the Seventh Circuit that is slated to open in October.

  • July 17, 2025

    Omaha Tribe Leads Nebraska In Cannabis Legalization Push

    The Omaha Tribe of Nebraska is now the first Indigenous nation in the state to legalize and regulate medical and recreational cannabis use on tribal lands, putting it ahead of the state currently embroiled in litigation over voter-approved ballot referendums on the issue.

  • July 17, 2025

    JPMorgan Chase Can't Force Arbitration In Client Racism Suit

    A Washington federal judge has rejected a bid by JPMorgan Chase Bank NA to send a customer's racial discrimination suit to arbitration, concluding the bank did not show the arbitration clause in its deposit account agreement is valid and enforceable against the plaintiff family.

  • July 17, 2025

    Senate Moves Closer To Confirming Trump's NTIA Chief Nom

    The U.S. Senate stepped closer Thursday to confirming President Donald Trump's choice to lead the government agency that manages federal use of spectrum.

  • July 17, 2025

    US Negotiating Global Min. Tax Carveout Accord, Official Says

    The U.S. hasn't yet secured an agreement with other countries to exempt its companies from the international parts of the 15% global minimum tax despite reaching an "understanding" with the Group of 7 nations, but wider negotiations have begun, a U.S. Treasury Department official said Thursday.

  • July 17, 2025

    Bombing Victims Seek Damages For Iran's Support Of Attacks

    Dozens of people allegedly harmed by bombings in Kabul, Afghanistan, have asked a D.C. federal judge to order the Islamic Republic of Iran to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for providing material support for the terrorist attacks.

  • July 17, 2025

    FCC Approves Alaska Telecom's Performance Revisions

    With improved backhaul access in hand, GCI Communication Group is committing to deliver 10/1 megabits per second 4G LTE service to an additional 7,500 Alaskans, according to an Alaska Plan individual performance revision approved by the Federal Communications Commission.

  • July 17, 2025

    Fla. AG, Sandoz Clash With Other Enforcers Over 'Done' Deal

    Sandoz and Florida's attorney general pressed a Connecticut federal judge Wednesday to let them settle out of sweeping price-fixing litigation against generic-drug makers, contending that federal civil procedure rules give no room for objections from other state enforcers worried the Sunshine State deal interferes with their own ability to negotiate settlements.  

  • July 17, 2025

    Atty Access At 'Alligator Alcatraz' Being Barred, Suit Says

    Attorneys are being barred from consulting clients being detained at the new detention facility in the Everglades known as "Alligator Alcatraz," while detainees are being prevented from contesting their detention, a new federal lawsuit alleges.

  • July 17, 2025

    Mass. Cities Seek Order Forcing Trash Hauler To Honor Pacts

    Nearly three weeks after Republic Services workers went on strike, six Massachusetts communities went to court Thursday seeking an order compelling the trash hauler to immediately address what they say is a public health nuisance.

  • July 17, 2025

    EU Sends Hungary To Court Of Justice Over ECT Stance

    The European Commission said it will refer Hungary to the European Union's Court of Justice to address a potential violation of EU law, claiming it has contradicted the union's position on intra-EU arbitrations under the Energy Charter Treaty and refused to abide by the court's case law.

  • July 17, 2025

    Tax Auditor's Disability Bias Suit Dismissed For Late Filing

    A federal judge tossed a tax auditor's suit claiming a North Carolina county yanked her intermittent leave disability accommodation for health flare-ups that made it hard to drive to work, rejecting her bid to toll the statute of limitations due to a lawyer's bad advice.

  • July 17, 2025

    PE Firm Is Denied FDA Docs For Defense In Deal Challenge

    An Illinois federal court on Wednesday denied a request from private equity firm GTCR BC Holdings LLC to force the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to produce more than a decade's worth of medical device approval applications as the firm fights a merger challenge from enforcers.

  • July 17, 2025

    Ga. AG Asks 11th Circ. To Review Social Media Age Limit Case

    The state of Georgia has appealed a preliminary injunction that halted enforcement of Georgia's new restrictions on minors' use of social media on constitutionality grounds to the Eleventh Circuit.

  • July 17, 2025

    NJ Sewer Agency Sued Over $232M Skanska Gas Plant Project

    A community group and the city of Newark filed separate lawsuits in New Jersey state court to stop a regional sewerage authority from building a $232 million gas-fired backup power plant in the city, citing the state's Environmental Justice Law.

  • July 17, 2025

    Wisconsin Bar Settles Atty's Legal Challenge Over DEI Efforts

    The State Bar of Wisconsin has settled a lawsuit from a lawyer challenging its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, with the agency agreeing to apply a tweaked definition of diversity to two leadership programs.

  • July 17, 2025

    CFTC Restructures Enforcement Division Amid Layoffs

    The Commodity Futures Trading Commission plans to lay off around two dozen staff members and has restructured its enforcement division by eliminating some management positions, a person familiar with the matter told Law360 Thursday.

  • July 17, 2025

    Israel Criticism Isn't Antisemitism, Judge Tells DOJ Lawyers

    A Massachusetts federal judge overseeing a free speech trial over deportation actions targeting pro-Palestinian students and faculty said Thursday that "criticism of the state of Israel is not antisemitism," and that even the most "vile" statements, absent threats or violence, are protected by the First Amendment.

Expert Analysis

  • Plan For Increased HSR Info Sharing With Wash. Antitrust Law

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    Washington's merger notification requirements, effective later this month, combined with the Federal Trade Commission's new Hart-Scott-Rodino Act rules, will result in greater information sharing among state and federal agencies, making it important for merging parties to consider their transaction's potential state antitrust implications early on, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Federal Construction Considerations Amid Policy Overhaul

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    The rapid overhaul of federal procurement, heightened domestic sourcing rules and aggressive immigration enforcement are reshaping U.S. construction, but several pragmatic considerations can help federal contractors engaged in infrastructure and public construction avoid the legal, financial and operational fallout, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • FMLA Expansion Sees State Progress Despite Federal Barriers

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    Recent legislative efforts to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act reflect workers' growing demand for work-life balance, but as federal proposals continue to face significant hurdles, states have stepped in, creating a labyrinth of leave laws and compliance headaches for multistate employers, say attorneys at FordHarrison.

  • How Political Divisions Are Stalling Pa. Energy Development

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    Despite possessing the nation's second-largest natural gas reserves and a legacy of energy infrastructure, Pennsylvania faces a fragmented and politically charged path to developing the energy resources it will need in the future, thanks to legislative gridlock, divided public opinion and competing energy interests, says Andrew Levine at Stradley Ronon.

  • 3rd-Party Audit Tactics To Improve Export Control Compliance

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    Companies should take a strategic approach to third-party audits in response to the Trump administration's ramp-up of export control enforcement with steps that strengthen their ability to identify the control weaknesses of distributors, dealers and resellers, say Michael Huneke at Hughes Hubbard, and John Rademacher and Abby Williams at Secretariat Advisors.

  • A Look At Trump Admin's Shifting Strategies To Curtail ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ

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    The Trump administration has so far carried out its goal of minimizing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's authority and footprint via an individualized approach comprising rule rollbacks, litigation moves and administrative tools, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Evading DOJ Crosshairs As Data Security Open Season Starts

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    As the U.S. Department of Justice begins enforcing its new data security program — aimed at preventing foreign adversaries from accessing government-related and personal sensitive data — U.S. companies will need to understand the program’s contours and potential pitfalls to avoid potential civil liability or criminal scrutiny, say attorneys at Cohen & Gresser.

  • How Trump's Trade Policies Are Shaping Foreign Investment

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    Five months into the Trump administration, investors are beginning to see the concrete effects of the president’s America First Investment Policy as it presents new opportunities for clearing transactions more quickly, while sustaining risk aversion related to Chinese trade and potentially creating different political risks, say attorneys at Covington.

  • How Trump Admin Treasury Policies Are Reaching Banks

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    The Treasury Department has emerged as an important facilitator of the Trump administration's financial policies affecting banks, which are now facing deregulation domestically and the use of international economic authorities in cross-border trade and investment, say attorneys at Davis Polk.

  • Series

    My Opera And Baseball Careers Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Though participating in opera and the world of professional baseball often pulls me away from the office, my avocations improve my legal career by helping me perform under scrutiny, prioritize team success, and maintain joy and perspective at work, says Adam Unger at Herrick Feinstein.

  • FTC Focus: Enforcers Study AI Innovation And Entrenchment

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    The Federal Trade Commission and other regulators setting their sights on the burgeoning artificial intelligence ecosystem are considering how the government should approach innovation in tech markets that tend, almost inevitably, toward concentration, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • High Court ACA Ruling May Harm Preventative Care

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Kennedy v. Braidwood last week, ruling that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services secretary has authority over an Affordable Care Act preventive care task force, risks harming the credibility of the task force and could open the door to politicians dictating clinical recommendations, says Michael Kolber at Manatt.

  • Policy Shifts Bring New Anti-Money Laundering Challenges

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    In the second half of 2025, the U.S. anti-money laundering regulatory landscape is poised for decisive shifts in enforcement priorities, compliance expectations and legislative developments — so investment advisers and other financial institutions should take steps to prepare for potential new obligations and areas of risk, say attorneys at Linklaters.

  • 8 Ways Lawyers Can Protect The Rule Of Law In Their Work

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    Whether they are concerned with judicial independence, regulatory predictability or client confidence, lawyers can take specific meaningful actions on their own when traditional structures are too slow or too compromised to respond, says Angeli Patel at the Berkeley Center of Law and Business.

  • Kousisis Concurrence Maps FCA Defense To Anti-DEI Suits

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    Justice Clarence Thomas' recent concurrence in Kousisis v. U.S. lays out how federal funding recipients could use the high standard for materiality in government fraud cases to fight the U.S. Justice Department’s threatened False Claims Act suits against payees deviating from the administration’s anti-DEI policies, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.

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