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Public Policy

  • July 23, 2025

    Creek High Court Grants Freedmen Descendants Citizenship

    The (Muscogee) Creek Nation Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a lower court's decision to give citizenship to two descendants of those once enslaved by the tribe, saying a 19th century treaty that required the Five Civilized Tribes to abolish slavery should have applied to their applications seven years ago.

  • July 23, 2025

    11th Circ. Throws Cold Water On Ga. County's Spaceport Suit

    An Eleventh Circuit panel signaled Wednesday that it was not buying a Georgia county's claims that it should be able to claw back $2.6 million it put down on a property where it intended to construct a commercial spaceport after the county's voters repealed authorization for the project in a referendum.

  • July 23, 2025

    SEC Asks 8th Circ. To Rule On Abandoned Climate Regs

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission asked the Eighth Circuit on Wednesday to decide the fate of Biden-era climate disclosure rules that the agency has said it will no longer defend against challenges brought by Republican-led states and business interests.

  • July 23, 2025

    Feds Seek 15 Months For Lobbyist Over Madigan Scheme

    Federal prosecutors have urged an Illinois federal judge to sentence ex-ComEd lobbyist Jay Doherty to one year and three months in prison for his "critical role" in a scheme to bribe former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, whose associates were paid as "subcontractors" under Doherty's lobbying contract with the utility even though they did little to no work.

  • July 23, 2025

    Senate Confirms Another Missouri Judge

    The Senate voted 49-47 on Wednesday evening to confirm assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Bluestone to serve on the Eastern District of Missouri.

  • July 23, 2025

    UK Eyes Google, Apple Mandates For App Ranking, Payments

    United Kingdom antitrust authorities on Wednesday formally proposed singling out Apple's and Google's mobile platforms for extra regulatory attention and specific mandates, proposing road maps for the Play Store and App Store that could try to stop the companies from boosting their own apps and commission-based payment systems.

  • July 23, 2025

    Wash. Counties Can Sue State Over Public Defense Funding

    A Washington state appeals court has ruled that a coalition of counties has standing to sue the state to force it to provide adequate funding for indigent defense services, saying the coalition had shown that it had been harmed by the current funding system.

  • July 23, 2025

    Ore. Tax Court Upholds Farm Value Over Owner's Claim

    An Oregon farm owner failed to show that his property was overvalued by a local assessor, the state tax court said, rejecting the owner's argument that the assessor misclassified the soil on the land.

  • July 23, 2025

    Judge Bars Man's Deportation Amid Claims ICE Flouted Deal

    The owner of a small Massachusetts construction business who is being held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody may not be moved out of the state while a federal judge considers if the government is violating a January settlement by trying to deport him, according to a Wednesday court order.

  • July 23, 2025

    Split Conn. High Court OKs Eyewitness ID In Armed Robbery

    Connecticut's Supreme Court has narrowly ruled that in the case of a masked armed robbery at a Smashburger, though a victim may have been scared, high, not wearing glasses and directed toward a suspect, her identification of the perpetrator was reliable.

  • July 23, 2025

    PTAB Ends Remote Hearings Beginning Sept. 1

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is mandating that all Patent Trial and Appeal Board proceedings take place in person, starting Sept. 1.

  • July 23, 2025

    NLRB Precedent Shifts Still Far Away Despite Nominees

    The freeze that has gripped the National Labor Relations Board during the first six months of the year showed signs of thawing last week as nominees took key steps forward, but experts said there are still major hurdles they must clear before the board can return to normal function.

  • July 23, 2025

    Democratic Lawmaker Reintroduces Cannabis Shipping Bill

    A Democratic member of Congress has reintroduced a federal bill that would allow small cannabis farms to mail their products directly to customers in other states with legalized cannabis if and when federal marijuana prohibition ends.

  • July 23, 2025

    Sen. Collins Opposes Bove For 3rd Circ. Over Bias Concerns

    Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, will oppose the confirmation of Emil Bove to the Third Circuit, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has also indicated her likely opposition.

  • July 23, 2025

    Ex-Real Estate Finance Pro Tapped For OCC Chief Of Staff

    President Donald Trump's top national bank regulator has hired a new chief of staff, bringing on a former federal housing finance official from the private sector to help steer policy coordination and internal operations at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the agency said Wednesday.

  • July 23, 2025

    NJ Comptroller Flags $34M Hole, Targets Lifeguard Pensions

    The New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller recommended Wednesday that the state legislature scrap a law mandating a handful of shore towns provide pensions to lifeguards after it found some municipalities underfunded the plans and face deficits of more than $34 million.

  • July 23, 2025

    High Court Lets Trump Fire CPSC Members, For Now

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that President Donald Trump could fire three members of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, even though a Maryland federal judge found that the president lacked authority to remove them without cause.

  • July 23, 2025

    Takeaways From The US Attorney Role Tumult In New Jersey

    The U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey was thrown into turmoil Tuesday with a leadership dispute that remained open Wednesday, teeing up a battle between the White House and the Garden State's senators on Capitol Hill.

  • July 23, 2025

    2nd Circ. Orders Review Of Sealed Epstein Case Docs

    The Second Circuit on Wednesday vacated rulings denying requests to unseal materials in a defamation case tied to deceased financier and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, ordering a New York district court to review certain filings after determining they're considered judicial documents and presumed to be public.

  • July 23, 2025

    AGs Ask NCAA To Revoke Transgender Athletes' Awards

    Attorneys general from 27 states and Guam sent a letter to the NCAA urging it to rescind recent records and titles that were "wrongly" awarded to transgender female college athletes and instead give them to their cisgender competitors.

  • July 23, 2025

    Apple Tells 9th Circ. Birthright Ruling Scraps Epic's Injunction

    Apple Inc. told the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday that the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in litigation challenging President Donald Trump's birthright citizenship executive order means that a nationwide injunction and civil contempt order in Epic Games Inc.'s antitrust case over Apple's App Store policies cannot stand.

  • July 23, 2025

    Feds Fight Bid To Block Domestic Violence Grant Restrictions

    The U.S. Department of Justice is fighting a bid by a group of domestic violence coalitions to block restrictions imposed on grants from its Office on Violence Against Women, arguing that a Rhode Island federal court lacks jurisdiction over the group's claims and that the Tucker Act instead gives jurisdiction to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

  • July 23, 2025

    NJ Justices Back AG Takeover Of Paterson Police Dept.

    New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin acted within his authority when he took control of the troubled police department of the state's third-largest city in 2023, the state Supreme Court unanimously ruled Wednesday.

  • July 23, 2025

    Trump Publishes AI 'Action Plan' With 90 Policy Proposals

    In an effort to secure America's leadership in artificial intelligence, the Trump administration released a blueprint Wednesday outlining ideas to accelerate innovation, modernize infrastructure and foster international collaboration while safeguarding national security.

  • July 23, 2025

    Paramount, Skydance Defend Merger Plan At FCC

    Paramount Global and Skydance Media continued to lobby the Federal Communications Commission for approval of their proposed $8 billion merger last week, telling the agency not to side with commenters calling for additional regulation as a condition.

Expert Analysis

  • State, Fed Junk Fee Enforcement Shows No Signs Of Slowing

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    The Federal Trade Commission’s potent new rule targeting drip pricing, in addition to the growing patchwork of state consumer protection laws, suggest that enforcement and litigation targeting junk fees will likely continue to expand, says Etia Rottman Frand at Darrow AI.

  • Federal Regs Order May Spell Harsher FDCA Enforcement

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    A recent executive order aimed at reducing criminal prosecutions of those who unknowingly violate complex federal regulations may actually lead to more aggressive felony indictments under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, but companies and executives can mitigate risks by following several key principals, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

  • DOJ's 1st M&A Declination Shows Value Of Self-Disclosures

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recent decision not to charge private equity firm White Deer Management — the first such declination under an M&A safe harbor policy announced last year — signals that even in high-priority national security matters, the DOJ looks highly upon voluntary self-disclosures, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practicing Self-Care

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    Law schools don’t teach the mental, physical and emotional health maintenance tools necessary to deal with the profession's many demands, but practicing self-care is an important key to success that can help to improve focus, manage stress and reduce burnout, says Rachel Leonard​​​​​​​ at MG+M.

  • New Laws Show How States Are Checking AI Developers

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    Recent state consumer protection legislation shows Utah, Colorado and Texas are primed to impose controls on artificial intelligence, and exemplifies the states' unwillingness to accord strong deference to developers and deployers of AI tools, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

  • Nev. Steps Up Efforts To Attract Incorporations With New Law

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    Recent amendments to Nevada corporate law, which will narrow controlling stockholders’ liability, streamline mergers and allow companies to opt out of jury trials, show the interstate competition to attract new and reincorporating companies is still heating up, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Birthright Opinions Reveal Views On Rule 23(b)(2) Relief

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    The justices' multiple opinions in the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 27 decision in the birthright citizenship case, Trump v. CASA, shed light on whether Rule 23(b)(2) could fill the void created by the court's decision to restrict nationwide injunctions, says Benjamin Johns at Shub Johns.

  • ABA Opinion Makes It A Bit Easier To Drop A 'Hot Potato'

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    The American Bar Association's recent ethics opinion clarifies when attorneys may terminate clients without good cause, though courts may still disqualify a lawyer who drops a client like a hot potato, so sending a closeout letter is always a best practice, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • 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.

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