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Public Policy

  • September 09, 2025

    Calif. Bar Seeks Justices' Clarity In Eastman Disbarment Case

    The State Bar of California asked the state's justices to affirm recommendations to disbar Donald Trump's onetime attorney John Eastman, who helped plan and promote the then-presidential candidate's strategy to overturn the 2020 election, but also review what it says are two legal errors that could "significantly impact future cases."

  • September 09, 2025

    Trump Admin Blocked From Boston Hospital Trans Care Docs

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration's bid to gain access to a wide array of documents related to gender-affirming care at Boston Children's Hospital, finding that the request is a veiled attempt to limit such care in the state.

  • September 09, 2025

    OCC Taps Cravath Atty As Principal Deputy Chief Counsel

    A former Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP corporate attorney has been tapped to serve as the principal deputy chief counsel of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, while a longtime agency official has been promoted to oversee its newly elevated chartering and licensing process, the regulator said Tuesday.

  • September 09, 2025

    Colo. Justices Rule Interest Not Covered By $1M Med Mal Cap

    The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that the state's $1 million cap on medical malpractice damages doesn't encompass certain interest awards when the so-called good cause exception applies, in a suit accusing a doctor of causing a baby's severe brain injury.

  • September 09, 2025

    5th Circ. Says Jarkesy Doesn't Doom OCC Enforcement Action

    A Fifth Circuit panel has upheld industry bans and $250,000 fines against two former top executives of a failed Texas bank, rejecting their bid to overturn an Office of the Comptroller of the Currency enforcement order, finding that the OCC's in-house proceedings and ordered sanctions did not violate the executives' constitutional right to a jury trial.

  • September 09, 2025

    Atty Flashes Weed In NC High Court To Challenge Odor Test

    A defense attorney on Tuesday pulled out a bag of weed in front of North Carolina's seven justices and a courtroom full of sheriffs to illustrate the outcome of letting officers conduct warrantless searches based on the smell of pot alone, saying such a test doesn't work in the age of legalized hemp.

  • September 09, 2025

    Mich. Appeals Court Unsure It Can Force Through Stalled Bills

    A Michigan state appeals court panel wrestled Tuesday with whether courts have the power to compel members of the state's House of Representatives to deliver to the governor legislation that was passed last year by their political opponents.

  • September 09, 2025

    7 Enviro Cases To Watch At The Supreme Court

    The U.S. Supreme Court is considering a slew of environmental cases for the coming term, including jurisdiction disputes in pipeline and pollution cases, a challenge to a Washington state climate change law and Monsanto's bid to undo a $1.2 million weed killer cancer award.

  • September 09, 2025

    PTAB Leader Urges Specificity In Discretionary Denial Briefs

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board's acting chief judge urged litigants Tuesday to support the arguments they make in the board's new discretionary denial process with specific details about their cases, during a panel where lawyers expressed both frustration about and praise for the system.

  • September 09, 2025

    Head Start Immigration Checks May Be Paused, Judge Hints

    A Washington federal judge seemed open to freezing a Trump administration policy requiring Head Start participants to prove citizenship, directing questions during a Tuesday hearing to how children will be affected after three decades of contrary practice.

  • September 09, 2025

    Ky. Judge Pauses Suit Over Ƶ's Small-Biz Loan Rule

    A Kentucky federal judge on Tuesday paused a banking industry lawsuit challenging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's small business lender data collection rule while the agency works to revamp the Biden-era measure.

  • September 09, 2025

    Trump's Latest Tariff EO Offers Some Relief, But No Certainty

    President Donald Trump's latest tariff executive order essentially creates an exclusion process for many goods not readily available in the U.S. if the exporter countries enter trade agreements with the U.S., a strategic shift cautiously welcomed by importers even as they still seek certainty for their supply chains.

  • September 09, 2025

    NY Climate Law Challenge Moved To Join Similar Case

    A federal judge has denied business groups' bid to keep a suit challenging New York's climate Superfund law in the Southern District of New York, saying they must pursue the case in the Northern District where Republican-led states brought similar litigation first.

  • September 09, 2025

    New York State And Mohawk Tribe Settle 43-Year Land Dispute

    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state has reached a settlement agreement with the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe ending a decadeslong land purchase dispute, noting that the deal includes restoring tribal members' access to islands on the St. Lawrence River, improved power usage and education benefits.

  • September 09, 2025

    States, Oil Groups Push For Wins In Drilling Ban Fight

    Republican-led states and oil and gas industry groups pushed for a victory in their lawsuits challenging now-rescinded Biden-era memos that closed off federal waters to offshore drilling, telling a Louisiana federal judge that the memos were clearly unconstitutional.

  • September 09, 2025

    Calif. Bashes EPA's Effort To Toss Truck Emissions Petitions

    California, along with a group of states and cities, urged the Ninth Circuit on Monday to reject the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's motion to dismiss petitions challenging Clean Air Act waivers allowing the Golden State to make its own truck emissions standards, saying separate litigation should first play out.

  • September 09, 2025

    IRS Ordered To Notify Court Of ICE Info-Sharing Requests

    A D.C. federal judge in a series of orders Friday and Tuesday said the IRS must notify the court within 24 hours of receiving a request from immigration authorities for taxpayer information and hand over administrative records while the court considers a request to stop the intergovernmental data sharing.

  • September 09, 2025

    DC Says Crypto ATM Operator Profits Off Senior Scams

    Athena Bitcoin, one of the country's largest operators of so-called bitcoin automated teller machines, has been sued by the D.C. attorney general for allegedly charging undisclosed fees on deposits it knew were often the result of scams, for failing to implement adequate anti-fraud measures, and for refusing to refund scam victims.

  • September 09, 2025

    MAHA Report Calls For Increased Scrutiny Of Drug Advertising

    The Trump administration on Tuesday pledged to ramp up federal oversight of drug advertising, update dietary guidelines and slash unnecessary regulations as part of its strategy to boost the health of America's children and curb the rise in childhood chronic disease.

  • September 09, 2025

    Wash. Justices Doubt Amazon's Stance On Chemical Suicides

    Washington Supreme Court justices hinted on Tuesday at reviving a series of lawsuits against Amazon for allowing online sales of a chemical used in suicides, suggesting the plaintiff families' cases are strengthened by the alleged promotion of a suicide manual on the product page for sodium nitrite.

  • September 09, 2025

    SEC Sued To Lift Private Market Investment Cap

    A U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regulation that prohibits individuals making less than $200,000 a year from investing in the private markets is unconstitutionally discriminatory, according to a lawsuit launched against the agency in Texas federal court.

  • September 09, 2025

    Google Says Ad Tech MDL Market Should Stay Within US

    Google has urged a New York federal judge not to expand the scope of its advertising placement technology business as targeted by publishers and advertisers in multidistrict litigation, arguing the plaintiffs had their chance and cannot now latch onto the worldwide scope found in the Justice Department's successful case.

  • September 09, 2025

    9th Circ. Declines To Block Most Of Social Media Addiction Law

    The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday largely rejected a tech trade group's effort to block California from enforcing a law barring online platforms from using algorithms to deliver addictive feeds to children, saying a requirement to hide "likes" and share counts must be enjoined but challenges to other provisions are either unripe or fact-intensive.

  • September 09, 2025

    Norfolk Southern Inks Deal With DOJ Over Amtrak Delays

    Norfolk Southern Corp. has agreed to give Amtrak passenger trains priority over freight trains under a deal with the federal government that would close out a case stemming from widespread delays on Amtrak's New York City to New Orleans route, the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday.

  • September 09, 2025

    FinCEN Chief Signals Slimmer Bank Reporting On The Way

    A top U.S. financial crime watchdog told lawmakers Tuesday that federal officials could soon move to narrow transaction reporting requirements for financial institutions as part of a broader effort to ease anti-money laundering compliance burdens for industry.

Expert Analysis

  • Potential Paths To Modernizing The Bank Secrecy Act

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    The Bank Secrecy Act's analog design has become increasingly incompatible with today's digital financial ecosystem, but legislative reforms, coupled with regulatory adjustments including updated thresholds, feedback mechanisms and innovation sandboxes, would help adjust the act to the unique challenges of modern technology, says Matthew Biben at King & Spalding.

  • Definitions Of 'Waters Of The United States' Ebb And Flow

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    The issue of defining whether "waters of the United States" include streams and channels that sometimes have water and sometimes do not has been fraught since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2006 Rapanos decision, but a possible new rule may help property owners stay out of court, says Neal McAliley at Carlton Fields.

  • Trump Tax Law's Most Impactful Energy Changes

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    The One Big Beautiful Bill Act's deferral of begin-construction deadlines and the phaseout of certain energy tax credits will provide emerging technologies with welcome breathing room, though other changes, like the increased credit rate for sustainable aviation fuel, create challenges for developers, say attorneys at Weil.

  • 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.

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