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Public Policy
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May 21, 2025
Wyden Urges Sens. To Switch Carriers Over Privacy Risks
AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile failed to put in place systems notifying senators about government surveillance requests, despite being contractually required to, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., told his colleagues Wednesday, urging them in a letter to "seriously consider" switching mobile carriers for personal and campaign phones.
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May 21, 2025
House Panel Advances Bills Easing Securities, Banking Regs
The U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee this week approved 25 bills largely aimed at reducing capital markets and banking regulations, moving the deregulatory proposals forward for consideration by the full House.
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May 21, 2025
Squires Talks Fortress, PTAB Invalidations In Senate Hearing
The Trump administration's nominee for U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director had his moment before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, where he downplayed his controversial connections to litigation finance giant Fortress Investment Group and raised concerns that too many bad patents were being issued.
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May 21, 2025
Verizon Looks To Break Free Of TracFone Unlocking Condition
Verizon is once again asking the Federal Communications Commission to let it out of a condition from its takeover of TracFone requiring the carrier to unlock its mobile phones after 60 days.
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May 21, 2025
SC Judge Restores Frozen Federal Grant Funding
A South Carolina federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore 32 grants funded by the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act after the government said it wasn't contesting the merits of the grant recipients' claims.
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May 21, 2025
Judge Mulls National Scope Of Bid To Restore COVID Grants
A Washington, D.C., federal judge Wednesday mulled whether it would be appropriate to issue a nationwide injunction blocking the termination of $11 billion public health grants set aside under COVID-era laws in a lawsuit brought by four local governments and a public sector union.
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May 21, 2025
News Orgs Not Entitled To Abrego Garcia Files, Feds Say
The U.S. Department of Justice told a Maryland federal judge that more than a dozen news organizations looking to unseal records in litigation challenging the removal of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador have no right to access sensitive discovery materials.
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May 21, 2025
Ex-Con's Gun Case Can't Overcome Immunity, Feds Say
The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives cannot be the targets of a lawsuit filed by a man who claims he was wrongly denied a firearm purchase despite his four-decades-old marijuana felony being expunged, the government argued, telling a Kansas federal court that both agencies have sovereign immunity on the matter.
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May 21, 2025
Gold Mine Risks Alaska Preserve And Whales, Tribe Claims
An Alaskan tribe and environmental groups have filed suit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers seeking to stop a mining company from expanding gold operations, activity that would contaminate the waterways near a national park and harm the endangered beluga whale population.
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May 21, 2025
Title Insurance Co. Fights Treasury All-Cash Resi Deals Rule
A title insurance company and a subsidiary have filed suit in Florida federal court challenging new reporting requirements for all-cash real estate closings, saying the rule exceeds the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's authority.
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May 21, 2025
Okla. Judge Reaffirms Block Of State Immigration Law
An Oklahoma federal judge entered a two-week block on an Oklahoma law that makes it a crime for unauthorized immigrants to live in the state, reaffirming a prior ruling that the state law was likely unconstitutional.
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May 21, 2025
GOP FTC Renews Calls For Orange Book Patent Delistings
The now-Republican controlled Federal Trade Commission again called on Teva, Novartis, Mylan and other drugmakers to remove patents from a key federal database that partially insulates their drugs from generic competition, arguing Wednesday the patents cover "devices," not drugs, and thus don't warrant such protection.
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May 21, 2025
Wash. Gov. Signs Budget With New And Higher Taxes
Washington's governor signed a two-year $78 billion state budget that closed a $16 billion shortfall in part by raising and increasing taxes, ending weeks of speculation over whether he'd agree with his fellow Democrats in the state Legislature that a tax package was needed.
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May 21, 2025
Texas Bills To Watch Before The End Of The 2025 Session
With less than two weeks remaining in the Texas legislative session, lawmakers will hit several deadlines in the coming days that will seal the fate of bills surrounding legal procedure, abortion, artificial intelligence and other topics.
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May 21, 2025
Courts Can't Review Trump's Tariff Emergencies, Gov't Says
Courts can't review President Donald Trump's decision that unusual or extraordinary threats exist under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a government attorney told the U.S. Court of International Trade on Wednesday as 12 states seek to block Trump's tariffs under the law.
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May 21, 2025
Offshore Wind Farm Foes Back Trump Permitting Pause
Opponents of a New Jersey offshore wind farm on Wednesday backed the Trump administration's freeze on wind project permitting, telling a Massachusetts federal judge the moratorium is both legal and constitutional.
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May 21, 2025
Country Music Singer Urges Sens. To Pass AI Deepfakes Bill
Country music star Martina McBride urged U.S. senators Wednesday to pass legislation aimed at protecting individuals from having their voice and likeness replicated with artificial intelligence without their permission, saying "it's frightening, and it's wrong."
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May 21, 2025
American Tells United To Butt Out Of O'Hare Gate Dispute
American Airlines has urged an Illinois federal court to not allow rival carrier United to intervene in its lawsuit alleging the city of Chicago breached its contract with the airline by reassigning gate space at O'Hare International Airport, arguing its competitor has no right to wade into a case concerning "a lease to which it is not a party and which grants it no rights or benefits."
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May 21, 2025
UC Says It's Unclear Students In Bias Suit Even Plan To Apply
The University of California told a federal judge Tuesday that an organization representing a group of Asian American and white students hasn't shown they are actually "able and ready" to seek admission, arguing the court should toss a suit claiming the school racially discriminated against them.
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May 21, 2025
'Only God Knows My Name': 11th Circ. OKs Doe's Conviction
The 11th Circuit on Wednesday affirmed the conviction of a man who refused to be identified by immigration officials, saying, "Only God knows my name," ruling the lower court correctly held the criminal statute he was charged under applied to him although it couldn't prove he lawfully entered the country.Â
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May 21, 2025
USPTO Tackling Backlog Despite Hiring Freeze, Official Says
While the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office waits out a federal hiring freeze preventing it from bringing in more patent examiners, it's using initiatives like reassignments and rewards to "do more with less" and cut down on patent pendency, the agency's deputy commissioner for patents said Wednesday.
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May 21, 2025
EPA Chief Defends Trump Plan To Halve Agency Budget
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin on Wednesday told senators that despite President Donald Trump's proposal to cut the EPA's budget by 55% and an internal reorganization, agency scientists can handle the current workload.
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May 21, 2025
Immigrant Groups Appeal Denied Bid To Halt IRS-ICE Deal
Immigrant advocacy groups on Wednesday appealed a D.C. federal judge's order denying their bid to block the IRS from sharing taxpayer data with immigration enforcement agencies, with their counsel warning "it will be too late" once the information is shared.
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May 21, 2025
Small Texas Communities Trying To Siphon Taxes, City Says
Two Texas state court judges issued court orders Wednesday barring two small municipalities from buying up apartment buildings in the city of Rowlett, Texas, thwarting what Rowlett described as an underhanded attempt to rob the city of property tax revenue.
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May 21, 2025
Think Tank Challenges Taxpayer Grants To Michigan Ballparks
A free-market think tank is challenging earmarks for local projects incorporated in Michigan's state budget in a new lawsuit that claims the funding was never properly authorized.
Expert Analysis
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What To Expect For Stem Cell Regulation Under Trump Admin
The new administration's push for deregulation, plus the post-Chevron legal landscape, and momentum from key political and industry players to facilitate stem cell innovation may create an opportune backdrop for a significant reduction in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's regulatory framework for stem cells, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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Rebuttal
6 Reasons Why Arbitration Offers Equitable Resolutions
Contrary to a recent Law360 guest article, arbitration provides numerous benefits to employees, consumers and businesses alike, ensuring fair and efficient dispute resolution without the excessive fees, costs and delays associated with traditional litigation, say attorneys at Proskauer.
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Executive Orders Paving Way For New Era Of Crypto Banking
Recent executive orders have already significantly affected the day-to-day operations of financial institutions that have an interest in engaging with digital assets, and creating informed strategies now can support institutions as the crypto gates continue to open to the banking industry, say attorneys at Spencer Fane.
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Opinion
After Fires, Calif. Must Streamline Enviro Reviews For Housing
Recent waivers to the California Environmental Quality Act and other laws granted by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to expedite reconstruction of residential property damaged in the Los Angeles wildfires are laudable — but given the state's widespread housing shortage, policymakers should extend the same benefits to other communities, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
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How Calif. Algorithmic Pricing Bills Could Affect Consumers
California's legislative efforts to regulate algorithmic pricing may address antitrust and fairness concerns, but could stop retailers from providing consumer discounts, says Alyssa Sones at Sheppard Mullin.
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Jurisdiction Argument In USAID Dissent Is Up For Debate
A dissent refuting the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent order directing the U.S. Agency for International Development to pay $2 billion in frozen foreign aid argued that claims relating to already-completed government contract work belong in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims – answering an important question, but with a debatable conclusion, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.
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How Importers Can Minimize FCA Risks Of Tariff Mitigation
False Claims Act risks are inherent in many tariff mitigation strategies, making it important for importers to implement best practices to identify and report potential violations of import regulations before they escalate, says Samuel Finkelstein at LMD Trade Law.
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Explaining ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ's Legal Duties Under The Dodd-Frank Act
While only Congress can actually eradicate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Trump administration has sought to significantly alter the agency's operations, so it's an apt time to review the minimum baseline of activities that Congress requires of the ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ in Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.
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State Securities Enforcers May Fill A Federal Enforcement Gap
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission appears poised to take a lighter touch under the new administration, but state enforcement efforts are likely to continue unabated, and potentially even increase, particularly with regard to digital assets and ESG disclosures, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Firms Still Have Lateral Market Advantage, But Risks Persist
Partner and associate mobility data from the fourth quarter of 2024 shows that we’re in a new, stable era of lateral hiring where firms have the edge, but leaders should proceed cautiously, looking beyond expected revenue and compensation analyses for potential risks, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.
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10 Practical Takeaways From FDA's Biopharma AI Guidance
Recent guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration provides much-needed insight on the usage of artificial intelligence in producing information to support regulatory decision-making regarding drug safety, with implications ranging from life cycle maintenance to AI tool acquisition, say attorneys at Covington.
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Making The Opportunity Zones Program Great At Last
As the opportunity zone program approaches its expiration, the Republican-led government could take specific steps to extend and improve the program, address its structural flaws, encourage broader participation and enable it to live up to its promised outcomes, say attorneys at Pillsbury.
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What Rodney Hood's OCC Stint Could Mean For Banking
Acting Comptroller of the Currency Rodney Hood's time at the helm of the OCC, while temporary, is likely to feature clarity for financial institutions navigating regulations, the development of fintech innovation, and clearer expectations for counsel advising on related matters, say attorneys at Vedder Price.
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Opinion
We Must Allow Judges To Use Their Independent Judgment
As two recent cases show, the ability of judges to access their independent judgment crucially enables courts to exercise the discretion needed to reach the right outcome based on the unique facts within the law, says John Siffert at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.
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4 Actions For Cos. As SEC Rebrands Cyber Enforcement Units
As the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission signals its changing enforcement priorities by retooling a Biden-era crypto-asset and cybersecurity enforcement unit into a task force against artificial-intelligence-powered hacks and online investing fraud, financial institutions and technology companies should adapt by considering four key points, say attorneys at Troutman.