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Public Policy

  • August 14, 2025

    9th Circ. OKs Returning Calif. Farm Wage Suit To State Court

    A California farmworker's wage and hour suit against Sunsweet Growers Inc. can proceed in state court, a Ninth Circuit panel ruled Thursday, rejecting the company's argument that the suit belongs in federal court and should be dismissed.

  • August 14, 2025

    Austin Asks Justices To Toss Abortion Travel Decision

    The city of Austin, Texas, threw its weight behind San Antonio in the latter's fight against a state appeals court finding that barred San Antonio from funding out-of-state abortion travel, telling the Texas Supreme Court the ruling allows the state to thwart Texas cities' legislative process.

  • August 14, 2025

    DC Judge Halts Some USDA Climate Grant Terminations

    A D.C. federal judge on Thursday halted the U.S. Department of Agriculture's termination of certain climate-focused grants awarded to five nonprofits, saying the terminations were likely arbitrary and capricious but stopping short of blocking the administration's broader grant termination policy.

  • August 14, 2025

    DOJ Says No Habeas Exception In Georgetown Scholar's Case

    The Trump administration has told the Fourth Circuit that district court orders barring the removal and ordering the release of Indian Georgetown academic Badar Khan Suri, who was detained on foreign policy grounds, flout longstanding limits on courts' authority over habeas petitions.

  • August 14, 2025

    Trump Picks Ex-Scalia, Kavanaugh Clerk For 7th Circ.

    President Donald Trump announced on Thursday evening he would be nominating Rebecca Taibleson, an assistant U.S. attorney in Wisconsin, to the Seventh Circuit.

  • August 14, 2025

    Trump's Brazil Tariffs Raise Questions About Legal Limits

    Higher tariffs imposed last week on Brazilian imports may prove especially vulnerable to legal challenges, but stakeholders expect the U.S.-Brazil trading relationship to nevertheless remain in limbo for the immediate future.

  • August 14, 2025

    Bid To Block Alabama's Anti-DEI Law Rejected

    An Alabama federal judge has rejected a bid to block a state law banning certain diversity, equity and inclusion-related activities at state schools and college campuses, finding the Alabama NAACP and the students and professors who filed suit didn't show that the law is unconstitutionally vague.

  • August 14, 2025

    Calif. Justices Say No Arb. For Nursing Home Death Claim

    The California Supreme Court on Thursday reversed a decision sending to arbitration a wrongful death claim by parents who allege their son was neglected at the 24-hour skilled nursing facility he was admitted to.

  • August 14, 2025

    SpaceX Calls Va. Broadband Funding Plan 'Wasteful'

    SpaceX criticized Virginia over its spending plan for the $1.48 billion in broadband funding it's set to receive from the BEAD program, saying the state "has put its heavy thumb on the scale in favor of expensive, slow-to-build fiber bias" over satellite.

  • August 14, 2025

    Red States Back Feds' Push To End Trump Energy Orders Suit

    Republican-led states on Thursday threw their support behind the federal government's bid to dismiss a lawsuit by youths alleging that President Donald Trump's energy policy directives harm their future by exacerbating climate change, saying there are no grounds to sustain the suit.

  • August 14, 2025

    AGs Urge Meta To 'Prioritize Safety' With Location Feature

    A bipartisan coalition of more than three dozen state attorneys general is calling on Meta Platforms Inc. to strengthen the privacy and security safeguards for a new location tracking feature that recently debuted on Instagram, arguing that the social media giant has a duty "to prioritize user safety over product novelty."

  • August 14, 2025

    Okla. City Fights Creek Nation Over Tribal Court Authority

    An Oklahoma city is looking to dismiss a challenge by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation that looks to block the municipality from prosecuting Native Americans for crimes committed on tribal lands, arguing that a 2022 Supreme Court ruling gives it concurrent jurisdiction with the federally recognized tribe.

  • August 14, 2025

    PTAB Petitions To Get More Scrutiny Under New Policy

    A new Patent Trial and Appeal Board policy limiting the ability of the challengers to argue that "general knowledge" indicates that a patent is invalid will heighten scrutiny of petitions and could lead to more of them being denied if they don't comply with the rule, attorneys say.

  • August 14, 2025

    Wyden, Warren Ask Lutnick's Son About Firm's Tariff Bets

    Senate Democratic ranking members sent a letter published Thursday to Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. CEO Brandon Lutnick raising concerns about potential insider trading and conflicts of interest associated with a financial product hedging the legality of tariffs that his father, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, has been involved in.

  • August 14, 2025

    11th Circ. Looks For Immunity Line In $40M Taser Case

    An Eleventh Circuit panel appeared conflicted Thursday over whether to toss a $40 million verdict against the city of Atlanta and a cop who left a man a quadriplegic after shocking him with a Taser over suspicions of panhandling, struggling with whether the officer should have foreseen the injuries he caused.

  • August 14, 2025

    Mich. Mayor Gets 2 Years For $100K Bribery Scheme

    A federal judge sentenced a Detroit suburb's former mayor to two years in prison Thursday after he admitted to accepting bribes in exchange for a promise to secure a land deal.

  • August 14, 2025

    20 States Win Injunction Against ICE's Use Of Medicaid Data

    A California federal judge has blocked the federal government from using Medicaid information from 20 states for immigration enforcement purposes, marking a partial victory for the coalition of states challenging a new data-sharing arrangement between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security.   

  • August 14, 2025

    FCC Member Sees Special Authority As Key To Defense Tech

    The Federal Communications Commission could increasingly use its legal authority to temporarily authorize radio licenses as a way to test new wireless networks that bolster national security, an agency member said.

  • August 14, 2025

    5th Circ. Tosses Challenge To Texas Gas Terminal Permit

    The Fifth Circuit has dismissed an environmental group's petition challenging a permit issued by Texas regulators for a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal, finding that a previous permit for another project, which stipulated a lower emissions rate, has no bearing on the permit at issue here.

  • August 14, 2025

    US Targets Russia-Linked Crypto Exchanges Over Illicit Flows

    The Trump administration on Thursday renewed sanctions on Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex and moved against its successor, Grinex, accusing the platforms of helping launder illicit transactions and shifting business to dodge earlier penalties.

  • August 14, 2025

    HHS Relaunches Childhood Vaccine Panel After Lawsuit

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said on Thursday it is restarting a 1980s-era childhood vaccine task force that aims to improve safety and oversight, months after an anti-vaccine group previously headed by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sued the agency to reinstate the panel. 

  • August 14, 2025

    Minn. Telecom Officials Decry Push For Fed Preemption

    Minnesota's telecommunications regulators have told the Federal Communications Commission that local officials are tired of being punching bags for industry groups looking to speed up broadband infrastructure deployment, saying the industry's push for federal rules overriding local authority have been based on "unsubstantiated or vague" attacks on local guidelines.

  • August 14, 2025

    Mich. Panel Greenlights 911 Dispatcher's Whistleblower Suit

    A Michigan appellate panel said Wednesday that a former 911 operator may be protected by a whistleblower law for criticizing a supervisor's handling of a 911 call, clearing the way for his lawsuit to move forward.

  • August 14, 2025

    FCC Urged To Tackle Health, Enviro Impacts From Cellphones

    An environmental group called on the Federal Communications Commission to address what it sees as the agency's failure to meet a D.C. Circuit order from four years ago to back up the reasoning for its radiofrequency exposure limits.

  • August 14, 2025

    Rutgers Escapes Suit Over Visitor's Halloween Night Assault

    A lawsuit against Rutgers University brought by a guest who was assaulted by an undergraduate on a night of Halloween partying in 2017 was dismissed by a New Jersey state judge who ruled that the institution had no obligation to protect the visitor.

Expert Analysis

  • Strategies For ICE Agent Misconduct Suits In The 11th Circ.

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    Attorneys have numerous pathways to pursue misconduct claims against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the Eleventh Circuit, and they need not wait for the court to correct its misinterpretation of a Federal Tort Claims Act exception, says Lauren Bonds at the National Police Accountability Project.

  • Opinion

    SEC Should Restore Its 2020 Proxy Adviser Rule

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    Due to concerns over proxy advisers' accuracy, reliability and transparency, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should reinstate its 2020 rule designed to suppress the influence that they wield in shareholder voting, says Kyle Isakower at the American Council for Capital Formation.

  • DOJ Consumer Branch's End Leaves FDA Litigation Questions

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    With the dissolution of the U.S. Department of Justice's Consumer Protection Branch set to occur by Sept. 30, companies must carefully monitor how responsibility is reallocated for civil and criminal enforcement cases related to products regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • Surveying The Changing Overdraft Fee Landscape

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    Despite recent federal moves that undermine consumer overdraft fee protections, last year’s increase in fee charges suggests banks will face continued scrutiny via litigation and state regulation, says Amanda Kurzendoerfer at Bates White.

  • Handling Sanctions Risk Cartel Control Brings To Mexico Port

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    Companies operating in or trading with Mexico should take steps to mitigate heightened exposure triggered by routine port transactions following the U.S. Treasury’s recent unequivocal statement that a foreign terrorist organization controls the port of Manzanillo, says Jeremy Paner at Hughes Hubbard.

  • The Road Ahead For Digital Assets Looks Promising

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    With new legislation expected to accelerate the adoption of blockchain technology, and with regulators taking a markedly more permissive approach to digital assets, the convergence of traditional finance and decentralized finance is closer than ever, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Asbestos Trusts And Tort Litigation Are Still Not Aligned

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    A recent ruling by a New York state court in James Petro v. Aerco International highlights the inefficiencies that still exist in asbestos litigation — especially regarding the continued lack of coordination between the asbestos tort system and the well-funded asbestos trust compensation system, says Peter Kelso at Roux.

  • Opinion

    Closing The Chemical Safety Board Is A Mistake

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    The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, which investigates the root causes of major chemical incidents, provides an essential component of worker and community safety and should not be defunded, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • The Evolving Legal Landscape For THC-Infused Beverages

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    A recent Eighth Circuit ruling, holding that states may restrict the sale of intoxicating hemp-derived products without violating federal law, combined with ongoing regulatory uncertainty at both the federal and state levels, could alter the trajectory of the THC-infused beverage market, say attorneys at Pashman Stein.

  • New NY Residential Real Estate Rules May Be Overbroad

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    New legislation imposing a 90-day-waiting period and tax deduction restrictions on certain New York real estate investors may have broad effects and unintended consequences, creating impediments for a wide range of corporate and other transactions, says Libin Zhang at Fried Frank.

  • Cos. Must Tailor Due Diligence As Trafficking Risks Increase

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    As legislators, prosecutors and plaintiffs attorneys increasingly focus on labor and sex trafficking throughout the U.S., companies must tailor their due diligence strategies to protect against forced labor trafficking risks in their supply chains, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • Series

    Creating Botanical Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Pressing and framing plants that I grow has shown me that pursuing an endeavor that brings you joy can lead to surprising benefits for a legal career, including mental clarity, perspective and even a bit of humility, says Douglas Selph at Morris Manning.

  • Opinion

    PFAS Reg Reversal Defies Water Statute, Increasing Risks

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent moves delaying the deadlines to comply with PFAS drinking water limits, and rolling back other chemical regulations, violate the Safe Drinking Water Act, and increase the likelihood that these toxins could become permanent fixtures of the water supply, says Vineet Dubey at Custodio & Dubey.

  • New Federal Worker Religious Protections Test All Employers

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    A recent Trump administration memorandum expanding federal employees' religious protections raises tough questions for all employers and signals a larger trend toward significantly expanding religious rights in the workplace, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • FTC Focus: Surprising Ways Meador And Khan Sound Alike

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    Since becoming a commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission, Mark Meador's public comments, speeches and writings reveal a surprising degree of continuity with former Chair Lina Khan's approach, in an indication that differing philosophies might have comparable practical effects, say attorneys at Proskauer.

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