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Public Policy

  • September 03, 2025

    4th Circ. Says Md. Immunity Doesn't Apply In Tugboat Case

    The Fourth Circuit said Wednesday that a tugboat owner's petition seeking to limit its liability over a 2015 accident involving Maryland's Nanticoke River Memorial Bridge does not infringe on the state's sovereign immunity, so it can proceed in the district court.

  • September 03, 2025

    Mich. Atty Tells Appeals Court He's Worth $1,500 Per Hour

    A Michigan attorney told an appellate panel Wednesday that his track record and experience warrant the $1,500 hourly rate awarded by a trial court which found a city's breach-of-contract suit against his client, a former councilor, was frivolous.

  • September 03, 2025

    Lumen's Bid To Move $1.4B Pension Suit Out Of Colo. Blocked

    A Colorado federal judge on Wednesday rejected Lumen Technologies' request to move to Louisiana a proposed class action alleging it wrongly transferred obligations for a $1.4 billion pension fund to a private equity-controlled insurance company, with the judge finding the venue provision in the pension plan does not apply.

  • September 03, 2025

    Texas Judge Asks Feds How Boeing Deal Serves Public

    A Texas federal judge pressed the U.S. government to explain why he should accept a nonprosecution agreement with Boeing that would let the company escape a criminal case for its role in deadly 737 Max 8 crashes, asking Wednesday how the deal serves the public.

  • September 03, 2025

    Military To Blame For Maine Mass Shooting, Victims Allege

    Victims and relatives of those who died in a 2023 mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday accused the U.S. government of failing to stop the Army reservist who opened fire, alleging the military was aware the gunman posed a threat but misled others about his danger.

  • September 03, 2025

    1st Circ. Doubts Eateries' Suit Over Outdoor Dining Limits

    The First Circuit appeared unlikely on Wednesday to revive a suit on behalf of restaurant owners in Boston's North End over the city's restrictions on outdoor dining, repeatedly questioning the basis for the plaintiffs' retaliation claims.

  • September 03, 2025

    Ga. County Board Will Face Black Voter Disenfranchisement Suit

    A Georgia federal judge has refused to dismiss a suit alleging Houston County's at-large method of electing its board of commissioners dilutes Black voting strength in violation of the Voting Rights Act, disagreeing with the board's interpretation of the VRA's rules allowing such suits, among other issues.

  • September 03, 2025

    7th Circ. Judge Probes FDIC's In-House Enforcement Powers

    A Seventh Circuit judge on Wednesday pushed counsel for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to address whether an Illinois community bank's ex-chairman alleging the agency's in-house proceedings are unconstitutional waived his Seventh Amendment right to trial by jury by virtue of working at an institution that participates in the FDIC's insurance program.

  • September 03, 2025

    Fla. Surgeon General Pushes To End State's Vaccine Mandates

    Florida's surgeon general on Wednesday said he intends to work toward undoing all of the state's vaccine mandates, including for schoolchildren.

  • September 03, 2025

    Judge Backs Harvard In Suit Over Trump's $2B Fund Freeze

    The Trump administration illegally froze more than $2 billion in grants earmarked for Harvard University when it failed to offer an explanation as to how cutting the funds addressed the government's stated goal of ending antisemitism on campus, a Massachusetts federal judge ruled Wednesday.

  • September 03, 2025

    Honda Fights FCC Adding Car Technologies To Security List

    Honda has told the Federal Communications Commission that adding certain vehicle technologies to the government's "covered list" of banned devices made in foreign adversary countries would duplicate efforts already being carried out by the U.S. Commerce Department.

  • September 03, 2025

    Hartford Beats State Rep.'s Police Bias Suit, For Now

    The city of Hartford will not have to face a lawsuit alleging the police mishandled a state representative's sexual assault report, for the time being, with a Connecticut federal judge saying the claims are "conclusory and simply state a legal conclusion" that the department customarily mistreats women and Muslims.

  • September 03, 2025

    FCC Chief Aims To End Disputed School Wi-Fi Programs

    The head of the Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday he's looking to overturn two controversial Biden-era FCC programs to fund providing Wi-Fi on school buses and hot spots for students' and library patrons' off-campus use.

  • September 03, 2025

    Wash. Court Pressed To Immediately End EV Funding Freeze

    Clean energy advocates have urged a Washington federal judge to wipe out the Trump administration's decision to freeze funding for new electric-vehicle charging infrastructure, saying the government can't be allowed to drag its feet on a pledge to restore funding.

  • September 03, 2025

    Northwestern Mutual Seeks $23M Tax Refund For Free Meals

    Northwestern Mutual is seeking a refund of $23 million in taxes for on-campus lunches it provided to employees, telling a Wisconsin federal court that the IRS improperly denied the company an exclusion on taxable income for the meals.

  • September 03, 2025

    US Steel Wants Federal Court To Take Clairton Blast Suits

    U.S. Steel claims that litigation by workers injured in an explosion at its Clairton Coke Works facility last month should be handled by a federal court, because federal investigators are overseeing the evidence being demanded by the plaintiffs.

  • September 03, 2025

    Referee Blows Whistle On NBA's Partial Win In Vaccine Fight

    A fired referee suing the NBA for religious discrimination asked a New York federal court to reconsider its ruling that denied him front and back pay, arguing the judge overlooked controlling case law that makes the decision "inappropriate."

  • September 03, 2025

    ND Tribes Ask Supreme Court To Protect Voting Rights Act

    Two North Dakota tribes are asking the Supreme Court to undo an Eighth Circuit decision that prohibits lawsuits against states for violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, arguing that if not overturned, the ruling would kneecap the main federal protection against racial discrimination in voting.

  • September 03, 2025

    Tech, Small Biz Groups Push Against Value-Based Patent Fees

    An array of groups representing tech companies, small businesses and more wrote a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, urging them to oppose the Trump administration's reported plan to charge patent owners a new fee based on the value of their patents.

  • September 03, 2025

    Pick For Del.'s 3rd Circ. Seat Questioned On Ties To The State

    Jennifer L. Mascott, nominee for a Delaware seat on the Third Circuit who is currently serving in the White House Counsel's Office, came under questioning from Democrats on Wednesday regarding her lack of connections to the state and her qualifications for the judgeship.

  • September 03, 2025

    Arkansas Insurance Rule Beats Union Plan's ERISA Challenge

    An Illinois federal judge has tossed a Teamsters healthcare plan's challenge to an Arkansas insurance regulation that aims to protect local pharmacies from under-reimbursement for prescription drugs, saying the regulation doesn't tread on the Employee Retirement Income Security Act's territory.

  • September 03, 2025

    EPA Withdraws Slaughterhouse Water Pollution Rule

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday withdrew a Biden-era proposal that would have imposed stricter water discharge regulations on meat and poultry slaughtering, processing and rendering facilities across the country.

  • September 03, 2025

    Manhattan DA To Target Wage-Fixing With Antitrust Laws

    Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Wednesday that his office plans to be the first to use New York's criminal antitrust laws against companies that collude to keep workers' wages low.

  • September 03, 2025

    France To Tackle Tax Avoidance By Wealthy, Minister Says

    France is planning to tackle tax avoidance by wealthy individuals, an endeavor aimed at raising €2 billion ($2.3 billion), the country's budget minister said Wednesday.

  • September 03, 2025

    Calif. Senate Panel OKs Property Tax Break For Tribes

    Native American tribes in California would be eligible for open space exemptions to property taxes under legislation approved by a state Senate panel that's heading for a final vote.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    The SEC Should Embrace Tokenized Equity, Not Strangle It

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should grant no-action relief to firms ready to pilot tokenized equity trading, not delay innovation by heeding protectionist industry arguments, says J.W. Verret at George Mason University.

  • Compliance Changes On Deck For Banks Under Texas AI Law

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    Financial services companies, including banks and fintechs, should evaluate their artificial intelligence usage to prepare for Texas' newly passed law regulating AI governance, noting that the enforcement provisions provide for an affirmative defense to liability, say attorneys at Mitchell Sandler.

  • What To Do When Congress And DOJ Both Come Knocking

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    As recently seen in the news, clients may find themselves facing parallel U.S. Department of Justice and congressional investigations, requiring a comprehensive response that considers the different challenges posed by each, say attorneys at Friedman Kaplan.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Learning From Failure

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    While law school often focuses on the importance of precision, correctness and perfection, mistakes are inevitable in real-world practice — but failure is not the opposite of progress, and real talent comes from the ability to recover, rethink and reshape, says Brooke Pauley at Tucker Ellis.

  • How Justices' Ruling On NEPA Reviews Is Playing Out

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    Since the U.S. Supreme Court's May decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, narrowing the scope of agencies' required reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, the effects of the ruling are starting to become visible in the actions of lower courts and the agencies themselves, say attorneys at Saul Ewing.

  • How Sweeping Budget Bill Shakes Up Health Industry

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    With the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act marking one of the most significant overhauls of federal health policy since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, providers, managed care organizations and life sciences companies must now shift focus from policy review to implementation planning, say advisers at Holland & Knight.

  • Deep-Sea Mining Outlook Murky, But May Be Getting Clearer

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    U.S. companies interested in accessing deep-sea mineral resources face uncertainty over new federal regulations and how U.S. policy may interact with pending international agreements — but a Trump administration executive order and provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act should help bring clarity, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Legal Ops, Compliance Increasingly Vital To Antitrust Strategy

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    With deal timelines tightening and disclosure requirements intensifying, legal operations and compliance teams are becoming critical drivers of premerger strategy, cross-functional alignment and regulatory credibility, says Alexander Lima at Wesco International.

  • What's Next For ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ After 'Big Beautiful' Funding Cuts

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    While the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's funding cuts to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are unlikely to have an independent effect in the short run, they could exacerbate the existing issue of wide regulatory fluctuations in successive administrations in the longer run, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From ATF Director To BigLaw

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    As a two-time boomerang partner, returning to BigLaw after stints as a U.S. attorney and the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, people ask me how I know when to move on, but there’s no single answer — just clearly set your priorities, says Steven Dettelbach at BakerHostetler.

  • What To Know As SEC Looks To Expand Private Fund Access

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    As the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission considers expanding retail access to private markets, understanding how these funds operate — and the role of financial intermediaries in guiding investors — is increasingly important, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Fla. Law Is Part Of State Trend On Curbing Foreign Influence

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    A recently effective Florida law that broadly prohibits charities from receiving or soliciting funds from individuals and entities associated with certain foreign countries, the first of its kind in the nation, follows a growing state-level focus on foreign influence regulation, say attorneys at Venable.

  • 4 In-Flux Employment Law Issues Banks Should Note

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    Attorneys at Ogletree provide a midyear update on employment law changes that could significantly affect banks and other financial service institutions — including federal diversity equity and inclusion updates, and new and developing state and local artificial intelligence laws.

  • New DOJ Penalty Policy Could Spell Trouble For Cos.

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    In light of the U.S. Department of Justice’s recently published guidance making victim relief a core condition of coordinated resolution crediting, companies facing parallel investigations must carefully calibrate their negotiation strategies to minimize the risk of duplicative penalties, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • IPR Decisions Clarify Stewart's 'Settled Expectations' Factor

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    Recent discretionary denial decisions from U.S. Patent and Trademark Office acting Director Coke Morgan Stewart have begun to illuminate the contours of her "settled expectations" doctrine, informing when it might be worth petitioning for inter partes review if the patent at issue has been in force for a few years, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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