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Public Policy

  • July 29, 2025

    SEC Tosses Broker's NSCC Margin Rule Challenge

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has dismissed a bid by Alpine Securities Corp. to challenge heightened margin requirements from the National Securities Clearing Corp., with the commission finding the rules are too broadly applicable to warrant review as a denial of access.

  • July 29, 2025

    FCC Nixes Objection To Nonprofit's New Miami FM Station

    Three petitioners have been scrabbling before the Federal Communications Commission for the right to operate a new low-power station in a part of Miami that can only tolerate one station, and the agency has finally decided who gets it.

  • July 29, 2025

    SEC Greenlights 'In-Kind' Redemptions For Crypto ETPs

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission voted Tuesday to approve orders to allow cryptocurrency-based exchange-traded products to use in-kind creations and redemptions, aligning with more traditional ETPs.

  • July 29, 2025

    Trump Says High Court Rulings Undermine Wash. Halt On EOs

    Recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court undermine a Washington federal judge's finding that portions of two executive orders concerning gender-affirming care and transgender identity likely violate the Constitution, the Trump administration argued in recent filings.

  • July 29, 2025

    Judiciary Advises Not Filling Next 10th Circ. Vacancy, For Now

    The Judicial Conference of the United States is recommending not filling the next vacancies on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and a handful of district courts, for now, citing a "consistently low per-judgeship caseload" in those jurisdictions.

  • July 29, 2025

    Reported Plan For Value-Based Patent Fees Unnerves Experts

    A proposal reportedly under consideration by the Trump administration to charge patent owners a new fee based on the value of their patents has spurred numerous questions and concerns among experts, who say the idea appears nearly unworkable and could hinder innovation.

  • July 29, 2025

    9th Circ. Won't Renew Suit Over Wash. Ban On 'DIY' Rape Kits

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Tuesday refused to revive a constitutional challenge to Washington state's ban on self-administered DNA evidence collection kits for sexual assault survivors, concluding that the plaintiff company failed to show the law illegally restricts commercial speech.

  • July 29, 2025

    Ill. Speaker Should Serve Prison Time As Ordered, Feds Urge

    Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan should serve his seven-and-a-half-year corruption sentence as scheduled because he can't cite any particularly substantial appellate issues that would call for such relief, let alone convince the Seventh Circuit to reverse his entire corruption conviction, federal prosecutors argued Monday.

  • July 29, 2025

    DOD Expands Tricare's Clinical Trial Benefit

    The U.S. Department of Defense has issued a final rule that makes health insurance coverage for clinical trials aimed at treating and preventing COVID-19 and other infectious diseases permanent for military personnel, retirees and their families.

  • July 29, 2025

    Trump Calls 'Blue Slip' Process 'Probably Unconstitutional'

    President Donald Trump on Tuesday railed against the long-standing tradition for home state senators to have essentially veto power over U.S. attorney and district court nominee picks and called on U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to abandon the process.

  • July 29, 2025

    Senate Confirms DOJ Official Emil Bove To 3rd Circ.

    The Senate voted 50-49 on Tuesday night to confirm Emil Bove, one of President Donald Trump's former attorneys and a top official at the U.S. Department of Justice, as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

  • July 29, 2025

    OxyChem, Nokia Tell 3rd Circ. Passaic Cleanup Deal Is Unfair

    Occidental Chemical Corp. and Nokia of America Corp. on Monday asked the Third Circuit to reverse a New Jersey federal district court's approval of a $150 million settlement to clean up the Lower Passaic River.

  • July 29, 2025

    SpaceX Backs 'Light Licensing Framework' In 37 GHz

    As the Federal Communications Commission looks into revamping the lower 37 gigahertz band, SpaceX is pushing the agency to consider a "light licensing framework" like the one it has deployed in several other satellite bands.

  • July 29, 2025

    Next-Gen TV Can Deliver Localized Emergency Info, FCC Told

    A public safety trade group called on the Federal Communications Commission to cement the next-generation TV standard into government rules, emphasizing the public interest benefits of quickly conveying advanced emergency information such as geotargeted alerts.

  • July 29, 2025

    Fight Over End To Migrant Parole May Be Moot, 1st Circ. Hints

    The First Circuit grappled Tuesday with whether the Trump administration could elect to abruptly end a Biden-era immigration parole program, even as it appeared to acknowledge that as a practical matter, the measure could die of attrition before the question is answered.

  • July 29, 2025

    9th Circ. Rescinds Ruling On Wash. Abortion Coverage Law

    A Ninth Circuit panel has walked back a published March opinion rejecting a Christian church's challenge to a Washington state law mandating employer health coverage of abortion services, saying in a Tuesday order that the federal appeals court would issue a new ruling following additional oral arguments.

  • July 29, 2025

    Ga. Urges 11th Circ. To Undo Cash Bail Reform Law Injunction

    Georgia's governor and attorney general encouraged the Eleventh Circuit to reverse a district court ruling temporarily blocking enforcement of the state's cash bail reform law, arguing the lower court wrongly found the act of paying bail to be inherently expressive.

  • July 29, 2025

    Travelers Gets Trim Of Ex-Worker's Tobacco Health Fee Suit

    A Minnesota federal judge pared down claims Tuesday from a former Travelers worker's suit alleging the insurance and financial services company unlawfully imposed a surcharge on the health plans of employees who disclosed they were tobacco users and thereby violated nondiscrimination provisions in federal benefits law.

  • July 29, 2025

    PTAB Will Now Decide All Grounds In AIA Reviews

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday ordered administrative patent judges to address all grounds raised in America Invents Act petitions when issuing their final decisions.

  • July 29, 2025

    BofA Accuses FDIC Of $250M Rate Flip-Flop In Premiums Suit

    Bank of America has accused the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. of making a "startling" about-face in their long-running deposit insurance dispute in Washington, D.C., federal court, claiming the agency is pushing to extract hundreds of millions in extra interest after the bank paid what it says was the full $657 million judgment owed.

  • July 29, 2025

    Miami Defends Election Delay, Cites State Law Supremacy

    The city of Miami on Tuesday defended its decision to push municipal elections back by a year via ordinance, telling a state appeals court that the move is authorized by three state laws that supersede the city and county charters.

  • July 29, 2025

    3rd Circ. Says DOL H-2A Case Should Have Been In Fed. Court

    A New Jersey farm was entitled to have a federal court weigh in on the U.S. Department of Labor's allegations that it flouted H-2A visa program requirements, the Third Circuit ruled Tuesday, finding the DOL improperly relied on in-house administrative proceedings to impose over $580,000 in fines.

  • July 29, 2025

    FDA Recommends Federal Restrictions On Kratom Extract

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it recommends placing federal restrictions on 7-Hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, an opioid-like alkaloid compound derived from the kratom leaf that the agency said had a strong potential for abuse.

  • July 29, 2025

    DOJ Drops Challenge Of Amex GBT's $570M Deal For CWT

    The U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday that enforcers have agreed to drop their case challenging American Express Global Business Travel Inc.'s planned $570 million purchase of corporate travel management rival CWT Holdings LLC.

  • July 29, 2025

    Sens. Introduce Aviation Safety Bill 6 Months After DCA Crash

    Republican senators introduced legislation Tuesday that would mandate aircraft-tracking technology in civilian and military aircraft, alongside fresh audits of Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. Army practices, six months after January's deadly midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet near Washington, D.C.

Expert Analysis

  • A Deep Dive Into 14 Nixed Gensler-Era SEC Rule Proposals

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last month formally withdrew 14 notices of proposed rulemaking, including several significant and widely criticized proposals that had been issued under former Chair Gary Gensler's leadership, signaling a clear and definitive shift away from the previous administration, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Skillful Persuasion

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    In many ways, law school teaches us how to argue, but when the ultimate goal is to get your client what they want, being persuasive through preparation and humility is the more likely key to success, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.

  • A Look At Trump 2.0 Antitrust Enforcement So Far

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    The first six months of President Donald Trump's second administration were marked by aggressive antitrust enforcement tempered by traditional structural remedies for mergers, but other unprecedented actions, like the firing of Federal Trade Commission Democrats, will likely stoke heated discussion ahead, says Richard Dagen at Axinn.

  • Reform Partly Modernizes Small Biz Stock Gains Exclusion

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    Changes to the Internal Revenue Code in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act update the qualified small business stock gains exclusion to reflect inflation, but the regime would be more in line with current business realities if Congress had also made the exemption available to additional business structures, says Mark Parthemer at Glenmede.

  • Breaking Down Novel Va. Social Media Law For Minors

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    While a Virginia bill passed in May is notable for setting a one-hour daily limit on minors' use of social media, other provisions create compliance burdens for social media operators and app store providers, and increase privacy and security risks associated with the collection of sensitive information to prove identity, says Jenna Rode at Hunton.

  • Lessons From Crackdown On Mexican Banks With Cartel Ties

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    Recent U.S. Treasury Department orders excluding three major Mexican financial institutions from the U.S. banking system for laundering drug cartel money and processing payments for fentanyl precursor chemicals offer guidance for companies in reviewing their procedures and controls to ensure they are not the next targets, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

  • Litigation Inspiration: How To Respond After A Loss

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    Every litigator loses a case now and then, and the sting of that loss can become a medicine that strengthens or a poison that corrodes, depending on how the attorney responds, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Tips For Cos. From California Climate Reporting FAQ

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    New guidance from the California Air Resources Board on how businesses must implement the state's sweeping climate reporting requirements should help companies assess their exposure, understand their disclosure obligations and begin documenting good-faith compliance efforts, says Thierry Montoya at Frost Brown.

  • FDA's Hasty Policymaking Approach Faces APA Challenges

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    Though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has abandoned its usual notice-and-comment process for implementing new regulatory initiatives, two recent district court decisions make clear that these programs are still susceptible to Administrative Procedure Act challenges, says Rachel Turow at Skadden.

  • DOJ Crypto Enforcement Is Shifting To Target Willfulness

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    Three pending criminal prosecutions could be an indication of how the U.S. Department of Justice's recent digital assets memo is shaping enforcement of the area, and show a growing focus on executives who knowingly allow their platforms to be used for criminal conduct involving sanctions offenses, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • Legal Considerations Around Ibogaine As Addiction Therapy

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    Recent funding approval in Texas pertaining to the use of ibogaine for the potential treatment of substance use disorders signals a growing openness to innovative addiction treatments, but also underscores the need for rigorous compliance with state and federal requirements and ethical research standards, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • Unpacking DOJ's Suit Against Maryland Federal Bench

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    Political hoopla aside, the Trump administration’s suit naming the Maryland federal district court and all of its judges, which challenges a standing order that delays deportation upon the filing of a habeas petition, raises valid questions about both the validity of the order and the DOJ’s approach, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

  • What Calif. Insurance Ruling Means For Smoke Damage Limits

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    As California continues to grapple with an increasing number of wildfire claims, a state court's recent Aliff v. California FAIR Plan decision serves as a clear directive to insurers that policy language that narrows the scope of fire coverage below the California Insurance Code's minimum standards is impermissible, say attorneys at Wood Smith.

  • Wash. Law Highlights Debate Over Unemployment For Strikers

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    A new Washington state law that will allow strikers to receive unemployment benefits during work stoppages raises questions about whether such laws subsidize disruptions to the economy or whether they are preempted by federal labor law, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Why SEC Abandoned Microcap Convertible Debt Crackdown

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has recently dismissed several cases targeting microcap convertible debt lenders, a significant disavowal of what was a controversial enforcement initiative under the Biden administration and a message that the new administration will focus on clear fraud, say attorneys at O'Melveny.

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