Public Policy

  • July 16, 2025

    Calif. Tribe Opposes Dismissal Of Suit Over Cannabis Raids

    The Round Valley Indian Tribes urged a California federal court not to dismiss their claims against Mendocino County and its sheriff alleging they illegally raided cannabis growers on tribal lands, saying the complaint sufficiently contends that the sheriff and county have an ongoing policy of continuing the raids.

  • July 15, 2025

    GTCR Seeks Rival's Sales Data To Counter FTC Challenge

    The private equity firm looking to buy medical device coating company Surmodics is seeking Salesforce data from another competitor in the space, saying the information is crucial to showing that the industry will still be competitive if its acquisition is cleared.

  • July 15, 2025

    Trump Admin Seeks Win In Harvard $2B Funding Freeze Case

    The Trump administration urged a Massachusetts federal judge Monday to grant it summary judgment in Harvard University's lawsuit challenging the government's effort to freeze $2.2 billion in funding, arguing the dispute is a contract fight that belongs in the Federal Claims Court and the allegations fail on the merits.

  • July 15, 2025

    Ariz. Justices Clear School In Suit By Teen Hit By Car

    The Arizona Supreme Court tossed a suit Tuesday accusing a Phoenix school district of knowingly allowing students to jaywalk just outside the school which purportedly caused a 14-year-old boy to get hit by a car and suffer severe injuries, saying the school had no duty of care outside school grounds.

  • July 15, 2025

    EXIM Bank Sued For 'Unconscionable' LNG Project Funding

    Friends of the Earth is asking a D.C. federal judge to block $4.7 billion in financing the Export-Import Bank of the United States has authorized for a massive liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique led by TotalEnergies SE.

  • July 15, 2025

    IP Owner Orgs Urge Fed. Circ. To Reject Fintiv Memo Appeal

    Organizations representing startups and other intellectual property owners have urged the Federal Circuit to reject SAP America Inc.'s mandamus petition challenging the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office leader's handling of a discretionary denials policy, arguing she acted within the powers of her role.

  • July 15, 2025

    Ga. Judge Sends Online Casino Suit To Arbitration

    A Georgia federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit over money lost on casino-style gambling websites like Luckyland Slots and Global Poker, saying the case can't move forward in the Peach State and must go to arbitration instead. 

  • July 15, 2025

    'NJ Weedman' Can Proceed With Suit Over City Hall Protest

    The city of Trenton, New Jersey, can't escape a lawsuit filed by a cannabis advocate known as NJWeedman who claims the municipality violated his First Amendment rights by retaliating against him after he projected a "Batman-like" protest message on City Hall, a federal judge ruled, saying it might be "annoying" but it is protected speech.

  • July 15, 2025

    Patent Fight Over Xtandi Erupts Anew Before RFK Jr.

    A new dispute is playing out over the price of a prostate cancer drug that was developed at University of California, Los Angeles, and is being sold by Pfizer, with the federal government being pushed on the issue of using its authority to allow early entry of generics.

  • July 15, 2025

    FTC Says Merger Penalty Deal In The Works With 7-Eleven

    The Federal Trade Commission is inching closer to a settlement with 7-Eleven in its suit seeking to slap the convenience store chain with a $77.5 million penalty for violating a settlement that it inked with the agency in order to get a merger approved back in 2018.

  • July 15, 2025

    Miami Candidate Sues To Undo Postponed Elections

    A Miami businesswoman running for city office has sued to undo the postponement of the November municipal elections, alleging that an ordinance passed by elected officials to delay the elections for up to a year violates the Florida Constitution. 

  • July 15, 2025

    PCAOB Chief Erica Williams Has Resigned, SEC Chair Says

    Erica Y. Williams has resigned as chair and a board member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board after more than three years in the position, according to a statement issued Tuesday by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul S. Atkins.

  • July 15, 2025

    Convicted Ill. Speaker Seeks Release Pending Bribery Appeal

    Former Illinois speaker Michael Madigan asked a federal judge Monday to let him stay out of prison after his recent public corruption conviction, arguing that the Seventh Circuit's input on several legal issues could require a new trial.

  • July 15, 2025

    House Passes Bill To Codify FCC Network Security Council

    The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday that would cement into law a federal advisory panel on network security.

  • July 15, 2025

    The Biggest IP Agency Developments Of 2025: Midyear Report

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the U.S. Copyright Office have not been spared from the Trump administration's shake-ups and changes across the federal government in the first half of the year.

  • July 15, 2025

    Gould Sworn In As Comptroller Of Currency

    Former Jones Day partner Jonathan Gould on Tuesday was sworn in as the next leader of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, marking his return to the agency where he spent more than two years as chief counsel.

  • July 15, 2025

    Split 4th Circ. Rejects GenBioPro Abortion Ban Challenge

    A split Fourth Circuit panel on Tuesday rejected GenBioPro's challenge to a West Virginia law banning medication abortion with narrow exceptions, with the majority finding the ban does not conflict with federal regulators' statutory authority to impose safety requirements on drug manufacturers.

  • July 15, 2025

    3rd Circ. Backs FAA's Civil Penalty Actions Post-Jarkesy

    The Third Circuit on Tuesday backed the Federal Aviation Administration's adjudicatory authority to impose civil penalties for air safety rules violations, saying in a precedential ruling that the U.S. Supreme Court's Jarkesy decision doesn't entitle a paint supplier to a jury trial in a case stemming from a leaky paint can on a FedEx plane.

  • July 15, 2025

    FCC Hunts For Customer Info On Cellcom Network Outage

    Regional wireless service provider Cellcom's mid-May network outage has prompted a public inquiry by federal regulators who want to know how customers handled their inability to make or receive texts and calls.

  • July 15, 2025

    House Lawmakers OK Bill To Block DOJ Rescheduling Pot

    A Republican-led House subcommittee approved language Tuesday that would stop the U.S. Department of Justice from loosening federal restrictions on marijuana through the administrative process.

  • July 15, 2025

    FDIC Floats Rule 'Indexing' Plan In Deregulatory Blitz

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has unveiled plans to begin automatically raising dollar thresholds used to determine which compliance requirements apply to banks, part of a broader raft of deregulatory measures that agency leaders advanced on Tuesday.

  • July 15, 2025

    EPA Defends Ending Enviro Justice Grants

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has asked a federal judge to dismiss a proposed class action filed by environmental groups, a Native American village and other local governments, alleging the EPA unlawfully stopped $3 billion in climate grant funding.

  • July 15, 2025

    Feds Urge Calif. Judge To End Suit Over Border Patrol Sweep

    The U.S. government moved Tuesday to end a proposed class action alleging Border Patrol agents conducted race-based stops and warrantless arrests of people who appear to be farmworkers, arguing the government has required agents to evaluate flight risks and reasonable suspicion for stops, which renders the suit's claims moot.

  • July 15, 2025

    FTC Still Bans Ex-Pioneer CEO From Exxon Board, For Now

    If the current Federal Trade Commission upends Biden-era Democrats' ban on the former CEO of Pioneer from serving on Exxon's board, it will be on the now-Republican-led commission's own volition rather than through a petition by the executive.

  • July 15, 2025

    9th Circ. Rejects Sentencing Enhancement In Gun Case

    A Washington state federal court should not have applied a sentencing enhancement in the case of a man who handed a gun to someone who later used it to shoot an undercover federal agent, the Ninth Circuit said Monday, finding there wasn't proof his five-second hold on the weapon emboldened the shooter.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Brazilian Jiujitsu Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Competing in Brazilian jiujitsu – often against opponents who are much larger and younger than me – has allowed me to develop a handful of useful skills that foster the resilience and adaptability necessary for a successful legal career, says Tina Dorr of Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Key Steps For Traversing Federal Grant Terminations

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    For grantees, the Trump administration’s unexpected termination or alteration of billions of dollars in federal grants across multiple agencies necessitates a thorough understanding of the legal rights and obligations involved, either in challenging such terminations or engaging in grant termination settlements and closeout procedures, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Challenges For Fiduciaries Adding Crypto To 401(k) Plans

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    As cryptocurrencies gain popularity and their restrictions loosen, investors may become interested in adding crypto options to their retirement plans, but fiduciaries should consider how to balance the increased demand and their obligations under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Birthright Ruling Could Alter Consumer Financial Litigation

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming decision about the validity of the nationwide injunctions in the birthright citizenship cases, argued on May 15, could make it much harder for trade associations to obtain nationwide relief from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's enforcement of invalid regulations, says Alan Kaplinsky at Ballard Spahr.

  • FDA Commissioner Speech Suggests New Vision For Agency

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    In his first public remarks as U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner, Marty Makary outlined an ambitious framework for change centered around cultural restoration, scientific integrity, regulatory flexibility and selective modernization, and substantial enforcement shifts for the food and tobacco sectors, say attorneys at Arnall Golden.

  • Opportunities And Challenges For The Texas Stock Exchange

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    While the new Texas Stock Exchange could be an interesting alternative to the NYSE and the Nasdaq due to the state’s robust economy and the TXSE’s high-profile leadership and publicity opportunities for listings, its success as a national securities exchange may hinge on resolving questions about its regulatory and cost advantages, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • Pace Of Early Terminations Suggests Greater M&A Scrutiny

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    The nascent return of early termination under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act shows a more limited use than before its 2021 suspension under the Biden administration's Federal Trade Commission, suggesting deeper scrutiny of mergers and acquisitions across the board, says Michael Wise at Squire Patton.

  • DOJ Export Declination Highlights Self-Reporting Benefits

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recent decision not to prosecute a NASA contractor, despite a former employee pleading guilty to facilitating unlicensed exports, underscores the advantages available to companies that self-report sanctions violations, cooperate with investigations and implement timely remediation, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • Review Risk Is Increasing For Foreign Real Estate Developers

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    Federal and state government efforts have been expanding oversight of foreign investment in U.S. real estate, necessitating careful assessment of risk and of the benefits of notifying the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • Energy Order Brings Risks For Lenders And Borrowers Alike

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    A recent executive order directing the attorney general to submit a report next month with recommendations for halting enforcement of state laws the administration says are hampering energy resources presents risks for lenders and borrowers using state-generated carbon credits, but proactive steps now can help insulate against adverse consequences, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • What Employers Should Know About New Wash. WARN Act

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    Washington state's Securing Timely Notification and Benefits for Laid-Off Employees Act will soon require 60 days' notice for certain mass layoffs and business closures, so employers should understand how their obligations differ from those under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act before implementing layoffs or closings, say attorneys at Littler.

  • What's At Stake As Trump Admin Targets Carbon Markets

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    Trading in greenhouse gas emissions and reductions has long been touted as a way to leverage market forces to tackle climate change cost-effectively, and that theory may be put to the test amid momentous progress and fresh challenges, particularly as the Trump administration takes aim at climate initiatives, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • What To Know About New Wash. Community Association Law

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    A series of recent legislative updates that greatly expand application of the Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act pose significant challenges to the volunteer board members who administer and operate condos and homeowners associations, but there are ways to lessen the newly imposed administrative burden, says Tim Feth at VF Law.

  • Series

    Power To The Paralegals: An Untapped Source For Biz Roles

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    Law firms looking to recruit legal business talent should consider turning to paralegals, who practice several key skills every day that prepare them to thrive in marketing and client development roles, says Vanessa Torres at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Fledgling Crypto ATM Regs May Be Due For A Growth Spurt

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    As cryptocurrency ATM use and availability become more prevalent within the U.S. financial services ecosystem, states — only a few of which currently have a crypto ATM framework — may need to consider expanding legislation and regulation to accelerate consumer fraud protection practices, says Jason Noto at Polsinelli.

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