Public Policy

  • December 12, 2024

    Ryan Park Withdraws Nomination For 4th Circ. Bench

    Ryan Young Park, solicitor general of North Carolina, has dropped his bid for a seat on the Fourth Circuit after it was clear he would not be getting a vote on the Senate floor.

  • December 12, 2024

    IRS Chief Makes Case To Restore $20B Funding Shortfall

    Congress should reverse a $20 billion IRS funding gap in a year-end budget bill to help the agency modernize its technology, improve customer service and collect unpaid taxes from wealthy businesses and individuals, Internal Revenue Commissioner Daniel Werfel said Thursday.

  • December 12, 2024

    6th Circ. Appears Divided On Telecom Breach Reporting Rule

    A Sixth Circuit panel seemed split over the Federal Communications Commission's tightened telecommunications data breach rules, with one judge defending the commission as taking necessary steps to safeguard consumers from a "true" danger and another claiming that the rule seemed to run afoul of lawmakers' wishes.

  • December 12, 2024

    AGs Launch Gun Violence Crackdown With Glock Suits

    New Jersey and Minnesota unveiled lawsuits Thursday against Glock Inc. aimed at ending "once and for all" the homemade machine gun industry, marking the start of a crackdown by a coalition of enforcers looking to hold the firearms industry liable for gun violence.

  • December 12, 2024

    Cannabis Shops Ask DC Judge To Halt Store Shutdowns

    A coalition of Washington, D.C.-based recreational marijuana shops is asking a D.C. federal judge to put a stop to district regulators' enforcement actions against their stores, saying the businesses face "imminent destruction" absent an injunction.

  • December 12, 2024

    DOI Plan Would Protect NM Land From New Mining Claims

    U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland on Thursday initiated a two-year segregation period to temporarily withdraw 165,000 acres of public lands in New Mexico from new mining claims and the issuance of new federal mineral leases.

  • December 12, 2024

    Judge Troubled By Conduct Of Pot Farmer And State Officials

    A federal judge said this week that he's concerned by the "tone and tenor" that both a medical marijuana cultivator and Oklahoma law enforcement officials have taken in a case involving millions of dollars' worth of farm equipment destroyed during an erroneous raid, saying he's going to be looking closely at the conduct of all parties.

  • December 12, 2024

    Sam Adams Maker Using 'Draconian' Noncompete, Court Told

    A former Boston Beer Co. sales worker told a Massachusetts federal judge on Thursday that the Sam Adams brewer is aggressively enforcing noncompete agreements that don't comply with state law.

  • December 12, 2024

    2 Deny Joining Would-Be Trump Assassin To Target Journalist

    Two New York City men on Thursday denied participating in a plot to kill a noted journalist and Iran critic, pleading not guilty to murder-for-hire charges that claim they worked for a foreign agent who also is tasked with targeting Donald Trump.

  • December 12, 2024

    Mobile Trade Group's CEO To Leave Organization Next Year

    The president and CEO of mobile industry lobbying group CTIA will leave the organization when her contract expires next year, the group said Thursday.

  • December 12, 2024

    Prison Co. Says Jurors Shouldn't See ICE Facility In TVPA Suit

    Private prison operator Geo Group urged a Colorado federal judge to deny immigrant detainees' request to show jurors the inside of its detention facility in a trafficking case, including the size of housing units, arguing Wednesday the facility's size will not be relevant when determining whether detainees performed forced labor.

  • December 12, 2024

    Minnesota Cannabis Authority Nixes Social Equity Lottery

    Minnesota's cannabis regulators are scrapping the special license lottery for social equity applicants, opting to go with a general applicant lottery since a state court put a pause on their original plans.

  • December 12, 2024

    DHS Unveils New Evidence Requirements For Entrepreneurs

    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Thursday updated and expanded the types of evidence foreign entrepreneurs can submit to get temporary admission to the U.S. under a program designed to encourage U.S. startups and spur economic growth.

  • December 12, 2024

    Trump Vows Immediate Jan. 6 Pardons As DOJ Doubles Down

    President-elect Donald J. Trump said he plans to issue swift pardons for people accused or convicted of rioting at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an effort to keep him in power, as prosecutors said in one case that accepting such a pardon would amount to an admission of guilt.

  • December 12, 2024

    NY Courts Defy Watchdog, Won't Release Judicial Ethics Data

    Counsel for the New York State Unified Court System told the state transparency watchdog Wednesday it has no obligation to release judges' and court officials' financial disclosure data under public records law.

  • December 12, 2024

    Senate Judiciary Committee Sends Last Nominees To Floor

    The Senate Judiciary Committee sent the names of two judicial nominees for California to the full Senate for confirmation on Thursday along party-line votes.

  • December 12, 2024

    Ex-OMB GC Mark Paoletta Returns To Role In Trump Admin

    The attorney who served as the general counsel of the Office of Management & Budget in President-elect Donald Trump's first administration has been tapped by the incoming president to once again take the reins of that agency's legal work.

  • December 12, 2024

    Fla. Justices Call For 50 More Judgeships

    The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday certified a need for 48 new trial judges in the state and two appellate judges in the Sixth District Court of Appeal after a statewide judicial workload assessment found judges straining to keep up with increasingly complex litigation.

  • December 12, 2024

    US Expands Tariffs On Chinese Tungsten, Polysilicon Imports

    The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has announced additional tariff increases for imports on certain tungsten products, wafers and polysilicon from the People's Republic of China as part of a review process in an investigation of the country's acts, policies and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property and innovation.

  • December 12, 2024

    Ex-FBI Informant Admits To False Accusations In Biden Case

    A former FBI informant accused of making fake criminal accusations against President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, will plead guilty to tax evasion and falsifying records in a federal investigation, according to a deal filed Thursday in a California federal court.

  • December 12, 2024

    Treasury Seeks To Pause Anti-Laundering Law Injunction

    The U.S. Treasury Department asked a Texas federal judge to pause his nationwide preliminary injunction of the Corporate Transparency Act pending an appeal of his recent decision that found Congress likely overstepped its constitutional authority when it wrote the anti-money laundering law.

  • December 12, 2024

    Calif. Man Indicted In $8.8M Phishing Scheme

    A California man was indicted on charges he participated in a phishing email scheme that stole about $8.8 million from bank accounts belonging to businesses, individuals and the town of Bristol, Rhode Island.

  • December 12, 2024

    NC Republicans Override Veto Of Bill Curbing Dems' Power

    Republican lawmakers have used the final days of their supermajority in the North Carolina General Assembly to override Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of a Hurricane Helene disaster relief bill that strips his and other Democrat-controlled offices of certain powers.

  • December 12, 2024

    NTIA's Davidson Stepping Down Jan. 20

    The head of the U.S. Department of Commerce branch in charge of managing federal use of the airwaves as well as a sprawling broadband deployment program confirmed Thursday he will leave the role in January when the Biden administration ends.

  • December 12, 2024

    Advocacy Group Says NCAA's NIL Deal Not 'Illegal' After All

    The advocacy group National College Players Association retracted its condemnation of the NCAA's $2.78 billion settlement of a class action over name, image and likeness compensation, admitting six days after claiming that it broke several states' laws that it "has not been deemed illegal in any way."

Expert Analysis

  • US Intellectual Property-Based Sanctions Could Be Imminent

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    A recent presidential delegation suggests that regulators may be ready to wield the sanctions authority found in the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act, which has been unutilized for the first 22 months of its life, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Philly's Algorithmic Rent Ban Furthers Antitrust Policy Trends

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    A Philadelphia bill banning the use of algorithmic software to set rent prices and manage occupancy rates is indicative of growing scrutiny of this technology, and reflects broader policy trends of adapting traditional antitrust principles to respond to new technology, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • Takeaways From State Votes On Abortion In The 2024 Election

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    Attorneys at Epstein Becker discuss how 10 states voted on ballot initiatives to either protect or restrict access to abortion in the 2024 general election, and analyze overarching trends.

  • Trump's 2nd Term May Be A Boost To Banking Industry

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    President-elect Donald Trump's personnel appointments could be instrumental in reshaping the financial regulatory landscape during his second administration, likely allowing for greater merger activity and halting or undoing some of the Biden administration's more restrictive financial services policies, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Loper Bright Offers New Materiality Defense To FCA Liability

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bight Enterprises v. Raimondo, ending Chevron deference, may have created a new defense to False Claims Act liability by providing the opportunity to argue that a given regulation is not material to the government's payment decision, says Tanner Cook at Husch Blackwell.

  • A Look At 2024 NIL Rights And Economies In College Sports

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    Permutations in the arena of name, image and likeness affecting collegiate athletics have continued unabated this year, and practitioners and industry representatives should anticipate significant activity at schools and continuing legal changes at the state level, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • How Expanded Birth Control Coverage May Affect Employers

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    Employers should consider the potential impact of recently proposed regulations that would expand group health plans' required coverage of preventive services and contraceptives, including questions about how the agencies would implement their plans to eliminate the prescription requirement and alter the exceptions process, says Jennifer Rigterink at Proskauer.

  • Unpacking CFPB's Unwieldy Buy Now, Pay Later Guidance

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    Both the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent interpretive rule regarding buy now, pay later transactions, and its FAQ guidance, place providers in murky waters with the unenviable position of attempting to place a square, closed-end product in a round, regulatory framework meant for open-end products, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • 9 Considerations Around Proposed Connected Vehicle Ban

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    Stakeholders should consider several aspects of the U.S. Department of Commerce's recent proposal to ban U.S. imports and sales of vehicles incorporating certain connectivity components made in China or Russia, including exempted transactions and vehicle hardware imports, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

  • Legislation Most Likely To Pass In Lame Duck Session

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    As Congress begins its five-week post-election lame duck session, attorneys at Greenberg Traurig break down the legislative priorities and which proposals can be expected to pass.

  • Predicting Shareholder Activism Trends In New Trump Admin

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    While President-elect Donald Trump has promised tax policies, deregulation and lax antitrust enforcement — which all fuel shareholder activism — a closer look at his first administration's track record suggests that his second presidency might be a mixed bag for activist investors and companies alike, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • What Trump's 2nd Presidency Could Mean For Crypto Sector

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    Trump's second term will bring a fundamental shift from the Biden administration's approach to crypto-asset regulation and banking supervision, with the most significant changes likely taking effect in the first two quarters of 2025 and broader policy shifts emerging over the next year, say attorneys at Cahill.

  • Promoting Diversity In The Selection Of ADR Neutrals

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Choosing neutrals from diverse backgrounds is an important step in promoting inclusion in the legal profession, and it can enhance the legitimacy and public perception of alternative dispute resolution proceedings, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Opinion

    Preserving The FCA Is Crucial In Trump's 2nd Term

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    While the Trump administration may pursue weaker False Claims Act enforcement, it remains an essential tool in safeguarding public funds and maintaining corporate accountability, so now is not the time to undermine ethical behavior, or reduce protections and incentives for whistleblowers, says Adam Pollock at Pollock Cohen.

  • Series

    Playing Ultimate Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    In addition to being fun, ultimate Frisbee has improved our legal careers by emphasizing the importance of professionalism, teamwork, perseverance, enthusiasm and vulnerability, say Arunabha Bhoumik and Adam Bernstein at Regeneron. 

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