Public Policy

  • February 13, 2025

    Ga. House Speaker Sued Over State Senator's Ban And Arrest

    Georgia Speaker of the House Jon Burns has been hit with a lawsuit from constituents of a lawmaker who was barred from the chamber last month after he called Burns' predecessor "one of the most corrupt Georgia leaders we'll ever see in our lifetimes."

  • February 13, 2025

    EPA Boss Says Biden Admin Wrongly Ceded Control Of $20B

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new leader said Thursday that $20 billion Congress appropriated for an EPA grant program had been inappropriately transferred outside the agency and is lacking adequate supervision — a claim disputed by a Biden-era official.

  • February 13, 2025

    9th Circ. Upholds DEA Denial Of Psilocybin Petition

    The Ninth Circuit on Thursday affirmed the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's rejection of a Seattle physician's request to treat terminally ill patients with psilocybin.

  • February 13, 2025

    Pa. Sues Feds Over Withheld $2B In Energy-Related Grants

    Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro sued several Trump administration agencies on Thursday claiming the federal government has frozen $2 billion in funds dedicated to state energy- and mining-focused projects in defiance of two court orders, in a "flagrantly lawless" move.

  • February 13, 2025

    EPA Asks 5th Circ. To Pause State Ozone Plan Decision

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asked the Fifth Circuit to hold off on deciding whether it was allowed to deny three states' plans to comply with federal ozone standards to give the Trump administration time to evaluate the rule at the center of the litigation.

  • February 13, 2025

    Musk Must Pay Up For Illegal Access To Data, Class Suit Says

    Elon Musk should be forced to compensate taxpayers and recipients of government benefits after gaining access to federal databases housing their data, a proposed class told a D.C. federal court, saying the billionaire violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

  • February 13, 2025

    Duke Rate Hike Discrepancy Lacks Reason, NC Justices Hear

    The North Carolina Attorney General's Office urged the state's highest court Thursday to undo what it characterized as a glaring rate hike for Duke Energy Carolinas compared to what a sister entity received, saying state regulators offered no justification for the jump.

  • February 13, 2025

    Colo. Justices Won't Put City's Pot Question On April Ballot

    The Colorado Supreme Court on Thursday denied a petition from Colorado Springs seeking to upend a state court decision removing from the April general election a ballot question to repeal an ordinance allowing retail cannabis sales in the city.

  • February 13, 2025

    House Republican Debuts Independent Contractor Status Test

    A U.S. House Republican who has vocally opposed Democratic-backed analyses for determining whether a worker is an independent contractor or employee announced two bills related to the issue Thursday, proposing a new worker classification standard in one of the measures.

  • February 13, 2025

    4th Judge Rejects Trump's Take On Birthright Citizenship

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Thursday joined three other U.S. district courts in blocking President Donald Trump's executive order limiting birthright citizenship, rejecting the administration's interpretation of the 14th Amendment.

  • February 13, 2025

    NYC Man Pleads Guilty To $62.8M Crowdfunded CRE Scheme

    A New York City man who raised $62.8 million through commercial real estate platform CrowdStreet for sham developments in Atlanta, Georgia, and Miami Beach, Florida, has pled guilty to a federal wire fraud charge.

  • February 13, 2025

    White & Case Environmental Partner Moves To Weil In NY

    Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP announced Thursday that it has hired a White & Case LLP environmental law partner for its regulatory transactions group in New York.

  • February 13, 2025

    Colo. Ends Deal With Medicaid Ride Co. Over Blown Deadline

    Colorado on Wednesday terminated a contract with a company that provides transportation for state Medicaid members after the company sued to invalidate its suspension from the program, with the state citing a failure to complete driver background checks and other requirements on time.

  • February 13, 2025

    Musk Says He'll Drop OpenAI Bid If It Scraps 'For Profit' Plans

    Elon Musk has hit back at OpenAI's claim that his $97.375 billion takeover bid is improper, noting if the ChatGPT maker agrees to nix plans to become a for-profit business, his offer will be dropped. 

  • February 13, 2025

    SDNY US Atty Resigns, Alleging Trump-Adams 'Quid Pro Quo'

    Danielle R. Sassoon, the interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, resigned Thursday after she refused an order by U.S. Department of Justice officials to drop the federal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams and expressed concern the move was part of an improper quid pro quo with President Donald Trump.

  • February 13, 2025

    GOP Rep. Moves To Nix SEC's Enhanced Fund Disclosures

    A Republican congressman has introduced a resolution that would repeal a recently adopted U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regulation requiring more detailed and frequent disclosures from mutual funds.

  • February 13, 2025

    Congress' Dems Call For Fired NLRB Member's Reinstatement

    President Donald Trump should immediately reinstate the Democratic member of the National Labor Relations Board he fired in January, House and Senate Democrats told the White House on Thursday, saying that leaving the board without a quorum "encourages bad employers to violate the law and trample on workers' rights."

  • February 13, 2025

    Small But Mighty Busy: 1st Circ. A Hub For Anti-Trump Suits

    The Boston-based First Circuit will play an outsize role in litigation challenging the aggressive start to President Donald Trump's second administration, but the liberal stronghold's philosophic divergence with the U.S. Supreme Court may make any victories fleeting.

  • February 13, 2025

    Unlicensed Pot Shop To Pay $6M Judgment In NY AG Suit

    New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Wednesday that a Kings County judge ordered an unlicensed cannabis shop to pay $6 million in a judgment finding that the shop had ignored orders from the Office of Cannabis Management and kept selling cannabis without a license.

  • February 13, 2025

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Confirmed, Sworn In As HHS Secretary

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is officially the nation's top healthcare official.

  • February 13, 2025

    Kash Patel's FBI Director Nomination Goes To Full Senate

    The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-10, along party lines, Thursday to send Kash Patel's nomination to be FBI director to the full Senate.

  • February 13, 2025

    More US Attorneys Out In Three States

    U.S. Attorney Dena J. King of the Western District of North Carolina announced that she is stepping down from her role as the district's top prosecutor, joining her counterparts in California's Southern District and the District of Maryland in the recent parade of U.S. attorneys to leave their posts since President Donald Trump retook the White House.

  • February 12, 2025

    Baltimore Sues To Stop 'Unilateral Defunding' Of CFPB

    The city of Baltimore sued Wednesday to block the Trump administration from defunding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, alleging the agency is in danger of being bled dry and left unable to protect city residents from financial abuse.

  • February 12, 2025

    Calif. Panel Upends Bakery's Bias Suit Win Over Gay Wedding

    A California appeals court on Tuesday reversed a California bakery's trial court victory in a discrimination lawsuit challenging its refusal to sell a wedding cake to a lesbian couple, finding that a wedding cake design standard the bakery had leaned on was facially discriminatory.

  • February 12, 2025

    Elon Musk Wants Judges Removed For DOGE Court Losses

    Elon Musk on Wednesday posted a number of tweets calling for "an immediate wave of judicial impeachments," specifically targeting federal judges who have recently blocked his DOGE Service Temporary Organization from freezing federal funds and accessing U.S. Department of the Treasury payment systems.

Expert Analysis

  • IRS Basis-Shifting Rule Poses Notable Reporting Obligations

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    While the IRS’ recently finalized rule requiring partnerships to report certain related-party basis adjustment transactions is narrower than originally proposed, taxpayers and their advisers will still need to comb through myriad transactions to comply, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • How Cos. Can Prepare Now For SEC E-Filing System Changes

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's amendments to the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval system are designed to improve access to and management of EDGAR accounts, and with the March 24 effective date fast approaching, and the transition requiring significant coordination, companies should begin planning now, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • The Tides Are Changing For Fair Access Banking Laws

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    The landscape of fair access banking laws, which seek to prevent banks from denying services based on individuals' ideological beliefs, has shifted in the last few years, but a new presidential administration provides renewed momentum for advancing such legislation against the backdrop of state efforts, say attorneys at Latham.

  • Imagine The Possibilities Of Openly Autistic Lawyering

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    Andi Mazingo at Lumen Law, who was diagnosed with autism about midway through her career, discusses how the legal profession can create inclusive workplaces that empower openly autistic lawyers and enhance innovation, and how neurodivergent attorneys can navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with disclosing one’s diagnosis.

  • A Halftime Analysis Of DOJ's Compensation Pilot Program

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    The U.S. Department of Justice appears to consider the first half of its three-year pilot program on compensation incentives and clawbacks to be proceeding successfully, so companies should expect prosecutors to emphasize the program and other compliance-related considerations early in investigations, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Opinion

    How Congress Can Stem Consumer Finance Law Uncertainty

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    In the face of rising uncertainty about consumer finance laws that are based largely on fluctuating administrative rules, Congress should cement certain existing laws into statute and clarify federal agencies' delegations of authority, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.

  • Top 10 Healthcare And Life Sciences Issues To Watch In 2025

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    Under the new Trump administration, this coming year may benefit some healthcare and life sciences stakeholders, while creating new challenges for others amid an increasingly complex regulatory environment, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Birthright Order Denies 14th Amendment's Purpose, Origin

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    President Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship invokes logic explicitly rejected by the framers of the 14th Amendment, demonstrating the administration's fundamental misunderstanding of the citizenship clauses' origins, jurisprudence, and impact on how Americans understand equality and national belonging, says Mauni Jalali at Quinn Emanuel.

  • A Look At Order Ending Federal Contractor Affirmative Action

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    To comply with President Donald Trump's executive order revoking affirmative action requirements in the next 90 days, federal contractors should focus on identification of protected groups, responsibilities of "diversity officer" positions and annual compliance reviews, says Jeremy Burkhart at Holland & Knight.

  • Parsing 3rd Circ. Ruling On Cannabis, Employee Private Suits

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    The Third Circuit recently upheld a decision that individuals don't have a private right of action for alleged violations of New Jersey's Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance and Marketplace Modernization Act, but employers should stay informed as the court encouraged the state Legislature to amend the law, say attorneys at Mandelbaum Barrett.

  • Why Trump's FTC May Not U-Turn On Robinson-Patman

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent revival of Robinson-Patman Act enforcement may well be here to stay under the Trump administration — albeit with some important caveats for businesses caught in the government's crosshairs, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • 4 Keys To Litigating In An Active Regulatory Environment

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    For companies facing litigation influenced by government regulatory action — a recent trend that a politically charged atmosphere will exacerbate — there are a few principles that can help to align litigation strategy with broader public positioning in the regulatory and oversight context, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Perspectives

    How High Court May Rule In First Step Act Resentencing Case

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    U.S. Supreme Court justices grappled with verb tenses and statutory intent in recent oral arguments in Hewitt v. U.S., a case involving an anomalous resentencing issue under the First Step Act, and though they may hold that the statute is unambiguous, they could also decide the case on narrow, practical grounds, say attorneys at Bracewell.

  • Series

    Documentary Filmmaking Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Becoming a documentary filmmaker has allowed me to merge my legal expertise with my passion for storytelling, and has helped me to hone negotiation, critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are important to both endeavors, says Robert Darwell at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Litigation Funding Disclosure Debate: Strategy Considerations

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    In the ongoing debate over whether courts should require disclosure of litigation funding, funders and plaintiffs tend to argue against such mandates, but voluntarily disclosing limited details about a funding arrangement can actually confer certain benefits to plaintiffs in some scenarios, say Andrew Stulce and Marc Cavan at Longford Capital.

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