saąúĽĘ´«Ă˝

Public Policy

  • December 05, 2025

    9th Circ. Won't Unfreeze Trump Cuts To Student Mental Health

    The Ninth Circuit rejected the Trump administration's effort to undo a lower court's pause on federal funding reductions to K-12 mental health services, siding with a coalition of 16 states seeking to preserve programs established in the wake of high-profile school shootings.

  • December 05, 2025

    Top Groups Lobbying The FCC

    As the Federal Communications Commission returned to full operations in November after a government shutdown, groups lobbying the FCC remained busy on issues ranging from a Global Positioning System backup to spectrum sharing and the upcoming FCC auction of upper C-Band airwaves.

  • December 05, 2025

    6th Circ. Partially Overturns EPA's Detroit Ozone Ruling

    The Sixth Circuit reversed a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency determination that the Detroit area meets federal air quality standards, ruling Friday that the state of Michigan failed to implement federally required air pollution controls.

  • December 05, 2025

    IRS-ICE Data Swap Halt Irrelevant In Other Suit, DC Circ. Told

    A D.C. federal court's order pausing the Internal Revenue Service's ability to share confidential taxpayer addresses with immigration enforcement officials should not impact a separate D.C. Circuit proceeding over whether the information-sharing agreement complies with taxpayer privacy protections, the U.S. government told the D.C. Circuit.

  • December 05, 2025

    3rd Circ. Backs NJ In-State Rule For Medical Aid In Dying

    A Delaware woman with terminal cancer cannot end her life with medical assistance in New Jersey, the Third Circuit ruled Friday in a precedential opinion, finding that the Garden State residency requirement for medical aid in dying is restricted solely to New Jerseyans.

  • December 05, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Says Planners Can't Be Diaries For Tariff Purposes

    The U.S. Court of International Trade incorrectly determined that weekly and monthly planners should be classified as diaries for tariff purposes, the Federal Circuit said in a precedential opinion that reversed the lower trade court's ruling and remanded the case.

  • December 05, 2025

    Hikvision Asks DC Circ. To Dump FCC 'Covered List' Revision

    Device maker Hikvision has asked the D.C. Circuit to overturn a national security action by the Federal Communications Commission that made it harder for manufacturers tied to foreign adversaries to sell device equipment in the U.S. market.

  • December 05, 2025

    Supreme Court Halts Immigration Judges' Free Speech Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday stayed a Fourth Circuit decision reviving a free speech suit from an immigration judges union challenging a policy barring them from speaking publicly about immigration without approval.

  • December 05, 2025

    OCC, FDIC Scrap Obama-Era Leveraged Lending Guidance

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Friday formally withdrew from Obama-era guidance that sought to tighten bank leveraged lending standards, a policy that banks argued hamstrung them against nonbank rivals.

  • December 05, 2025

    Manufactured Housing Cos. Ditch Price-Fixing Claims

    An Illinois federal judge has tossed a proposed price-fixing class action against multiple manufactured housing companies and a data company, ruling the proposed class failed to show the businesses conspired to jack up rent prices.

  • December 05, 2025

    Federal Hemp Ban Enforcement Uncertain, Report Finds

    It is unclear how or whether federal agencies will enforce the federal ban on intoxicating hemp due to take effect in 11 months or apply the same hands-off approach that has governed marijuana, according to a recent report from the Congressional Research Service.

  • December 05, 2025

    Energy Dept. Defends $7.5B Grant Cuts In Political Bias Case

    The U.S. Department of Energy has urged a federal judge in Washington not to block its termination of energy project grants worth more than $7.5 billion, arguing there is no merit to claims alleging the federal government unconstitutionally targeted funds for Democratic-leaning states.

  • December 05, 2025

    ERISA Recap: 4 Rulings Worth Paying Attention To From Nov.

    The Ninth Circuit striking down a class action win for transgender employee health plan participants who said their gender-affirming care denials were discriminatory is just one noteworthy Employee Retirement Income Security Act ruling from November. Here's a recap of that ruling and three others.

  • December 05, 2025

    Legislation Targets Reversal Of Oak Flat Land Transfer In Ariz.

    An Arizona congressional representative is carrying on her father's initiative to repeal a 2014 National Defense Authorization Act rider that transfers more than 2,422 acres to a copper mining company while litigation to block the move continues to play out in the Ninth Circuit.

  • December 05, 2025

    Judge Won't Exit Agri Stats DOJ Case Over Clerk Connection

    A Minnesota federal judge refused to recuse himself from a case accusing Agri Stats of helping meat processors exchange sensitive information based on a clerk's past work on related cases, after refusing a similar request in a case over pork prices.

  • December 05, 2025

    Court Staff Attys Settle Claims Of Undermining Colleague

    Six months after Massachusetts' highest court revived some of a former Appeals Court staff attorney's claims in a suit alleging two supervisors intentionally undermined him, the parties have reported reaching a settlement in the case.

  • December 05, 2025

    FTC's Abandoned Pepsi Pricing Case Will Be Mostly Unsealed

    A New York federal court agreed to largely unseal the Federal Trade Commission's price discrimination complaint against PepsiCo Inc. despite protests from the beverage company and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce after enforcers dropped the case earlier this year.

  • December 05, 2025

    Panel Says NJ County Illegally Awarded $13.5M Jail Contract

    A New Jersey county violated the state's public contracts law when it awarded a $13.5 million contract to provide medical care and other services at a county jail, a state appeals court has ruled, backing a determination from the Office of the State Comptroller.

  • December 05, 2025

    5th Circ. Halts Order To Revive Texas College Women's Teams

    The Fifth Circuit has struck down a court order requiring Stephen F. Austin State University to reinstate three women's sports teams while a Title IX suit against the school proceeds, finding that the directive was too vague.

  • December 05, 2025

    Mass. IOLTA Panel Says It's Owed Slice Of Residual Funds

    A Massachusetts panel that oversees Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts asked the state's highest court Friday to at least partially unwind a $4 million class action settlement, saying a lower court didn't give it a chance to argue for a portion of what it says are "significant" residual funds.

  • December 05, 2025

    Nickel For Your Thoughts? Dems Want Plan For Ending Penny

    Top Democrats on banking and financial services committees are claiming the Trump administration has not formulated a sufficient plan for the transition away from the penny and are asking for a public plan by Dec. 12.

  • December 05, 2025

    Best Use Of Macy's Property Is As Store, Minn. Court Says

    The highest and best use for a Macy's property in Minnesota is its continued function as an anchor department store in a shopping mall, the state tax court said, declining to amend the valuations it previously found.

  • December 05, 2025

    Calif. Tribal Water Rights Bill Seeks $500M Fund Approval

    California tribal members and two of the state's water management agencies are urging Congress to pass a bill that would establish a $500 million trust fund and transfer 2,742 acres of Bureau of Land Management property as part of a settlement agreement following more than a decade of litigation.

  • December 05, 2025

    Georgia Turns To 11th Circ. In Trans Prisoner Care Fight

    The Eleventh Circuit will get a chance to weigh in on a district judge's recent decision requiring the Georgia Department of Corrections to provide hormone therapy to transgender inmates, according to a Friday filing in federal court.

  • December 05, 2025

    High Court To Review Trump's Birthright Order

    The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to review the constitutionality of President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at limiting birthright citizenship, after lower courts unanimously found the order to contradict the U.S. Constitution and federal law.

Expert Analysis

  • Calif. Species Protections Will Increase Compliance Burdens

    Author Photo

    California's recently enacted A.B. 1319 automatically protects species when the federal government rolls back its own protections — which could mean an onslaught of state-level compliance mandates for the regulated community that come with no advance notice or public hearings, says attorney David Smith.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Dynamic Databases

    Author Photo

    Several recent federal court decisions illustrate how parties continue to grapple with the discovery of data in dynamic databases, so counsel involved in these disputes must consider how structured data should be produced consistent with the requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Assessing The SEC's Changing Approach To NFT Regulation

    Author Photo

    Early U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission actions on nonfungible tokens pushed for broad regulation, but subsequent court decisions — including a recent California federal court ruling in Adonis Real v. Yuga Labs — and SEC commissioners' statements have narrowed the regulatory focus toward a more fact-specific approach, say attorneys at Wilson Elser.

  • Comey Case Highlights Complex Speedy Trial Rights Calculus

    Author Photo

    Former FBI Director James Comey’s decision to waive his Speedy Trial Act rights in the false statement prosecution against him serves as a reminder that the benefits of invoking these rights are usually outweighed by the risks of inadequate preparation, but it can be an effective strategy in the right case, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.

  • Breaking Down Article 12 Of The Uniform Commercial Code

    Author Photo

    Thirty-two states and the District of Columbia have enacted Article 12 of the Uniform Commercial Code, providing the alternative to perfection by control of assets like cryptocurrency and nonfungible tokens, but before accepting these assets as collateral, lenders and creditors should consider how to best maintain priority, say attorneys at Miller Nash.

  • Why Foreign Cos. Should Prep For Increased SEC Oversight

    Author Photo

    With the recent trading suspensions of 10 foreign-based issuers listed on the Nasdaq, an enforcement action against a U.K. security-based swap dealer and the announcement of a cross-border task force, it's clear that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will expand oversight on foreign companies participating in the U.S. capital markets, says Tejal Shah at Cooley.

  • How Litigating Antitrust Fix Helped GTCR Prevail In Court

    Author Photo

    An Illinois federal judge's recent denial of the Federal Trade Commission's injunction request in the GTCR acquisition of Surmodics joins a developing series of cases in which deal parties have prevailed against government antitrust challenges by proposing a post-complaint fix and litigating the as-amended deal, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

  • What Narrower FinCEN Reporting Spells For Industry

    Author Photo

    As compliance costs soar, the potential slimming down of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism regime is welcome news for banks, and would allow a shift in resources to ever-evolving cybercrime threats, say attorneys at Quarles & Brady.

  • Revisiting Jury Trial Right May Upend State Regulatory Power

    Author Photo

    Justice Neil Gorsuch’s recent use of a denial of certiorari to call for the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit whether the Seventh Amendment jury trial right extends to states, building off last year's Jarkesy ruling, could foretell a profound change in state regulators' ability to enforce penalties against regulated companies, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • How Nasdaq, SEC Proposals May Transform Listing Standards

    Author Photo

    Both Nasdaq and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have increasingly focused their recent regulatory efforts on small and foreign issuers, particularly those from China, reflecting an intention to strengthen the overall quality of companies accessing U.S. markets, but also potentially introducing a chilling effect on certain issuers, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • New NCAA Betting Policy Fits Trend Of Eased Restrictions

    Author Photo

    Allowing NCAA student-athletes to bet on professional sports fits into a decade-long trend of treating college athletes more like adults in a commercial system, but decreasing player restrictions translates to increased compliance burdens for schools, say attorneys at Robins Kaplan.

  • Series

    Building With Lego Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Building with Lego has taught me to follow directions and adapt to unexpected challenges, and in pairing discipline with imagination, allows me to stay grounded while finding new ways to make complex deals come together, says Paul Levin at Venable.

  • How Banks Can Safely Handle Payments For Gambling Biz

    Author Photo

    As the betting market continues to expand, it's crucial for banks and fintechs to track historical developments in wagering and ongoing prediction markets litigation that can factor into a risk analysis for payment processing with respect to gambling operators, says Laura D'Angelo at Jones Walker.

  • Wading Into NY Wetland Regs' 2025 Changes And Challenges

    Author Photo

    Solar developers in New York should keep a weather eye on litigation challenging the New York Department of Environmental Conservation’s recently expanded authority to regulate wetlands and waterways, which could erode the impact of a new permitting process meant to streamline solar development on protected wetlands, say attorneys at Foley Hoag.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Networking 101

    Author Photo

    Cultivating a network isn't part of the law school curriculum, but learning the soft skills needed to do so may be the key to establishing a solid professional reputation, nurturing client relationships and building business, says Sharon Crane at Practising Law Institute.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Public Policy archive.