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Public Policy
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December 09, 2025
Fed. Circ. Nixes Challenges To 'Settled Expectations' Rule
The Federal Circuit on Tuesday rejected challenges by both Cambridge Industries USA Inc. and Sandisk Technologies Inc. to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's policy that patent reviews can be denied based on the owner's "settled expectations" due to the patent's age.
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December 08, 2025
Trump's 'Unlawful' Freeze Of Wind Projects Gets Blocked
A Massachusetts federal judge Monday blocked President Donald Trump's executive order indefinitely pausing permits for wind farm projects, ruling that the order was arbitrary and capricious and contrary to the law.
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December 08, 2025
Ex-NY Gov. Aide's Mom Says Alleged FARA Cash Wasn't Dirty
The mother of a former top aide to New York governors Monday told a Brooklyn federal jury large amounts of cash she held were from legitimate sources, as opposed to prosecutors' claim it was tied to her daughter's alleged scheme to secretly further the People's Republic of China's interests.
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December 08, 2025
OCC's Gould Responds To Crypto Trust Charter Concerns
The head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Monday expressed skepticism of banking industry concerns surrounding cryptocurrency trust charter applications, asserting in a speech that "innovation, competition, and fair access should always triumph over regulatory stagnation."
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December 08, 2025
sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½'s Vought Faces New Funding Suit, Hearing Demand
Consumer advocates are mounting a new attempt to force Trump budget chief Russell Vought to replenish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's dwindling funds, while Senate Democrats are calling for what they say is an overdue hearing on his work at the agency.
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December 08, 2025
7-Eleven To Pay $4.5M Penalty Over Fla. Gas Station Buy
7-Eleven Inc. and its Japanese parent company will pay a historic $4.5 million penalty to settle the Federal Trade Commission's allegations that the convenience store giant bought a Florida gas station without first informing the FTC, in violation of a 2018 agreement, the agency announced Monday.
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December 08, 2025
8th Circ. Says Video Privacy Law Doesn't Bind Movie Theaters
The Eighth Circuit on Monday became the latest court to conclude that movie theaters don't qualify as businesses that are covered by the federal Video Privacy Protection Act, in affirming the rejection of a proposed class action accusing the regional movie chain Cinema Entertainment of illegally sharing website visitors' video viewing activities with Meta.Â
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December 08, 2025
Defense Bill Aims To Boost Pentagon Contracting Competition
Lawmakers' latest version of a $900 billion defense policy and budget bill for fiscal year 2026 includes provisions aimed at boosting competition in defense contracting by expanding acceptable past performance examples in contract proposals and penalizing incumbent contractors who file frivolous bid protests.
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December 08, 2025
App Maker Says 1st Amendment Bars AG's Removal Demand
The developer of an application allowing users to report sightings of immigration enforcement authorities accused U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday in D.C. federal court of violating his free speech rights by getting Apple to remove it.
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December 08, 2025
Cox-Verizon Retrans Spat Shows Reform Needed, Org. Says
Congress needs to step in and do something about big broadcasters holding television stations "for ransom" every year in order to extract insanely high retransmission consent fees from cable and satellite companies, says a group dedicated to bringing those fees down.
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December 08, 2025
Tufts Student's Visa Record Must Be Restored, Judge Says
A Massachusetts federal judge on Monday ordered the government to reinstate Tufts University graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk's student visa record, finding she has already suffered irreparable harm, including missed professional and academic opportunities, from her record's termination following detention by immigration officers in March.
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December 08, 2025
7th Circ. Mulls Vagueness Of Ill. DOC's Use-Of-Force Rule
A Seventh Circuit judge said Monday that it wasn't the court's job to determine if three fired prison guards violated their employer's use-of-force rule during their violent encounter with a prisoner, and that the court's review was limited to whether the Illinois Department of Corrections imposed an unconstitutionally vague policy.
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December 08, 2025
Conservative Justices Probe 'Husk' Of FTC Firing Protections
The U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority pushed back Monday against the 90-year-old precedent permitting the removal only for cause of Federal Trade Commission members, and perhaps those serving other independent agencies, calling those safeguards a "dried husk" and wondering where to draw the line for protected agencies.
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December 08, 2025
1st Circ. Keeps Planned Parenthood Funding Ban In Place
The First Circuit on Monday issued an administrative stay that temporarily keeps in place a ban on Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, pausing a lower court's ruling.
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December 08, 2025
Colo. Supreme Court Sets New Anti-SLAPP Test
Colorado's high court issued an opinion Monday creating a two-step analysis for judges to conduct when evaluating anti-SLAPP motions to dismiss in defamation cases after issuing a ruling against a Colorado Springs-based veterinary clinic suing two women who published negative reviews about it on social media.
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December 08, 2025
District Can't Get News Station's Docs In Principal Firing Case
A Colorado federal judge on Monday denied Denver Public Schools' motion to compel a local news station to hand over unaired interview footage and other unpublished documents provided to the station by a former DPS principal who alleges the district fired him over a TV news interview.
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December 08, 2025
Immigrant Class Certified In Guantánamo Detention Suit
A D.C. federal court certified a class of noncitizens challenging their detentions at Guantánamo Bay before removal, finding the Immigration and Nationality Act likely doesn't authorize the Trump administration to hold them there.
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December 08, 2025
Amazon, UL Say Chinese Cos. Lied About E-Bike Safety Tests
Amazon and product safety organization UL are accusing a number of Chinese firms of falsely promoting their electric scooters and e-bikes as certified by UL despite never actually having their products tested by the 131-year-old safety group.
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December 08, 2025
What To Do When Jurors Don't 'Trust The Science'
The pandemic and initiatives from the second administration of President Donald Trump challenging decades of established scientific norms have made science more politicized, and attorneys say picking a jury and presenting scientific evidence is increasingly challenging.
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December 08, 2025
Barclays Accused Of 'Vague' Account Closure Notifications
A Barclays PLC subsidiary was hit Sunday with a proposed customer class action in California federal court accusing it of illegally shutting down accounts and providing only vague explanations for the closures, allegations that echo claims of so-called debanking that have been in the national spotlight.
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December 08, 2025
NC Tribe's Fed Recognition Included In National Defense Bill
Congressional leaders have included a bill in the proposed 2026 National Defense Authorization Act that would give federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.
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December 08, 2025
Tax Court Rejects Telecom Co.'s $3M Bankruptcy Deductions
A telecommunications company cannot deduct over $3 million as a loss tied to a subsidiary's bankruptcy proceedings, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Monday, holding that the amount must be reported as capitalized expenditures because both businesses share the same owners.
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December 08, 2025
EU Clears Mars' $36B Deal For Pringles Maker After Probe
European competition enforcers approved snack food and candy giant Mars Inc.'s planned $35.9 billion purchase of Cheez-It and Pringles maker Kellanova, after an in-depth review found the move would not give the combined company too much leverage over retailers.
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December 08, 2025
Pentagon Spectrum Veto Left Out Of Defense Bill
Military leaders will not have the option of blocking the transfer of certain spectrum blocks to the private sector under the latest version of a massive defense authorization for fiscal year 2026.
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December 08, 2025
Afghan, Iraqi Allies Urge Judge To Enforce Visa Processing
A certified class of Afghan and Iraqi nationals urged a D.C. federal judge to enforce a court-approved plan for the U.S. government to make headway on its extensive delays processing special immigrant visa applications from people who assisted troops overseas.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Law School's Missed Lessons: Networking 101
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.
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Defeating Estoppel-Based Claims In Legal Malpractice Actions
State supreme court cases from recent years have addressed whether positions taken by attorneys in an underlying lawsuit can be used against them in a subsequent legal malpractice action, providing a foundation to defeat ex-clients’ estoppel claims, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin and Lodgen.
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Takeaways As Justices Let 5th Circ. Pollution Ruling Stand
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent certiorari denial leaves intact a Fifth Circuit ruling that environmental justice organizations have standing to pursue a civil rights challenge to a parish's land-use practice, underscoring the importance of local governments proactively engaging with communities to address cumulative impacts of development, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.
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AI's Role In Google Antitrust Suit May Reshape Tech Markets
The evolution of AI in retail has reshaped the U.S.' antitrust case against Google, which could both benefit small business innovators and consumers, and fundamentally alter future antitrust cases, including the Federal Trade Commission's lawsuit against Amazon, says Graham Dufault at ACT.
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Series
The Biz Court Digest: How It Works In Massachusetts
Since its founding in 2000, the Massachusetts Business Litigation Session's expertise, procedural flexibility and litigant-friendly case management practices have contributed to the development of a robust body of commercial jurisprudence, say James Donnelly at Mirick O’Connell, Felicia Ellsworth at WilmerHale and Lisa Wood at Foley Hoag.
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Next Steps For DOE's Large-Load Interconnection Reforms
The U.S. Department of Energy's recent letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission may mark a substantial expansion of FERC's open-access framework for large-load facilities, though the proposed timeline for the rulemaking appears to be extraordinarily short, say attorneys at Davis Wright.
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Adapting To Calif.'s Enhanced Regulation Of PE In Healthcare
New California legislation enhances oversight on the role of private equity groups and hedge funds in healthcare transactions, featuring both a highly targeted nature and vague language that will require organizations to carefully evaluate existing practices, says Andrew Demetriou at Husch Blackwell.
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What To Note In OCC, FDIC Plan To Standardize Supervision
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s recent proposals to standardize the meaning of "unsafe or unsound practice" and revise the process for issuing matters requiring attention could significantly narrow the scope of activities that spawn enforcement actions, says Brendan Clegg at Luse Gorman.
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How The SEC May Overhaul Its Order Protection Rule
Attorneys at Skadden trace the evolution of the controversial Rule 611 of Regulation National Market System, examine the current debate surrounding its effectiveness, and consider how the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's emerging Project Crypto initiative could reshape Regulation NMS for a tokenized, on-chain market environment.
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State Child Privacy Laws May Put More Cos. In FTC's Reach
Starting with Texas in January, several new state laws requiring app stores to share user age-related information with developers will likely subject significantly more companies to the Federal Trade Commission’s child privacy rules, altering their compliance obligations, say attorneys at Womble Bond.
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Why Appellees Should Write Their Answering Brief First
Though counterintuitive, appellees should consider writing their answering briefs before they’ve ever seen their opponent’s opening brief, as this practice confers numerous benefits related to argument structure, time pressures and workflow, says Joshua Sohn at the U.S. Department of Justice.
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FTC Focus: M&A Approvals A Year After Trump's Election
The Federal Trade Commission merger-enforcement regime a year since President Donald Trump's election shows how merger approvals have been expedited by the triaging out of more deals, grants for early termination of the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period, and zeroing in on preparing solutions for the biggest problems, say attorneys at Proskauer.
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AG Watch: DC Faces Congressional Push To End Elected Role
Given the current structural tension between D.C.'s local autonomy and congressional plenary power, legal and business entities operating in the district should maintain focus on local enforcement gaps, and monitor the legislative process closely, says Lauren Cooper at Hogan Lovells.
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Navigating DEA Quotas: Key To Psychedelics Industry Growth
As new compounds like DOI enter the Schedule I landscape, manufacturers who anticipate U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration quota regulations, and build quota management into their broader strategy, will be best equipped to meet the growing demand, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell and Jaime Dwight at Promega.
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Game Not Over: Player Redshirt Suits Keep NCAA On Defense
A class action recently filed in Tennessee federal court highlights a trend of student-athlete challenges to the NCAA's four seasons eligibility rule following the historic House settlement in June, which altered revenue-sharing and players' name, image and likeness rights, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.