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Public Policy

  • September 05, 2025

    SEC Lost Year's Worth Of Gary Gensler Texts, Watchdog Says

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission made "avoidable errors" that caused the agency to lose all text messages sent and received by former chair Gary Gensler for nearly a year of his tenure, some of which haven't been recovered, according to a report from the SEC's Office of Inspector General.

  • September 05, 2025

    DC Circ. Won't Halt Order Releasing Billions In Foreign Aid

    Both a divided D.C. Circuit panel and a district court judge Friday refused to hit pause on the judge's recent order requiring the Trump administration to release billions of dollars in frozen foreign aid.

  • September 05, 2025

    Feds Say Supreme Court Trumps 9th Circ.'s UC Grant Ruling

    The Trump administration has urged the Ninth Circuit to reconsider a panel decision that upheld an order to reinstate University of California research grants terminated by the White House, saying the U.S. Supreme Court subsequently contradicted the panel's holding in a "materially identical" case.

  • September 05, 2025

    Stewart Tackles Markets, Injunctions In Newest PTAB Reviews

    Acting U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Coke Morgan Stewart released 14 institution decisions in the last week, providing more insight on the scope of settled expectations and the impact of a district court preliminary injunction.

  • September 05, 2025

    Trump Admin Says Enviro Groups Can't Block GHG Report

    The Trump administration has told a Massachusetts federal judge that a lawsuit challenging its formation of a climate change science advisory panel is a misguided ploy to undermine the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's impending reconsideration of the harms of greenhouse gases.

  • September 05, 2025

    Temu Hit With $2M Penalty In FTC's 1st INFORM Act Case

    The operator of Chinese e-commerce platform Temu has agreed to pay $2 million to resolve the Federal Trade Commission's inaugural enforcement action under the INFORM Consumers Act, which requires online marketplaces to provide customers with certain information and tools to combat counterfeit goods offered by high-volume third-party sellers. 

  • September 05, 2025

    Trump Plan For Nat'l Guard In Chicago Sparks Legal Concerns

    President Donald Trump's plan to send the National Guard to Chicago over the objections of Illinois' governor could face similar legal hurdles as his use of the military in Los Angeles to quell protests over immigration raids, with some experts and local officials suggesting he may try to use an impending immigration crackdown in the city to justify a similar deployment.

  • September 05, 2025

    Democrat Slaughter Asks Justices To Let Her Stay On FTC

    Democratic Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday not to pause her reinstatement while the Trump administration challenges lower court decisions holding that her firing was illegal, saying those decisions were plainly correct and she's in no danger of sowing "chaos."

  • September 05, 2025

    SEC, CFTC Set Sights On Crypto In Regulatory Collab

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Friday they are moving forward with a broad regulatory harmonization effort that they hope will encourage innovation in growing markets, and lawyers tell Law360 they expect the focus to be writing rules governing the crypto sector.

  • September 05, 2025

    Calif. Judge Preserves TPS For Venezuelans, Haitians

    A California federal judge on Friday set aside the Trump administration's swift attempt to unwind temporary protected status for Venezuela and Haiti, finding the executive branch exceeded its authority by vacating Biden-era TPS extensions and faulting it for rushing to terminate designations.

  • September 05, 2025

    Judge Doubts DOE Stance On Ending Mental Health Grants

    A Seattle federal judge hinted on Friday that 16 states have valid claims against the U.S. Department of Education for arbitrarily discontinuing mental health funding for public schools, expressing frustration with the federal government's argument that it could terminate grant funding the same way it could fire a landscaper under contract.  

  • September 05, 2025

    FTC Drops Appeal For Rule Banning Noncompetes

    The Federal Trade Commission officially abandoned its appeal Friday in a case that set aside a Biden administration rule banning the use of most employee noncompete clauses, but the agency said it plans to bring enforcement actions on a case-by-case basis instead.

  • September 05, 2025

    NJ Court Won't Push Affordable Housing Project Through

    A New Jersey state appeals court affirmed Friday that a developer can't bypass a municipality's zoning rules and obtain approvals for an affordable housing project, even though the development is part of the municipality's plan to meet its affordable housing obligations.

  • September 05, 2025

    9th Circ. Deems COVID Jobless Pay Constitutionally Protected

    A Ninth Circuit panel has ruled a Washington state resident has standing to bring a proposed class action against the Washington State Employment Security Department for allegedly underpaying COVID-era benefits, declaring the plaintiff's property interest in the benefits is constitutionally protected.

  • September 05, 2025

    Top Groups Lobbying The FCC

    Lobbying slowed toward the end of the dog days, but the Federal Communications Commission heard from advocates nearly 100 times in August on issues like next-generation TV, satellite spectrum rules and 900 megahertz broadband.

  • September 05, 2025

    Judge Grills Gov't On Details Of IRS-ICE Info-Sharing Deal

    A D.C. senior judge pressed a government attorney Friday over the specifics of the IRS' disclosure of tax return information to immigration enforcement agencies, saying the details were crucial to weighing a coalition of organizations' bid to block the practice.

  • September 05, 2025

    FDA Explains Rejection Of MDMA Therapy For Treating PTSD

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration rejected a historic new drug application to treat post-traumatic stress disorder with the psychedelic MDMA due to concerns with the drug's safety and effectiveness and with the design of the clinical trials behind the bid, according to an agency letter made public Thursday.

  • September 05, 2025

    DOJ Defends Expert Who Says Agri Stats Helps Hike Prices

    The U.S. Department of Justice pushed back on Agri Stats' efforts to strike key testimony from an economist backing Minnesota federal court allegations that turkey, chicken and pork producers "use Agri Stats information to raise prices on customers," arguing the company made "fundamental mistakes" about the analysis.

  • September 05, 2025

    3rd Circ. Affirms Feds' Primacy Over Pa. Grid Project

    The Third Circuit ruled in a precedential decision on Friday that the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission's blocking of a transmission line project in the state was unconstitutional because it hampered federal objectives, affirming a lower court's ruling that the commission lacked the authority to halt construction.

  • September 05, 2025

    Miner Must Show Why Chuckwalla Suit Belongs In Mich.

    A Michigan federal judge has ordered a Michigan resident challenging the Chuckwalla National Monument's protected status to show why the lawsuit should remain in the Great Lakes State, suggesting that the case seems to fit better in California where the vast desert acreage is located.

  • September 05, 2025

    Former Boston Pol Gets 1 Month For Kickback Scheme

    A former Boston city councilor was sentenced on Friday to a month in prison for a public corruption scheme in which she demanded a $7,000 kickback from an employee bonus at a time she was facing a state ethics commission fine.

  • September 05, 2025

    Ex-Ill. Speaker Asks 7th Circ. To Stay Prison Term For Appeal

    Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has asked the Seventh Circuit to stay his impending surrender to serve a seven-year prison sentence for bribery and wire fraud as he appeals that conviction to the appellate court, saying his appeal is likely to succeed. 

  • September 05, 2025

    Ga. Ban On Trans Prisoner Healthcare Paused, Class Certified

    A Georgia federal judge has reached what he described as a "straightforward" decision to temporarily pause the state's law banning the use of state resources for hormone replacement therapies for transgender state prisoners, and is considering granting the plaintiffs' request for permanent injunctive relief.

  • September 05, 2025

    Mo. House Resolution Seeks Vote On Narrowed Property Tax

    Missouri would ask voters to decide if the state should amend its constitution to designate real property as the only property classified for property tax purposes under a joint resolution filed in the state House of Representatives and submitted to a special legislative committee Friday.

  • September 05, 2025

    Ore. Court Finds Claim For Tax Sale Proceeds Untimely

    An Oregon county violated the U.S. Constitution when it retained the surplus proceeds of a tax sale, a state appeals court ruled, but the property owner's claim for the funds was untimely and a lower court was correct to dismiss it.

Expert Analysis

  • SAM Update May Ease Tricky Timing Technicalities

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    The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council's recent rule update, clarifying the System for Award Management's registration requirement, may reduce the number of disqualifications and bid protests resulting from minor lapses, but government contractors should still implement​ procedures t​o ensure early submission​ of registration renewals, say attorneys at Butzel Long.

  • Evaluating The SEC's Rising Whistleblower Denial Rate

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    The rising trend of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission whistleblower award claim denials represents a departure from the SEC's previous track record and may reflect a more conservative approach to whistleblower award determinations under the current administration, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • State Crypto Regs Diverge As Federal Framework Dawns

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    Following the Genius Act's passage, states like California, New York and Wyoming are racing to set new standards for crypto governance, creating both opportunity and risk for digital asset firms as innovation flourishes in some jurisdictions while costly friction emerges in others, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • How 2nd Circ. Cannabis Ruling Upends NY Licensing

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    A recent Second Circuit decision in Variscite NY Four v. New York, holding that New York's extra-priority cannabis licensing preference for applicants with in-state marijuana convictions violates the dormant commerce clause, underscores that state-legal cannabis markets remain subject to the same constitutional constraints as other economic markets, say attorneys at Harris Beach.

  • Key Insurance Coverage Considerations For AI Data Centers

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    The burgeoning artificial intelligence industry has sparked a surge in data center projects — a trend likely to be accelerated by the White House's AI Action Plan — but with these complex facilities come equally complex risks, engendering important insurance coverage considerations, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Parenting Skills That Can Help Lawyers Thrive Professionally

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    As kids head back to school, the time is ripe for lawyers who are parents to consider how they can incorporate their parenting skills to build a deep, meaningful and sustainable legal practice, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Unpacking The New Opportunity Zone Tax Incentive Program

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    The One Big Beautiful Bill Act brought several improvements to the opportunity zone tax incentive program that should boost investments in qualified funds, including making it permanent, increasing federal income tax benefits in rural areas, redesignating the qualified zones, and requiring more in-depth reporting, says Marc Schultz at Snell & Wilmer.

  • Series

    Teaching Trial Advocacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    Teaching trial advocacy skills to other lawyers makes us better litigators because it makes us question our default methods, connect to young attorneys with new perspectives and focus on the needs of the real people at the heart of every trial, say Reuben Guttman, Veronica Finkelstein and Joleen Youngers.

  • What New sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Oversight Limits Would Mean For 4 Markets

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    As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau continues to centralize its resources, proposals to alter the definition of larger market participants in the automobile financing, international money transfer, consumer reporting and consumer debt collection markets would reduce the scope of the bureau's oversight, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • MIT Bros.' Crypto Charges Provide Fraud Test Case For Gov't

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    As U.S. v. Peraire-Bueno, involving cryptocurrency fraud charges against brothers who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, moves forward after surviving a motion to dismiss, the case provides an early example of how the government might use the federal fraud statutes to regulate decentralized networks, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Navigating Brazil's Regulations, Incentives For Green Projects

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    Brazil's evolving environmental regulatory framework and ongoing moves to attract international capital for climate-focused projects may appeal to U.S.-based companies and investors interested in sustainable development — but taking advantage of these opportunities requires careful planning and meaningful stakeholder engagement, says Milena Angulo at Guimarães.

  • Federal AI Action Plan Marks A Shift For Health And Bio Fields

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    The Trump administration's recent artificial intelligence action plan significantly expands federal commitments across biomedical agencies, defining a pivotal moment for attorneys and others involved in research collaborations, managing regulatory compliance and AI-related intellectual property, says Mehrin Masud-Elias at Arnold & Porter.

  • Potential Paths To Modernizing The Bank Secrecy Act

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    The Bank Secrecy Act's analog design has become increasingly incompatible with today's digital financial ecosystem, but legislative reforms, coupled with regulatory adjustments including updated thresholds, feedback mechanisms and innovation sandboxes, would help adjust the act to the unique challenges of modern technology, says Matthew Biben at King & Spalding.

  • Definitions Of 'Waters Of The United States' Ebb And Flow

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    The issue of defining whether "waters of the United States" include streams and channels that sometimes have water and sometimes do not has been fraught since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2006 Rapanos decision, but a possible new rule may help property owners stay out of court, says Neal McAliley at Carlton Fields.

  • Trump Tax Law's Most Impactful Energy Changes

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    The One Big Beautiful Bill Act's deferral of begin-construction deadlines and the phaseout of certain energy tax credits will provide emerging technologies with welcome breathing room, though other changes, like the increased credit rate for sustainable aviation fuel, create challenges for developers, say attorneys at Weil.

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