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Public Policy
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December 19, 2025
Trump's Cannabis Order: The Impact On Hemp And Research
President Donald Trump's executive order Thursday reignited an administrative process to reclassify marijuana as a less restricted drug, but its provisions touching on cannabis research and hemp-derived CBD are less obvious.
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December 19, 2025
Health Co. CEO Gets 15 Years In $1.4B Fraud Scheme
A Florida federal judge sentenced a software company CEO to 15 years in prison Friday for participating in a scheme to coordinate illegal medical kickbacks through an internet platform, an operation that resulted in $1.4 billion worth of false billings to Medicare and other insurers for unnecessary medical products.
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December 19, 2025
Coinbase Sues 3 States Over Event Contract Regulation
Illinois, Connecticut and Michigan have been sued by cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase over their attempts to regulate the trading platform's prediction market offerings, with the firm arguing that the states are trying to unlawfully apply their gambling laws to federally regulated transactions that are under the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
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December 19, 2025
23 AGs Oppose FCC's Possible AI Law Preemption
Nearly two dozen state attorneys general joined forces to urge the Federal Communications Commission not to issue a ruling that would preempt state-level regulation of artificial intelligence technologies, arguing in a comment letter that the agency lacks such authority.
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December 19, 2025
NY Judge Urged To Deny Pot Club Owners' Reconsideration
A New York federal judge shouldn't reconsider an order that allowed state law enforcement to continue conducting searches and seizures of Empire Cannabis Clubs locations and shutting them down, state officials argued Friday, saying the business owners failed to add anything new for the court to examine.
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December 19, 2025
4 Stories That Shaped Civil Rights, Access To Justice In 2025
Civil rights and access to justice advocates faced mounting pressure in 2025, as President Donald Trump's return to office drove aggressive immigration enforcement, deep cuts to criminal justice funding, renewed Supreme Court scrutiny of the Voting Rights Act, and a steep increase in executions.
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December 19, 2025
X Can Still Sue Media Matters In Ireland, 9th Circ. Rules
The Ninth Circuit on Friday vacated a California federal judge's injunction that blocked X Corp.'s ongoing lawsuit against left-leaning watchdog Media Matters in Ireland over an allegedly defamatory article, saying Media Matters waited too long before seeking to bring the case to the Golden State and thus prejudiced X.
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December 19, 2025
Mamdani Taps Ex-Biden DOL Chief For 'Economic Justice' Job
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani on Friday named Julie Su, acting labor secretary during the Biden administration, to serve as the city's first deputy mayor for economic justice, a move that was welcomed by labor unions.
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December 19, 2025
FTC Says Building Service Contractor Will End No-Hire Pacts
The Federal Trade Commission is continuing to show interest in labor market issues, reaching a deal on Friday alongside New Jersey state enforcers that bars Adamas Amenity Services LLC from enforcing no-hire agreements with building owners.
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December 19, 2025
Squires Issues 21 More Patent Review Denials
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has denied 21 requests for America Invents Act patent reviews, while not agreeing to institute any new proceedings.
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December 19, 2025
Diversity Visa Pause Is Latest Hit To Legal Immigration
The Trump administration's pause of the green card lottery after the Brown University shooting suspect was shown to have entered the U.S. through the program marks the latest in a rapid series of moves to curb legal immigration on security grounds.
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December 19, 2025
Court Nixes Labor Requirements From Army Corps Contract
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims granted a construction company's request to strike negotiated labor prices and work terms from a hurricane-mitigation contract with the Army Corps of Engineers, finding the requirements were unrelated to the project's needs.
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December 19, 2025
Justices Let Immigration Judges' Free Speech Suit Continue
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the Trump administration has failed to show it will be irreparably harmed by a Fourth Circuit decision that revived immigration judges' lawsuit challenging restrictions on their ability to speak publicly.
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December 19, 2025
NLRB Prosecutors Drop Challenge To SpaceX Severance Pact
National Labor Relations Board prosecutors have dropped a challenge to SpaceX's severance agreement that spurred a fight over the agency's constitutionality, telling a Texas federal judge that "further proceedings would not effectuate the purposes of the National Labor Relations Act."
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December 19, 2025
Veolia Hit With $4M Overcharge Claim By NJ Borough
A Garden State municipality is suing Veolia Water New Jersey Inc. and two affiliated entities in state court, alleging the private water provider orchestrated a yearslong scheme to falsify consumption data, manipulate meter readings and induce the town into paying millions more for water than it actually used.
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December 19, 2025
Calif. Appeals Court Upholds Los Angeles' Mansion Tax
A property transfer tax that adds 4% to 5.5% to the cost of Los Angeles real estate deals of more than $5 million is legal under the U.S. and California constitutions, a state appeals panel ruled, upholding a trial court.
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December 19, 2025
Green Groups Sue Over Interior's Environmental Policy Shift
Two conservation groups are asking a Northern California federal district court to vacate an interim U.S. Department of the Interior final rule that rescinds decades-old environmental policies concerning the public's right to participate in reviews for logging, drilling and other industrial projects on public lands.
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December 19, 2025
Bill Shields Public Housing Tenants Using Legal Pot
A pair of Democratic lawmakers from the House and Senate have introduced a bill that would prohibit landlords who take federal funding from evicting tenants or denying applicants just because they use or possess marijuana in a state where it is legal.
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December 19, 2025
Medical, School Groups Seek Order Halting $100K Visa Fee
A medical practice in rural North Carolina and other employers asked a federal judge Friday to block enforcement of the Trump administration's $100,000 fee on H-1B visas, arguing the "massive" fee hike will inflict irreparable harm on their communities.
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December 19, 2025
Judge Weighs Trump's Immunity Claim In Riot Lawsuit
Pres. Donald Trump's immunity from liability for his actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol was once again argued in D.C. federal court Friday, this time in the civil context as lawmakers suing Trump fought his bid to exit their long-running suit.
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December 19, 2025
Florida Supreme Court To Review Pot Legalization Effort
The Florida Supreme Court has agreed to weigh whether a new proposal to legalize retail marijuana via ballot initiative complies with the state's constitution.
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December 19, 2025
Ill. Judge Affirms $2.6M Verdict For Fired Court Clerk Workers
An Illinois federal judge has refused to order a new trial or alter a roughly $2.6 million damages award after a jury sided with three former employees of the Lake County Circuit Court Clerk's Office who claimed they were fired by the new clerk for campaigning for the incumbent she defeated in the 2016 election.
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December 19, 2025
More Pardon Seekers Going 'Straight To The White House'
A nonprofit's unusual plan to make a mass pardon request directly to the Trump administration highlights burgeoning optimism among white collar defendants about their chances of securing relief, and a recognition that the clearest path to clemency no longer runs through the traditional channels.
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December 19, 2025
Federal Courts Not Subject To FOIA, DC Judge Rules
The conservative litigation group America First Legal Foundation cannot demand documents from the federal Judicial Conference of the U.S. and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Freedom of Information Act because they are not executive agencies, a D.C. federal judge ruled Thursday.
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December 19, 2025
IRS Relaxes Carbon Capture Credit's Environmental Reporting
The Internal Revenue Service released guidance Friday easing the carbon capture tax credit's environmental reporting requirements, taking effect by the end of the year, for energy systems that permanently secure the emissions in geological locations, such as deep underground rock formations.
Expert Analysis
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Perspectives
Justice Requires Excluding Manner Of Death As Evidence
A recent report showing that the unstandardized and subjective U.S. system of medicolegal death investigations contributes to unjust convictions should prompt courts and lawmakers to reject manner of death testimony in favor of more transparent and testable forensic evidence, say Peter Neufeld and Isabelle Cohn at the Innocence Project.
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The SEC Whistleblower Program A Year Into 2nd Trump Admin
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's whistleblower program continues to operate as designed, but its internal cadence, scrutiny of claims and operational structure reflect a period of recalibration, with precision mattering more than ever, say attorneys Scott Silver and David Chase.
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Autonomous Vehicle Liability Trends To Watch In 2026
With autonomous vehicles increasingly making their own decisions, the liability landscape for AVs has changed over the past year — highlighting a number of important issues that companies and practitioners should keep a close eye on in 2026, says Farid Yaghoubtil at Downtown LA Law Group.
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Key Crypto Class Action Trends And Rulings In 2025
As the law continued to take shape in the growing area of crypto-assets, this year saw a jump in crypto class action litigation, including noteworthy decisions on motions to compel arbitration and class certification, according to Justin Donoho at Duane Morris.
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New Russia Energy Sanctions Add Compliance Complexity
Recent U.S. and U.K. designations of Russian oil companies and related entities, as well as a new sanctions package from EU, mark a significant escalation in restrictions on the Russian energy industry and add a new layer of regulatory complications for companies operating in the global energy sector, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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6 Laws For Calif. Employers To Know In 2026
California's legislative changes for 2026 impose sweeping new obligations on employers, including by expanding pay data reporting, clarifying protections related to bias mitigation training and broadening record access rights, but employers can avoid heightened exposure by proactively evaluating their compliance, modernizing internal systems and updating policies, says Alexa Foley at Gordon Rees.
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How New SEC Policies Shift Shareholder Proposal Landscape
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins' recent remarks provide a road map for public companies to exclude nonbinding shareholder proposals from proxy materials, which would disrupt the mechanism that has traditionally defined how shareholders and companies engage on governance matters, say attorneys at Gunderson.
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NBA, MLB Betting Indictments: Slam Dunks Or Strikeouts?
Recent fraud charges against bettors, NBA players and MLB pitchers raise questions about what the government will need to prove to prosecute individuals involved in placing bets based on nonpublic information, and it could be a tough sell to juries, say attorneys at Ford O'Brien.
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Tracking The Evolution Of AI Insurance Regulation In 2025
As artificial intelligence continues to transform the insurance industry, including underwriting, pricing, claims processing and customer engagement, state regulators, led by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, are increasing oversight to ensure that innovation does not outpace consumer protections, say attorneys at Fenwick.
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Series
Knitting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Stretching my skills as a knitter makes me a better antitrust attorney by challenging me to recalibrate after wrong turns, not rush outcomes, and trust that I can teach myself the skills to tackle new and difficult projects — even when I don’t have a pattern to work from, says Kara Kuritz at V&E.
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How 11th Circ.'s Qui Tam Review Could Affect FCA Litigation
On Dec. 12, the Eleventh Circuit will hear arguments in U.S. ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, setting the stage for a decision that could drastically reduce enforcement under the False Claims Act, and presenting an opportunity to seek U.S. Supreme Court review of the act's whistleblower provisions, say attorneys at Epstein Becker.
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Prepping For 2026 Shifts In Calif. Workplace Safety Rules
California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health is preparing for significant shifts and increased enforcement in 2026, so key safety programs — including injury and illness prevention plans, workplace violence plans, and heat illness prevention procedures — must remain a focus for employers, says Rachel Conn at Conn Maciel.
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Series
The Biz Court Digest: Welcome To Miami
After nearly 20 years in operation, the Miami Complex Business Litigation Division is a pioneer upon which other jurisdictions in the state have been modeled, adopting many innovations to keep its cases running more efficiently and staffing experienced judges who are accustomed to hearing business disputes, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
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How AI Exec Order May Tee Up Legal Fights With States
The Trump administration's draft executive order would allow it to challenge and withhold federal dollars from states with artificial intelligence laws, but until Congress passes comprehensive AI legislation, states may have to defend their regulatory frameworks in extended litigation, says Charles Mills, a clerk at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.
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Recent Proposals May Spell Supervision Overhaul For Banks
A slew of rules recently proposed by the federal banking agencies with approaching comment deadlines would rewrite supervision standards to be further tailored to banks' size and activities, while prioritizing financial risks over process, documentation and other nonfinancial risks, say attorneys at Davis Wright.