Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Public Policy
-
November 18, 2025
USPTO Petitioners Can Detail How They Found Prior Art
The head of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has told all users of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that there will be a new option for patent challengers to explain how they found prior art they allege renders a patent invalid.
-
November 18, 2025
Ill. Justices Mull If Permits Override Pollution Exclusions
Counsel for a sterilization company and its former parent seeking defense costs for hundreds of lawsuits over ethylene oxide emissions at a suburban Chicago facility urged the Illinois Supreme Court on Tuesday to find a pollution exclusion in their insurance policy doesn't apply to emissions allowed under a state permit, insisting the policyholders are not polluters under Illinois law or "in the general sense of the word."
-
November 18, 2025
Lower Costs No Cause For VA To Shirk Trade Act, Judge Says
A federal judge said the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs can't use the lower cost of drugs from countries not designated under the Trade Agreements Act to reject the higher prices of companies that propose to source them from compliant countries.
-
November 18, 2025
Judge Details Reasons For Goldstein's Pretrial Motion Losses
A Maryland federal judge explained in further detail Tuesday her decision against SCOTUSblog co-founder Tom Goldstein on several motions seeking to trim his tax evasion case as it heads to trial next year.
-
November 18, 2025
NY AG James Blasts 'Outrageous Conduct' Behind Indictment
New York Attorney General Letitia A. James has told a Virginia federal court to dismiss the U.S. government's indictment of her, calling it "patently unconstitutional" and "outrageous conduct."
-
November 18, 2025
Federal Watchdog Funds Released After Bipartisan Pushback
The independent agency for federal watchdogs has been brought back to life with the White House budget office restoring its funding.
-
November 18, 2025
NPR Wins $36M Grant As CPB Backs Off Plan To Cut Funds
National Public Radio and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting have reached a settlement to keep nearly $36 million in public radio satellite interconnection funds with NPR, as CPB agreed not to implement an executive order requiring it to cut off NPR funding unless ordered to do so by a court.
-
November 18, 2025
Judge Questions If Trump's Say-So Makes Wind Edict Legal
A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday lamented a lack of clear guidance from higher courts as she considered whether wind farm permits can be put on hold indefinitely based solely on a directive from the president.
-
November 18, 2025
Republican Senators Seek Judge Boasberg's Suspension
Six Republican senators, three of whom sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, are asking that Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg聽of the District of Columbia be administratively suspended while Congress considers his impeachment.
-
November 18, 2025
New York Disputes Magistrate's Report In Tribal Thruway Row
New York is opposing a recommendation that would give a win to the Seneca Nation and force negotiations over a portion of a thruway that runs through the tribe's reservation, arguing that the report relies on a narrow interpretation of Sherrill laches in contrast to Second Circuit characterization.
-
November 18, 2025
San Francisco Nurses Can't Challenge FLSA OT Exemption
Nurses who claim that the city of San Francisco failed to pay them the proper overtime rates fall under a Fair Labor Standards Act exemption, a California federal judge ruled, finding summary judgment necessary following a sanctions order limiting the nurses' evidence.
-
November 18, 2025
Missouri Federal Judge To Take Senior Status
U.S. District Judge Douglas Harpool of the Western District of Missouri has given notice he will take senior status upon the confirmation of state Judge Megan Benton, whose nomination to the federal bench President Donald Trump announced Friday.
-
November 18, 2025
NJ Township Seeks To Revise $2.5B DuPont PFAS Settlement
Carneys Point Township, New Jersey, is aiming to intervene in the state's federal suit against E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. and others over PFAS contamination, saying a settlement of more than $2.5 billion interferes with its own claims against the company.
-
November 18, 2025
Insurer Needn't Cover LA Zoo Org. In City Contract Dispute
An insurer doesn't owe coverage to the Los Angeles Zoo's nonprofit arm in a contractual dispute brought by the city, a California federal court has ruled, finding that all claims are excluded under the association's nonprofit asset protection policy.
-
November 18, 2025
Ind. Tax Court Nixes 'Less Egregious' Assessment For Kohl's
An Indiana tax board erred when it relied on flawed appraisals of a Kohl's department store prepared by experts and chose the "somewhat less egregious" arguments of the company in lowering the valuations by nearly half, the state tax court said.
-
November 18, 2025
Judge Punts FTC Suit Over Meta's Instagram, WhatsApp Buys
A federal antitrust campaign against major technology platforms suffered a significant blow Tuesday with a D.C. federal judge's rejection of a Federal Trade Commission suit accusing Meta Platforms of illegally monopolizing social media through its purchases of WhatsApp and Instagram.
-
November 18, 2025
Judge Upholds NY Law Blocking ICE Courthouse Arrests
New York beat back a federal lawsuit challenging the state's policy barring immigration officials from arresting people near its courthouses, after a federal judge rejected the U.S. Department of Justice's preemption claims.
-
November 17, 2025
DHS Says Proposed Public Charge Rule To Undo 'Straitjacket'
The Trump administration on Monday unveiled a proposed rule to broaden U.S. Department of Homeland Security officers' discretion in deeming visa or green card seekers inadmissible if they're likely to depend on government benefits, saying current regulations are overly restrictive.
-
November 17, 2025
Fed's Cook Slams 'Pretextual' Mortgage Fraud Accusations
Federal Reserve Board Gov. Lisa Cook on Monday hit back at federal officials' allegations she committed mortgage fraud, criticizing the "baseless" accusations as "pretextual justifications" for President Donald Trump and his allies "to investigate anyone whom they view as an obstacle to the administration's political and economic agenda."
-
November 17, 2025
X Asks 9th Circ. To Let It Litigate Media Matters Suit In Ireland
X Corp. urged the Ninth Circuit on Monday to scrap an injunction blocking it from continuing to litigate its Irish-law defamation case against Media Matters in Ireland, arguing that the left-leaning watchdog waited too long to invoke a California forum-selection clause in X Corp.'s terms of service.
-
November 17, 2025
Advocacy Groups Push 9th Circ. To Uphold Fluoride Ruling
Advocacy groups that convinced a California federal judge to rule that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "optimal" level for fluoride in drinking water is not protective enough for children, told the Ninth Circuit Monday that there's no reason to disturb the decision.
-
November 17, 2025
Ill. ICE Detainees Win Class Cert. Over Facility Conditions
An Illinois federal judge said Monday that he will give class treatment to two civil immigration detainees' claims that they experienced "inhumane" conditions at a holding facility officials have allegedly used as a detention center during ramped-up enforcement operations.
-
November 17, 2025
AGs Seek To Freeze EPA Solar Grant Funds During Challenge
A coalition of states asked a Washington federal judge to maintain federal money for Solar for All grants during the pendency of their lawsuit challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to kill the program, arguing that they're likely to prevail on their claims that the agency can't legally claw back funds Congress already obligated.
-
November 17, 2025
Pot Co. To Pay Gov't $632K Over PPP Loan Case
A Washington-based marijuana producer agreed to pay more than $632,000 to the U.S. government over claims it obtained a forgivable loan, worth nearly $315,000, meant to aid businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the person who reported the company set to get 10% of the settlement.
-
November 17, 2025
DOJ Defends HPE Merger Deal As 'Prudent Compromise'
The Justice Department told a California federal judge to pay no heed to the "politicians and advocacy groups" opposing the controversial settlement clearing Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $14 billion purchase of Juniper Networks, arguing their concerns about improper lobbying influence are outside the scope of the court's review.
Expert Analysis
-
Using The GHG Protocol For California Climate Reporting
With the California Air Resources Board's recent announcement that entities subject to the state's climate disclosure laws can use the Greenhouse Gas Protocol as a standard for structured, auditable reporting, a review of methods, data sources and disclosures under the protocol is timely for compliance planning, says Thierry Montoya at Frost Brown.
-
Employer Considerations As Ill. Ends Mandatory Fact-Finding
Illinois recently eliminated mandatory fact-finding conferences, and while such meetings tend to benefit complainants, respondent employers should not dismiss them out of hand without conducting a thorough analysis of the risks and benefits, which will vary from case to case, says Kimberly Ross at FordHarrison.
-
Courts Are Still Grappling With McDonnell, 9 Years Later
The Seventh and D.C. Circuits鈥 recent decisions in U.S. v. Weiss and U.S. v. Paitsel, respectively, demonstrate that courts are still struggling to apply the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 2016 ruling in McDonnell v. U.S., which narrowed the scope of 鈥渙fficial acts鈥 in federal bribery cases, say attorneys at Quinn Emanuel.
-
Compliance Pointers Amid Domestic Terrorism Clampdown
A recent presidential memorandum marks a shift in federal domestic-terrorism enforcement that should prompt nonprofits to enhance diligence related to grantees, vendors and events, and financial institutions to shore up their internal resources for increased suspicious-activity monitoring and reporting obligations, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
-
Trump Tax Law Has Mixed Impacts On Commercial Real Estate
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act brings sweeping changes to the real estate industry 鈥 and while the permanency of opportunity zones and bonus depreciation creates predictability for some taxpayers, sunsetting incentives for renewable energy projects will leave others with hard choices, says Jordan Metzger at Cole Schotz.
-
CFTC, SEC Joint Statement Highlights New Unity On Crypto
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's recent joint statement announcing a cross-agency initiative enabling certain spot crypto-asset products to trade on regulated exchanges is the earliest and most visible instance of interagency cooperation on crypto regulation, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
-
Regulatory Uncertainties Loom As Fed Ends Crypto Oversight
The Federal Reserve Bank's recently ended crypto supervisory program headlines other recent federal actions from Congress, the White House and relevant agencies that may complicate financial institutions' digital-asset use and attendant compliance strategies, say attorneys at Buchalter.
-
What The New Nondomiciled-Trucker Rule Means For Carriers
A new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration interim final rule restricting states' issuance of commercial drivers licenses to nondomiciled drivers does not alter motor carriers' obligations to verify drivers' qualifications, but may create disruptions by reducing the number of eligible drivers, say attorneys at Benesch.
-
EU-US Data Transfer Ruling Offers Reassurance To Cos.
The European Union General Court鈥檚 recent upholding of the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework in Latombe v. European Commission, although subject to appeal, provides companies with legal certainty for the first time by allowing the transfer of European Economic Area personal data without relying on alternative mechanisms, say lawyers at Wilson Sonsini.
-
Opinion
SEC Arbitration Shift Is At Odds With Fraud Deterrence
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent statement allowing the use of mandatory arbitration by new publicly traded companies could result in higher legal costs, while removing the powerful deterrent impact of public lawsuits that have helped make the U.S. securities markets a model of transparency and fairness, say attorneys at Labaton Keller.
-
Drug Ad Crackdown Demonstrates Admin's Aggressive Stance
Recent actions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services targeting pharmaceutical companies' allegedly deceptive advertising practices signal an active 鈥 potentially even punitive 鈥 intent to regulate direct-to-consumer advertising out of existence, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
-
Protecting Sensitive Court Filings After Recent Cyber Breach
In the wake of a recent cyberattack on federal courts' Case Management/Electronic Case Files system, civil litigants should consider seeking enhanced protections for sensitive materials filed under seal to mitigate the risk of unauthorized exposure, say attorneys at Redgrave.
-
DOJ Chemical Seizure Shows Broad Civil Forfeiture Authority
The U.S. Department of Justice鈥檚 recent seizure of meth precursor chemicals en route from China to Mexico illustrates the U.S. government's powerful jurisdictional reach to seek forfeiture of cartel-related assets, and company compliance programs must take note, say attorneys at White & Case.
-
DOJ Settlement Offers Guide To Avoiding Key Antitrust Risks
The U.S. Justice Department's settlement with Greystar Management shows why parties looking to acquire companies that use pricing recommendation software should carefully examine whether the software algorithm and how it is used in the market create antitrust dangers, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
-
Unleashing LNG And Oil Exports With The Deepwater Port Act
The U.S. Department of Transportation and its Maritime Administration are now poised to use the streamlined licensing process of an existing statutory framework 鈥 the Deepwater Port Act 鈥 to approve proposed offshore terminals for exporting oil and liquefied natural gas, thus advancing the Trump administration's energy agenda, says Joanne Rotondi at Hogan Lovells.