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Public Policy

  • December 18, 2025

    NC Construction Exec Admits To $6M Bid-Rigging Scheme

    A North Carolina construction company executive pled guilty to a conspiracy to rig bids for maintenance and repair on U.S. military installations, according to a Wednesday press release from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Public Affairs.

  • December 18, 2025

    OMB Slammed With Suit Over Federal Watchdog Defunding

    A group of nonprofits sued the federal Office of Management and Budget this week to secure permanent funding for the independent agency for federal watchdogs, saying the office overstepped its authority in choosing to defund the organization.

  • December 18, 2025

    Ariz. Bill Would Bar Local Taxes On Residential Sales

    Arizona would retroactively bar local taxes on the sales of certain residential properties under legislation proposed in the state Senate.

  • December 18, 2025

    Judge Wants More Info On 1976 Memo In Philly Cops' OT Suit

    A Pennsylvania federal judge Thursday held off on deciding whether to send an overtime lawsuit against the city of Philadelphia, its police department and some of the department's leaders to trial, saying he needs additional details, including about a decades-old memorandum amending a civil service regulation.

  • December 18, 2025

    Compliance Chiefs' Enforcement Risks Didn't Ease Up In 2025

    The landscape for chief compliance officers' liability might relax a bit in the coming years as experts anticipate the Trump administration will rely less on a "failure to supervise" theory of liability that financial regulators used to target one chief compliance officer this year.

  • December 18, 2025

    Trump Orders Loosening Of Federal Restrictions On Marijuana

    President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that his administration would instruct federal agencies to loosen restrictions on cannabis via executive order, a historic acknowledgment from the executive branch that the drug has recognized medical uses.

  • December 18, 2025

    Pot Co. Says NY's 'Seed To Sale' Program Raises Costs

    A maker of cannabis products is suing New York's cannabis regulators, alleging that new 'seed-to-sale' tracking system will exponentially raise prices and is an unconstitutional overreach by the agency.

  • December 17, 2025

    Senate Sends $900B Defense Bill To Trump's Desk

    The U.S. Senate on Wednesday passed a $900.6 billion defense policy and budget bill for 2026, which includes a provision aimed at putting pressure on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to release unedited video of boat strikes carried out in international waters near Venezuela. 

  • December 17, 2025

    Trump Admin Asks Fed Whether It's Back In The Black

    The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday asked the Federal Reserve to confirm whether it has returned to profitability, a potential opening for the Trump administration to draw new funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after insisting none is available.

  • December 17, 2025

    9th Circ. Affirms DHS Officers' Fast-Track Removal Authority

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday upheld the denial of a Mexican citizen's bid to toss illegal reentry charges, rejecting arguments that a U.S. Department of Homeland Security "deciding service officer" unconstitutionally ordered his removal, while also clarifying that such officers who issue fast-track removal orders aren't subject to the U.S. Constitution's appointments clause.

  • December 17, 2025

    NJ Gov. Says Clemency Grants Exceed 300 Since Exec Order

    New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday announced that his office has surpassed 300 grants of clemency since he launched an effort last year to increase the legal relief provided to incarcerated and convicted people in the state.

  • December 17, 2025

    States, Groups Urge DC Circ. To Preserve EPA Soot Rule

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's request that the D.C. Circuit vacate a Biden-era soot rule is legally untenable and should be rejected, Democrat-led states and cities, along with health and environmental groups, told the court.

  • December 17, 2025

    5th Circ. Overturns 20-Year Sentence For Illegal Reentry

    A Fifth Circuit panel vacated a 20-year sentence imposed on a Mexican national for unlawful reentry, ruling Wednesday that prosecutors broke an informal agreement to support far lower sentencing guidelines if the man entered a guilty plea with no formal deal.

  • December 17, 2025

    Lawmakers Raise Concerns Over Nexstar's $6.2B Tegna Deal

    A group of Democratic lawmakers has urged federal enforcers to closely scrutinize Nexstar Media Group Inc.'s planned $6.2 billion purchase of rival broadcast company Tegna Inc. and to block the deal if they find it violates the law.

  • December 17, 2025

    DC Circ. Grants En Banc Hearing On sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Layoff Plan

    Additional D.C. Circuit judges will get to weigh in on the Trump administration's bid to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau through mass layoffs, after the appeals court granted the agency's employees' union an en banc rehearing on a lower court's injunction stopping the firings.

  • December 17, 2025

    Senate Dems, FCC Tangle Over Agency's 'Independent' Status

    The Federal Communications Commission's Republican chair faced off Wednesday against Senate Democrats, who accused him of trying to muffle dissenting political views and gutting the telecommunications regulator's longstanding independence.

  • December 17, 2025

    Halt Of Alien Enemies Contempt Probe To Test Judicial Power

    The D.C. Circuit's second halt of U.S. District Judge James Boasberg's contempt inquiry into the Trump administration's Alien Enemies Act deportations has set up a high-stakes fight over how far judges can go when the executive branch defies their orders.

  • December 17, 2025

    Shutdown Deal Bars Federal Firings Until Feb., Judge Says

    A California federal judge said Wednesday she'll grant a preliminary injunction barring layoffs of federal workers from several agencies before Jan. 30, saying legislation that ended the government shutdown prohibits the layoffs, but she added she might pause her order while the government appeals.

  • December 17, 2025

    20 States Back 10th Circ. Rehearing In Colo. Interest Rate Row

    Utah has led a group of 20 states in backing a push by banking groups for a full Tenth Circuit rehearing of their challenge to a Colorado law intended to curb high-cost lending in the state, saying a recent panel decision upholding the law harms states' interests.

  • December 17, 2025

    Energy Dept. Orders Wash. Coal Plant To Remain Open

    The U.S. Department of Energy has ordered Washington's sole coal-fired power plant to remain open through March 2026, despite a state law that requires utilities to stop using coal-fired electricity by year's end.

  • December 17, 2025

    UMich Says Allowing Protest Suit Would 'Eviscerate' Immunity

    An attorney representing the University of Michigan told a federal judge Wednesday that permitting a complaint from its former staffers, who alleged they were fired without due process for participating in protests in support of Palestinians in Gaza, to move forward would "eviscerate" immunity for major institutions.

  • December 17, 2025

    LSU Districts' Taxes Challenged For Not Getting Voter OK

    A former Louisiana councilperson filed a suit against two economic improvement districts associated with Louisiana State University on Wednesday, saying the jurisdictions failed to get taxpayer approval before raising sales taxes.

  • December 17, 2025

    Pentagon Must Justify JAG Firings Under New NDAA

    Under the annual defense policy bill that was sent to the president's desk on Wednesday, the Pentagon will have to explain its firings of military lawyers — a provision that comes after the Trump administration controversially dismissed its top military lawyers at the beginning of the year.

  • December 17, 2025

    Ex-Conn. Official Denied Hearing On Juror's Media Comment

    A former Connecticut schools construction official did not provide enough justification to warrant a post-conviction hearing to probe whether jurors were forthcoming about their exposure to press coverage of his public corruption case, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

  • December 17, 2025

    Bill Would Ease Copyright Registration For Visual Artists

    Visual artists would have a simplified and cheaper copyright registration process under a bill introduced Wednesday by Tennessee Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn.

Expert Analysis

  • In NY, Long COVID (Tolling) Still Applies

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    A series of pandemic-era executive orders in New York tolling state statutes of limitations for 228 days mean that many causes of action that appear time-barred on their face may continue to apply, including in federal practice, for the foreseeable future, say attorneys at Sher Tremonte.

  • Navigating The SEC's Evolving Foreign Private Issuer Regime

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    As the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reevaluates foreign private issuer eligibility, FPIs face not only incremental compliance costs but also a potential reshaping of listing strategies, capital access, enforcement exposure and global regulatory coordination, potential unintended effects that deserve further exploration, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • New Conn. Real Estate Laws Will Reshape Housing Landscape

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    With new legislation tackling Connecticut's real estate landscape, introducing critical new requirements and legal ambiguities that demand careful interpretation, legal counsel will have to navigate a significantly altered and more complex regulatory environment, say attorneys at Harris Beach.

  • USPTO Under Squires: A Look At The First Month

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    New U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires' opening acts — substantive and symbolic — signal a posture that is more welcoming to technological improvements and focused on rebalancing the office's gatekeeping role, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • Iran Sanctions Snapback Raises Global Compliance Risks

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    ​The reimplementation of U.N. sanctions targeting Iran’s nuclear program​, under a Security Council resolution​'s snapback mechanism, and​ related actions in Europe and the U.K., may change U.S. due diligence expectations and enforcement policies, particularly as they apply to non-U.S. businesses that do business with Iran, says John Sandage at Berliner Corcoran.

  • Hermes Bags Antitrust Win That Clarifies Luxury Tying Claims

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    A California federal court recently found that absent actual harm to competition in the market for ancillary products, Hermes may make access to the Birkin bag contingent on other purchases, establishing that selective sales tactics and scarcity do not automatically violate U.S. antitrust law, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Glimmers Of Clarity Appear Amid Open Banking Disarray

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's vacillation over data rights rules has created uncertainty, but a recent proposal is a strong signal that open banking regulations are here to stay, making now the ideal time for entities to take action to decrease compliance risk, says Adam Maarec at McGlinchey Stafford.

  • Opinion

    High Court, Not A Single Justice, Should Decide On Recusal

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    As public trust in the U.S. Supreme Court continues to decline, the court should adopt a collegial framework in which all justices decide questions of recusal together — a reform that respects both judicial independence and due process for litigants, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • Md. Ruling Spotlights Source-Of-Income Discrimination

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    In Hare v. David S. Brown Enterprises, the Maryland Supreme Court recently ruled that landlords cannot impose income requirements that disqualify tenants relying on housing vouchers, raising questions about applying the disparate impact doctrine in source-of-income discrimination cases, says Yvette Pappoe at the University of the District of Columbia.

  • FTC's Consumer Finance Pivot Brings Industry Pros And Cons

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    An active Federal Trade Commission against the backdrop of a leashed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be welcomed by most in the consumer finance industry, but the incremental expansion of the FTC's authority via enforcement actions remains a risk, say attorneys at Hudson Cook.

  • How A New BIS Rule Greatly Expands Export Restrictions

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    The newly effective affiliates rule from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security restricts exports to foreign companies that are 50% or more owned by entities listed on the BIS entity list and the military end-user list — a major shift in U.S. export control enforcement, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • How Gov't Reversals Are Flummoxing Renewable Developers

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    The Trump administration has reversed numerous environmental and energy policies, some of which have then been reinstated by the courts, making it difficult for renewable energy project developers to navigate the current regulatory environment, says John Watson at Spencer Fane.

  • USPTO Panel's Reversal Signals A Shift On AI Patents

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    A recent patent ruling from a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office panel shows that artificial intelligence technologies remain patent-eligible when properly framed as technical solutions, and provides valuable drafting lessons for counsel, say attorneys at Butzel Long.

  • Series

    Traveling Solo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Traveling by myself has taught me to assess risk, understand tone and stay calm in high-pressure situations, which are not only useful life skills, but the foundation of how I support my clients, says Lacey Gutierrez at Group Five Legal.

  • Opinion

    DOJ's Tracing Rule For Pandemic Loan Fraud Is Untenable

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    In conducting investigations related to COVID-19 relief fraud, the government's assertion that loan proceeds are nonfungible and had to have been segregated from other funds is unsupported by underlying legislation, precedent or the language establishing similar federal relief programs, say Sharon McCarthy, Jay Nanavati and Lasya Ravulapati at Kostelanetz.

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