White House Unveils New Tariffs On Dozens Of Countries

By Hailey Konnath

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a slew of new tariffs on nearly 70 countries that range from roughly 10% to 40%, unveiling the tariffs a day before his pause on worldwide "reciprocal" tariffs was set to expire Friday.

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Judge Questions Gov't Objection To Shielding FEMA Funds

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal judge Thursday questioned the Trump administration's assertion that it has not redirected funds allocated by Congress for natural disaster mitigation efforts toward other Federal Emergency Management Agency programs, even as the government was objecting to states' narrow request to protect the funds for now.

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Judges Speak Out On Rising Threats Amid Safety Concerns

By Courtney Bublé

Federal judges who have been at the center of some of the most high-profile litigation of the second Trump administration spoke publicly Thursday about threats they've faced after their rulings.

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GOP Bill Would Give President More Power Over US Atty Picks

By Courtney Bublé

The Trump administration has used maneuvers to keep interim U.S. attorneys in place beyond their statutory time limit, which detractors say subverts the Senate's advice and consent role. A bill that two Republican senators introduced on Thursday would shift more power over the process to the president.

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Fed. Circ. Judges Cast Doubts On Trump Tariff Powers

By Dylan Moroses

Several Federal Circuit judges raised concerns about whether President Donald Trump's tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act override constitutional and congressional authority during oral arguments Thursday in their questions to better understand the extent of the appeals court's review.

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Ex-FDIC Chair 'Livid' Over Toxic Workplace Claims, OIG Says

By Sarah Jarvis

An investigation by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s inspector general has found evidence that former Chair Martin Gruenberg and four unnamed ex-senior officials "personally engaged in some degree of inappropriate workplace conduct," in the latest report on the sexual harassment and toxic workplace scandal that erupted into public view nearly two years ago.

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Dems Press OCC Head On Regulating Trump's Crypto Biz

By Sarah Jarvis

Top Senate Democrats on banking and financial committees urged the Comptroller of the Currency Thursday to detail how he will address the potential for interference by President Trump now that the agency is charged with regulating stablecoins like the one the president's family has launched.

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Capital One Says It Is Disputing FDIC Underpayment Claim

By Jon Hill

Capital One told investors on Thursday that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is trying to make it pay a greater share of cleanup costs from the 2023 regional banking crisis after taking issue with its call reporting, an effort the bank said it is pushing back on.  

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SEC's Atkins Launches 'Project Crypto' To Overhaul Policy

By Aislinn Keely

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins said Thursday that he's mobilized staff across the agency to craft rules and exemptions for digital assets, a plan aimed at bringing the crypto industry back onshore with a recent set of White House recommendations serving as the "blueprint."

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Brief

Fed Joins In Letting Banks Use Third-Party Customer ID Info

By Jon Hill

The Federal Reserve on Thursday relaxed a post-Sept. 11 identity check rule for banks under its oversight, joining other federal financial regulators in allowing the use of certain information provided by third-party sources.

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State Regulators Push FERC To Nix $22B Grid Projects Plan

By Keith Goldberg

Several state utility regulators have urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reject a regional grid operator's $21.8 billion transmission development plan, saying the plan's benefits are overstated and wrongly forces them to subsidize the clean energy goals of other states.

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Vistra Pays $38M To End FERC Market Manipulation Case

By Keith Goldberg

Vistra Corp. has agreed to pay $38 million to end long-running Federal Energy Regulatory Commission litigation alleging that affiliate Dynegy Inc. manipulated electricity capacity auction rules in 2015, which led to consumers being unjustly overcharged.

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Energy Co. Tells 4th Circ. Land Access Needed For Power Line

By Tom Lotshaw

A Public Service Energy Group unit trying to build a 67-mile transmission line in Maryland asked the Fourth Circuit to deny property owners' bid to keep it off their lands, arguing it has a right to complete surveys needed for regulatory approvals.

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HHS Plans To Test Rebates In 340B Drug Pricing Program

By Dan McKay

The Trump administration on Thursday announced plans for a pilot project that would allow certain drugmakers to abandon upfront discounts in the 340B program and instead require hospitals to apply for rebates, testing an idea that would fundamentally reshape the long-running program.

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Justices Told State Med Mal Laws Fly In Federal Court

By Y. Peter Kang

A Delaware federal court must apply a state statute requiring an expert affidavit in all medical malpractice suits, a hospital defendant told the U.S. Supreme Court, as key aspects of the Delaware law and similar statutes in 28 other states "should not be checked at the federal courthouse doors."

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Calif. Med Mal Law Can't Apply To Ambulance Crash Suits

By Y. Peter Kang

The California Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the state's one-year time limit for medical malpractice claims does not apply to suits over ambulance drivers' negligence, saying instead the two-year deadline for ordinary negligence governs.

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9th Circ. Upholds Google's Play Store Antitrust Trial Loss

By Dorothy Atkins

A Ninth Circuit panel Thursday affirmed Epic Games' 2023 antitrust jury trial win, along with an injunction requiring Google to open its Google Play Store to rivals, backing a landmark finding that Google monopolized the Android app-distribution market.

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Meta Faces EU Probe Into WhatsApp AI Tying Allegations

By Jared Foretek

Italian antitrust enforcers are opening an investigation into Meta, saying that the company may have run afoul of anti-bundling laws by tying its dominant WhatsApp messaging service with its new Meta AI assistant.

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Brief

Sens. Draft Bill To Combat Foreign Online Piracy

By Elliot Weld

A bipartisan group of senators introduced a discussion bill for a law that would allow American copyright holders to petition federal courts for orders against foreign-hosted websites that host pirated content.

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Brief

18 GOP Sens. Urge Trump To Fill IP Negotiator Post

By Elliot Weld

Eighteen Republican U.S. senators urged President Donald Trump to appoint someone to the vacant role of chief innovation and intellectual property negotiator of the U.S. Trade Representative in order to work to remove what they called "market-distorting price controls" in the pharmaceutical industry.

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Full FCC Hearing Sought On T-Mobile, UScellular Tie-Up

By Christopher Cole

Several trade and public interest groups urged the Federal Communications Commission to hold a full agency review of T-Mobile's plan to take over most of UScellular after FCC staff gave the deal a green light almost three weeks ago.

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FCC Reversing Gains On Broadband Study, Groups Say

By Christopher Cole

Public interest groups say the Federal Communications Commission is poised to reverse progress that it made in recent years in gauging the affordability and adoption of broadband service across the country.

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NTSB Hearing Probes Air Traffic Control In DCA Collision

By Linda Chiem

Air traffic controllers often juggled both helicopter and fixed-wing plane traffic at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, trusted pilots to use their own judgment to visually maintain safe distances from other planes in certain situations and adopted a "just make it work" approach, according to details from the National Transportation Safety Board.

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10th Circ. Says Water Exclusion Bars Co.'s $1.75M Loss

By Ganesh Setty

A Kansas office building's property insurer has no duty to provide coverage for roughly $1.75 million in repairs over a broken water pipe, the Tenth Circuit ruled, rejecting the building owner's argument that an exception in one exclusion conflicted with a separate exclusion for water damage.

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Firefighter Says Military Service Cost Her Pay, Opportunities

By Emmy Freedman

The Jersey City, New Jersey, fire department shorted a firefighter on pay and pension benefits while she was out on military leave and deprived her of opportunities upon her return to work, according to a lawsuit filed in state court.

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11th Circ. Revives American Airlines Cuban Property Suit

By Joyce Hanson

The Eleventh Circuit has sent back to lower court a Miami man's suit claiming that American Airlines illegally benefited when using a Havana airport he says the Cuban government stole from his family in 1959.

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NJ Town Knocks Out Worker's $1.6M Disability Bias Win

By Grace Elletson

A New Jersey appellate court scrapped a $1.6 million verdict Thursday for a township employee who said she was discriminated and retaliated against for taking leave to treat her anxiety, ruling the evidence presented at trial didn't justify the damages award.

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Dems Aim To Make FTC's Blocked Click-To-Cancel Rule Law

By Nadia Dreid

Following an Eighth Circuit decision earlier this month that struck down the Federal Trade Commission's "click to cancel" rule, three House Democrats are trying to make it the law of the land to let consumers cancel subscriptions with a single click.

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3 DOJ Attys Face Bar Complaints Over CFPB Representation

By Hailey Konnath

A legal watchdog group Thursday lodged bar complaints against a trio of U.S. Department of Justice lawyers, accusing them of making misleading and false statements in court filings while defending the Trump administration in litigation over its attempt to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

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11th Circ. Says 'Urban Cowboy' Can Amend Taken Horses Suit

By Kelcey Caulder

A divided Eleventh Circuit on Thursday granted a Georgia man whose horses were seized by Atlanta-area authorities a fresh shot at amending a lawsuit over the seizure, with the majority saying the lower court wrongly found that amending the suit was futile under the Fifth Amendment's takings clause.

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Fla. Appeals Court Says Miami Election Delay Unconstitutional

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida state appeals court ruled Thursday that Miami's decision to push municipal elections back by a year via ordinance is unconstitutional because both the city and county charters require such a change to be done by voter referendum.

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Seattle Sues Trump Administration Over Anti-DEI Grant Terms

By Rachel Riley

The city of Seattle sued the Trump administration in Washington federal court on Thursday, targeting two executive orders that require federal funding recipients to adopt the president's stances on diversity efforts and gender or risk losing money for a range of critical causes.

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Mexico Gets 90-Day Tariff Extension As US Deadline Nears

By Natalie Olivo

President Donald Trump announced a 90-day extension of existing tariffs on Mexico on Thursday, a day before a pause on worldwide trade measures is set to expire.

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Judge Nixes IRS' Renewed Bid To Dismiss Tax Refund Suit

By Kat Lucero

A North Carolina federal judge denied the Internal Revenue Service's renewed attempt to dismiss a tax refund suit for lack of jurisdiction, saying the repeated motions to drop the case would prevent the district court from proceeding to the discovery phase in the litigation.

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Dems Say DHS Visits Blocked Amid Reports Of 'Mistreatment'

By Lauren Berg

A dozen Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives sued the Trump administration in D.C. federal court over a new U.S. Department of Homeland Security policy that delays and prevents members of Congress from conducting visits to federal immigration detention facilities, where the lawmakers say there are growing reports of mistreatment, overcrowding and unsanitary conditions.

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3rd. Circ. Lets Khalil Remain Free During Feds' Appeal

By Britain Eakin

The Third Circuit denied the Trump administration's request to fully stay a district court order releasing pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil from immigration detention, ruling that the federal government failed to show it would be irreparably harmed without a stay.

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Nadine Menendez Loses Bid To Toss Bribery Conviction

By Carla Baranauckas

The wife of former U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez failed Thursday in her effort to overturn her conviction in a sweeping federal corruption case as a Manhattan federal judge ruled that the evidence against her was both extensive and compelling.

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Tribe Can Join Fight Against 'Alligator Alcatraz,' Judge Says

By Gina Kim

A Florida federal judge has allowed the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida to intervene in a lawsuit filed by green groups against the immigration detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz" constructed in the Everglades after the tribe argued the facility poses a direct threat to its livelihood.

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NY Gaming Commission Can't Escape Tribal Lottery Row

By Crystal Owens

A federal judge denied a renewed bid by the New York State Gaming Commission to dismiss a challenge by the Cayuga Nation that looks to block the entity from operating lottery games on the tribe's self-proclaimed reservation, saying the commissioners failed to establish a lack of equity jurisdiction.

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Senate Panel OKs Bill To Elevate Tribal Border Agents' Roles

By Crystal Owens

The U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has advanced a bill aimed at strengthening border security and expanding career opportunities for Native American law enforcement agents on tribal lands through the Shadow Wolves program.

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FCC Urged To Review Delay On New Prison Phone Rate Rules

By Jared Foretek

Inmate-rights advocates are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider its delay of new prison phone rate rules In June, arguing that no one asked for the blanket two-year pause and that no notice and comment process was undertaken.

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Judge Rejects Hemp Interests' Bid To Halt Md. Pot Policy

By Sam Reisman

A Maryland federal judge has declined to halt enforcement of a state policy that requires hemp retailers to obtain recreational cannabis licenses, saying the hemp interests that sought the injunction lacked standing and were unlikely to succeed on their claims.

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CBD Store Sues DC Officials Over Cannabinoid Policy

By Jonathan Capriel

A D.C. hemp retailer whose shop was raided and padlocked by city law enforcement is seeking to overturn a local statute that it says conflates illicit marijuana with hemp made legal under the 2018 Farm Bill, saying in its federal complaint that the district has violated the dormant commerce clause.

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Mass. Court Allows Consecutive Resentencing In Murder Case

By Parker Quinlan

Massachusetts' highest court has ruled that prosecutors may seek two consecutive life sentences with parole eligibility in a double murder case after outlawing life without parole sentences for defendants who committed crimes between the ages of 18 and 20-years-old.

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Colo. Court Affirms Stalking Conviction In 'True Threat' Case

By Zach Dupont

The Colorado Court of Appeals on Thursday declined to overturn the stalking and harassment convictions of a man who claimed his threatening emails to a police officer were protected First Amendment speech.

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Texas Med Spas Must Prepare For 2 New State Laws

Two new laws in Texas — regulating elective intravenous therapy and reforming healthcare noncompetes — mark a pivotal shift in the regulatory framework for medical spas in the state, which must proactively adapt their operations and contractual practices, says Brad Cook at Munsch Hardt.

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How Banks Can Harness New Customer ID Rule's Flexibility

Banking regulators' update to the customer identification process, allowing banks to collect some information from third parties rather than directly from customers, helps modernize anti-money laundering compliance and carries advantages for financial institutions that embrace the new approach, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.

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What EPA Chemical Data Deadline Extension Means For Cos.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's extension for manufacturers and importers of 16 chemical substances to report unpublished health and safety studies under the Toxic Substances Control Act could lead to state regulators stepping into the breach, while creating compliance risks and uncertainty for companies, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

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Opinion

Premerger Settlements Don't Meet Standard For Bribery

Claims that Paramount’s decision to settle a lawsuit with President Donald Trump while it was undergoing a premerger regulatory review amounts to a quid pro quo misconstrue bribery law and ignore how modern legal departments operate, says Ediberto Román at the Florida International University College of Law.

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CEQA Reform May Spur More Housing, But Devil Is In Details

A recently enacted law reforming the California Environmental Quality Act has been touted by state leaders as a fix for the state's housing crisis — but provisions including a new theoretically optional traffic mitigation fee could offset any potential benefits, says attorney David Smith.

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Corp. Human Rights Regulatory Landscape Is Fragmented

Given the complexity of compliance with nations' overlapping human rights laws, multinational companies need to be cognizant of the evolving approaches to modern slavery transparency, and proposals that could reduce mandatory due diligence and reporting requirements, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

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Series

Playing Soccer Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Soccer has become a key contributor to how I approach my work, and the lessons I’ve learned on the pitch about leadership, adaptability, resilience and communication make me better at what I do every day in my legal career, says Whitney O’Byrne at MoFo.

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Supersized Class Of 2024 Exceeds Job, Salary Predictions

By Tracey Read

The class of 2024 was the largest graduating law school class in nearly a decade, but it defied industry expectations by breaking records in overall employment rate, employment in jobs that require or anticipate bar passage, and median salaries, according to data released Thursday.

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ABA Seeks To Toss Race Bias Suit Over Scholarship Program

By Madison Arnold

The American Bar Association urged an Illinois federal court to throw out a lawsuit from The American Alliance for Equal Rights alleging the association's Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund constitutes race-based discrimination, arguing that the claims are simply a "'desire to vindicate' a particular 'view of the law.'"

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Wis. Judge Pushes For Immunity In ICE Arrest Case

By Emily Sawicki

A Wisconsin state judge is pushing for the dismissal of criminal charges alleging she hindered an immigration enforcement arrest, reiterating her argument that she has immunity against what she called the "overreaching federal prosecution of a state court judge for acts within her official duties."

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Baldwin Eyes Deal Over Failed 'Rust' Trial With Suit Dormant

By Phillip Bantz

Alec Baldwin's lawsuit in New Mexico state court against prosecutors and others involved in his botched involuntary manslaughter case in the "Rust" film shooting has been temporarily thrown out, but the actor-producer's attorneys said Thursday that they've been in settlement discussions and will move to reinstate the suit if the talks fail.

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MSG Makes Play For $1.5M Fees In Oakley Dispute

By Alex Lawson

Madison Square Garden is seeking $1.5 million in attorney fees from former New York Knicks player Charles Oakley, laying out the efforts it took to uncover Oakley's efforts to destroy text messages connected with his long-running assault and battery suit against the arena.

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