Analysis

With Data And AI, Whistleblowers Set Off An FCA Tidal Wave

By Phillip Bantz

Whistleblowers are increasingly using artificial intelligence to comb through public data in search of potential False Claims Act cases, unleashing a flood of new complaints that are shaking up white collar defense and government enforcement efforts while subjecting more companies to potentially false allegations, experts say.

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Lawmakers Seek Answers On Ballroom, Reflecting Pool Algae

By Elaine Briseño

Democratic members of Congress this week sought more information on the National Mall reflecting pool renovation mishaps as well as the alleged diversion of $397 million earmarked for the Secret Service to the White House ballroom renovations.

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Legal Tech Co. Sues US Over Anthropic AI Shutdown Order

By Emily Sawicki

Legal tech company Legion has sued the U.S. government in D.C. federal court over a directive ordering Anthropic to shut down two of its advanced AI models to foreigners, alleging the move caused the company to lose access to one of the models that powers its platform.

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DOJ Nominee Questioned About Deleted Social Media Posts

By Courtney Bublé

A nominee for a top U.S. Department of Justice position, who is a real estate attorney turned tech entrepreneur, came under fire on Wednesday for past social media posts that he's now deleted.

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Va. Prison Officials Immune In Strip Search Suit, 4th Circ. Says

By Parker Quinlan

The Fourth Circuit ruled Wednesday that Virginia prison officials can be granted qualified immunity from a federal lawsuit alleging they subjected an incarcerated person to an unconstitutional number of strip searches.

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Judge Blocks Voting Order Requiring Proof Of Citizenship

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal judge on Wednesday permanently barred the Trump administration from enforcing what she called an unconstitutional and illegal requirement for proof of citizenship to vote, marking the latest successful challenge to the measure from several states.

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Voting Rights Groups Sue Colo. City Over Off-Cycle Elections

By MJ Koo

Three voting rights organizations and a Latina voter sued a Colorado city in state court Wednesday, alleging its practice of holding municipal elections in April of odd-numbered years rather than alongside statewide and federal elections in November suppresses Black and Hispanic voter turnout in violation of a state voting rights law.

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Big Banks Clear Fed Stress Tests Amid Capital Rule Overhaul

By Jon Hill

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday the nation's biggest banks have sufficient capital to withstand a severe recession, giving them passing marks in the latest round of stress tests as federal regulators work on a broader capital rule overhaul.

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Morgan Stanley Gets Initial OCC Nod To Launch 'Digital Trust'

By Jon Hill

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has given an initial green light for Morgan Stanley to move forward with its plans to launch a cryptocurrency-focused trust bank, a first for one of Wall Street's banking giants.

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Dem Lawmakers Probe SEC On Brokerage AI Agents

By Sarah Jarvis

Democratic members of the House Financial Services Committee have urged U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins to detail the agency's perspective on brokerage and investment advice provided through agentic artificial intelligence, saying agentic trading by retail brokerage platforms "raises serious questions for investor protection, broker-dealer responsibilities, market integrity, and the accountability of AI developers."

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SEC Pressed To Curtail Hedge Fund, VC Reporting Rules

By Jessica Corso

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and Ropes & Gray LLP are urging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to rewrite the definition of "hedge fund" before putting into place proposed regulations on what those funds have to disclose about their holdings.

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FTX Exec's Wife Gets Trial Date In Campaign Finance Case

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal judge Wednesday scheduled a November trial for crypto-lobbyist Michelle Bond, as she seeks to beat charges alleging she agreed with her husband, jailed former FTX executive Ryan Salame, to take illegal campaign cash from the bankrupt exchange.

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Judge Poised To OK NJ's $3B PFAS Deals With 3M, DuPont

By George Woolston

A Garden State federal judge on Wednesday signaled that she would sign off on proposed deals worth a combined $3 billion between New Jersey, 3M Co. and various DuPont entities to resolve the state's claims over contamination caused by the manufacture and discharge of forever chemicals.

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Md. Judge Tosses Gulf Species Suit After ESA Exemption

By Jared Foretek

A Maryland federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration's March move to exempt all oil and gas drilling activities in the Gulf of Mexico from Endangered Species Act restrictions mooted a suit from environmentalists challenging previous guidelines for species protection in the Gulf as inadequate.

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EPA Proposal Tightens Scope And Length Of NEPA Reviews

By Keith Goldberg

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday floated an overhaul of how it conducts environmental reviews that includes limiting the scope of what environmental impacts the agency considers and establishing a two-year deadline to complete reviews.

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Green Groups Ask DC Circ. To Halt Pa. Oil Plant Extension

By Matthew Santoni

Four environmental groups have asked the D.C. Circuit to review the U.S. Department of Energy's emergency orders extending the life of a fossil fuel power plant outside Philadelphia, joining other litigation challenging the Trump administration's efforts to keep alive oil, gas and coal power generators that had been slated to shut down.

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NY Judge Halts DOJ Bid For Trans Youth Medical Records

By Stewart Bishop

A New York federal judge Wednesday barred the U.S. Department of Justice from seeking medical records of transgender patients who received gender-affirming care as minors in the wake of a grand jury subpoena to NYU Langone Health System, saying the government's investigation doesn't outweigh the patients' privacy interests.

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Judge Keeps NRA's 'Unusual' Trademark Claims Alive

By Elliot Weld

A District of Columbia federal judge on Wednesday trimmed a case brought by the National Rifle Association against its own charitable arm, saying the record allows for trademark claims to proceed but that discovery may help her resolve such an "unusual" case.

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Latest Squires Summary Order Grants 3 Petitions, Denies 1

By Theresa Schliep

A new bulk order from U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires granted three petitions for patent challenges and denied one more, while referring three petitions for review on the merits.

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Kalshi Sues Ill. Officials Over Sports Event Contracts Law

By Celeste Bott

Kalshi sued Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and other top state officials in Illinois federal court Tuesday to block the enforcement of a new law that requires prediction-market exchanges offering sports event contracts to obtain an Illinois gambling license and comply with state gambling regulations, saying federal law preempts those requirements.

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Fla. Judge Says Public Can Use Beach, Owner Can Post Signs

By David Minsky

A Florida federal judge ruled against a homeowner who alleged a town wrongfully took a portion of his beachfront real estate for public access after finding it had long been used by the public, but said he's allowed to place signs warning against trespassing on the portion not in question.

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State Police Sgt. Can't Escape Race Bias Suit, 4th Circ. Says

By Patrick Hoff

A Maryland State Police sergeant must face a lawsuit alleging he excluded two Black task force members from meetings and failed to address a subordinate officer's racist text message, with the Fourth Circuit ruling Wednesday that a reasonable supervisor would've understood his actions violated civil rights law.

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Brief

NYC Enacts Worker Heat Safety Protections

By Benjamin Morse

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed what his administration called a first-of-its-kind executive order directing city agencies to develop heat-safety protections for workers who face dangerous temperatures on the job, his office announced. 

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Pfizer Defeats Generic Drug Claims From State AGs

By Matthew Perlman

A Connecticut federal court tossed the claims against Pfizer Inc. in one of three cases by state enforcers accusing dozens of generic-drug makers of price-fixing, finding Pfizer was not responsible for the alleged price increases on several drugs.

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Florida AG Opens Probe Over CVS' Ownership Of Caremark

By Matthew Perlman

Florida state enforcers are investigating CVS Corp. over concerns that its ownership of the pharmacy benefits manager Caremark allows it to steer patients to its own retail pharmacies while taking steps to hinder independent rivals.

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Kentucky Is Latest State To Catch CFTC Prediction Market Suit

By Katryna Perera

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has hit back against Kentucky regulators with a suit defending its jurisdiction over event contracts, after the state brought enforcement actions against several prediction market platforms alleging they violate the state's consumer protection and gambling laws by offering unlicensed sports wagering.

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Colo. Chamber Says Space Command Move Is Trump's Call

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado business group backed the Trump administration's bid to toss the state's challenge to the relocation of U.S. Space Command's headquarters to Alabama, writing Wednesday that the move falls squarely within the president's authority.

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Quinnipiac Rugby Title IX Case Leaves Judge Feeling 'Terrible'

By Aaron Keller

Quinnipiac University and 23 rugby players accusing the school of Title IX violations should focus summations on a retaliation claim, not a discrimination claim, because retaliation presents a "stickier" legal question based on facts gleaned during a two-day hearing, a Connecticut federal judge said Wednesday.

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Texas Court Tosses Gateway Church Tithing Fraud Allegations

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas federal judge has done away with a class action against an embattled Texas megachurch accusing the church's leadership of misappropriating tithe money, saying the doctrine of ecclesiastical abstention bars the court from deciding the issue. 

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Booker, Cassidy Press DOJ On Trump Immunity Deal

By Courtney Bublé

Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., wrote to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Wednesday expressing "serious concerns" about the alleged immunity for President Donald Trump, his family and businesses in the controversial settlement he reached with the IRS.

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Calif. Plaintiffs Seek Sanctions Over ICE Discovery Missteps

By Tom Lotshaw

Plaintiffs seeking to block the Trump administration's allegedly unlawful warrantless immigration arrest tactics in Southern California asked a federal judge to sanction U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for disregarding discovery orders.

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McIver Says 3rd Circ. Must Hear Bias Claim Now In ICE Dispute

By Britain Eakin

A Third Circuit panel wrestled Wednesday with whether it has authority to hear claims from U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., that the Trump administration's criminal indictment claiming she assaulted federal officers outside an immigration detention center was vindictive.

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Muslim Org. Says Fla. Can't Shield Info In 'Terrorist' Label Suit

By Carolina Bolado

The Council for American-Islamic Relations has told a federal court that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis cannot use the deliberative process privilege to prevent disclosure of documents showing why the Muslim civil rights nonprofit was designated as a "terrorist organization."

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Eric Adams' Ex-Chief Of Staff Charged In Bribery Scheme

By Craig Clough

Frank Carone, a onetime chief of staff to former New York Mayor Eric Adams, took $120,000 in bribes to steer a multimillion-dollar contract to house migrants to a hotel owner, according to an indictment unsealed in Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday. 

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It's Time To End Charges Against Indian Industrialist, Judge Told

By Cara Salvatore

An industrialist and two co-defendants urged a New York federal judge Wednesday to let federal prosecutors drop a fraud case concerning funding for a colossal Indian solar energy project and accept an $18 million deal with securities regulators, saying out-of-court talks revealed the criminal case's "legal and factual weaknesses."

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10th Circ. Revives Tribe's Okla. Lotto Exclusivity Fee Suit

By Crystal Owens

A Tenth Circuit panel remanded a determination that the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes don't have Article II standing to be excused from paying exclusivity fees under provisions of an Oklahoma-tribal gaming compact, saying their injuries are fairly traceable to Gov. Kevin Stitt's decision to change the state's electronic gaming laws.

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NY Town Sues Feds Over Seneca Nation's $1 Land Transfer

By Crystal Owens

A New York town is seeking to vacate a U.S. Department of the Interior decision to place 207 acres into a restricted fee status for the Seneca Nation after the tribe paid a development company a dollar for the land, claiming the transaction is an administrative end run around a 1990 settlement law.

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DirecTV Calls For FCC To Rework Spectrum Sharing Regs

By Nadia Dreid

DirecTV is worried that the revamp the Federal Communications Commission has planned for spectrum sharing rules in two bands critical to satellite operations do not provide enough protection against interference and wants the agency to make a few changes.

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AT&T Tells FCC It's Time To OK End Of Copper In California

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission has already found untrue the reasons California has given for why it won't let AT&T stop providing telephone service through legacy copper wires, the telecom giant said Wednesday, arguing the agency should let it go over the state's head and stop using copper lines.

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Prison Phone Co. Seeks Rate Cap Waivers From FCC

By Christopher Cole

One of the country's largest prison phone service providers has asked the Federal Communications Commission to waive certain rate caps on inmates' audio and video calls at hundreds of locations, saying it will otherwise be unable to recoup its costs at those sites.

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Brief

New Expert Group Pushes Policies To Foster NGSO Satellites

By Christopher Cole

A new trade group has been created and will advocate in Washington, D.C., for the top priorities of the fast-growing nongeostationary orbit satellite industry, according to a Wednesday announcement.

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Mich. Cannabis Co. Allowed To Fix Zoning Enforcement Suit

By Jonathan Capriel

Michigan cannabis dispensary chain Joyology was given an opportunity to clarify its lawsuit accusing a popular beach town of stifling its opportunity to open a location there through arbitrary zoning enforcement, after a federal judge punted on the municipality's bid to dismiss the suit.

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Feds, Hemp Cos. Fight Over DEA's New HHC Rule In 2 Circuits

By Mike Curley

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and a pair of hemp product companies are butting heads in the Fourth and Ninth circuits over a newly enacted DEA rule expressly listing hexahydrocannabinol, or HHC, as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act.

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Ex-Quinn Emanuel Atty To Lead Kirkland's Appellate Practice

By Jack Rodgers

Kirkland & Ellis LLP announced Wednesday it has rehired a former associate, who most recently was a national appellate practice co-chair at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, to be the leader of its Supreme Court and appellate practice.

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A Midyear Look At Antiterrorism Act Jurisprudence And Policy

Plaintiffs have filed comparably fewer new actions under the Antiterrorism Act this year, though a handful of key decisions further defined the statute’s aiding-and-abetting standard and highlighted continuing risks for financial services companies, say attorneys at Skadden.

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DOJ Shifts Raise Ethics Questions For White Collar Defense

Recent shifts in U.S. Department of Justice clemency and charge-dismissal practices create ethical gray areas for white collar defense attorneys, who should follow risk-mitigating best practices while still forcefully advocating for their clients, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.

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FDIC Proposal Takes Bank-Like AML Approach To Stablecoins

Rather than craft a bespoke regime for stablecoin issuers, a recently proposed Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. rule builds a technology-neutral Bank Secrecy Act compliance framework under the Genius Act, firmly anchoring stablecoins within the U.S. financial regulatory perimeter, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

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Trump AI Order: Voluntary Framework, Mandatory Implications

President Donald Trump's recent executive order promoting the advancement of artificial intelligence innovation and security establishes a new framework for government collaboration with the AI industry, but its classified benchmarking criteria, prerelease framework terms and operational rules will determine whether it establishes de facto compliance expectations, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

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How NEPA Review Has Changed Since Seven County

A year after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County instituted major changes to judicial review under the National Environmental Policy Act, courts are effectively applying the decision, but where things go from here may be up to agencies and project proponents, say attorneys at Venable.

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Steps For Employers After 7th Circ. BIPA Retroactivity Ruling

The Seventh Circuit's recent ruling in Clay v. Union Pacific sharply limits per-scan statutory damages theories in pending Biometric Information Privacy Act cases by retroactively applying a 2024 amendment, but employers should not mistake the holding for a broad safe harbor, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.

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Why Highly Specialized Experts May Risk Exclusion At Trial

Expert witnesses with highly specific areas of focus may be vulnerable to exclusion in court, making it important for attorneys to check how potential witnesses' qualifications can be bolstered by their publications and other professional activities, say Evan Weisberg and Christopher Cunio at Hunton, and Kevin Cahill at FTI Consulting.

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How 3 Courts Are Approaching AI Adoption

By Emily Sawicki

The rules surrounding artificial intelligence experimentation in courts run the gamut from court systems offering proprietary tools and training to unwritten policies that essentially amount to don't ask, don't tell.

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Conn. Justices Threaten Sanctions For AI Errors

By Andrea Keckley

The Connecticut Supreme Court has threatened to sanction GLG Law LLC and one of its attorneys for submitting documents in two cases "that misrepresented the law through the use of generative artificial intelligence," according to a Tuesday order that summoned them to appear in court next month.

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Atty DQ Over Inadvertent Doc Disclosure Overturned

By Y. Peter Kang

A California state appeals court has upended the disqualification of defense counsel in a sexual battery suit, saying documents undermining the case that were accidentally produced via a Dropbox link were not privileged.

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