OCC Finalizes Stablecoin Rules, Drops Disputed Yield Plan

By Aislinn Keely

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Wednesday finalized its rules for stablecoin issuers under its purview, issuing a 700-page document expected to set the baseline for other federal and state stablecoin frameworks.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ill. Judge Questions Bid To Block 340B Drug Discount Law

By Lauraann Wood

An Illinois federal judge seemed hesitant Wednesday to halt a state law barring drugmakers from trying to impose restrictions on pharmacies under contract with a federal drug pricing discount program, saying the state seems to be maximizing public health in an area the statute doesn't address.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Meta Owes $25B After NM Data Privacy Trial

By Cara Salvatore

A New Mexico judge ruled Wednesday that Meta must pay $25 billion for the "systematically broadcast" lies the social media giant offered the public regarding its data privacy practices, including in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

SEC Crypto Offering Plan Draws State Outcry, Industry Ideas

By Aislinn Keely

States and watchdog groups told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to withdraw what they deemed a dangerous plan to exempt certain crypto offerings from registration requirements, while the crypto industry backed the proposal in comment letters that urged the agency to let exempted issuers raise even more from investors.

8 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

States Rip OCC's 'Beltway-Centric' Bid To Move Escrow Suit

By Jon Hill

An Oregon-led coalition of states is pushing back on a U.S. banking regulator's bid to throw out or transfer the coalition's lawsuit over the regulator's new rules that block their interest-on-escrow laws, arguing its "Beltway-centric view of the world" doesn't mean they were wrong to sue in Portland.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Wind Groups Say DOD Continues To Freeze Project Reviews

By Tom Lotshaw

Renewable energy backers asked an Oregon federal judge to enforce an injunction that blocked the U.S. Department of Defense from suspending reviews of proposed wind energy projects, arguing it has continued to miss deadlines and maintain an unlawful freeze on project reviews.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Feds' Latest Wind Permit Move May 'Blow Up' Permitting Deal

By Gautama Mehta

The Trump administration has again asked a federal court to let it reevaluate a permit issued for a proposed offshore wind project, a move that a co-architect of U.S. Senate permitting legislation said could derail the bipartisan bill.

Summary Judgment attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

High Court Lets Block On Prison Gender Care Ban Stand

By Yeji Jesse Lee

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed federal prisons to continue to offer gender transition medical services to incarcerated people.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

House Bill Looks To Ease Copyright Process For Visual Artists

By Adam Lidgett

Visual artists like photographers would have a more streamlined and cheaper copyright registration process under a bill that has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, matching a similar bill floated last year in the U.S. Senate.

Bill attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

6th Circ. Weighs First Amendment Right To Court Videos

By Susan Smiley

Modern technology necessitates updated court-access rules, a representative for a University of Michigan professor told a Sixth Circuit panel Wednesday, saying that citizens should have access to audio and video recordings of public court proceedings in addition to written transcripts.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Trucking Group Tells DC Circ. Fee System Doesn't Deliver

By Jared Foretek

A trucking trade group is challenging the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's interstate motor carrier fees for 2027, claiming in a new D.C. Circuit petition that the agency never lawfully established the fee-setting system by regulation.

Petition attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Utah Defends Approval Process For Northern Corridor Hwy

By Gautama Mehta

A Utah county and a state agency said the law that designated a Mojave Desert national conservation area didn't prohibit a highway through it, as environmental groups alleged, but rather expressly called for a "transportation route" to be identified.

Response attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Arizona Recorder Urges High Court To Drop Voter ID Case

By Crystal Owens

A former recorder for Maricopa County, Arizona, says the Supreme Court should dismiss the Republican National Committee's challenge to two state voting laws as improvidently granted, telling the justices that the case is an improper vehicle for deciding provisions of the National Voter Registration Act.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

​​​​​​​Mamdani Taps Top Judicial Adviser Amid New Ethics Reforms

By Andrea Keckley

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Tuesday that he has appointed a lawyer from the New York University School of Law's Brennan Center for Justice to lead his judicial advisory committee as the mayor's office unveils new reforms to the city's judicial selection process.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Sen. Blackburn Clears Path For Trump's Tenn. Court Nominee

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., has returned her blue slip for a judicial nominee for the Eastern District of Tennessee after an apparent delay.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Prison Union Fights BOP's Emergency Bid To Ax Labor Deal

By Benjamin Morse

The Bureau of Prisons' push to immediately terminate its collective bargaining agreement does not constitute an emergency, a prison guards union argued Wednesday, urging a Connecticut federal judge to reject the agency's request to fast-track its bid to end the contract.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Allegheny County Passes 12-Week Paid Parental Leave

By Max Kutner

Pennsylvania's second-most populous county approved what worker advocates said was the first county-mandated paid parental leave policies in the U.S.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

PBM Fee Disclosure Rule Clears White House Review

By Kellie Mejdrich

A White House budget office has completed review of a rule from the U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits arm that would require new fee disclosures from pharmacy benefit managers, which act as intermediaries between drugmakers, pharmacies and insurers.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

EEOC's Federal Sector Overhaul Nears Finish Line

By Patrick Hoff

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is poised to overhaul how federal employees' bias complaints are handled, sending the proposed regulation to the White House for approval just weeks after the public comment period closed.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

OPM's DOGE Data Access Was Unlawful, Judge Says

By Katherine Smith

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management unlawfully gave employees associated with the Department of Government Efficiency "broad" access to the sensitive personal information of millions of current and former federal workers, a New York federal judge has ruled.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Snap Financial Reaches $664M Settlement With Red States

By Spencer Brewer

Consumer financial services company Snap Financial on Wednesday agreed to pay $664 million to 17 Republican-led states to end claims that it used misleading disclosures about its leasing arrangements.

Settlement attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

6th Circ.'s Sutton Floats Class Action Limits At Judiciary Panel

By Jeff Overley

An influential federal judge is proposing new restrictions on class actions that aim to broadly block government policies, judiciary advisers heard at a Wednesday gathering, which also explored transparency ideas affecting legal finance and hard-to-access court records in the red-hot realm of immigration litigation.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

EU Says Trump's Russia Sanctions Waiver Weakens Pressure

By Dylan Moroses

The European Commission said President Donald Trump's executive action waiving tariffs and economic sanctions against Russia last week was "regrettable" and would impede international pressures to end the country's war with Ukraine.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Trade Court Blesses Retroactive Korean Steel Duty Findings

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. Court of International Trade adopted a Federal Circuit reversal directing the court to allow the U.S. Department of Commerce to adjust its countervailable duty rate for a South Korean steel manufacturer by reconsidering earlier determinations.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Forced Labor Tariff Lacks Justification, Biz Group Tells Court

By Dylan Moroses

Near-worldwide tariffs deployed by the U.S. government to address imports produced with forced labor should be considered unlawful given that the underlying report for those measures fails to meet statutory requirements, a coalition of small businesses told the U.S. Court of International Trade.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Chicago Mayor Pitches Return Of $25-Per-Worker Corp. Tax

By Michael Nunes

The mayor of Chicago released a $17.6 billion budget plan Wednesday that includes the return of a tax on corporations for every employee at large firms, as well as increasing tax rates on sports betting and leased property.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Colo. Graduated Tax Measure To Stay On Ballot, Judge Rules

By Zach Dupont

A Colorado ballot initiative to raise taxes on the state's wealthiest residents will be on the ballot this November after a state court judge Wednesday tossed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate signatures gathered by improperly registered circulators of the initiative.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DHS Seeks High Court OK To Restart Big Bend Wall Project

By Elaine Briseño

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to let the agency restart construction of the Big Bend border wall, saying the district court lacked jurisdiction to pause the project.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Feds Say High Court Ruling Forecloses Haiti TPS Challenge

By Britain Eakin

The Trump administration asked a D.C. federal judge on Tuesday to end a suit challenging the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's termination of Temporary Protected Status for Haiti, suggesting there is nothing left to litigate following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the case.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

AT&T Asks To Be Freed From California Landline Obligations

By Nadia Dreid

AT&T says it only needs a "modest extension" of the permission the Federal Communications Commission has already given the telecom titan in order to drop its remaining copper line services in California, something state regulators have refused to give the company permission to do.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Lumos Urges FCC To Preempt Local Project Reviews

By Nadia Dreid

Lumos Fiber says there are counties in Ohio that have so much red tape they're keeping competitive broadband from being deployed there, and it wants the Federal Communications Commission to step in and preempt those rules so it can continue with its planned projects.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FCC OKs Relinquished Carrier Status For Carolina West

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission approved the request of Carolina West Wireless Inc. to turn in its designations as an eligible telecommunications carrier following Verizon's purchase of the North Carolina telecom.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FCC Member Sees Satellite Spectrum Policy Advancing Fast

By Christopher Cole

A member of the Federal Communications Commission told a global gathering of telecom leaders that the U.S. will pursue policies on multiple fronts to make sure the booming satellite industry has abundant spectrum.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Squire Patton Lands Akerman's Public Finance Co-Leader

By Rose Krebs

Squire Patton Boggs LLP announced Wednesday that it has added the co-chair of Akerman LLP's public finance group to bolster its capacity to handle public finance, healthcare finance and other matters.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FTC's BOTS Act Blitz Raises Stakes For Ticket Resellers

Recent lawsuits and enforcement actions brought by the Federal Trade Commission under the Better Online Ticket Sales Act signal sustained ticket industry enforcement, but industry actors can reduce risk by screening practices and partnerships related to ticket purchasing, and evaluating the scale of their ticket operations, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Opening Up Fraud Talks With Customers After SAR Guidance

Federal financial regulators’ recent statement that the Bank Secrecy Act permits financial institutions to discuss potential fraud with customers, provided they don’t reveal the existence of any suspicious activity reports, means banks that have been tighter-lipped than regulations require can consider passing additional useful information on to customers, say attorneys at MoFo.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

EPA Rollback Puts Power Plant GHG Rules In Flux

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent actions on power plant greenhouse gas emissions create immediate implications for power plant operators and long-term regulatory uncertainty, while raising questions about the relationship between federal and state approaches to climate-related litigation, say attorneys at Van Ness Feldman.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Unpacking FDIC's Modernized Bank Merger Review Rules

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s proposed revisions to its Bank Merger Act review process are a shift from its more skeptical prior posture toward a more structured and transaction-facilitative approach, though some broader uncertainty remains concerning antitrust alignment with the U.S. Department of Justice, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

New Weil-Willkie Domains Add To Merger Speculation

By Marialuisa Taddia

Two domain names that combine the names of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP have been registered, fueling speculation about a potential merger between the two prominent Wall Street law firms.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Bonus Spotlight

Hueston Hennigan Bumps Clerkship Bonus To $205K

By Lynn LaRowe

Trial boutique Hueston Hennigan is offering a $205,000 bonus to lawyers who have completed one or more federal clerkships, the firm confirmed Thursday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

'Grave Errors': 5th Circ. Boots Judge After AI 'Botch Job'

By Jeff Overley

A Mississippi federal judge's careless use of artificial intelligence tools led to "sloppy edicts" riddled with "falsehoods and fabrications," the Fifth Circuit held in a Thursday night opinion removing the judge from litigation over an anti-DEI law in the Magnolia State because of his "extraordinarily grave errors."

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Texas Judge Probe Shows Lack Of Mental Impairment Process

By Jack Karp

Fifth Circuit officials have done a reasonable job of handling a rare situation involving a Texas federal judge who appears to be undergoing a mental health crisis, but the episode highlights that a more standardized way of dealing with federal judges experiencing mental impairment needs to be established, experts and scholars say.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Jackson Walker Hits Back At Fee Clawback Sanction Move

By Vince Sullivan

Law firm Jackson Walker said Wednesday that it should not be sanctioned for failing to bring to a Texas federal judge's attention additional cases involving an undisclosed romantic relationship between a bankruptcy judge and one of its attorneys because the U.S. Trustee already investigated those cases and didn't take action.

Response attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GOP Reps. Seek Probe Of Fla. Judge's Sanctions Order

By Courtney Bublé

Top Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee asked the Judicial Conference Thursday to investigate a Florida federal judge for potential misconduct with an order she issued in the case involving the leak of President Donald Trump's tax returns.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

JPMorgan, Ex-Frank Execs Clash Over $2.1M In Legal Fees

By Jarek Rutz

JPMorgan Chase & Co. faced renewed demands in the Delaware Chancery Court on Thursday to pay about $2.1 million in withheld legal fees for convicted Frank founder Charlie Javice and former executive Olivier Amar, as their lawyers accused the bank of using repeated billing objections to delay funding for their criminal defenses.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roundup MDL Atty Fund 'Cries Out' For Review, 9th Circ. Told

By Dorothy Atkins

Plaintiffs' firms urged the Ninth Circuit to reverse a ruling Thursday requiring them to contribute 8% of their recovery fees to a common benefit fund in multidistrict litigation over Monsanto's Roundup weed killer, arguing the judge ignored a special master's recommendation and the issue "cries out for some appellate supervision."

Read full article » | Save to favorites »