Public Policy

  • May 13, 2025

    Judge Opts For 'Remedial Manager' To Reform Rikers Jail

    A Manhattan federal judge on Tuesday stopped short of ordering a receiver to take control of Rikers Island in an effort to clamp down on incidents of excessive force against the jail population, instead opting for a "remediation manager" with more narrow powers to work in collaboration with city officials to reform the notorious jail complex.

  • May 13, 2025

    CFPB Floats Repeal Of Biden-Era Registry, Designation Rules

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Tuesday that it will seek to close its "repeat offender" registry and stop disclosing its decisions to tag potentially risky firms for closer oversight, stepping back from two Biden-era initiatives aimed at greater nonbank scrutiny.

  • May 13, 2025

    CFPB Calls Off Suit Over Walmart Driver Deposit Accounts

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau told a Minnesota federal court Tuesday that it is dropping its enforcement lawsuit that accused Walmart and fintech company Branch Messenger Inc. of forcing delivery drivers to use costly deposit accounts to receive wages, months after the court put the case on hold.

  • May 13, 2025

    Feds Challenge Montana Tribes' Full Police Funding Demand

    The U.S. Department of the Interior is asking a federal court to deny two Montana tribes a summary judgment win in their challenge over inadequate police funding, arguing the agency has gone above and beyond what the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act requires for money allocations.

  • May 13, 2025

    Ga. Law Shields Pesticide Makers From Failure-To-Warn Suits

    Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has signed new legislation into law that will soon shield pesticide manufacturers from liability in failure-to-warn suits, coming on the heels of a $2.1 billion verdict against the makers of Roundup weed killer delivered by a state jury earlier this year.

  • May 13, 2025

    Pot Payment Co. Wants Court To Enforce $1.3M Deal

    A Boulder, Colorado, fintech company said its former business associates in a failed joint venture to create a cannabis payment system cannot be trusted to pay the $1.3 million settlement meant to end all claims of fraud, urging a Nevada federal court to step in and force them to follow through.

  • May 13, 2025

    X Says Elon Musk Can't Sit For Media Matters Deposition

    X Corp. told a Texas federal judge that left-leaning watchdog Media Matters for America cannot make billionaire CEO Elon Musk sit for a deposition in X's disparagement suit, saying Musk lacks specific knowledge about the case and is "one of the busiest men on the planet."

  • May 13, 2025

    DOJ Antitrust Deputy Says Gov't 'Out-Lawyered' Google

    The deputy head of the U.S. Justice Department's Antitrust Division took a victory lap Tuesday after dual monopolization wins over Google's search and advertising technology businesses, citing the cases as proof that the government's attorneys can win in a "David versus Goliath" battle.

  • May 13, 2025

    Gov't To Restore Climate Webpages After Lawsuit Pressure

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture is reversing course and has committed to restore climate change-focused webpages that were taken offline following the January presidential inauguration, according to a court filing in a lawsuit from environmental groups challenging the removals.

  • May 13, 2025

    FTC Remains Concerned With Merger 'Underenforcement'

    A Federal Trade Commission official emphasized Tuesday that Trump administration merger enforcers are worried about taking insufficient action against tie-ups, as they stand by Biden-era guidelines meant to enshrine a more aggressive tack against corporate concentration.

  • May 13, 2025

    Google Spars With AGs Over Impact Of DOJ Ad Tech Ruling

    Google is telling a Texas federal judge that its recent ad tech trial loss to the U.S. Department of Justice in the Eastern District of Virginia should have no bearing on the similar case brought in Texas by state attorneys general because the Virginia ruling is not yet final.

  • May 13, 2025

    Ski Resort Owner Offers Alternative Fixes After Antitrust Loss

    A New York ski resort operator is offering alternative remedies for a state court to consider after it found the owner violated antitrust law by acquiring a rival ski operation and shutting it down, despite a call from enforcers for a sale of the property to another operator.

  • May 13, 2025

    Judge Won't Limit Foreign Aid Freeze Injunction

    A D.C. federal judge on Tuesday declined to commit to lifting part of a preliminary injunction requiring President Donald Trump's administration to release funding for foreign aid work done before Feb. 13, saying a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision does not change the analysis of his ruling.

  • May 13, 2025

    Lawsuit Challenging Trump Energy Order May Be Premature

    States may have good reasons to fight President Donald Trump's declaration of a national energy emergency, but courts may be unwilling to evaluate the strength of a new suit from 15 states in the absence of expedited energy project approvals.

  • May 13, 2025

    Senator Asks Interior For More SD Tribal Police Funding

    Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota has asked U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum for more funding to support hiring efforts by tribal police in the state, requesting in a letter that he consider establishing a permanent tribal law enforcement training center on the Great Plains.

  • May 13, 2025

    SD Tribe's $1M School Debt Challenge Dismissed

    A federal court judge dismissed a South Dakota tribe's challenge alleging the Interior Department overcollected on a $1 million school debt obligation, finding Tuesday that while the tribe's argument is creative, there is no support for it in statute or case law.

  • May 13, 2025

    2 Courts Say Fla. Drag Show Rules Likely Unconstitutional

    Two federal courts this week have determined Florida rules targeting drag shows are likely unconstitutional, with the Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday upholding an injunction against enforcing a statute barring minors from "adult live performances" and a district court blocking a city's permit restriction for an outdoor event.

  • May 13, 2025

    Grocery Giants Fight Washington's 'Redundant' $32.4M Fee Bid

    Kroger and Albertsons are fighting a bid by Washington's attorney general to recover a record $32.4 million in legal fees for winning a lawsuit to block a $24.6 billion merger of the grocery giants, saying that the state's "go-it-alone" litigation was unnecessary and wasteful because of parallel antitrust action by the Federal Trade Commission.

  • May 13, 2025

    Pa. Court Debates RGGI Membership Without Lawmakers' Nod

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday weighed if a law empowering the state's environmental regulator equated to securing legislative approval to join a multistate Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, with the state justices noting Pennsylvania is the only member to join without lawmakers' blessing.

  • May 13, 2025

    Texas Investigates Gen­er­al Mills Over Food Coloring In Cereal

    Texas launched an investigation against General Mills Inc. over allegedly illegal misrepresentations the company made about its cereals such as Trix and Lucky Charms, saying in a Tuesday announcement the cereals contain artificial dyes that pose severe health risks for children.

  • May 13, 2025

    FTC Says It Won't Enforce 'Click To Cancel' Until July

    The Federal Trade Commission, currently only staffed with Republicans following President Donald Trump's firing of the remaining two Democratic commissioners, has decided to pump the brakes on its plan to start enforcing the agency's new "click to cancel" rule this month.

  • May 13, 2025

    Planned Parenthood Wants Teen Program Fund Rule Blocked

    Planned Parenthood on Monday urged a D.C. federal judge to vacate the U.S. government's "unlawful" requirements to "align" with President Donald Trump's executive orders lest risk losing Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program funding, arguing its facilities will suffer staff cuts and loss of medically accurate, age-appropriate education services absent an injunction.

  • May 13, 2025

    Senators Grill Allstate, State Farm Heads On Disaster Claims

    Officials from Allstate and State Farm defended their claims-handling procedures for natural disasters before a U.S. Senate committee Tuesday amid testimony that the two major homeowners insurers routinely altered estimates and underpaid policyholders to protect their profits.

  • May 13, 2025

    House Panel Clears $3.8T Extension of 2017 Tax Overhaul Law

    The House Ways and Means Committee voted along party lines early Wednesday to approve a $3.8 trillion tax bill that would make permanent many of the tax cuts for businesses and individuals enacted in President Donald Trump's first term.

  • May 13, 2025

    Pa. Justices Question Ruling Over Verizon's Utility Pole Rents

    Some justices on Pennsylvania's Supreme Court questioned Tuesday whether the state's Public Utility Commission skipped steps in declaring that electrical utility FirstEnergy was charging Verizon "unjust and unreasonable" rates to rent space on utility poles, since the decision appeared to rest mainly on federal price limits the state had adopted.

Expert Analysis

  • Tips For Companies Crafting Tariff Surcharge Disclosures

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    As the Trump administration imposes tariffs on imports, retail businesses considering itemizing tariff-related costs separately for consumers must ensure that any disclosures are both accurate and defensible to avoid regulatory enforcement or private suits, says Christopher Cole at Katten.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From NY Fed To BigLaw

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    While the move to private practice brings a learning curve, it also brings chances to learn new skills and grow your network, requiring a clear understanding of how your skills can complement and contribute to a firm's existing practice, and where you can add new value, says Meghann Donahue at Covington.

  • Reviewing Trump Admin's Rapid Pro-Crypto Regulatory Pivot

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    The digital asset industry has received a boost from the explicitly pro-crypto Trump administration, which in its first few months reversed Biden-era rules and installed industry proponents at regulatory agencies, marking one of the biggest regulatory about-faces by a government in recent memory, says Robert Appleton at Olshan Frome.

  • Cos. Face Enviro Justice Tug-Of-War Between States, Feds

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    The second Trump administration's sweeping elimination of environmental justice policies, programs and funding, and targeting of state-level EJ initiatives, creates difficult questions for companies on how best to avoid friction with federal policy, navigate state compliance obligations and maintain important stakeholder relationships with communities, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Top 3 Litigation Finance Deal-Killers, And How To Avoid Them

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    Like all transactions, litigation finance deals can sometimes collapse, but understanding the most common reasons for failure, including a lack of trust or a misunderstanding of deal terms, can help both parties avoid problems, say Rebecca Berrebi at Avenue 33 and Boris Ziser at Schulte Roth.

  • A 2-Step System For Choosing A Digital Asset Reporting Path

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    Under the Internal Revenue Service's new digital asset reporting regulation, each type of asset may have three potential reporting destinations, so a detailed testing framework can help to determine the appropriate path, says Keval Sonecha at Sonecha & Amlani.

  • NEPA Repeal Could Slow Down Environmental Review

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    As the Trump administration has rescinded the Council on Environmental Quality's long-standing National Environmental Policy Act regulations, projects that require NEPA review may be bogged down by significant regulatory uncertainty and litigation risks, potentially undermining the administration's intent to streamline the permitting process, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • 5th Circ. Ruling Is Latest Signal Of Shaky Qui Tam Landscape

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    In his recent concurring opinion in U.S. v. Peripheral Vascular Associates, a Fifth Circuit judge joined a growing list of jurists suggesting that the False Claims Act's whistleblower provisions are unconstitutional, underscoring that acceptance of qui tam relators can no longer be taken for granted, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.

  • Foreign Countries Have Strong Foundation To Fill FCPA Void

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    Though the U.S. has paused enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, liberal democracies across the globe are well equipped to reverse any setback in anti-corruption enforcement, potentially heightening prosecution risk for companies headquartered in the U.S., says Stephen Kohn at Kohn Kohn.

  • How Attys Can Use A Therapy Model To Help Triggered Clients

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    Attorneys can lean on key principles from a psychotherapeutic paradigm known as the "Internal Family Systems" model to help manage triggered clients and get settlement negotiations back on track, says Jennifer Gibbs at Zelle.

  • A Tale Of Two Admins: Parsing 1st Half Of SEC's FY 2025

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    The first half of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's fiscal year 2025, which ended March 31, was unusually eventful, marked by a flurry of enforcement actions in the last three months of former Chair Gary Gensler's tenure and a prompt pivot after Inauguration Day, say attorneys at Jones Day.

  • A Closer Look At Amendments To Virginia Noncompete Ban

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    Recently passed amendments in Virignia will prohibit noncompetes for all employees who are eligible for overtime pay under federal law, and though the changes could simplify employers’ analyses as to restrictive covenant enforceability, it may require them to reassess and potentially adjust their use of noncompetes with some workers, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

  • What Bank Regulator Consolidation Would Mean For Industry

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    Speculation over the Trump administration’s potential plans to consolidate financial service regulators is intensifying uncertainty, but no matter the outcome for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the industry should expect continued policy changes, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • Getting Ahead Of The SEC's Continued Focus On Cyber, AI

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is showing it will continue to scrutinize actions involving cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, but there are proactive measures that companies and financial institutions can take to avoid regulatory scrutiny going forward, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Navigating Florida's Bad Faith Reforms After Appellate Ruling

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    A Florida appellate court's recent decision is among the first to interpret two significant amendments to the state's insurance bad faith law, and its holding that one of the statutes could not apply retroactively may affect insurers' interpretation of the other statute, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

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