Public Policy

  • September 30, 2025

    Wash. Lake Cleanup Agencies Sued Over Enviro Review

    A man whose house overlooks Capitol Lake in Olympia, Washington, is suing a slew of federal and state government agencies over an estuary restoration project near his residence, alleging they have committed millions of dollars in funds without performing an environmental review.

  • September 30, 2025

    FCC Pushes Prison Phone Jamming, Despite Dem's Concerns

    The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday advanced a plan to let state and local prisons jam the signals of contraband cellphones, even as a Democratic commissioner voiced worries about the potential for interference with lawful communications.

  • September 30, 2025

    Feds Say They Will Resume DACA Processing Except In Texas

    The Trump administration told a Texas federal judge it will resume processing applications for removal protection and employment authorization for noncitizens unlawfully brought to the U.S. as children, but will withhold work permits and lawful presence from Texas residents.

  • September 30, 2025

    FinCEN Seeks Feedback On Financial Compliance Burden

    The U.S. Treasury Department's enforcement arm requested feedback Tuesday on the compliance burden for financial institutions responding to the agency's information requests "as part of its continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden."

  • September 30, 2025

    ICE Bond Denials Violate Immigration Law, Wash. Judge Finds

    A Washington federal judge held on Tuesday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's policy of denying bond hearings to certain detainees goes against the Immigration and Nationality Act, echoing the reasoning of other district courts that have made the same determination.

  • September 30, 2025

    Mass. Judge Issues Stinging Rebuke Of Protester Removals

    A Massachusetts federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration's policy of arresting, detaining and trying to deport foreign students for Palestinian advocacy violates the First Amendment, which the judge said protects the free speech of noncitizens and citizens alike.

  • September 30, 2025

    HHS Moves To Suspend Harvard From Funding

    The civil rights office at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is moving to cut off Harvard University from future funding, a maneuver legal experts say could stymie healthcare and biomedical research.

  • September 30, 2025

    Senate Bill Would Allow Claims Against AI Cos.

    A pair of senators unveiled a bill Tuesday that would classify artificial intelligence technologies as products under the law to allow consumers to sue if an AI product causes harm, an issue testing the courts as litigation targets AI-fueled chatbots.

  • September 30, 2025

    FCC Aims To Remove Broadband Deployment Barriers

    The Federal Communications Commission took a pair of actions Tuesday aimed at speeding up the deployment of broadband infrastructure by reducing regulatory hurdles.

  • September 30, 2025

    TPS Advocates Urge Justices Not To Disturb Lower Court Win

    An immigration advocacy organization has urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to halt a district court ruling that found unlawful the Trump administration's attempt to unwind temporary deportation protections for Venezuelans, saying the government had no basis for such emergency relief.

  • September 30, 2025

    Judge Ends Challenge To Mich. Abortion Rights Amendment

    A federal judge tossed a challenge to Michigan's voter-approved constitutional right to an abortion on Tuesday because abortion opponents had not shown they were personally harmed by the amendment.

  • September 30, 2025

    Senate Bills Look To Return 2,000 Acres To California Tribes

    A pair of U.S. senators have introduced a trio of bills that will transfer 2,000 acres of land to three California tribes that the lawmakers say will bring more housing and protections for Indigenous spiritual connections associated with the properties. 

  • September 30, 2025

    Low-Cost Airlines Push Congress For More Gate Access

    Leaders from low-cost airlines and an anti-monopoly nonprofit told lawmakers on Tuesday that lack of gate access for the airlines harms competition.

  • September 30, 2025

    PFAS Testing Concerns End Coca-Cola Class Action

    A New York federal judge has dismissed a proposed class action against Coca-Cola's Simply Orange Juice Co. subsidiary alleging its juices were falsely marketed as all-natural when they actually contain PFAS, saying that the plaintiff didn't show that the juices tested were the same as the ones he bought.

  • September 30, 2025

    College Athlete Advocates Join Supporters Of Senate NIL Bill

    A day after three Democratic U.S. senators introduced a bill promising more protections for college athletes — including women, athletes in smaller sports and those at smaller institutions — under the new revenue-sharing rules, the proposal on Tuesday drew praise from advocates for athletes and labor, including an official from the AFL-CIO.

  • September 30, 2025

    FCC Embarks On Four-Year Media Ownership Review

    The Federal Communications Commission pushed ahead Tuesday with a proposal to ease restrictions on how many TV or radio stations a single broadcaster can control in a market.

  • September 30, 2025

    DC Circ. Backs FERC Approval Of Tenn. Pipeline

    The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday used a recent landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision curtailing federal environmental reviews to reject a challenge to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's approval of a Tennessee pipeline project.

  • September 30, 2025

    Justices Could Enable IEEPA Taxes On Any Trade, Experts Say

    If the U.S. Supreme Court decides that a president's power to regulate imports and exports under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act encompasses tariffs, a president could tax services, investments and intellectual property flowing into or out of the country, trade experts said Tuesday.

  • September 30, 2025

    Wis. Legislators Trying Again To Legalize Medical Cannabis

    Republican state lawmakers in Wisconsin have introduced a bill to legalize smokeless cannabis products for medical use, more than a year and a half after a similar proposal died.

  • September 30, 2025

    NPR Fights CPB's $30M Grant Shift In Court

    A federal judge got assurances from Corporation for Public Broadcasting lawyers Tuesday that it won't commit $30 million to a new National Public Radio alternative for managing the public radio satellite system for at least the next month as he considers a motion from NPR for an injunction blocking the move indefinitely.

  • September 30, 2025

    SEC Approves Cost Cuts For Consolidated Audit Trail

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday approved a plan that it says could save at least $20 million a year by adopting new data retention standards for a key market surveillance tool, with the agency's chair promising to cut the "ballooning" costs of the market tool even further in the coming months and years.

  • September 30, 2025

    Hospital Urges Justices To Review 7th Circ. Medicaid Ruling

    A Chicago hospital urged the U.S. Supreme Court to take up its petition for review of a Seventh Circuit ruling that had shut down its suit against the state of Illinois seeking enforcement of timely Medicaid payments, saying it's an "excellent opportunity" to address "resulting uncertainties" after a recent ruling against Planned Parenthood.

  • September 30, 2025

    Judge Recommends Tribal Win, Talks In NY Thruway Row

    A U.S. magistrate judge is recommending a summary judgment win and negotiations for the Seneca Nation and New York officials in an ongoing dispute over a portion of a thruway that runs through the tribe's reservation, saying the state obtained a 1954 easement for the superhighway in violation of federal law.

  • September 30, 2025

    NJ County Says State Police Allowed Mall To Sell On Sundays

    Bergen County, New Jersey, is arguing that the New Jersey State Police have ignored illegal retail sales on Sundays at the American Dream mall in East Rutherford despite maintaining a headquarters at the site, in a response to a local government's lawsuit over the practice.

  • September 30, 2025

    IRS Defines Rural Areas For Opportunity Zone Tax Breaks

    The Internal Revenue Service published the definitions Tuesday for rural areas that qualify for the federal opportunity zone program's rural zone expansion under the Republican budget bill signed into law this summer.

Expert Analysis

  • The Future Of Lab-Test Regs After FDA Rescinds Rule

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently rescinded its laboratory-developed tests rule in response to a Texas federal court decision this spring, reinforcing a separation of authority between the FDA and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and calling into question the FDA's role in overseeing such tests without congressional action, say attorneys at Venable.

  • How AI Is Easing Digital Asset Recovery In Fraud Cases

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    In combination with recent legislation and a maturing digital asset infrastructure, artificial intelligence tools are making it easier to recover stolen assets, giving litigants a more specific understanding of financial fraud earlier in the process and making it economically feasible to pursue smaller fraud claims, says Solomon Shinerock at Lewis Baach.

  • Fleeing Or Just Leaving Quickly? 2nd Circ. Says It Depends

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    The Second Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Bardakova decision adopted a new approach for determining whether a defendant who commits a crime in the U.S., and then leaves and remains abroad, intends to avoid prosecution — making it more difficult to argue against the fugitive disentitlement doctrine in most cases, say attorneys at MoloLamken.

  • Sanctions Considerations For Reentering The Syrian Market

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    Reentering or opening new markets in Syria, now that the Trump administration has revoked certain long-standing sanctions and export controls, necessitates increased due diligence and best practices capable of adapting to a changing local environment as well as future changes in U.S. law, say attorneys at Nixon Peabody.

  • What 2 Profs Noticed As Transactional Law Students Used AI

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    After a semester using generative artificial intelligence tools with students in an entrepreneurship law clinic, we came away with numerous observations about the opportunities and challenges such tools present to new transactional lawyers, say professors at Cornell Law School.

  • Despite SEC Reset, Private Crypto Securities Cases Continue

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    While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the Trump administration has charted a new approach to crypto regulation, the industry still lacks comprehensive rules of the road, meaning private plaintiffs continue to pursue litigation, and application of securities laws to crypto-assets will be determined by the courts, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • State AGs Are Turning Up The Antitrust Heat On ESG Actions

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    Recent antitrust developments from red state attorneys general continue a trend of environmental, social and governance scrutiny, and businesses exposed to these areas should conduct close examinations of strategy and potential material risk, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Crypto Custody Guidelines Buoy Both Banks And Funds

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    A statement released last month by banking regulators — highlighting risks that the agencies expect banks holding crypto-assets to mitigate — may encourage more traditional institutions to offer crypto-asset safekeeping and thereby offer asset managers more options for qualified custodians to custody crypto-assets for their clients, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Top Takeaways From Trump's AI Action Plan

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    President Donald Trump's AI Action Plan represents some notable evolution in U.S. policy, including affirmation of the administration's trend toward prioritizing artificial intelligence innovation over guardrails and toward supporting greater U.S. private sector reach overseas, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Navigating Executive Perk Enforcement Under Trump Admin

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    While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently signaled a softer approach to executive perks, companies should remain vigilant due to the bipartisan and lengthy nature of executive perquisite cases and Chairman Paul Atkins' previous support for disclosure requirements, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • Ill. Toxic Tort Jurisdiction Law Raises Constitutional Concerns

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    Illinois' S.B. 328, purporting to broaden state courts' jurisdictional reach over out-of-state corporations, is presented as a measure aimed at facilitating recovery in toxic tort cases, but the legislation raises significant due process and dormant commerce clause issues, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Rebuttal

    BigLaw Settlements Should Not Spur Ethics Deregulation

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    A recent Law360 op-ed argued that loosening law firm funding restrictions would make BigLaw firms less inclined to settle with the Trump administration, but deregulating legal financing ethics may well prove to be not merely ineffective, but counterproductive, says Laurel Kilgour at the American Economic Liberties Project.

  • Opinion

    8th Circ. Should Reaffirm False Commercial Speech's Nature

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    The Eighth Circuit in Goldfinch Laboratory v. Iowa Pathology Associates should assert that false commercial speech is not categorically immune from antitrust scrutiny, says Daniel Graulich at the Federal Trade Commission.

  • Unpacking Ore. Law's Limits On PE Healthcare Investment

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    A recent Oregon law imposes significant restrictions on nonphysicians owning or controlling medical practices, but newly enacted amendments provide some additional flexibility in certain ownership arrangements without scuttling the law's intent of addressing concerns about the rise of private equity investment in healthcare, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Environmental Justice Is Alive And Well At The State Level

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    Even as the Trump administration has rolled back federal environmental justice policies, many states continue to prioritize it, with new regulations, strengthened enforcement of existing rules and ongoing private litigation — so companies must stay alert to how state-level EJ enforcement may affect their operations, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

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