Public Policy

November 04, 2025
Nordstrom Customers Sue Over Allegedly Misleading Spam

Nordstrom Inc. sent hundreds of marketing emails that tricked customers into thinking they had only a short window of time to obtain deep discounts at Nordstrom Rack, plaintiffs said in a new proposed class action alleging the messages broke Washington state law.
November 04, 2025
Ill. ICE Processing Facility Has 'Become A Prison,' Judge Says

An Illinois federal judge said Tuesday that attorneys representing a proposed class of individuals detained at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in suburban Chicago had presented a "disturbing record" of the conditions at the facility that likely justifies a temporary restraining order in some form, but held off ruling until Wednesday.
November 04, 2025
Ex-Fla. GOP Chair Says Police Unlawfully Searched His Phone

The former chairman of Florida's Republican Party sued a pair of police detectives for alleged violations of his constitutional rights, claiming he was forced to resign after they searched his cell phone and included private communications in reports that were leaked to the public.
November 04, 2025
Squires Sets Precedent On Making AI Patent-Eligible

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires on Tuesday made precedential his September declaration that an invention shouldn't be deemed unpatentable just because it involves machine learning.
November 04, 2025
CFPB's Information Security 'No Longer Effective,' IG Says

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's information security program has weakened under the Trump administration and is "no longer effective" amid staff departures and loss of contractor resources, according to a new inspector general report.
November 04, 2025
Ga. Panel Mulls Courts' Leeway To Alter Restrictive Covenants

A Georgia appeals court pressed attorneys Tuesday for answers on how trial judges should determine how or when to modify restrictive covenants, during oral arguments on a motorcycle dealership chain's push to enforce a noncompete against its former chief operating officer.
November 04, 2025
Removal Push Defies Century Of Legal Precedent, Court Told

An immigrant rights organization has told the D.C. Circuit that the Trump administration's push for the expedited removal of noncitizens who entered the U.S. without authorization has already led to unlawful removals and "an intolerable risk of erroneous deportations" for others.
November 04, 2025
DOJ, Google Spar Over Breakup Bid In Ad Tech Case

The U.S. Department of Justice is continuing to push a Virginia federal court to force Google to sell its ad exchange in the monopolization case over the company's advertising placement technology while Google is asking the court to impose more modest behavioral remedies.
November 04, 2025
Industry Groups Want Trump Admin To Stop PTAB Changes

Various organizations representing manufacturers have asked the Trump administration to rein in recent policies of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that they say are harming their ability to defend themselves in infringement litigation and will end up "looting" the economy.
November 04, 2025
Nonprofits Sue Ed Dept. Over Loan Forgiveness Rule Changes

A group of nonprofit organizations sued Tuesday to block the U.S. Department of Education from limiting the kinds of organizations whose employees can qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, saying the changes could exclude immigrant advocacy nonprofits and employers with diversity programs.
November 04, 2025
Feds Tell 11th Circ. Delta, Aeromexico Can't Halt JV Split Order

The Trump administration fired back at Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico's Eleventh Circuit bid to freeze a U.S. Department of Transportation order directing them to scuttle their joint venture by Jan. 1, saying the airlines' contention that it'd be too burdensome to disentangle their networks is overblown.
November 04, 2025
Dechert Tracks Significant Decline In U.S. Merger Probes

Dechert LLP's latest merger review report counted a dramatic decrease in the number of significant U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission tie-up investigations between July and September and year-to-date, coming in at just two-thirds of the average over the last 15 years.
November 04, 2025
Mass. Attys Split As Punitive Damages Rules Go To Top Court

A case before Massachusetts' top appellate court over whether more safeguards are needed to cap runaway punitive damage awards has divided attorneys, with some saying the big-dollar verdicts can be skewed by improper evidence and others calling the matter a solution in search of a problem.
November 04, 2025
Industry, Enviros Oppose EPA Plan To Ditch GHG Reporting

Industry and environmental groups alike are pushing back against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's proposal to repeal a program that requires power plants, fossil fuel and natural gas suppliers, and other facilities to report their greenhouse gas emissions.
November 04, 2025
Judge Voids DOT Directive Tying State Grants To Immigration

The U.S. Department of Transportation cannot condition billions in grants on states cooperating with President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, a Rhode Island federal judge ruled Tuesday, saying the administration "blatantly overstepped" its authority by imposing sweeping and unlawful conditions on federally appropriated funds.
November 04, 2025
States' Zillow, Redfin Suit In Va. Paused Amid Govt. Shutdown

A Virginia federal judge has granted a joint motion to pause an antitrust suit filed by Virginia and four other states against Zillow Group Inc., Zillow Inc. and Redfin Corp., ruling the suit will be paused until the current federal government shutdown ends.
November 04, 2025
Calif. Coalition Slams $350M Cut To Minority-Serving Colleges

A coalition of Democratic state and federal California lawmakers is calling on U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon to allocate money to support minority-serving colleges and universities, saying the federal government's decision to withhold $350 million in discretionary funding undermines the ability to serve underrepresented communities.
November 04, 2025
Fla. Law Banning Lab Meat Is Preempted, 11th Circ. Hears

A California company urged the Eleventh Circuit Tuesday to reverse a lower court's decision denying a preliminary injunction against a Florida state law banning lab-grown meat, arguing the Sunshine State's prohibition is federally preempted.
November 04, 2025
Ex-County Staffer, Housing Leader Admit To Bribery Scheme

A former program director for a Detroit housing nonprofit and former Wayne County taxpayer assistant pled guilty Tuesday to operating a scheme to remove homes from the county's foreclosure list to fraudulently transfer to new ownership and sell the properties.
November 04, 2025
9th Circ. Revives Ore. Right To Life Suit: 3 Things To Know

A divided Ninth Circuit panel sided with an Oregon anti-abortion group last week and reinstated its lawsuit challenging a state law that requires health plans to cover abortion and contraceptives.
November 04, 2025
Wash. AG Launches Public Records Unit To Up Transparency

The Washington State Office of the Attorney General is launching a new unit designed to expand access to government records, the office announced on Tuesday, noting that public records requests in the state have nearly doubled over the past decade.
November 04, 2025
'Chinese Military' Tag Is Unlawful, Drone Maker Tells DC Circ.

Drone maker DJI has taken its arguments that the Pentagon unlawfully labeled it a "Chinese military company" to a higher court.
November 04, 2025
Alcohol Interests Urge Congress To Ban Intoxicating Hemp

Alcohol industry trade organizations on Tuesday urged congressional leaders to close the federal policy loophole that allowed for the proliferation of loosely regulated products containing intoxicating THC derived from hemp.
November 04, 2025
DHS Accelerates New Rule To Protect Property, Citing Unrest

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday that a rule aimed at helping protect federal property must take effect this week, rather than in January, due to a "cascade of violence" threatening federal buildings and law enforcement officers.
November 04, 2025
Top Groups Lobbying The FCC

October's government shutdown didn't snuff out lobbying efforts at the Federal Communications Commission. While the number of disclosed appearances fell sharply, various groups managed to share their views on broadband "nutrition" labels, next-generation TV, C-band spectrum, anti-robocall rules and more.

Editor's Picks

Trump's Legal Battles

States, federal employee unions, various advocacy groups and several individuals have filed over 220 lawsuits challenging the Trump administration's implementation of executive orders and other initiatives. Law360 has created a database of those lawsuits, separated into categories based on their subject matter.

Expert Analysis

The Emerging Issues Shaping Real Estate Project Insurance

As real estate faces increasingly complex considerations — such as climate losses, "nuclear verdicts" and regulatory changes — insurance is evolving into a strategic function that should be discussed early in the planning stages of a project, says Jason Adams at Cox Castle.
How '24 Statements Show FTC's Direction On Political Speech

Two top Federal Trade Commission officials made concurring statements in 2024 that detailed a potential push to protect political speech, which have served as a preview of the commission's potential new focus on investigating social media and financial services firms to secure changes in those companies' internal business practices, says Benjamin Goldman at Montgomery McCracken.
Attys Beware: Generative AI Can Also Hallucinate Metadata

In addition to the well-known problem of AI-generated hallucinations in legal documents, AI tools can also hallucinate metadata — threatening the integrity of discovery, the reliability of evidence and the ability to definitively identify the provenance of electronic documents, say attorneys at Law & Forensics.
What May Be Ahead In Debanking Enforcement

President Donald Trump's executive order on politicized or unlawful debanking has spurred a flurry of activity by the federal banking regulators, so banks should expect debanking-related complaints submitted by consumers to increase, and for federal regulators to look for more enforcement opportunities, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.
Balancing Reliability, Competition In FERC's Pipeline Proposal

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's proposed transparency requirements for interstate natural gas pipelines endeavor to improve electric system reliability but could also unintentionally foster coordination, says Lyle Larson at Balch & Bingham.
SEC Crypto Custody Relief Offers Clarity For Funds

A recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission staff letter supplies a workable path for registered investment advisers and funds seeking to offer crypto custody services by using state trust companies, and may portend additional useful guidance regarding crypto custody, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
DC Circuit Charts Path On FERC Orders In Loper Bright Era

The D.C. Circuit's recent decision in Solar Energy Industries Association v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, upholding the agency's assessment of a power production facility's output, laid out an approach for addressing statutory interpretation in FERC appeals in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's game-changing Loper Bright decision, say attorneys at Bracewell.
DOJ's UnitedHealth Settlement Highlights New Remedies Tack

The use of divestitures and Hart-Scott-Rodino Act compliance in the recent U.S. Department of Justice settlement with UnitedHealth Group and Amedisys underscores the DOJ Antitrust Division's willingness to utilize merger remedies under the second Trump administration, say attorneys at Buchanan Ingersoll.
When Atty Ethics Violations Give Rise To Causes Of Action

Though the Model Rules of Professional Conduct make clear that a violation of the rules does not automatically create a cause of action, attorneys should beware of a few scenarios in which they could face lawsuits for ethical lapses, says Brian Faughnan at Faughnan Law.
A Shift To Semiannual Reporting May Reshape Litigation Risk

While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed change from quarterly to semiannual reporting may reduce the volume of formal filings, it wouldn't reduce litigation risk, instead shifting it into less predictable terrain — where informal disclosures, timing ambiguities and broader materiality debates will dominate, says Pavithra Kumar at Advanced Analytical Consulting Group.
TikTok Divestiture Deal Revolves Around IP Considerations

The divestiture deal between the U.S. and China to resolve a security dispute over TikTok's U.S. operations is seen as a diplomatic breakthrough, but its success hinges on the treatment of intellectual property and may set a precedent in the global contest over digital sovereignty and IP control, say attorneys at Brownstein Hyatt.
What's New In FDA's Latest Cell And Gene Therapy Guidance

New draft guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, along with other recent initiatives, come together to promote cell and gene therapy product development by streamlining development and review pathways, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
CFIUS Trends May Shift Under 'America First' Policy

The arrival of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States' latest annual report suggests that the Trump administration's "America First" policy will have a measurable effect on foreign investment, including improved trendlines for investments from allied sources and increasingly negative trendlines for those from foreign adversary sources, say attorneys at Debevoise.
How Gov't May Use FARA To Target 'Domestic Terrorism'

After the Trump administration’s recent memo directing law enforcement to use the Foreign Agents Registration Act to prosecute domestic terrorism, nonprofit organizations receiving funding from foreign sources must assess their registration obligations under the statute, say attorneys at Pillsbury.
What's Changing For Cos. In New Calif. Hazardous Waste Plan

While the latest hazardous waste management plan from California's Department of Toxic Substances Control still awaits final approval, companies can begin aligning internal systems now with the plan's new requirements for environmental justice, waste and disposal reduction, waste criteria, and capacity planning, says Thierry Montoya at Frost Brown.