Public Policy

  • June 23, 2025

    Mass. Home Was Overvalued, Tax Board Rules

    A Massachusetts home should have its value lowered based on the home's purchase price and comparable sales in the area, the state Appellate Tax Board said in a ruling released Monday.

  • June 23, 2025

    East Lansing To Pay $7.8M After High Court Energy Fee Ruling

    East Lansing, Michigan, has agreed to pay $7.8 million to its residents for an electric bill charge that the Michigan Supreme Court deemed to be a hidden tax.

  • June 23, 2025

    Quinn Emanuel Joins Firms Launching State AG Teams

    Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP announced Monday that it has become the latest major law firm to launch a state attorneys general practice group amid increasing activity from these offices, tapping two alumni of the public sector to lead the new team.

  • June 23, 2025

    No Break For Early Pay After Late Postmark, Ore. Court Says

    An Oregon company could not show that its property tax payments were mailed before the due date for receiving a discount for early payments, the state tax court said.

  • June 23, 2025

    Dems Laud Axing Of Budget Bill's Injunction Bond Provision

    A provision meant to up the ante for plaintiffs filing lawsuits against the federal government by increasing the use of injunction bonds has been ruled ineligible for inclusion in the budget reconciliation package.

  • June 23, 2025

    Michael Best Adds AI Pro To Transactions Group In DC

    Michael Best & Friedrich LLP has announced the firm recently welcomed to its transactional practice group an attorney who has more than two decades of experience working with regulatory, compliance and security matters associated with artificial intelligence governance, data privacy and cybersecurity matters.

  • June 23, 2025

    States Back PBS, NPR In Fight Against Trump Broadcast Cuts

    A coalition of 20 states and the District of Columbia backed a pair of motions from the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio Inc. seeking pretrial wins in their challenges to President Donald Trump's executive order that purports to revoke their funding, arguing that only Congress can pull that money.

  • June 23, 2025

    Va. City Wants Out Of Landfill Co.'s Suit Over Land Use Law

    The Virginia city of Chesapeake argued in Virginia federal court that a landfill owner's suit over an amended city land use law should be tossed because the owner hasn't actually been punished under the law and hasn't indicated that they're going to violate it.

  • June 23, 2025

    Texas Authorizes Tax Break For Border Safety Infrastructure

    Texas authorized a property tax exemption for real property used to install border security infrastructure in counties that border Mexico, pending voter approval of a proposed amendment to the state constitution, under a bill signed by Gov. Greg Abbott.

  • June 23, 2025

    Crypto Exec Seeks 5th Circ. Redo Over IRS Summonses

    A cryptocurrency executive asked the Fifth Circuit to reconsider his request to quash IRS summonses for his bank records, saying its decision that he was prematurely trying to appeal a lower court's ruling ignored his claims that the agency's documents were incomplete and lacked legal power.

  • June 23, 2025

    Justices To Review Liability For Forcing Prisoner's Haircut

    The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a former Louisiana prisoner's case for damages after guards forcibly shaved his head, removing the dreadlocks he maintained as part of his Rastafarian religion.

  • June 23, 2025

    High Court Won't Revisit Landmark Fraud Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to take a second look at the landmark case that disposed of the "right-to-control" theory of fraud, rejecting a petition that argued the Second Circuit had wrongly remanded the action for retrial before resolving the appeal at hand.

  • June 23, 2025

    Justices Pass On La. Regulators' Tesla Sales Ban

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a Fifth Circuit decision that revived Tesla's lawsuit accusing Louisiana car dealers and regulators of illegally excluding the direct-sale automaker from the state, following a notification from the parties of their intent to reach a settlement.

  • June 20, 2025

    Science Research Funding Cuts Blocked By Mass. Judge

    A Massachusetts federal judge Friday prohibited the Trump administration from cutting certain National Science Foundation research funding associated with facilities and administrative costs, ruling that the policy runs afoul of multiple laws and the government hasn't adequately explained its reasoning.

  • June 20, 2025

    Unsettling Expectations: Stewart Broadens Denials Again

    The acting U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director has again held that patent owners eventually have the right to assume their patents won't be challenged in inter partes reviews, which many attorneys say is upsetting their understanding of how to navigate the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

  • June 20, 2025

    High Court Urged To Rein In FDA Oversight Of Stem Cells

    The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons asked the U.S. Supreme Court Friday to review a Ninth Circuit decision the organization argued would wrongly give the government control over a patient's own stem cells.

  • June 20, 2025

    Many Foreign Firms Could Face Stricter Access To US Markets

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's reevaluation of the definition of a foreign private issuer could have far-reaching consequences, potentially tightening access to U.S. markets for companies based in China and beyond, lawyers say.

  • June 20, 2025

    Trump Inks Rollback Of Biden-Era OCC Bank Merger Rule

    President Donald Trump on Friday signed legislation nullifying the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's Biden-era bank merger rule, clinching a Republican campaign to overturn what industry groups criticized as an overly restrictive and unclear framework for reviewing proposed transactions.

  • June 20, 2025

    San Antonio Pushes To Repair Park Amid Tribal Dispute

    The city of San Antonio has asked the Fifth Circuit to lift a stay on a tribal appeal after the Texas Supreme Court answered a question about a state law addressing religious practices, arguing that the high court's opinion rules out two Native Americans' claims.

  • June 20, 2025

    Democrats Probe Credit Union Board's Authority After Firings

    Top Democrats on Friday questioned the National Credit Union Administration's chairman about his authority to run the agency solo since President Donald Trump fired the agency's other two board members, raising concerns about the legality of recent agency actions.

  • June 20, 2025

    8th Circ. Sends SEC's $12M Dealer Suit Back To District Court

    The Eighth Circuit on Friday granted a request from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to remand a $12 million unregistered dealer judgment the agency won against financial firm Carebourn Capital LP back to the district court, despite Carebourn's bid to keep the matter in the federal appeals court.

  • June 20, 2025

    Senate's CFPB, PCAOB Cuts Hit Parliamentarian Roadblock

    The U.S. Senate parliamentarian has thrown cold water on the Senate Banking Committee's bids to defund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and eliminate the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board as part of the "One Big Beautiful" budget megabill, but the panel's top Republican is vowing to keep seeking further spending cuts.

  • June 20, 2025

    Feds, Dems Debate Impact Of Resignation On FTC Firing Case

    The Trump administration told a D.C. federal court the recent resignation of a fired Federal Trade Commission member strips the court of jurisdiction over his claims seeking to be reinstated, while the two Democrats argued the resignation has no impact.

  • June 20, 2025

    9th Circ. Says NY Claims Against Hyundai Raise 'Novel' Issue

    A split panel of the Ninth Circuit Friday refused to toss negligence claims from cities in Ohio and Wisconsin in consolidated litigation alleging Hyundai and Kia, of which Hyundai is a major shareholder, sold vehicles with design flaws that enabled car thefts nationwide, but said negligence claims under New York law "raise a novel issue" of state law.

  • June 20, 2025

    EPA Told To Explain Its Crop-Based Fuel Standards

    The D.C. Circuit on Friday returned a mixed opinion on challenges from green groups to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2023-2025 renewable fuel standards, upholding the agency's volume-setting process but ruling that its climate change analysis was arbitrary and capricious under the Clean Air Act.

Expert Analysis

  • Steps For Universities To Pass Tax-Exempt Test Amid Scrutiny

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    After decades of a quiet governmental acceptance of tax-exempt status, universities are facing unprecedented and public pressure to defend themselves, and must consider how to protect this valuable status, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • In 2nd Term, Trump Has New Iran Sanctions Enforcement Tool

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    As tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalate, the Trump administration may use a whistleblower program enacted in 2022 to target violations that were previously more difficult to detect, thus expanding enforcement of economic sanctions, say attorneys at MoloLamken and Zuckerman Law.

  • Texas Targets Del. Primacy With Trio Of New Corporate Laws

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    Delaware has long positioned itself as the leader in attracting business formation, but a flurry of new legislation in Texas aimed at attracting businesses to the Lone Star State is aggressively trying to change that, says Andrew Oringer at the Wagner Law Group.

  • Explicit Pic Takedown Law Casts A Wide Net

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    With a surprisingly broad range of online platforms potentially subject to the new Take It Down Act’s process for removing revenge porn or explicit deepfakes, all services that allow user interaction or content hosting should proactively evaluate their legal obligations and demonstrate compliance, say attorneys at Goodwin, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • How AI May Reshape The Future Of Adjudication

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    As discussed at a recent panel at Texas A&M, artificial intelligence will not erase the human element of adjudication in the next 10 to 20 years, but it will drive efficiencies that spur private arbiters to experiment, lead public courts to evolve and force attorneys to adapt, says Christopher Seck at Squire Patton.

  • What Money Transmitters Need To Know About New Colo. Law

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    Colorado's new Money Transmission Modernization Act updates standards for the licensing, supervision and regulation of money transmitters while codifying an agent-to-payee exemption, and represents another step toward standardizing these rules across state governments, say Sarah Auchterlonie and Joel Herberman at Brownstein Hyatt.

  • How States Are Taking The Lead On Data Center Regulation

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    While support for data center growth is a declared priority for the current administration, federal data center policy has been slow to develop — so states continue to lead in attracting and regulating data center growth, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • Justices' Charter School Tie Delays Church-State Reckoning

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent deadlock in Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board v. Drummond, blocking the creation of the nation’s first religious charter school, preserved the separation of church and state for now, but offered little reassurance about its continued viability, says Jeffrey Sultanik at Fox Rothschild.

  • When Legal Advocacy Crosses The Line Into Incivility

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    As judges issue sanctions for courtroom incivility, and state bars advance formal discipline rules, trial lawyers must understand that the difference between zealous advocacy and unprofessionalism is not just a matter of tone; it's a marker of skill, credibility and potentially disciplinary exposure, says Nate Sabri at Perkins Coie.

  • Opinion

    It's Time To Expand The WARN Act Liability Exception

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    With layoffs surging across several industries, Congress should amend the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to address an exception-based disparity that prevents directors and officers from taking all reasonable steps to save a company before being required to provide workers with a mass-layoff notice, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Texas Bill Could Still Boost Property Rights In Gov't Disputes

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    The passage of a bill in Texas that would provide litigants with access to a greater swath of judicial remedies in immunity disputes with government entities and officials would be an invaluable boon for property rights, says Nathan Vrazel at Munsch Hardt.

  • Two Bills Promise A Crypto Revamp, But Not A Done Deal Yet

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    Recent efforts in Congress toward an updated regulatory framework for digital assets have led to two bills — the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act — that represent the most consequential legislative developments yet in the push for coherent, pro-innovation, reliable regulation for the industry, but both face multiple hurdles, says Mike Katz at Manatt.

  • Opinion

    NJ Should Align With Federal Rule On Expert Testimony

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    The time is right to amend Rule 702 of the New Jersey Rules of Evidence to align it with the recently amended Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence and clarify the standard for admissibility of expert testimony, says Timothy Freeman at Tanenbaum Keale.

  • Recent Reports Shed Light On Section 340B's Effectiveness

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    Recent analyses of the Section 340B program's effectiveness in helping patients afford drugs in Minnesota reinforce concerns about the program's lack of transparency and underscore the need for further evaluation of whether legislative reform should be enacted, say William A. Sarraille at the University of Maryland, and Andrée-Anne Fournier and Molly Frean at Analysis Group.

  • Opinion

    Congress Should Pass IP Reform, Starting With 3 Patent Bills

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    Congress is considering a trio of bipartisan bills to fix patent law problems that have cropped up over the past two decades, and it shouldn't stop there — addressing two other intellectual property issues is critical for America's economy, says retired Judge Kathleen O'Malley at the Council for Innovation Promotion.

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