Public Policy

  • August 07, 2025

    ND Judge Strikes Down Fed's Debit Card Fee Regulation

    A North Dakota federal judge has invalidated the Federal Reserve's regulation limiting certain debit card fees charged in merchant transactions, ruling in favor of a truck stop and convenience store in finding that the Fed had attempted to "improperly repackag[e] the defunct-Chevron deference under a different name."

  • August 07, 2025

    Fox Brands Calif. Gov.'s $787M Defamation Suit 'Spectacle'

    Fox News has asked a Delaware court to toss California Gov. Gavin Newsom's $787 million defamation suit over the network's coverage of his June 6 phone call with President Donald Trump, calling it a "political stunt" and "spectacle" that shouldn't be rewarded.

  • August 07, 2025

    Colo. Court Backs Landlord's Right To 'Fees On Fees'

    In the first Colorado appellate decision to consider whether a prevailing party may recover attorney fees incurred to enforce a contractual fee-shifting provision, a state appellate panel ruled Thursday that a Denver coffee shop's landlord is entitled to an award of such fees.

  • August 07, 2025

    2nd Circ. Says Asylum Status Must Be Current For Green Card

    Asylees seeking green cards must maintain their current asylum status when doing so, a split Second Circuit ruled in a published opinion Thursday, saying two individuals from Egypt and Guatemala couldn't seek lawful permanent residency because their asylum statuses had terminated.

  • August 07, 2025

    9th Circ. Backs Seattle's Win In Housing Ordinance Suit

    The Ninth Circuit affirmed Seattle's lower court victory against a suit filed by landlords challenging a 2017 city housing law that, among other restrictions, prevents landlords from requiring prospective tenants to disclose whether or not they have criminal records.

  • August 07, 2025

    Ga. AG Sues Gov.'s Race Rival Over No-Limit Fundraising

    Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr sued one of his top Republican rivals in the Peach State's 2026 gubernatorial race Thursday, alleging Lt. Gov. Burt Jones reaped an unfair advantage in the contest through a campaign finance vehicle that allows him to raise unlimited amounts of cash.

  • August 07, 2025

    4th Circ. Revives Suit Over Threats To Trans Teen At School

    A split Fourth Circuit panel on Thursday partially revived a grandmother's suit against the Appomattox County School Board and several of its employees over their handling of her grandchild's apparent gender transition, saying she sufficiently alleged that the school acted with "deliberate indifference" to threats against the child.

  • August 07, 2025

    USPTO's Chief Information Officer Leaves Agency

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's chief information officer is departing the agency for a job in the private sector, and the deputy CIO is stepping up to fill the position, a spokesperson confirmed to Law360 on Thursday.

  • August 07, 2025

    5th Circ. Strikes Guatemalan's Reentry Reporting Mandate

    A Fifth Circuit panel vacated a condition of a Guatemalan citizen's supervised release that requires him to report to a probation office every time he enters the United States, citing a conflict between the court's oral and written sentencing.

  • August 07, 2025

    HHS Wins Another Round In Medicare Drug Negotiation Battle

    A Texas federal court dealt another blow to the pharmaceutical industry Thursday when it ruled in favor of Medicare's Drug Price Negotiation Program, turning away arguments that the program is unconstitutional — the third such decision in two days.

  • August 07, 2025

    Judge Says Wis. Tribal Roads Must Stay Open

    Four Wisconsin tribal roads at the crux of a yearslong dispute over trespassing allegations must permanently remain open to the public, a federal court judge has ordered, saying there is no doubt that the town of Lac du Flambeau provided maintenance to them for decades despite an expired 50-year easement.

  • August 07, 2025

    Trump Taps Economic Adviser Miran For Fed Board Vacancy

    President Donald Trump said Thursday that he has chosen Stephen Miran, the chairman of his Council of Economic Advisers, to fill a vacancy on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors until early 2026 while continuing to search for a permanent replacement.

  • August 07, 2025

    VA Axes Union Contracts Covering Thousands Of Workers

    The Department of Veterans Affairs terminated its collective bargaining agreements with several unions representing thousands of employees, and the agency said its decision follows President Donald Trump's executive order looking to end labor contracts across the federal government.

  • August 07, 2025

    Texas Senate OKs Lower Voter-Approval Property Tax Rate

    Texas would reduce its voter-approval property tax rate, the maximum rate a local government may adopt without voter approval, for large taxing units under a bill passed by the state Senate.

  • August 07, 2025

    FCC Chucks Nearly 100 'Outdated' Broadcast Rules

    In a bid to reduce what it considers to be obsolete regulations, the Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday to drop nearly 100 older rules applying to broadcasters from its books.

  • August 07, 2025

    FCC Plans To Narrow Enviro Rules For Broadband Projects

    The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday proposed to make it easier for broadband providers to clear FCC reviews required by the National Environmental Policy Act.

  • August 07, 2025

    10th Circ. Upholds Okla. Law Banning Trans Care For Minors

    The Tenth Circuit declined to block an Oklahoma law banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors, ruling that a recent U.S. Supreme Court opinion backing a similar law from Tennessee undermines state residents' claims that the statute is discriminatory.

  • August 07, 2025

    GOP States Push 5th Circ. To Rethink Migrant Arrest Ruling

    A coalition of 23 Republican-led states urged the Fifth Circuit to rethink its decision upholding the block of a Texas law allowing state officials to arrest people suspected of crossing the border unlawfully, writing that the decision "diminished every state's sovereignty."

  • August 07, 2025

    Ex-Worker Sues Firm For Bias After Work On CDC Contract

    A former employee sued a management consulting and professional services firm in Georgia federal court Wednesday, alleging he was discriminated against and ultimately fired because of his Islamic faith and PTSD while working on a three-year Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contract.

  • August 07, 2025

    HPE-Juniper Judge Shuns More Direct Comment On DOJ Deal

    Comments, or complaints, about the controversial U.S. Department of Justice deal permitting Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $14 billion purchase of Juniper Networks must go through the DOJ and will no longer be accepted if submitted directly to the court, the reviewing California federal judge said Wednesday.

  • August 07, 2025

    5th Circ. Sends Refinery Biofuel Exemption Fight To DC Circ.

    A Fifth Circuit panel on Thursday sent a string of small refinery cases challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's denial of renewable fuel blending requirement waivers over to the D.C. Circuit.

  • August 07, 2025

    Binance Partner To Pay $48.5M For Compliance Failure Claims

    Cryptocurrency trust Paxos Trust Co. has agreed to pay a $26.5 million fine and place $22 million into beefing up its compliance program in a settlement with a New York regulator over its anti-money laundering policies and other alleged due diligence failures related to its stablecoin partnership with crypto exchange Binance.

  • August 07, 2025

    Illinois Co. Fights Texas Insurance Law On Physical Offices

    An Illinois-based company has sued the commissioner of the Texas Department of Insurance over a law that requires the company to have a physical presence in the state in order to keep its title insurance producer license, alleging on Thursday the requirement is unconstitutional.

  • August 07, 2025

    Federal Courts Disclose New Cyberattacks On PACER System

    The federal judiciary on Thursday disclosed there have been escalating cyberattacks on its case management system, putting sealed and sensitive case documents at risk, and that it is taking steps to strengthen its security.

  • August 07, 2025

    Trump 'Debanking' Order Calls For Scrutiny Of Bank Practices

    President Donald Trump on Thursday directed federal regulators to investigate and potentially punish banks if they have turned away customers based on their political or religious beliefs, escalating his administration's crackdown on so-called debanking.

Expert Analysis

  • How Attys Can Use AI To Surface Narratives In E-Discovery

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    E-discovery has reached a turning point where document review is no longer just about procedural tasks like identifying relevance and redacting privilege — rather, generative artificial intelligence tools now allow attorneys to draw connections, extract meaning and tell a coherent story, says Rose Jones at Hilgers Graben.

  • New FCPA Guidance May Flip The Whistleblowing Script

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s updated Foreign Corrupt Practices Act guidelines lay out a new incentive structure that may put multinational U.S.-based companies in an unusual offensive whistleblowing position, potentially spurring them to conduct external investigations of their foreign rivals, says Markus Funk at Perkins Coie.

  • Opinion

    GENIUS Act Could Muck Up Insolvency Proceedings

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    While some of the so-called GENIUS Act's insolvency provisions are straightforward, others run the risk of jeopardizing the success of stablecoin issuers' insolvency proceedings and warrant another look from Congress, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • How McKesson Ruling Will Inform Interpretations Of The TCPA

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    Amid the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson, we can expect to see both plaintiffs and defendants utilizing the decision to revisit the Federal Communications Commission's past Telephone Consumer Protection Act interpretations and decisions they did not like, says Jason McElroy at Saul Ewing.

  • A Look At Florida's New Protected Series LLC Legislation

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    A new law in Florida enhances the flexibility of using limited liability companies as the entities of choice for most privately held businesses, moving Florida into a small group of states with reliable uniform protected series legislation for series LLCs, says Louis Conti at Holland & Knight.

  • Series

    Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The second quarter saw California become a more active protector of consumers in response to federal regulatory pullback, with regulators proposing a licensing framework for digital asset businesses, ending an enforcement exemption and otherwise signaling further expansions of oversight and enforcement, say attorneys at Stinson.

  • Justices Rethink Minimum Contacts For Foreign Entities

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    Two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, Devas v. Antrix and Fuld v. Palestine Liberation Organization, suggest that federal statutes may confer personal jurisdiction over foreign entities that have little to no contact with the U.S. — a significant departure from traditional due process principles, says Gary Shaw at Pillsbury.

  • Opinion

    New USPTO Leadership Must Address Low-Quality Patents

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    With John Squires in line to become the new director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the agency has an opportunity to refocus its mission on prioritizing quality in patent examination and taking a harsher stance against low-quality patents and patent trolls, says Jill Crosby at Engine Advocacy & Foundation.

  • Harmonized Int'l Framework May Boost Advanced Aircraft

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    International differences in the certification process for advanced air mobility aircraft make the current framework insufficient — but U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy's recent announcement of a standards harmonization effort may help promote these innovative aviation technologies, while maintaining safety, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Capital One Deal Approval Lights Up Path For Bank M&A

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    The federal banking regulators' recent approval of Capital One's acquisition of Discover signals the agencies' willingness to approve large transactions and a more favorable environment generally for bank mergers under the Trump administration, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Bills' Defeat Means Brighter Outlook For Texas Renewables

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    The failure of a trio of bills from the recently concluded Texas legislative session that would have imposed new burdens on wind, solar and battery storage projects bodes well for a state with rapidly growing energy needs, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • Examining TCPA Jurisprudence A Year After Loper Bright

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    One year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference in Loper Bright v. Raimondo, lower court decisions demonstrate that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act will continue to evolve as long-standing interpretations of the act are analyzed with a fresh lens, says Aaron Gallardo at Kilpatrick.

  • Opinion

    State Bars Must Probe Misconduct Claims, Even If It's The AG

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    The Florida Bar’s recent refusal to look into misconduct allegations against Attorney General Pam Bondi is dangerous for the rule of law, and other lawyer disciplinary bodies must be prepared to investigate credible claims of ethical lapses against any lawyer, no matter their position, say attorneys James Kobak and Albert Feuer.

  • New FCPA Guidance Creates 5 Compliance Imperatives

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    In light of new Foreign Corrupt Practices Act guidelines that mark a fundamental shift in enforcement priorities, companies should consider several specific steps to ensure compliance, from enhanced due diligence to robust whistleblower protections, says Andrew Wirmani at Reese Marketos.

  • How Justices' Ruling Limits Options To Challenge DHS Orders

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    In Riley v. Bondi, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that a 30-day deadline for challenging deportation orders begins when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issues a final administrative review order, opening the door for the government to effectively bar circuit court review in future similar cases, says Kevin Gregg at Kurzban Kurzban.

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