Public Policy

  • October 22, 2025

    Squires Confirms USPTO Has Funds To Last The Year

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has enough funds to last through the year in the event that the government shutdown continues, Director John Squires told agency personnel on Wednesday.

  • October 22, 2025

    NC Lawmakers Probe 'Rogue' Legal Services Grants Process

    North Carolina State Bar leaders faced the third degree Wednesday in a state House committee hearing where Republicans sounded the alarm on grants for legal assistance programs going to what the GOP lawmakers view as left-leaning organizations, prompting a funding freeze that has threatened the operations of the state's largest legal aid group, which itself is not political.

  • October 22, 2025

    Energy Secretary Urges EU To Rethink Sustainability Rules

    U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Wednesday urged European leaders to scrap, or at least revise, proposed European Union corporate sustainability rules, claiming they will hamper exports of liquefied natural gas to the continent.

  • October 22, 2025

    Australia Issues Guidance For Minimum Tax Safe Harbor

    Australia released guidance Wednesday detailing when companies can forgo detailed top-up tax calculations for a jurisdiction under a safe harbor for the 15% global minimum tax that is based on country-by-country reporting.

  • October 22, 2025

    Fifth Attorney For Michigan Pastor Exits Zoning Suit

    A Michigan federal judge Wednesday allowed the fifth lawyer who represented a pastor in a zoning ordinance and retaliation dispute against a township to withdraw from the case, a few months after refusing to recuse himself from the case over a comment about the turnover rate for the pastor's counsel.

  • October 22, 2025

    Feds Urge Justices To Back Machinists Fund In Pension Fight

    The federal government wrote in support of trustees of an International Association of Machinists pension fund in a dispute with employers at the U.S. Supreme Court, backing the union's argument that a pension plan actuary could change the methods and assumptions used to calculate withdrawal payments.

  • October 22, 2025

    H-1B Fee May Hinder University Hiring And Gut Programs

    The Trump administration framed recent changes to the H-1B visa program as a way to bolster a homegrown STEM workforce and protect U.S. jobs, but experts think it could do the opposite — shrinking budgets and opportunities for American students the policies are meant to foster.

  • October 22, 2025

    Tax Court Judge Warns Against Unchecked AI Use In Filings

    A U.S. Tax Court judge cautioned attorneys Wednesday against relying on artificial intelligence to write filings without verifying the information it generates, saying recent "unfortunate incidents" have prompted the court to double down on accuracy in using such tools.

  • October 22, 2025

    States Back Boston Hospital In Fight Over Trans Care Records

    A group of states backed a Boston hospital in its bid to block the Trump administration from accessing transgender care records, warning a federal judge that allowing the government's request could expose a wide variety of doctors to criminal charges.

  • October 22, 2025

    'The Right Facts' Can Reduce Cos.' Tariff Impacts, Atty Says

    Multinational companies with U.S. distributors that typically bear fewer business risks and earn low profit margins may be able to mitigate the effect of U.S. tariffs on their business as a whole by having a foreign principal bear the tariff costs, an attorney said Wednesday.

  • October 22, 2025

    Gutting Broadband Labels Erodes Consumer Trust, FCC Told

    A pro-consumer group is warning that reducing the data disclosed on broadband "nutrition" labels will undermine consumer trust about the online services they're receiving.

  • October 22, 2025

    NJ Panel Hints Affordable Housing Rules Fight Is Moot

    A New Jersey appellate panel questioned on Wednesday whether 28 towns' challenge to interim affordable housing rules might become moot, as permanent regulations are expected within two months — but municipal attorneys argued the current rules have already forced planning decisions that could be upended.

  • October 22, 2025

    Bankers Ask FCC To Further Delay Call Consent Rule To 2027

    Financial service providers Monday pushed for the Federal Communications Commission to extend by a year the April 2026 deadline to implement a "revoke-all" rule making it easier to opt out of robotexts and calls while the agency reconsiders it, warning they could waste resources to comply if the rule is changed or modified.

  • October 22, 2025

    Presidential Firing Limits Fight Builds At High Court

    The ousted U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board chair has encouraged the U.S. Supreme Court to include a caveat for "legislative courts" if it overturns precedent that empowers Congress to limit the president's authority to fire certain agency officials, but opponents of independent agencies want a clean break from the status quo. 

  • October 22, 2025

    NY AG James Seeks Canal Street ICE Raid Photos, Videos

    New York Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday opened a new online portal for pictures and videos of federal immigration enforcement actions following a massive raid on street vendors on Canal Street in Lower Manhattan.

  • October 22, 2025

    OCC Drops $10M Fine, Ban In Wells Fargo Ex-Exec Deal

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has agreed to end a long-running case accusing a former Wells Fargo risk officer of failing to prevent the bank's fake accounts scandal, striking a deal that drops its pursuit of a $10 million fine and industry ban.

  • October 22, 2025

    Trump Seeks To Dismiss NY Law Claims In Ex-Aide's Suit

    President Donald Trump urged a New York federal court to toss allegations of human rights violations in a discrimination lawsuit brought by a former aide claiming she was banished from his first incoming administration after she became pregnant. 

  • October 22, 2025

    Wash. Tribe May Reignite Decades-Old Fishing Rights Dispute

    The Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe wants to meet and confer with other participants in a 50-year-old Washington federal court case over tribal fishing rights, saying if a meeting doesn't take place it will look to open a new subproceeding to decide where the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community can fish.

  • October 22, 2025

    NJ Justices To Review Judicial Privacy Law For 3rd Circ. Case

    The New Jersey Supreme Court has agreed to a request from the Third Circuit to interpret whether the judicial privacy measure Daniel's Law requires a certain mental state in order to establish liability.

  • October 22, 2025

    Unions Pursue More Protection For Federal Workers In Shutdown

    Eight unions asked a California federal judge to step up the level of protection she provided to thousands of federal workers' jobs during the government shutdown, urging her to expand the number of jobs she's protecting and turn a temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction.

  • October 22, 2025

    Trump Flouted Clean Air Act With Rule Delay, Enviro Orgs. Say

    President Donald Trump violated the Clean Air Act when he delayed deadlines to comply with air pollution standards for companies in the chemical manufacturing industry, green groups alleged in Washington federal court Wednesday.

  • October 22, 2025

    House GOP Faces Lawsuit Over Grijalva Swearing-In Standoff

    The state of Arizona and U.S. Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva are demanding that House Speaker Mike Johnson seat Grijalva after her special election victory last month, claiming in a new lawsuit that Johnson and other House officials are trying to prevent her from voting to release documents related to federal investigations into Jeffrey Epstein.

  • October 22, 2025

    Montana Tribe's $325K Public Safety Bid Too High, Feds Say

    The federal government says it has provided every available dollar to the Northern Cheyenne Tribe for criminal investigations and telecommunications services, arguing that a decision to only partially fund the tribe's contract proposal is consistent with the spirit and letter of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975.

  • October 22, 2025

    10th Circ. Won't Revive Ex-IHS Doc's Retaliation Suit

    A doctor can't reinstate his suit alleging he was terminated from the U.S. Indian Health Service for complaining that his COVID-19 vaccine exemption request was rejected and that superiors failed to investigate sexual misconduct, the Tenth Circuit said, upholding a win for the IHS and a staffing company.

  • October 22, 2025

    Kirkland Partner, Ex-Sen. Cornyn Counsel Tapped For US Atty

    A Dallas-based Kirkland & Ellis LLP litigation partner who previously served as U.S. Sen. John Cornyn's chief counsel has been nominated as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas.

Expert Analysis

  • Annual Report Shows CFIUS Extending Its Reach In 2024

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    The recently released 2024 annual report from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States reveals record civil penalties and enhanced internal capabilities, illustrating expanding jurisdiction and an increasing appetite for enforcement actions, says Nathan Fisher at StoneTurn.

  • Trump Tax Law's Most Impactful Corp. And Individual Changes

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    The One Big Beautiful Bill Act built on and reshaped elements of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, including business interest deductions, bonus depreciation and personal income relief, delivering substantial changes to both corporate and individual tax policy, say attorneys at Weil.

  • From Clerkship To Law Firm: 5 Transition Tips For Associates

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Transitioning from a judicial clerkship to an associate position at a law firm may seem daunting, but by using knowledge gained while clerking, being mindful of key differences and taking advantage of professional development opportunities, these attorneys can flourish in private practice, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Opinion

    Fla. Misses Opportunity To Rectify Wrongful Death Damages

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    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' recent veto of a bill that would have removed certain arbitrary and unfair prohibitions on noneconomic wrongful death damages in medical negligence cases highlights the urgent need for reforms to current state law, say attorneys at Farah & Farah.

  • Cybersecurity Risks Can Lurk In Gov't Contractor Acquisitions

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    The Justice Department’s recent False Claims Act enforcement activity against Raytheon and Nightwing-related defense contractors demonstrates the importance of identifying and mitigating potential cybersecurity compliance risks when acquiring a company that contracts with the federal government, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • Budget Act Should Boost Focus On Trade Compliance

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    Passage of the One Big Beautiful Budget Act, coupled with recent U.S. Department of Justice statements that it will use the False Claims Act aggressively to pursue trade, tariff and customs fraud, marks a sharp increase in trade-related enforcement risk, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • NY Bill Would Complicate Labor Law Amid NLRB Uncertainty

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    The New York Legislature passed a bill that, if enacted, would grant state agencies the power to enforce federal labor law, potentially causing significant challenges for employers as they could be subject to both state and federal regulators depending on the National Labor Relations Board's operational status, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Trump Tax Law's Most Consequential International Changes

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    The international tax provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act may result in higher effective tax rates for some multinational corporations, but others, particularly those operating in low-tax jurisdictions, may benefit from alignment with global anti-profit shifting efforts, say attorneys at Weil.

  • Associates Can Earn Credibility By Investing In Relationships

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    As the class of 2025 prepares to join law firms this fall, new associates must adapt to office dynamics and establish credible reputations — which require quiet, consistent relationship-building skills as much as legal acumen, says Kyle Forges at Bast Amron.

  • How 6th Circ. Ruling Deepens Split On Broker Liability

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    A growing divide in Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act jurisprudence is ripe for U.S. Supreme Court review, after the Sixth Circuit last month found in Cox v. Total Quality Logistics that brokers can be held liable for negligent hiring, says Gregory Reed at Hanson Bridgett.

  • How The Genius Act May Aid In Fight Against 'Pig Butchering'

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    ​​​​​​​The recently enacted Genius Act represents a watershed moment in the fight against crypto fraud, providing new tools to freeze and recover funds that are lost to scams such as "pig butchering" schemes executed from scam factories abroad, but there are implementation challenges to watch, say attorneys at Treanor Devlin.

  • Assessing Strategies For Mixed-Use Pro Sports Projects

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    Counsel managing mixed-use sports and entertainment districts must combine expertise ranging from stadium-arena finance to municipal law to public relations into a unified strategy, and a series of practice tips can aid project management from inception to completion, say attorneys at Katten.

  • Opinion

    Congressional Bid Protest Concerns Lack Evidence

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    The U.S. Government Accountability Office's most recent congressionally mandated report on the bid protest process showed little reason for concern, and underlined that further scrutiny should cease until data is collected that would enable the identification of purported problems, say attorneys at Fox Rothschild.

  • Trending At The PTAB: IPR Memo And Its Fed. Circ. Backdrop

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    There are new rules for when and how evidence other than patents or printed publications can be considered in inter partes reviews, and while this change is intended to reflect current Federal Circuit precedent, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's memo seems to acknowledge tension with last month's Shockwave decision, say attorneys at Finnegan.

  • Biosolid Contaminants Spawn Litigation, Regulation Risks

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    While nutrient-rich biosolids — aka sewage sludge — can be an attractive fertilizer, pending legislation and litigation spurred by the risk of contamination with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and other pollutants should put stakeholders in this industry on guard, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

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