Public Policy

  • July 29, 2025

    Trump Admin Says UCLA Didn't Protect Jewish Students

    The U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday that it determined that the University of California, Los Angeles, violated civil rights laws by failing to "adequately respond" to harassment and abuse that Jewish and Israeli students faced on its campus following the war in Gaza.

  • July 29, 2025

    X Corp. Asks Judge To Keep Suit Alleging Ad Boycott Intact

    X Corp. is asking a Texas federal judge to keep intact its sprawling antitrust lawsuit against advertisers, saying in multiple briefs that the World Federation of Advertisers and several major brands conspired to withhold billions of dollars in advertising in response to its allegedly lax moderation policies.

  • July 29, 2025

    CFPB Plans 'Accelerated' Push To Revamp Open Banking Rule

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday persuaded a Kentucky federal judge to stay a banking industry legal challenge to its Biden-era open banking rule, saying it now plans to rewrite the rule on an "accelerated" basis and expects to start next month.

  • July 29, 2025

    5th Circ. Allows Challenge To Nonprofit Political Pro Bono Ban

    The Fifth Circuit said Monday a free speech nonprofit has the right to sue members of the Texas Ethics Commission in an attempt to conduct pro bono work for a political organization, saying the commissioners do not have sovereign immunity in their official roles and must face the suit.

  • July 29, 2025

    9th Circ. Urged To Rehear Alaskan Willow Project Ruling

    Alaskan Native and environmental advocacy groups are asking the Ninth Circuit for a rehearing on its ruling to uphold the federal government's decision to evaluate only alternatives for the ConocoPhillips Willow project that they say will result in full development of the Arctic oil reservoir.

  • July 29, 2025

    Miss. AG Says Judge's TRO Over State DEI Ban Full Of Errors

    Mississippi's attorney general wants a federal judge to explain "indisputable factual inaccuracies" in his decision pausing enforcement of a state law prohibiting diversity, equity and inclusion in public schools, saying Monday that the judge's original order contained nonexistent allegations, wrongly identified plaintiffs and defendants, and quoted terms that don't appear in the legislative text.

  • July 29, 2025

    Ambulance Co. Can't Undo $2.3M Verdict In Wash. Crash Case

    A Washington Court of Appeals panel has affirmed an ambulance operator's $2.3 million trial court loss in a patient's family's wrongful death case over a crash, rejecting the company's argument that its crew was shielded from liability by a state law that protects first responders providing emergency medical services.

  • July 29, 2025

    Affirmed Energy Says FERC Unlawfully Cut Auction Rights

    Affirmed Energy LLC told the D.C. Circuit the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission can't justify orders approving PJM Interconnection LLC's proposal to bar energy efficiency resources from participating in its electricity capacity auctions.

  • July 29, 2025

    SEC Tosses Broker's NSCC Margin Rule Challenge

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has dismissed a bid by Alpine Securities Corp. to challenge heightened margin requirements from the National Securities Clearing Corp., with the commission finding the rules are too broadly applicable to warrant review as a denial of access.

  • July 29, 2025

    FCC Nixes Objection To Nonprofit's New Miami FM Station

    Three petitioners have been scrabbling before the Federal Communications Commission for the right to operate a new low-power station in a part of Miami that can only tolerate one station, and the agency has finally decided who gets it.

  • July 29, 2025

    SEC Greenlights 'In-Kind' Redemptions For Crypto ETPs

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission voted Tuesday to approve orders to allow cryptocurrency-based exchange-traded products to use in-kind creations and redemptions, aligning with more traditional ETPs.

  • July 29, 2025

    Trump Says High Court Rulings Undermine Wash. Halt On EOs

    Recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court undermine a Washington federal judge's finding that portions of two executive orders concerning gender-affirming care and transgender identity likely violate the Constitution, the Trump administration argued in recent filings.

  • July 29, 2025

    Judiciary Advises Not Filling Next 10th Circ. Vacancy, For Now

    The Judicial Conference of the United States is recommending not filling the next vacancies on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and a handful of district courts, for now, citing a "consistently low per-judgeship caseload" in those jurisdictions.

  • July 29, 2025

    Reported Plan For Value-Based Patent Fees Unnerves Experts

    A proposal reportedly under consideration by the Trump administration to charge patent owners a new fee based on the value of their patents has spurred numerous questions and concerns among experts, who say the idea appears nearly unworkable and could hinder innovation.

  • July 29, 2025

    9th Circ. Won't Renew Suit Over Wash. Ban On 'DIY' Rape Kits

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Tuesday refused to revive a constitutional challenge to Washington state's ban on self-administered DNA evidence collection kits for sexual assault survivors, concluding that the plaintiff company failed to show the law illegally restricts commercial speech.

  • July 29, 2025

    Ill. Speaker Should Serve Prison Time As Ordered, Feds Urge

    Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan should serve his seven-and-a-half-year corruption sentence as scheduled because he can't cite any particularly substantial appellate issues that would call for such relief, let alone convince the Seventh Circuit to reverse his entire corruption conviction, federal prosecutors argued Monday.

  • July 29, 2025

    DOD Expands Tricare's Clinical Trial Benefit

    The U.S. Department of Defense has issued a final rule that makes health insurance coverage for clinical trials aimed at treating and preventing COVID-19 and other infectious diseases permanent for military personnel, retirees and their families.

  • July 29, 2025

    Trump Calls 'Blue Slip' Process 'Probably Unconstitutional'

    President Donald Trump on Tuesday railed against the long-standing tradition for home state senators to have essentially veto power over U.S. attorney and district court nominee picks and called on U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to abandon the process.

  • July 29, 2025

    Senate Confirms DOJ Official Emil Bove To 3rd Circ.

    The Senate voted 50-49 on Tuesday night to confirm Emil Bove, one of President Donald Trump's former attorneys and a top official at the U.S. Department of Justice, as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

  • July 29, 2025

    OxyChem, Nokia Tell 3rd Circ. Passaic Cleanup Deal Is Unfair

    Occidental Chemical Corp. and Nokia of America Corp. on Monday asked the Third Circuit to reverse a New Jersey federal district court's approval of a $150 million settlement to clean up the Lower Passaic River.

  • July 29, 2025

    SpaceX Backs 'Light Licensing Framework' In 37 GHz

    As the Federal Communications Commission looks into revamping the lower 37 gigahertz band, SpaceX is pushing the agency to consider a "light licensing framework" like the one it has deployed in several other satellite bands.

  • July 29, 2025

    Next-Gen TV Can Deliver Localized Emergency Info, FCC Told

    A public safety trade group called on the Federal Communications Commission to cement the next-generation TV standard into government rules, emphasizing the public interest benefits of quickly conveying advanced emergency information such as geotargeted alerts.

  • July 29, 2025

    Fight Over End To Migrant Parole May Be Moot, 1st Circ. Hints

    The First Circuit grappled Tuesday with whether the Trump administration could elect to abruptly end a Biden-era immigration parole program, even as it appeared to acknowledge that as a practical matter, the measure could die of attrition before the question is answered.

  • July 29, 2025

    9th Circ. Rescinds Ruling On Wash. Abortion Coverage Law

    A Ninth Circuit panel has walked back a published March opinion rejecting a Christian church's challenge to a Washington state law mandating employer health coverage of abortion services, saying in a Tuesday order that the federal appeals court would issue a new ruling following additional oral arguments.

  • July 29, 2025

    Ga. Urges 11th Circ. To Undo Cash Bail Reform Law Injunction

    Georgia's governor and attorney general encouraged the Eleventh Circuit to reverse a district court ruling temporarily blocking enforcement of the state's cash bail reform law, arguing the lower court wrongly found the act of paying bail to be inherently expressive.

Expert Analysis

  • Future Of Enviro Crimes Under Trump's Federal Regs Order

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    President Donald Trump's recent executive order about fighting overcriminalization in federal regulations creates new advocacy opportunities for defense counsel to argue that particular environmental crime investigations and matters ought to be limited or declined based on the policy priorities reflected in the order, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Trump Antitrust Shift Eases Pressure On Private Equity Deals

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    Enforcement actions and statements by Trump administration antitrust officials forecast a shift away from specifically targeting private equity activity, which should be welcome news to dealmakers, but firms shouldn't expect to escape traditional antitrust scrutiny, says Nathaniel Bronstein at Fried Frank.

  • How Cos. Can Prep For Calif. Cybersecurity Audit Regulations

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    As the California Privacy Protection Agency Board finalizes cybersecurity audit requirements, companies should take six steps to prepare for the audit itself and to build a compliant cybersecurity program that can pass the audit, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Series

    Competing In Modern Pentathlon Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Opening myself up to new experiences through competing in modern Olympic pentathlon has shrunk the appearance of my daily work annoyances and helps me improve my patience, manage crises better and remember that acquiring new skills requires working through your early mistakes, says attorney Mary Zoldak.

  • Shifting DEI Expectations Put Banks In Legal Crosshairs

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    The Trump administration's rollbacks on DEI-friendly policies create something of a regulatory catch-22 for banks, wherein strict compliance would contradict established statutory and administrative mandates regarding access to credit for disadvantaged communities, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • Compliance Tips After Court Axes EEOC's Trans Rights Take

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    A Texas federal court's recent decision struck portions of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's 2024 guidance pertaining to sexual orientation and gender identity under Title VII, barring their use nationwide and leaving employers unsure about how to proceed in their compliance efforts, say attorneys at Dorsey & Whitney.

  • Atkins' Crypto Remarks Show SEC Is Headed For A 'New Day'

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    A look at U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins' recent speeches provides significant clues as to where the SEC is going next and how its regulatory approach to crypto will differ from that of the previous administration, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Teaching Yourself Legal Tech

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    New graduates often enter practice unfamiliar with even basic professional software, but budding lawyers can use on-the-job opportunities to both catch up on technological skills and explore the advanced legal and artificial intelligence tools that will open doors, says Alyssa Sones at Sheppard Mullin.

  • State Farm Rate Hike Portends Intensifying Insurance Crisis

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    The California Department of Insurance's unprecedented emergency approval of a 17% rate increase for State Farm General Insurance, the first interim rate relief granted before completing full actuarial justification, represents a regulatory watershed and establishes precedent that could fundamentally reshape insurers' response to climate-driven market instability, says Daniel Veroff at Merlin Law Group.

  • 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.

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