Public Policy

  • August 12, 2025

    Forge Ahead On Cellphone Hearing Aid Rules, FCC Told

    Federal rules need to be updated as soon as possible to align with an upcoming standard for hearing aid compatibility with cellphones, advocates for consumers with hearing loss said.

  • August 12, 2025

    DOL Yanks 2021 Guidance On Private Equity 401(k) Risks

    The U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits arm on Tuesday rescinded guidance from 2021 that warned 401(k) plan managers about the risks of investing in private equity, which comes after an executive order last week that called for expanding access to alternative asset classes in defined-contribution retirement plan investing.

  • August 12, 2025

    2nd Circ. Rules Dormant Commerce Clause Covers Marijuana

    A split Second Circuit panel on Tuesday ruled that, despite marijuana's federal illegality, the U.S. Constitution prohibits states from privileging their own residents when awarding licenses to cannabis businesses.

  • August 12, 2025

    FTC Skeptical Of 'Partial' Sale For GTCR Merger Fix

    The Federal Trade Commission told an Illinois federal court that enforcers are reviewing an offer by private equity firm GTCR BC Holding to sell parts of a medical device coatings company in order to fix concerns raised by the company's planned purchase of Surmodics, but said a full sale is preferable.

  • August 12, 2025

    FCC Urged To Ramp Up Mobile High-Cost Support

    The Federal Communications Commission needs to reform its mobile support rules for subsidizing carriers in largely rural areas, a wireless trade group told the agency.

  • August 12, 2025

    Md. Judges Say DOJ Habeas Suit Wreaks 'Havoc' On Judiciary

    The Maryland federal bench again moved to throw out the Trump administration's "disruptive affront" challenging a standing order that temporarily paused the removal of noncitizen detainees who filed habeas petitions, arguing Monday that the executive branch's suit fails to state a claim and "wreaks unprecedented havoc on the Judiciary."

  • August 12, 2025

    NJ Is Key Battleground In Fight Over Newborn Blood Tests

    Newborn blood screening, a cornerstone of modern public health, is the focus of a debate over patient privacy, parental consent and what happens to the samples after initial tests are complete. A New Jersey court recently weighed in.

  • August 12, 2025

    Ex-Judges, DAs Blast DOJ Suit Over ICE Courthouse Arrests

    New York district attorneys, legal aid groups, law professors and retired judges have expressed support for a state law that blocks federal immigration officials from making arrests near courthouses, calling it essential to a functioning justice system and urging the dismissal of a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit challenging the law.

  • August 12, 2025

    DOJ Demurs On Lawsuit Seeking Emil Bove Docs

    The U.S. Department of Justice is contesting a watchdog's lawsuit seeking to obtain public records requests on now-Third Circuit Judge Emil Bove, who was formerly President Donald Trump's criminal attorney and a top DOJ official.

  • August 12, 2025

    Trump's Tariffs Add Billions In Revenue, Think Tank Says

    President Donald Trump's enacted tariffs are generating billions of dollars more in revenue when compared to duty collections prior to his taking office, and that revenue could be used to reduce the U.S. budget deficit, according to a recent analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

  • August 12, 2025

    6th Circ. Says Officials' Cabin Search Violated 4th Amendment

    The Sixth Circuit on Monday upheld a lower court's decision denying qualified immunity to Michigan officials who entered a family's property without a warrant or permission, ruling the mini cabins they inspected were protected as homes under the Fourth Amendment and the search was unreasonable.

  • August 12, 2025

    Petition Seeks FCC Files On Trump-Skydance Meeting

    The head of an artificial intelligence streaming platform called on the Federal Communications Commission to release its findings on his complaint alleging improper lobbying by Skydance Media for its $8 billion merger with Paramount, claiming that Skydance planned an impromptu meeting with President Donald Trump at an April UFC fight.

  • August 12, 2025

    Maryland Says It's Immune To Hemp Cos.' Challenge To Regs

    The state of Maryland and its regulators are urging a federal court to toss hemp companies' challenge to a state regulation requiring licenses for intoxicating hemp-derived products, saying the claims are blocked by sovereign immunity under the 11th Amendment.

  • August 11, 2025

    Utah Gov. Cox Escapes Ute Tribe's Bidding Scheme Suit

    Utah's governor and other state officials won't have to face a challenge by the Ute Indian Tribe accusing them of a racist bidding scheme to prevent a land purchase, a federal judge ruled, finding the tribe failed to provide specific allegations tying them to the supposed conspiracy.

  • August 11, 2025

    Army Brass Grilled On Trump's Calif. Troop Deployment

    A San Francisco federal judge overseeing a bench trial over California's claims that President Donald Trump unlawfully deployed military troops in the state dug into a U.S. Army commander's testimony Monday that soldiers were sent to help enforce immigration laws, even when the military's own assessment showed a low risk of violence or damage.

  • August 11, 2025

    GCI To Pay $10K To End Fed Probe Over Alaska Cable Permit

    Alaska telecom GCI Communication Corp. will have to pay $10,000 for letting the cable landing licenses for one of its undersea cable systems expire, the Federal Communications Commission has announced.

  • August 11, 2025

    'Flipping NJ' Developer Fights Charges, Citing Habba's Role

    A New Jersey real estate developer and influencer, who is accused of running a Ponzi-like investment fraud scheme and laundering drug money, on Monday became the latest defendant to seek dismissal of his indictment over what he says was the illegal appointment of Alina Habba as acting U.S. attorney for the Garden State.

  • August 11, 2025

    Wash. AG Sues Feds For Pulling Climate Resiliency Grants

    Washington launched a lawsuit accusing the Trump administration of abruptly canceling grants awarded to the Evergreen State to address climate change impacts, including about $9.3 million approved last year for a collegiate-tribal partnership to prep more than 2,100 students for sustainability-focused careers.

  • August 11, 2025

    Ohio Justice's Suit Over Partisan Label Rule Moves Forward

    Ohio Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner's challenge to a state law requiring judicial candidates to list their political party affiliations on general election ballots will go on after a federal judge ruled the justice sufficiently alleged that her First Amendment rights were violated.

  • August 11, 2025

    11th Circ. Rejects Speedy Trial Claim In MetroPCS Robberies

    The Eleventh Circuit will not overturn the conviction of a man arrested in a string of MetroPCS store robberies in Miami, saying that even though the government may have violated the Speedy Trial Act, the man missed the window to challenge the charges.

  • August 11, 2025

    Paxos Is Latest Crypto Firm To Seek OCC Bank Charter

    Stablecoin issuer Paxos Trust Co. LLC said Monday that it has applied to become licensed and supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, joining a wave of digital asset firms that are now pursuing U.S. banking charters from the agency.

  • August 11, 2025

    GTCR Says Sale, Market Nix FTC Med Tech Merger Concerns

    Private equity firm GTCR BC Holdings urged an Illinois federal judge not to block its planned $627 million purchase of a medical device coatings company, arguing in a brief made public Friday that a planned divestiture fully resolves Federal Trade Commission concerns.

  • August 11, 2025

    Trump's DC Takeover Highlights Local Judicial Vacancies

    President Donald Trump's announcement Monday on the federal takeover of D.C. law enforcement and deployment of the National Guard to Washington, D.C., has drawn attention once again to the vacancy crisis plaguing the local D.C. court system.

  • August 11, 2025

    Hospital Groups Back Challenge Of Merger Notice Overhaul

    A pair of hospital trade associations threw their support behind a U.S. Chamber of Commerce case challenging the Federal Trade Commission's new premerger filing requirements, telling a Texas federal court the agency was wrong to invoke the hospital industry when justifying the changes.

  • August 11, 2025

    Texas AG Says Trans Care Decision Limits Investigative Power

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office told the state's high court Friday that a lower court's decision severely diminished its ability to investigate violations of the state's deceptive trade practices statute, and stalled an investigation into an LGBTQ+ advocacy group.

Expert Analysis

  • How Sweeping Budget Bill Shakes Up Health Industry

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    With the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act marking one of the most significant overhauls of federal health policy since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, providers, managed care organizations and life sciences companies must now shift focus from policy review to implementation planning, say advisers at Holland & Knight.

  • Deep-Sea Mining Outlook Murky, But May Be Getting Clearer

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    U.S. companies interested in accessing deep-sea mineral resources face uncertainty over new federal regulations and how U.S. policy may interact with pending international agreements — but a Trump administration executive order and provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act should help bring clarity, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Legal Ops, Compliance Increasingly Vital To Antitrust Strategy

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    With deal timelines tightening and disclosure requirements intensifying, legal operations and compliance teams are becoming critical drivers of premerger strategy, cross-functional alignment and regulatory credibility, says Alexander Lima at Wesco International.

  • What's Next For CFPB After 'Big Beautiful' Funding Cuts

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    While the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's funding cuts to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are unlikely to have an independent effect in the short run, they could exacerbate the existing issue of wide regulatory fluctuations in successive administrations in the longer run, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From ATF Director To BigLaw

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    As a two-time boomerang partner, returning to BigLaw after stints as a U.S. attorney and the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, people ask me how I know when to move on, but there’s no single answer — just clearly set your priorities, says Steven Dettelbach at BakerHostetler.

  • What To Know As SEC Looks To Expand Private Fund Access

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    As the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission considers expanding retail access to private markets, understanding how these funds operate — and the role of financial intermediaries in guiding investors — is increasingly important, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Fla. Law Is Part Of State Trend On Curbing Foreign Influence

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    A recently effective Florida law that broadly prohibits charities from receiving or soliciting funds from individuals and entities associated with certain foreign countries, the first of its kind in the nation, follows a growing state-level focus on foreign influence regulation, say attorneys at Venable.

  • 4 In-Flux Employment Law Issues Banks Should Note

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    Attorneys at Ogletree provide a midyear update on employment law changes that could significantly affect banks and other financial service institutions — including federal diversity equity and inclusion updates, and new and developing state and local artificial intelligence laws.

  • New DOJ Penalty Policy Could Spell Trouble For Cos.

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    In light of the U.S. Department of Justice’s recently published guidance making victim relief a core condition of coordinated resolution crediting, companies facing parallel investigations must carefully calibrate their negotiation strategies to minimize the risk of duplicative penalties, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • IPR Decisions Clarify Stewart's 'Settled Expectations' Factor

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    Recent discretionary denial decisions from U.S. Patent and Trademark Office acting Director Coke Morgan Stewart have begun to illuminate the contours of her "settled expectations" doctrine, informing when it might be worth petitioning for inter partes review if the patent at issue has been in force for a few years, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Mulling Worker Reclassification In Light Of No Tax On OT

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    The One Big Beautiful Bill Act's no-tax-on-overtime provisions provide tax relief for employees who regularly work overtime and are nonexempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act, but reclassifying employees may lead to higher compliance costs and increased wage and hour litigation for employers, says Steve Bronars at Edgeworth Economics.

  • Clean Energy Tax Changes Cut Timelines, Add Red Tape

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    With its dramatic changes to energy tax credits, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will reshape project financing and investment planning — and wind and solar developers, especially those in the early stages of projects, face stricter timelines and heightened compliance challenges, says Dan Ruth at Balch & Bingham.

  • 5 Consumer Protection Compliance Issues In NY State Budget

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    Companies that engage with New York consumers should promptly familiarize themselves with new state budget provisions that require finance and retail companies to make certain business practices more transparent and easier for customers to execute, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • Balancing The Promises And Perils Of Tokenizing Securities

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    Tokenizing listed securities offers the promise of greater efficiency, accessibility and innovation, but a recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission statement makes clear that the federal securities laws continue to apply to tokenized securities, so financial institutions and technology developers must work together to create clear rules, say attorneys at Orrick.

  • How To Increase 3rd-Party Preissuance Patent Submissions

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    Attorneys Marian Underweiser and Marc Ehrlich, who helped draft the America Invents Act, discuss changes that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office could potentially implement to facilitate its hopes for increased participation in front-end patent challenges.

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