Public Policy

  • 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.

  • July 29, 2025

    Travelers Gets Trim Of Ex-Worker's Tobacco Health Fee Suit

    A Minnesota federal judge pared down claims Tuesday from a former Travelers worker's suit alleging the insurance and financial services company unlawfully imposed a surcharge on the health plans of employees who disclosed they were tobacco users and thereby violated nondiscrimination provisions in federal benefits law.

  • July 29, 2025

    PTAB Will Now Decide All Grounds In AIA Reviews

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday ordered administrative patent judges to address all grounds raised in America Invents Act petitions when issuing their final decisions.

  • July 29, 2025

    BofA Accuses FDIC Of $250M Rate Flip-Flop In Premiums Suit

    Bank of America has accused the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. of making a "startling" about-face in their long-running deposit insurance dispute in Washington, D.C., federal court, claiming the agency is pushing to extract hundreds of millions in extra interest after the bank paid what it says was the full $657 million judgment owed.

  • July 29, 2025

    Miami Defends Election Delay, Cites State Law Supremacy

    The city of Miami on Tuesday defended its decision to push municipal elections back by a year via ordinance, telling a state appeals court that the move is authorized by three state laws that supersede the city and county charters.

  • July 29, 2025

    3rd Circ. Says DOL H-2A Case Should Have Been In Fed. Court

    A New Jersey farm was entitled to have a federal court weigh in on the U.S. Department of Labor's allegations that it flouted H-2A visa program requirements, the Third Circuit ruled Tuesday, finding the DOL improperly relied on in-house administrative proceedings to impose over $580,000 in fines.

  • July 29, 2025

    FDA Recommends Federal Restrictions On Kratom Extract

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it recommends placing federal restrictions on 7-Hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, an opioid-like alkaloid compound derived from the kratom leaf that the agency said had a strong potential for abuse.

  • July 29, 2025

    DOJ Drops Challenge Of Amex GBT's $570M Deal For CWT

    The U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday that enforcers have agreed to drop their case challenging American Express Global Business Travel Inc.'s planned $570 million purchase of corporate travel management rival CWT Holdings LLC.

  • July 29, 2025

    Sens. Introduce Aviation Safety Bill 6 Months After DCA Crash

    Republican senators introduced legislation Tuesday that would mandate aircraft-tracking technology in civilian and military aircraft, alongside fresh audits of Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. Army practices, six months after January's deadly midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet near Washington, D.C.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • How Cos. In China Can Tailor Compliance Amid FCPA Shifts

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s recently updated Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement guidelines create a fluid business environment for companies operating in China that will require a customized compliance approach to navigate both countries’ corporate and legal systems, say attorneys at Dickinson Wright.

  • 7 Ways Employers Can Avoid Labor Friction Over AI

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    As artificial intelligence use in the workplace emerges as a key labor relations topic in the U.S. and Europe, employers looking to reduce reputational risk and prevent costly disputes should consider proactive strategies to engage with unions, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Open Banking Is On Ice As CFPB Seeks To Toss Its Own Rule

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    Even as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's efforts to toss its open banking rule play out in Kentucky federal court, it remains statutorily required to effectuate consumer access to data, raising questions about how it would replace the previously finalized standard, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • SEC, FINRA Obligations In Changing AI Regulatory Landscape

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    Despite the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent withdrawal of its proposed artificial intelligence conflict rules, financial regulators remain focused on firms developing the correct AI compliance framework, as well as continuously testing and supervising them to ensure they're fit for purpose, say attorneys at Cahill Gordon.

  • Trump Air Emissions Carveouts Cloud The Regulatory Picture

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    President Donald Trump's new proclamations temporarily exempting key U.S. industries from air toxics standards, issued under a narrow, rarely-used provision of the Clean Air Act, will likely lead to legal challenges and tighter standards in some states, contributing to further regulatory uncertainty, say attorneys at GableGotwals.

  • Opinion

    DOJ's HPE-Juniper Settlement Will Help US Compete

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    The U.S. Department of Justice settlement with Hewlett Packard Enterprise clears the purchase of Juniper Networks in a deal that positions the U.S. as a leader in secure, scalable networking and critical digital infrastructure by requiring the divestiture of a WiFi network business geared toward small firms, says John Shu at Taipei Medical University.

  • How Property Insurers Serve As Climate Change Harbingers

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    Thomas Dawson at McDermott discusses the role that U.S. property insurers may play in identifying and assessing climate risk, as well as in financing climate change adaptation projects, in light of global warming and shifting geopolitical realities.

  • Series

    Playing Baseball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing baseball in college, and now Wiffle ball in a local league, has taught me that teamwork, mental endurance and emotional intelligence are not only important to success in the sport, but also to success as a trial attorney, says Kevan Dorsey at Swift Currie.

  • Assessing Impact Of USPTO's New Patent Policies

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    Recent data shows how the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's new patent policies are affecting America Invents Act trial institution rates, including spurring an uptick in discretionary denials, say attorneys at Armond Wilson.

  • What US Medicine Onshoring Means For Indian Life Sciences

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    Despite the Trump administration's latest moves to onshore essential medicine manufacturing, India will likely remain an indispensable component of the U.S. drug supply chain, but Indian manufacturers should prepare for stricter compliance checks, says Jashaswi Ghosh at Holon Law Partners.

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