Public Policy

  • April 25, 2025

    Calif. Judge Rips Trump Admin's 'Whack-A-Mole' ICE Policies

    A California federal judge deciding whether to issue a nationwide injunction in multiple cases challenging the government's termination of foreign students' F-1 visa records expressed frustration with the Trump administration's abrupt policy changes Friday, saying "it's a new world order every day — it's like whack-a-mole."

  • April 25, 2025

    Texas High Court Keeps Alive REIT's 'Short And Distort' Suit

    The Texas Supreme Court found that a farmland-centered real estate investment trust's suit against a Dallas-based hedge fund could continue, but in a Friday opinion it also said a bid to dismiss the suit under the state's anti-SLAPP law could proceed on the merits.

  • April 25, 2025

    DOJ Says Journalists Must Answer Subpoenas

    U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has revoked the Biden administration's policy preventing the U.S. Department of Justice from seeking records and compelling testimony from journalists in order to crack down on leaks, according to a memo issued Friday and obtained by Law360.

  • April 25, 2025

    Telecom Org. Demands FCC Rethink Copper Retirement

    A group made up of former FCC officials and telecom industry experts is hopping mad about the Federal Communications Commission's move to retire copper lines and move toward newer technology, calling it an "embarrassment of monumental proportions."

  • April 25, 2025

    Patents Commissioner Hits Positive Note On Agency Reforms

    At an event to celebrate World Intellectual Property Day on Friday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's acting patent division leader acknowledged the changes underway at the agency under the Trump administration, but said one key metric is trending in the right direction: pending patent applications.

  • April 25, 2025

    Seattle Part-Time Judge Censured For Forged Parking Doc

    Washington's judicial conduct board censured a part-time district court judge on Friday and recommended the state's high court oust him from office based on findings that he forged a note embossed with a county seal and another judge's signature stamp to get a parking discount near the Seattle courthouse.

  • April 25, 2025

    Google Ad Tech Judge Wants To Get Moving On Remedies

    The Virginia federal judge overseeing the government's ad tech monopolization case against Google issued an order on Friday calling for a hearing over her concerns about the length of time the sides are requesting to prepare for a trial to determine potential remedies.

  • April 25, 2025

    HHS Says Cuts Target Excess After Judge Seeks More Info

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told a Rhode Island federal judge that a group of states has no basis to challenge the cancellation of billions in grants supporting public health programs because they already received the funds appropriated to them by Congress.

  • April 25, 2025

    Trimmed Challenge To Fla. Lab-Grown Meat Ban Moves Ahead

    A Florida federal judge Friday largely disposed of a food technology company's lawsuit challenging the state's law that bans cultivated, or lab-grown, meat products but kept alive a claim that the law is unconstitutional because it violates the company's right to sell its products through interstate commerce.

  • April 25, 2025

    Trans Prisoners Fight For Care Over New White House Hurdles

    After staff at a New Jersey federal prison told Alishea Sophia Kingdom that, due to an executive order by President Donald Trump, she would no longer be receiving hormone therapy to treat gender dysphoria, Kingdom lodged the latest in a series of suits against the Federal Bureau of Prisons that contend following the executive order violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.

  • April 25, 2025

    DHS Ordered To Restore Visa Status For More Wash. Students

    A federal judge on Friday ordered the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to temporarily restore student visa status for four more international students in Washington state, on the same day the Trump administration said it would restore thousands of foreign students' visa records that had been abruptly terminated.

  • April 25, 2025

    Interior's Energy Permits Plan Has Legal And Practical Risks

    The U.S. Department of the Interior's plan to truncate environmental reviews and accelerate the approval process for certain energy projects could be vulnerable to lawsuits, given the legwork needed to ensure project reviews are sufficient.

  • April 25, 2025

    Tort Report: Texas Justices Set Dram Shop Standard

    The Texas Supreme Court's clarification of a bar's liability in a suit over the alleged overserving of alcohol and a suit over a Boeing whistleblower's suicide lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

  • April 25, 2025

    Judge Asks How Ed Dept. Can Fulfill Mandates Without Staff

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Friday appeared skeptical of arguments by the Trump administration that it can continue delivering legally mandated services without reinstating hundreds of U.S. Department of Education employees who were fired last month.

  • April 25, 2025

    Judge Blocks Trump Order Limiting Fed. Worker Bargaining

    A Washington, D.C., federal judge on Friday blocked President Donald Trump's order last month seeking to end collective bargaining for workers at more than a dozen federal agencies with national security roles, two days after suggesting during oral arguments that Trump's order was retaliatory.

  • April 25, 2025

    Feds Fight Unions' Bid To Reverse Cuts To FMCS

    A group of unions lack standing to ask a New York federal judge to reverse staffing cuts and field office closures at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the federal government has argued, opposing the group's bid for an injunction undoing the shrinkage of the labor-management dispute resolution agency.

  • April 25, 2025

    Low-Power Stations Seek To Avoid Next-Gen TV Mandate

    Low-power TV broadcasters are urging the Federal Communications Commission not to force stations like theirs to transition to "NextGen TV," calling the consumer uptake of NextGen-enabled televisions "laughable" and saying advancements are still being made in standard HDTV technology.

  • April 25, 2025

    Feds Say Tariff Fight Belongs In International Trade Court

    The Trump administration wants to litigate a challenge to its tariffs in a federal trade court, not the D.C. district court, arguing that the U.S. Court of International Trade is the only venue with jurisdiction to hear the case.

  • April 25, 2025

    Sen. Crapo Calls Exec Session For Commerce, Treasury Noms

    U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, announced Friday that it will hold an executive session Tuesday to consider President Donald Trump's picks for roles at the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Department of the Treasury.

  • April 25, 2025

    Hemp Co. Says Seller Can't Pass Buck On Pot Arrest

    A hemp company and its affiliates are urging a Wisconsin federal court to throw out a seller's claim that his shop was raided and he was convicted of drug possession because their products were falsely labeled as legal hemp, saying that the complaint fails to show the products had anything to do with the arrest.

  • April 25, 2025

    Is The 'Prevailing Party' Over For Civil Rights Attys?

    The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that preliminary injunctions don't entitle civil rights plaintiffs to recoup attorney fees was partly an attempt to reduce lengthy fee litigation, but it may have also reduced litigants' ability to vindicate their rights in court.

  • April 25, 2025

    With $1.2M Deal, Pattern Of NY Prison Abuse Cases Emerges

    A New York man who says prison guards tortured him during a medical emergency recently secured a $1.2 million settlement — one of the largest known payouts for abuse in state custody — as part of litigation that exposed a correction officer's alleged recurrent violent behavior.

  • April 25, 2025

    Broadcasters Oppose FCC Adding New Local Notice Regs

    Broadcasters said they don't like the idea of new local notice requirements for some types of new stations as part of a Federal Communications Commission plan to otherwise cut down on rules covering the industry that it believes are no longer needed.

  • April 25, 2025

    Feds Accused Of Illegal Education Data Collection Rollback

    The Department of Education is defying congressional mandates requiring the collection and analysis of national education data, including by canceling $900 million in data maintenance and collection contracts, educational organizations said in a lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C., federal court.

  • April 25, 2025

    NY Settles Class Action Over Delays In Special Ed Hearings

    New York City and state officials agreed to overhaul how special education complaints are handled, settling a 2020 class action brought by students with disabilities who waited months for crucial services.

Expert Analysis

  • How Latin American Finance Markets May Shift Under Trump

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    Changes in the federal government are bringing profound implications for Latin American financial institutions and cross-border financing, including increased competition from U.S. banks, volatility in equity markets and stable green investor demand despite deregulation in the U.S., says David Contreiras Tyler at Womble Bond.

  • Series

    Improv Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Improv keeps me grounded and connected to what matters most, including in my legal career where it has helped me to maintain a balance between being analytical, precise and professional, and creative, authentic and open-minded, says Justine Gottshall at InfoLawGroup.

  • TikTok Bias Suit Ruling Reflects New Landscape Under EFAA

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    In Puris v. Tiktok, a New York federal court found an arbitration agreement unenforceable in a former executive's bias suit, underscoring an evolving trend of broad, but inconsistent, interpretation of the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, say attorneys at Williams & Connolly.

  • Avoiding Pitfalls Around New Calif. Commercial Lease Law

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    A California law that became effective this year requires commercial landlords to extend certain protections previously afforded to residential tenancies, and a few key provisions of the law especially warrant reexamination of leasing and operational processes, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • How BigLaw Executive Orders May Affect Smaller Firms

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    Because of the types of cases they take on, solo practitioners, small law firms and public interest attorneys may find themselves more dramatically affected by the collective impact of recent government action involving the legal industry than even the BigLaw firms named in the executive orders, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Filial Consortium Claims' Future After Conn. High Court Ruling

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    While the Connecticut Supreme Court recently ruled for defendants in rejecting parents’ attempt to recover loss of companionship damages in a severe child injury case, there is still potential for the plaintiffs bar to lobby for a law that would allow filial consortium claims, Glenn Coffin at Gordon Rees.

  • 5 Tools To Help Existing Gov't Contracts Manage Tariff Costs

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    Five pointers can help government contractors scrutinize their existing contracts for protections like equitable adjustment and duty-free entry clauses, which may help insulate them from tariff-related cost increases, say attorneys at Covington.

  • 4th Circ. Health Data Ruling Opens Door To State Law Claims

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    In Real Time Medical v. PointClickCare, the Fourth Circuit recently clarified that state law claims can rest in part on violations of a federal law that prohibits electronic health information blocking, expanding legal risks for health IT companies and potentially creating exposure to a range of competitive implications, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • Opinion

    Lawsuits Shouldn't Be Shadow Assets For Foreign Capital

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    Third-party litigation financing amplifies inefficiencies from litigation and facilitates national exposure to foreign influence in the U.S. justice system, so full disclosure of financing arrangements should be required as a matter of institutional integrity, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

  • 2 Del. Rulings Reinforce Proof Needed For Records Demands

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    Two recent Delaware Court of Chancery decisions involving Amazon and Paramount Global illustrate the significance of the credible basis standard on books and records requests, underscoring that stockholders seeking to investigate wrongdoing must come forward with actual evidence of misconduct — not mere allegations, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • How To Accelerate Your Post-Attorney Career Transition

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    Professionals seeking to transition to nonattorney careers may encounter skepticism as nontraditional candidates, but there are opportunities for thought leadership and to leverage speaking and writing to accelerate a post-attorney career transition, say Janet Falk at Falk Communications and Evgeny Efremkin at Toronto Metropolitan University.

  • Key Takeaways From The 2025 Spring Antitrust Meeting

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    Leadership changes, shifting priorities and evolving enforcement tools dominated the conversation at the recent American Bar Association Spring Antitrust Meeting, as panelists explored competition policy under a second Trump administration, agency discretion under the 2023 merger guidelines and new frontiers in conduct enforcement, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • 3 Action Items For Innovators Amid Fintech Regulatory Pivot

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    As the federal banking agencies seek to smooth the way for banks to engage in crypto-related activities, banks and technology companies should take note of this new chapter in payments services, especially as leadership in digital financial technology becomes a national priority, says Jess Cheng at Wilson Sonsini.

  • What PFAS-Treated Clothing Tariff Bill Would Mean For Cos.

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    In keeping with a nationwide trend of greater restrictions on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, legislation pending in the U.S. House of Representatives would remove tariff advantages for PFAS-treated clothing — so businesses would be wise to proactively adapt their supply chains and review contracts to mitigate liability, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • How Tariffs May Affect Proxy Contests This Season

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    While global tariffs imposed by the Trump administration will certainly chill at least some activity this proxy season, and make defending contests significantly easier, there will likely be many new activist investments once there is more economic certainty, meaning more proxy fights this fall, say attorneys at Sidley.

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