Public Policy

  • September 20, 2025

    Court Blocks Denver From Firing Exec In Retaliation Suit

    For now, Denver can't fire one of its employees who claims the city is trying to retaliate against her for supporting a different mayoral candidate, a Colorado federal judge ruled this week.

  • September 19, 2025

    Trump Tags H-1B Visa Apps With $100,000 Fee

    President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order to impose a $100,000 fee for H-1B visas, framing it as a "restriction on entry" necessary to stem the entry of high-skilled foreign workers, particularly in science and technology fields.

  • September 19, 2025

    EU-US Data Transfer Ruling Delivers Relief But Not Finality

    A recent court decision backing a revamped framework for transferring personal data from the European Union to the United States provided companies with some much-needed comfort after nearly a decade of setbacks although that reprieve might be short-lived as opponents eye a broader challenge to the critical arrangement.

  • September 19, 2025

    Va. US Atty Quits Amid Trump's 'Blue-Slip' Removal Bid

    Erik Siebert on Friday resigned as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, just hours after President Donald Trump pondered ousting him from the position because Siebert received blue-slip approval from the commonwealth's two Democratic senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, according to media reports.

  • September 19, 2025

    Squires Confirmation Has Patent Attys Hoping For Stability

    Now that the U.S. Senate has confirmed John Squires to serve as director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, attorneys are looking for him to provide clear rules and consistent practices, saying the current requirements keep changing.

  • September 19, 2025

    NY County Says It's Immune From Immigrant Detention Suit

    Long Island officials on Friday asked a New York federal judge to throw out a class action brought by immigrants who say they were unlawfully detained past their release dates at the request of federal immigration authorities, saying local law enforcement has federal sovereign immunity when acting in cooperation with the feds.

  • September 19, 2025

    2nd Circ. Backs NY Ban On Guns In Times Square, Subways

    The Second Circuit on Friday turned back a challenge by two gun owners to a state law banning guns in Times Square and the New York City subway, saying the law fits with the country's historical traditions of regulating guns and doesn't violate the Second Amendment.

  • September 19, 2025

    Trump Signs 'Gold Card' Visa Order Giving Priority For Cash

    President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday launching a "gold card" visa program that provides a pricier but speedier pathway for foreigners to reside in the U.S. "by voluntarily providing a significant financial gift to the nation," touting it as a step toward undoing the prior administration's "disastrous" immigration policies and bringing wealth to the nation.

  • September 19, 2025

    Feds Urge Justices To Back Trump's Emergency Tariffs

    The federal government told the U.S. Supreme Court Friday that lower courts incorrectly determined President Donald Trump's emergency tariffs unlawful under a statute that gives the executive broad authority to regulate the economy in matters of national emergency,.

  • September 19, 2025

    Ga. Providers Seek Exit From 'Conspiratorial' BCBS Fraud Suit

    Healthcare consulting firm HaloMD and several providers urged a federal judge Friday to toss a lawsuit from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia accusing them of abusing a federal dispute resolution process for surprise medical bills, arguing the insurer's suit offers little more than "inflammatory, conspiratorial rhetoric."

  • September 19, 2025

    Call For Gov't Cut Of University Patent Cash Spurs Concern

    Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's comments that the government should get as much as half of the revenue that universities generate from patents developed with federal funding have caused worry among industry groups and attorneys, who say it would inhibit efforts to commercialize publicly funded inventions.

  • September 19, 2025

    SEC Dem Fears 'High-Speed Collision' In Private Markets

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's sole Democrat urged the agency on Friday to pay more than "lip service" to investor protection as it considers allowing more everyday Americans to access private markets, warning that the commission was headed for a "high-speed collision" if it doesn't change course.

  • September 19, 2025

    Treasury Launches Stablecoin Rule Push With Call For Input

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Friday asked for public input on key regulatory considerations for stablecoins as it begins crafting rules to govern the stable-value crypto tokens under the recently signed Genius Act.

  • September 19, 2025

    NJ Claims Of Union Job Referral Bias Preempted, Judge Hears

    The state of New Jersey's discrimination lawsuit against a local union should be dismissed because it is preempted by federal labor law and was filed after the two-year statute of limitations expired, a state court judge heard Friday during a hearing.

  • September 19, 2025

    Agri Stats Looks To Nix DOJ Antitrust Case Ahead Of Trial

    Agri Stats is asking a Minnesota federal court to toss the government's antitrust case ahead of trial, arguing that enforcers still lack evidence to support their information-sharing claims despite scrutinizing the agricultural data firm's industry reports for more than a decade.

  • September 19, 2025

    Texas AG Appeals Ruling That Blocked ESG Proxy Law

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is appealing to the Fifth Circuit a federal judge's order temporarily blocking a new state law requiring proxy advisory firms to disclose when their advice stems from factors such as diversity and inclusion.

  • September 19, 2025

    Trump Administration Takes TPS Fight Back To Supreme Court

    The Trump administration took its fight to end temporary protected status for Venezuela back to the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, urging the justices to stay a district court decision that found the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's attempt to unwind those protections unlawful.

  • September 19, 2025

    Google Search Judge Values Storytelling, Not 'Denigrating'

    The federal judge who found Google liable for monopolizing search and ordered it to prop up rivals had advice in New York City remarks Friday for attorneys trying to sway courts: Write "plain," tell a story without "denigrating" the opposition, and back up economic analysis with business reality.

  • September 19, 2025

    Foreign Entity Rules Begin To Shape Clean Energy Deals

    The recently enacted federal budget that attaches stricter foreign supply chain and business ownership rules to clean energy tax credits has started to take practical effect, with project developers rewriting agreements to avoid getting snagged in the new regulatory regime.

  • September 19, 2025

    Dems Want Answers On Delayed FinCEN Adviser Rule

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other congressional Democrats have pressed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the department's decision to postpone a rule they said addresses a money laundering vulnerability of the U.S. investment adviser sector, saying the decision puts national security and the economy at risk.

  • September 19, 2025

    Satellite Biz Bristles At Idea Of Tougher FCC Enviro Oversight

    Satellite companies say the Federal Communications Commission should exempt their operations from review under the National Environmental Policy Act because they are "inherently extraterritorial" projects.

  • September 19, 2025

    Calif. Official Questions FCC Power To Trim Historic Reviews

    The head of California's Office of Historic Preservation has criticized the Federal Communications Commission's decision to weigh regulatory changes that would streamline environmental and historic reviews for wireless broadband infrastructure projects.

  • September 19, 2025

    Feds Say Court Can't Stop Voice Of America Layoffs

    The U.S. government agency that runs broadcaster Voice of America urged a  D.C. federal judge not to hold that an order to fulfill its mandate as a news source blocks it from carrying out imminent layoffs, opposing an enforcement bid by unions and employees including VOA's director.

  • September 19, 2025

    Ky.-Based CBD Co. Sues Tenn. Regulators Over New Law

    A Kentucky-based hemp products manufacturer is looking to block Tennessee officials from enforcing a new state law that would both ban direct-to-consumer sales and all health-related marketing labeling, according to a federal lawsuit that claims the statute violates the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause and the First Amendment.

  • September 19, 2025

    NC Judge Creates Bail Task Force, Citing 'Disturbing' Events

    The chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court has ordered that a task force be created to study whether pretrial release policies comply with relevant state laws, and help develop a new suite of court rules governing when trial judges may release defendants.

Expert Analysis

  • Preserving Refunds As Tariffs Await Supreme Court Weigh-In

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    In the event that the U.S. Supreme Court decides in V.O.S. Selections v. Trump that the president doesn't have authority to levy tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, importers should keep records of imports on which they have paid such tariffs and carefully monitor the liquidation dates, say attorneys at Butzel.

  • How Justices' Ruling Upends Personal Jurisdiction Defense

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Fuld v. Palestinian Liberation Organization, holding that the Fifth Amendment's due process clause does not require a defendant to have minimum contacts with a forum, may thwart foreign defendants' reliance on personal jurisdiction to evade federal claims in U.S. courts, say attorneys at Axinn.

  • Key Points From DOJ's New DeFi Enforcement Outline

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    Recent remarks by the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division head Matthew Galeotti reveal several issues that the decentralized finance industry should address in order to minimize risk, including developers' role in evaluating protocols and the importance of illicit finance risk assessments, says Drew Rolle at Alston & Bird.

  • Revamped Opportunity Zones Can Aid Clean Energy Projects

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    The Qualified Opportunity Zone program, introduced in 2017 and reshaped in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, offers investors federal tax incentives for development in low-income communities — incentives that are especially meaningful for clean energy projects, where capital-intensive infrastructure and long-term planning are essential, say attorneys at Dentons.

  • Assessing Potential Ad Tech Remedies Ahead Of Google Trial

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    The Virginia federal judge tasked with prying open Google’s digital advertising monopoly faces a smorgasbord of potential remedies, all with different implications for competition, government control and consumers' internet experience, but compromises reached in the parallel Google search monopoly litigation may point a way forward, say attorneys at MoloLamken.

  • Earned Wage Access Providers Face State Law Labyrinth

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    At least 12 states have established laws or rules regulating services that allow employees to access earned wages before payday, with more laws potentially to follow suit, creating an evolving state licensing maze even for fintech providers that partner with banks, say attorneys at Venable.

  • The Pros And Cons Of Levying Value-Based Fees On Patents

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    The potential for a recurring, value-based maintenance fee on patents, while offering some benefits, raises several complications, including that it would likely exceed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's statutory authority and reduce research and development activities in the U.S., says Sandip Patel at Marshall Gerstein.

  • Sales And Use Tax Strategies For Renewables After OBBBA

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    With the One Big Beautiful Bill Act sharply curtailing federal tax incentives for solar and wind projects, it is vital for developers to carefully manage state and local sales and use tax exposures through early planning and careful contract structuring, say advisers at KPMG.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Leaves SEC Gag Rule Open To Future Attacks

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    Though the Ninth Circuit's recent ruling in Powell v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission leaves the SEC's no-admit, no-deny rule intact, it could provide some fodder for litigants who wish to criticize the commission's activities either before or after settling with the commission, says Jonathan Richman at Brown Rudnick.

  • Series

    Writing Musicals Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My experiences with writing musicals and practicing law have shown that the building blocks for both endeavors are one and the same, because drama is necessary for the law to exist, says Addison O’Donnell at LOIS Law.

  • How Fashion, Tech Can Maximize New Small Biz Tax Breaks

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    Fashion and technology companies, which invest heavily in innovation, should consider taking advantage of provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that favor small businesses, restructuing if necessary to become eligible for expanded research and experimental expenditure credits and qualified small business stock incentives, says Aime Salazar at Olshan Frome.

  • Steps To Take As States Expand Foreign-Influence Bans

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    As efforts to curb foreign-influenced corporate political spending continue, companies should be aware of the nuances of related laws and layer an additional analysis when assessing legality of foreign engagement, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • A Reminder Of The Limits Of The SEC's Crypto Thaw

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    As the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's regulatory thaw has opened up new possibilities for tokenization projects, the Ninth Circuit's recent decision in SEC v. Barry that certain fractional interests are investment contracts, and thus securities, illustrates that guardrails remain via the Howey test, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Genius Act Poses Strategic Hurdles For Community Banks

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    ​​​​​​​The pace of change in digital asset policy, including the recent arrival of the Genius Act, suggests that strategic planning should be a near-term priority for community banks, with careful attention to customer relationships, regulatory developments and the local communities they serve, say attorneys at Jones Walker.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From Va. AUSA To Mid-Law

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    Returning to the firm where I began my career after seven years as an assistant U.S. attorney in Virginia has been complex, nuanced and rewarding, and I’ve learned that the pursuit of justice remains the constant, even as the mindset and client change, says Kristin Johnson at Woods Rogers.

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