Public Policy

  • September 15, 2025

    Ford Battery Factory Challenge Reignited By Mich. Justices

    The Michigan Supreme Court has revived a challenge to Ford Motor Co.'s plans to build an electric vehicle battery plant in Calhoun County, vacating a lower appellate ruling that affirmed the case's dismissal in light of another state top court opinion over similar zoning authority issues.

  • September 15, 2025

    FCC Knocks Provider Off Anti-Robocall Database For Lying

    Yet another voice service provider has been blocked from U.S. networks after the Federal Communications Commission said that the company submitted false information to the agency's robocall mitigation database.

  • September 15, 2025

    NJ AG Names New Leader Of Public Integrity Office

    New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced Monday that he has appointed a longtime prosecutor with a track record of handling high-profile corruption cases to lead the state Office of Public Integrity and Accountability.

  • September 15, 2025

    9th Circ. Says Ore. Water Rights Case Is Still Relevant

    The Ninth Circuit won't dismiss the Klamath Irrigation District's appeal over water releases from an Oregon lake as moot, saying a decision would provide relief by affecting how the scarce resource is allocated regardless of the federal government's new position on the application of the Endangered Species Act.

  • September 15, 2025

    Former Nuclear Commission GC Joins Morgan Lewis In DC

    The former general counsel of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, who spent nearly her entire career there in roles at the intersection of nuclear law and policy, has joined Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP's Washington, D.C., office, the firm said Monday.

  • September 15, 2025

    Ohio Says Browns' Stadium Suit Is Moot After Law Change

    The state of Ohio told a federal court a Cleveland Browns lawsuit accusing the city of thwarting its move to a suburb is now moot because the state has altered the law at the center of the debate and allocated $600 million from the state budget for its relocation.

  • September 15, 2025

    Ex-Epstein Prosecutor Maurene Comey Sues DOJ Over Firing

    Maurene Comey, a former Manhattan federal prosecutor who brought high-profile criminal cases against the likes of Jeffrey Epstein and Sean "Diddy" Combs, sued the Justice Department on Monday alleging her abrupt July firing came "solely or substantially" because she is the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, a Trump critic.

  • September 15, 2025

    RI Court Halts Political Criteria In $75M Homelessness Grant

    A Rhode Island federal judge granted a temporary restraining order directing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to disburse grants through a $75 million program to combat homelessness after groups complained the Trump administration sought to impose new barriers to winning funding.

  • September 14, 2025

    Fed's Cook Defends Reinstatement As Trump Pushes For Stay

    Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook squared off with the Trump administration over the weekend as the D.C. Circuit mulls whether to keep in place a lower-court hold on President Donald Trump's effort to fire her ahead of a key interest-rate policy vote this coming week.

  • September 12, 2025

    8th Circ. Pauses Challenges To Abandoned Climate Regs

    The Eighth Circuit on Friday said it would wait to rule on challenges to Biden-era climate disclosure rules that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has said it will no longer defend, giving the regulator time to decide what it wants to do with the rules.

  • September 12, 2025

    AbbVie Can't Halt Miss. Discount Drug Law, 5th Circ. Says

    AbbVie and other pharmaceutical manufacturers that participate in Medicaid cannot preliminarily block a Mississippi law barring their interference with the distribution of discounted prescriptions to pharmacies serving low-income patients, the Fifth Circuit ruled Friday, saying the drugmakers haven't shown that the statute likely effectuates a taking of their property.

  • September 12, 2025

    Calif. Sends Groundbreaking Data Use Opt-Out, AI Bills To Gov.

    The California Legislature has approved several cutting-edge measures to boost online data privacy and safety protections for consumers, including proposals that would require browser operators such as Apple and Google to enable users to easily stop the sale and sharing of their personal data across websites and push AI-powered "companion" chatbot providers to implement safeguards. 

  • September 12, 2025

    Albertsons Loses Bid For Docs On Kroger CEO's Exit

    The Kroger Co. does not have to turn over documents to Albertsons Cos. Inc. concerning former Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen's abrupt exit, the Delaware Chancery Court ruled Friday, saying that personal conduct that prompted McMullen's resignation wasn't relevant to Albertsons' litigation claims over the grocery chains' failed $25 billion merger.

  • September 12, 2025

    Stewart Issues New Slate Of Discretionary Denials

    Acting U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Coke Morgan Stewart rejected 18 petitions for Patent Trial and Appeal Board review based on discretionary factors on Friday, but didn't introduce new elements to her analysis.

  • September 12, 2025

    FCC Faulted For Changes In Broadband Inquiry's Scope

    By no longer measuring factors like broadband affordability, the Federal Communications Commission has unacceptably trimmed its yearly look at the state of deployment, just like the old vaudeville joke about "blue plate specials" devoid of food, an advocacy group said.

  • September 12, 2025

    Broadband Company Wants To Give Another Its Rural Funds

    A Texas-based company that was set to receive Rural Digital Opportunity Fund money to service a couple of hundred locations in Wyoming is asking the FCC's permission to transfer that obligation — and the funds that go along with it — to a different company.

  • September 12, 2025

    Targeting 'Bad Labs' Based Only On Location Called Bad Idea

    Several top telecom trade groups have come together to tell the FCC that its plan to ban Chinese test labs and certification bodies from being used on devices destined for the United States will cost a lot and cause much disruption, "without delivering commensurate security benefits."

  • September 12, 2025

    Cannabis Brokers Sue Over $250K In Unpaid Commissions

    Two brokerage companies claim they were never paid his commission for helping guide two deals worth roughly $1.7 million involving the purchase of Los Angeles cannabis permits, according to a California state lawsuit seeking compensation from the cannabis entrepreneurs and their companies.

  • September 12, 2025

    Regulators Seize $86M Of Chinese-Made Vapes In Chicago

    Federal regulators seized $86.5 million in illicit vape products at a Chicago port of entry during a joint operation, according to an announcement claiming the haul is the largest single confiscation of e-cigarette products of this kind and is part of the government's "aggressive" crackdown against youth vaping and "foreign actors."

  • September 12, 2025

    New Guidance Hacks Away At Immigration Judges' Powers

    A steady stream of Board of Immigration Appeals decisions and Executive Office for Immigration Review memos, capped by recent guidance on handling constitutional claims, shows a Trump administration reining in immigration judges overseeing removal cases.

  • September 12, 2025

    4th Circ. Rules NC Felons' Voting Ban Is Unconstitutional

    The Fourth Circuit affirmed Friday that a 19th-century North Carolina law making it a crime for convicted felons to vote — even if they believed they were eligible — unconstitutionally targets Black voters and was not mooted by a 2024 amendment to the law.

  • September 12, 2025

    9th Circ. Orders Feds To Restore Refugee Agency Agreements

    The Ninth Circuit ordered the federal government to reinstate cooperative agreements with refugee resettlement agencies on Friday, saying President Donald Trump likely acted lawfully when suspending U.S. refugee admissions in January, but his administration must still provide legally mandated services to those who have already arrived.

  • September 12, 2025

    DOJ Says States Can't Reverse Grant Cuts In OMB Reg Fight

    The Trump administration urged a Massachusetts federal judge to throw out a suit brought by a score of states accusing it of misinterpreting an Office of Management and Budget regulation to slash thousands of grants, arguing they must seek relief in another forum.

  • September 12, 2025

    Amazon Says FTC Can't Subpoena Corporation For Prime Trial

    Amazon has told a Seattle federal judge that the Federal Trade Commission can't subpoena the company itself for a testimony at an upcoming trial over allegations that it tricked customers into Prime subscriptions and prevented them from undoing their membership, arguing subpoenas that do not name individuals "skirt the rules."

  • September 12, 2025

    Builders Urge 11th Circ. To Block Biden's EO Labor Mandate

    An association of builders on Friday urged the Eleventh Circuit to block a Biden administration executive order requiring labor agreements for all federal contracts exceeding $35 million, arguing the order will cause irreparable harm by increasing costs and reducing competition in the construction industry. 

Expert Analysis

  • Stablecoin Committee Promotes Uniformity But May Fall Short

    Author Photo

    While the Genius Act's establishment of the Stablecoin Certification Review Committee will provide private stablecoin issuers with more consistent standards, fragmentation remains due to the disparate regulatory approaches taken by different states, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • FTC's Reseller Suit Highlights Larger Ticket Platform Issues

    Author Photo

    Taken together, the recent Federal Trade Commission lawsuit and Ticketmaster's recent antitrust woes demonstrate that federal enforcers are testing the resilience of antitrust and consumer-protection frameworks in an evolving, tech-driven marketplace, says Thomas Stratmann at George Mason University.

  • 2 Approaches To Atty Ethics Liability For Agentic AI Errors

    Author Photo

    As lawyers increasingly use autonomous artificial intelligence agents, disciplinary authorities must decide whether attorney responsibility for an AI-caused legal ethics violation is personal or supervisory, and firms must enact strong policies regarding agentic AI use and supervision, says Grace Wynn at HWG.

  • Parsing Trump Admin's First 6 Months Of SEC Enforcement

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement results for the first six months of the Trump administration show substantially fewer new enforcement actions compared to the same period under the previous administration, but indicate a clear focus on traditional fraud schemes affecting retail investors, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • HSR Compliance Remains A Priority From Biden To Trump

    Author Photo

    Several new enforcement actions from the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice illustrate that rigorous attention to Hart-Scott-Rodino Act compliance has become a critical component of the U.S. merger review process, even amid the political transition from the Biden to Trump administrations, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Cos. Face EU, US Regulatory Tension On Many Fronts

    Author Photo

    When the European Union sets stringent standards, companies seeking to operate in the international marketplace must conform to them, or else concede opportunities — but with the current U.S. administration pushing hard to roll back regulations, global companies face an increasing tension over which standards to follow, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • How EU Is Tweaking Enviro Laws After US Trade Deal

    Author Photo

    While a recent joint statement from the European Union and the U.S. in the wake of their trade deal does not mention special treatment for U.S. companies, the EU's ongoing commitment to streamline its sustainability legislation suggests an openness to addressing concerns raised by the U.S., say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • The Consequences Of OCC's Pivot On Disparate Impact

    Author Photo

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's recent move to stop scrutinizing facially neutral lending policies that disproportionately affect a protected group reflects the administration's ongoing shift in assessing discrimination, though this change may not be enough to dissuade claims by states or private plaintiffs, says Travis Nelson at Polsinelli.

  • FDA Transparency Plans Raise Investor Disclosure Red Flags

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recently announced intent to publish complete response letters for unapproved drugs and devices implicates certain investor disclosure requirements under securities laws, making it necessary for life sciences and biotech companies to adopt robust controls going forward, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Rising USCIS Denials May Signal Reverse On Signature Policy

    Author Photo

    Increasingly, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services appears to be issuing denials and requests for evidence in cases where petitioners digitally affix handwritten signatures to paper-based petitions, upending a long-standing practice with potentially grave consequences for applicants, says Sherry Neal at Corporate Immigration.

  • Series

    Being A Professional Wrestler Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Pursuing my childhood dream of being a professional wrestler has taught me important legal career lessons about communication, adaptability, oral advocacy and professionalism, says Christopher Freiberg at Midwest Disability.

  • 2 Calif. Cases Could Reshape Future Of Trap-And-Trace Suits

    Author Photo

    A California federal judge's recent dismissal of two California Invasion of Privacy Act cases demonstrates an inherent contradiction in pen register and trap-and-trace claims, teeing up a Ninth Circuit appeal that could either breathe new life into such claims or put an end to them outright, says Matthew Pearson at Womble Bond.

  • How FDIC Appeals Plan Squares With Fed, OCC Processes

    Author Photo

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s recent proposal to revise its appeals process merits a fresh comparison to the appeals systems of the Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and would provide institutions with greater transparency and independence, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • How GILTI Reform Affects M&A Golden Parachute Planning

    Author Photo

    Deal teams should evaluate the effect of a recent seemingly technical change to U.S. international tax law on the golden parachute analysis that often plays a critical part of many corporate transactions to avoid underestimating its impact on an acquirer's worldwide taxable income following a triggering transaction, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • SEC Rulemaking Radar: The Debut Of Atkins' 'New Day'

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's regulatory flex agenda, published last week, demonstrates a clear return to appropriately tailored and mission-focused rulemaking, with potential new rules applicable to brokers, exchanges and trading, among others, say attorneys at Goodwin.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here