Public Policy

  • August 20, 2025

    Feds Lose Bid To Unseal Epstein Grand Jury Files In NY

    A Manhattan federal judge Wednesday rejected the U.S. Department of Justice's request to unseal grand jury transcripts from the trafficking case against the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, saying the government has not justified unsealing the materials and did not give Epstein's survivors sufficient notice before filing its request.

  • August 20, 2025

    17 States, DC Urge FDA To Lift Mifepristone Restrictions

    Seventeen states and the District of Columbia Wednesday joined four others in urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to lift restrictions on the abortion drug mifepristone, saying that data their health departments collected overwhelmingly back the drug's safety.

  • August 20, 2025

    Supersede California's Voice Over IP Rules, FCC Urged

    California's new regulatory regime for internet voice call providers is a "power grab" and the Federal Communications Commission should make clear that its rules preempt those of the Golden State, a free market think tank is telling the agency.

  • August 20, 2025

    W.Va. Judge Blocks Private Suits Under State's 'Daniel's Law'

    A West Virginia federal judge has tossed five proposed class actions accusing PeopleConnect, LexisNexis Risk Solutions and several other data brokers of violating the state's Daniel's Law by publishing information on judicial and law enforcement officers, after finding the privacy statute's lawsuit mechanism to be unconstitutional. 

  • August 20, 2025

    Judge Grills Feds On Upending 30-Year Noncitizen Benefits

    A Rhode Island federal judge seemed perplexed Wednesday by a government attorney's contention that for nearly 30 years, various administrations across the political spectrum have wrongly interpreted a law the Trump administration now says requires immigration status checks for additional federal benefits.

  • August 20, 2025

    GOP Sens. See Path To Crypto Market Structure Law This Year

    Republican lawmakers and regulators this week previewed plans to finish cryptocurrency market structure legislation before year's end and continue reducing scrutiny from banking regulators during a multiday event that brought officials and industry participants together in Wyoming.

  • August 20, 2025

    UF Prof's Appeal In Free Speech Suit Was Late, 11th Circ. Says

    The Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday ruled that an English professor who sued University of Florida officials for alleged free speech violations filed his appeal too late, saying he missed his deadline by eight days.

  • August 20, 2025

    TikTok Profits From Addicting Children, Minnesota Says

    TikTok Inc. knowingly designed its social media platform to be addictive to children, according to a state court lawsuit filed by Minnesota, which also accuses the company of operating an unlicensed virtual currency system that facilitates financial and sexual exploitation of minors.

  • August 20, 2025

    DC Judge Won't Reinstate Ex-Copyright Chief Amid Appeal

    A District of Columbia federal judge on Wednesday again refused to reinstate the U.S. Copyright Office's fired head, this time while she takes her fight to the D.C. Circuit, saying she still hasn't convinced the judge she'll suffer irreparable harm if she isn't reinstated as she appeals.

  • August 20, 2025

    Civil Rights Org. Urges FCC Not To Ditch Nat'l Ownership Cap

    A civil rights group founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton said it would be a bad idea for the Federal Communications Commission to strip away ownership regulations that cap how many television stations any one company can own.

  • August 20, 2025

    9th Circ. Blocks Alaska's Bid To Loosen Federal Fishing Regs

    The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday said Alaska state officials may not open part of the Kuskokwim River to gill net fishing by all residents of the state because that would violate a federal law that favors rural, subsistence fishers.

  • August 20, 2025

    Wash. Seeks To Stop NOAA's Climate Change Grant Cuts

    The state of Washington is urging a Seattle federal judge to save more than $9.3 million in climate change resiliency funding that it claims is "on the chopping block" as the Trump administration moves to eliminate programming to promote environmental justice and reduce carbon emissions.

  • August 20, 2025

    Texas AG Says Chase Can't Recoup Failed $10M Project

    The Texas Office of the Attorney General on Wednesday asked the state's highest court to reject JPMorgan Chase Bank NA's attempt to get a city to continue to make payments on a botched $10 million project, saying such payments would run afoul of the Texas Constitution.

  • August 20, 2025

    Colo. AG Pans EPA Plan To End Vehicle-Emission Standards

    Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser testified before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday to advocate against the agency's proposal to eliminate air pollution standards for motor vehicles.

  • August 20, 2025

    Tribes Say Calif. Cannabis Raids Violate Sovereignty

    The Round Valley Indian Tribes are fighting a Mendocino County sheriff's attempt to toss their California federal court suit claiming law enforcement illegally raided cannabis growing operations on three tribal members' trust allotments, arguing that the raids are illegal and violate their sovereign rights.

  • August 20, 2025

    NAACP, Unions Lose Bid To Stop Education Dept. Closure

    The NAACP and several unions can't halt the Trump administration from shuttering the U.S. Department of Education, a Maryland federal judge ruled, finding the U.S. Supreme Court's stays of lower court orders related to the agency's dismantling indicate the plaintiffs aren't likely to win on their claims.

  • August 20, 2025

    Alaska Telecom Fights Changes To Buildout Rules

    A small Alaskan telecom is continuing its fight against a proposal from GCI Communication Corp. that would lower standards for carriers to receive Alaska Connect Fund support, telling the Federal Communications Commission that GCI should lose funding if it can't meet its commitments.

  • August 20, 2025

    TikTok Can't Dodge NC Claims Over Addictive App Design

    Chinese internet behemoth ByteDance Inc. and its social media subsidiary TikTok Inc. can be sued in the Tar Heel State, North Carolina's business court ruled Tuesday, preserving a lawsuit that accuses the companies of exploiting minors through addictive app design.

  • August 20, 2025

    Wash. AG Wins $28M In Fees In Kroger-Albertsons Deal Fight

    A Washington judge has awarded the state attorney general's office $28.4 million in legal fees for its efforts to block the merger between Kroger and Albertsons that was also challenged by the Federal Trade Commission, largely rejecting the grocery giants' objections to a total fee request of $32.4 million.

  • August 20, 2025

    NC's Cap On Med Mal Damages Is Constitutional, Panel Rules

    The North Carolina state appeals court ruled Wednesday that a state law capping compensatory damages in certain medical malpractice lawsuits at $500,000 is constitutional, handing a defeat to a woman seeking to recoup her full $7.5 million jury verdict stemming from the loss of her unborn baby.

  • August 20, 2025

    Ga. Mom Says State Child Support Policy Is Unconstitutional

    A Georgia mother has sued three state agencies in federal court, alleging the state's child support policy unconstitutionally keeps "indigent parents buried under child-support debts that they will never be able to repay."

  • August 20, 2025

    'Door To Tyranny' Ajar In Pot Smell Appeal, NC Justices Told

    A man appealing his conviction for unlawful firearm possession told North Carolina's highest court this week that state law enforcement entities were attempting to erode the separation of powers by inserting themselves into his case.

  • August 20, 2025

    Feds Lose Bid To Seal In Vax Patent Case Against Moderna

    The U.S. government has failed to show why names and contact information of certain U.S. Department of the Army employees should be hidden in an mRNA vaccine developer's $5 billion patent suit over Moderna's COVID-19 vaccines, a federal judge has found.

  • August 20, 2025

    Atlanta Ignores Sex Assault Claims Against Cops, Court Told

    A Georgia woman and her teenage daughter who was raped by an Atlanta police officer have told a federal judge that the city doesn't get to dodge their suit, arguing they've claimed in "exhaustive factual detail" how it routinely lets sexual misconduct slide among its officers.

  • August 20, 2025

    DC Circ. Upholds Crow Tribe Water Rights Suit Dismissal

    A D.C. Circuit Court panel won't overturn a decision dismissing a suit that looked to nullify a Montana water rights settlement, saying a 2010 law ratifying the agreement doesn't specify which tribal member can greenlight a deadline extension for publication of the agreement's statement of findings.

Expert Analysis

  • The Future Of Lab-Test Regs After FDA Rescinds Rule

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently rescinded its laboratory-developed tests rule in response to a Texas federal court decision this spring, reinforcing a separation of authority between the FDA and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and calling into question the FDA's role in overseeing such tests without congressional action, say attorneys at Venable.

  • How AI Is Easing Digital Asset Recovery In Fraud Cases

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    In combination with recent legislation and a maturing digital asset infrastructure, artificial intelligence tools are making it easier to recover stolen assets, giving litigants a more specific understanding of financial fraud earlier in the process and making it economically feasible to pursue smaller fraud claims, says Solomon Shinerock at Lewis Baach.

  • Fleeing Or Just Leaving Quickly? 2nd Circ. Says It Depends

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    The Second Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Bardakova decision adopted a new approach for determining whether a defendant who commits a crime in the U.S., and then leaves and remains abroad, intends to avoid prosecution — making it more difficult to argue against the fugitive disentitlement doctrine in most cases, say attorneys at MoloLamken.

  • Sanctions Considerations For Reentering The Syrian Market

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    Reentering or opening new markets in Syria, now that the Trump administration has revoked certain long-standing sanctions and export controls, necessitates increased due diligence and best practices capable of adapting to a changing local environment as well as future changes in U.S. law, say attorneys at Nixon Peabody.

  • What 2 Profs Noticed As Transactional Law Students Used AI

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    After a semester using generative artificial intelligence tools with students in an entrepreneurship law clinic, we came away with numerous observations about the opportunities and challenges such tools present to new transactional lawyers, say professors at Cornell Law School.

  • Despite SEC Reset, Private Crypto Securities Cases Continue

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    While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the Trump administration has charted a new approach to crypto regulation, the industry still lacks comprehensive rules of the road, meaning private plaintiffs continue to pursue litigation, and application of securities laws to crypto-assets will be determined by the courts, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • State AGs Are Turning Up The Antitrust Heat On ESG Actions

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    Recent antitrust developments from red state attorneys general continue a trend of environmental, social and governance scrutiny, and businesses exposed to these areas should conduct close examinations of strategy and potential material risk, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Crypto Custody Guidelines Buoy Both Banks And Funds

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    A statement released last month by banking regulators — highlighting risks that the agencies expect banks holding crypto-assets to mitigate — may encourage more traditional institutions to offer crypto-asset safekeeping and thereby offer asset managers more options for qualified custodians to custody crypto-assets for their clients, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Top Takeaways From Trump's AI Action Plan

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    President Donald Trump's AI Action Plan represents some notable evolution in U.S. policy, including affirmation of the administration's trend toward prioritizing artificial intelligence innovation over guardrails and toward supporting greater U.S. private sector reach overseas, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Navigating Executive Perk Enforcement Under Trump Admin

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    While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently signaled a softer approach to executive perks, companies should remain vigilant due to the bipartisan and lengthy nature of executive perquisite cases and Chairman Paul Atkins' previous support for disclosure requirements, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • Ill. Toxic Tort Jurisdiction Law Raises Constitutional Concerns

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    Illinois' S.B. 328, purporting to broaden state courts' jurisdictional reach over out-of-state corporations, is presented as a measure aimed at facilitating recovery in toxic tort cases, but the legislation raises significant due process and dormant commerce clause issues, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Rebuttal

    BigLaw Settlements Should Not Spur Ethics Deregulation

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    A recent Law360 op-ed argued that loosening law firm funding restrictions would make BigLaw firms less inclined to settle with the Trump administration, but deregulating legal financing ethics may well prove to be not merely ineffective, but counterproductive, says Laurel Kilgour at the American Economic Liberties Project.

  • Opinion

    8th Circ. Should Reaffirm False Commercial Speech's Nature

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    The Eighth Circuit in Goldfinch Laboratory v. Iowa Pathology Associates should assert that false commercial speech is not categorically immune from antitrust scrutiny, says Daniel Graulich at the Federal Trade Commission.

  • Unpacking Ore. Law's Limits On PE Healthcare Investment

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    A recent Oregon law imposes significant restrictions on nonphysicians owning or controlling medical practices, but newly enacted amendments provide some additional flexibility in certain ownership arrangements without scuttling the law's intent of addressing concerns about the rise of private equity investment in healthcare, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Environmental Justice Is Alive And Well At The State Level

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    Even as the Trump administration has rolled back federal environmental justice policies, many states continue to prioritize it, with new regulations, strengthened enforcement of existing rules and ongoing private litigation — so companies must stay alert to how state-level EJ enforcement may affect their operations, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

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