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Public Policy
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May 21, 2025
Montana Reduces Taxes On Residential, Commercial Property
Montana will lower taxes on residential and commercial property, provide property tax rebates to homeowners and implement other changes to the state's property tax regime under legislation signed by the governor.
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May 21, 2025
Mich. Justices Won't Hear Hotels' Water Rate Appeal
The Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to review a Michigan town's water and sewer rates, rejecting an appeal from a group of hotels and restaurants that alleged a rate hike was an unconstitutional tax.
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May 21, 2025
Court Won't Revive Mental Health Class Suit Against Fla. Blue
A Florida appeals court Wednesday declined to revive a proposed class suit by state employees enrolled in a Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida healthcare plan alleging the insurer designed a claims process to obstruct approval and payment of claims for mental health care.
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May 21, 2025
School Shooting Victims' Suits Tossed After 6th Circ. Ruling
Lawsuits brought by the families of students who were killed in or affected by the 2021 shooting at an Oxford, Michigan, high school have been dismissed by a federal judge, a few months after the Sixth Circuit determined the school leaders' actions or inactions the morning of the shooting did not increase students' risk of harm.
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May 21, 2025
Pa. Justices To Mull State DOT Liability For Hanging Branches
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will decide if the state Department of Transportation should be immune to wrongful-death claims stemming from a large tree branch that overhung a PennDOT road but grew from a tree on land owned by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, the court announced Wednesday.
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May 21, 2025
Reed Smith Grows In Atlanta With Kilpatrick White Collar Pair
Reed Smith LLP has expanded its Atlanta office with two longtime Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP partners, including the former co-leader of Kilpatrick's government enforcement and investigations team and head of its white collar and investigations practice, the firm announced Wednesday.
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May 21, 2025
Court Won't Budge On Player's Eligibility Until 6th Circ. Acts
A Tennessee federal judge on Wednesday refused to reconsider a University of Tennessee baseball player's request for an injunction that would pause the NCAA's eligibility restrictions on junior college transfers, saying he will have to wait for a Sixth Circuit decision in a similar antitrust lawsuit.
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May 21, 2025
'Rip And Replace' Likely Done In 1 Year, FCC Says
Telecom carriers will likely be finished with work across the country to remove risky foreign-made equipment from their networks in about a year, the head of the Federal Communications Commission told lawmakers Wednesday.
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May 21, 2025
Democrats Wary of Nominees' Pledge To Honor Court Orders
Nominees for top roles at the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security fended off questions from Democrats on Wednesday about the Trump administration's willingness to defy court orders and pledged that the White House would at least follow rulings of the Supreme Court.
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May 21, 2025
NRA Asks Justices To End Fla.'s Age Limit On Gun Sales
The National Rifle Association is taking its fight against Florida's prohibition on gun sales to anyone under 21 up to the U.S. Supreme Court, telling the justices that a circuit split makes the Eleventh Circuit's March decision upholding the ban ripe for review.
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May 21, 2025
DOGE Seeks High Court's Help In Ducking FOIA Discovery
The Department of Government Efficiency asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to halt discovery into whether it's an agency subject to Freedom of Information Act requests, arguing a Washington, D.C., federal judge has improperly authorized a "fishing expedition" into the internal workings of a presidential advisory entity.
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May 21, 2025
Cannabis Sellers Win Fight Against Oregon Labor Peace Law
An Oregon federal judge shot down a state law that required cannabis growers to sign agreements with labor unions before they could get licensed to sell, saying the United for Cannabis Workers Act is preempted by the National Labor Relations Act.
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May 21, 2025
NC Panel Sides With County In Builder's Service Fee Spat
North Carolina's intermediate appeals court on Wednesday backed a county's interpretation of an ordinance allowing it to collect water service fees from a homebuilder, reasoning that the builder's residential neighborhood is a "new development" subject to the law.
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May 21, 2025
Trump Can't Fire Privacy Board Democrats, DC Court Says
The Trump administration is not allowed to remove two Democrats from the U.S. Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, Congress' privacy watchdog over the executive branch's counterterrorism policies, a D.C. federal judge ruled Wednesday.
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May 21, 2025
Device Maker Who Evaded Tax Gets 2 Years In Prison
A Florida man who sold millions of dollars worth of medical devices that federal prosecutors said were unproven to work was sentenced to two years in prison for evading taxes and ordered to pay $2.3 million in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.
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May 21, 2025
EU Proposes €2 Handling Fee On Small Import Packages
The European Commission is planning to levy a flat fee of €2 ($2.27) on billions of small packages imported into the European Union, including many Chinese goods, according to the bloc's trade chief.
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May 21, 2025
Gov't Violated Court Order With Removals, Judge Says
A Massachusetts federal judge on Wednesday found that the government violated his order requiring due process protections for individuals facing removal to countries where they have no ties and may face harm, after a group of migrants were put on a plane bound for war-torn South Sudan with just hours' notice.
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May 21, 2025
CFTC Faces Leadership Void As 3rd Commissioner Plans Exit
U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission member Kristin Johnson has become the third agency member to announce her upcoming departure within the space of a week, potentially leaving the market regulator with a single voting member as it awaits the appointment of a new chair.
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May 21, 2025
Texas Lawmakers OK More Time To Pay Property Tax Bills
Texas would give some property owners more time to pay their tax bills under legislation approved by state lawmakers and headed to Gov. Greg Abbott.
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May 21, 2025
Lighting Biz Will Pay $300K For Providing Chinese Goods
A Connecticut lighting company and its owner have reached a $300,000 settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve allegations it sold Chinese-made products to several government agencies in violation of the Buy American Act and the Trade Agreements Act.
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May 21, 2025
Democracy Forward Adds Another Ex-DOJ Hand
Legal advocacy group Democracy Forward has added a former deputy associate U.S. attorney general and co-chair of the Supreme Court and appellate practice at WilmerHale to its ranks of former U.S. Department of Justice litigators.
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May 21, 2025
Conn. Public Defender Watchdog Wants Chief's Firing Upheld
Connecticut's Public Defender Services Commission said in a state court brief that it was "significant misconduct," not racial bias, that caused it to fire the chief public defender, arguing the June 2024 firing came after a litany of complaints and a lengthy pattern of wrongdoing.
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May 21, 2025
Nadine Menendez Taps Cozen O'Connor To Fight Conviction
Former Sen. Bob Menendez's wife, Nadine Menendez, has added Cozen O'Connor as co-counsel as she fights to overturn her conviction on bribery charges, according to a filing in New York federal court.
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May 20, 2025
Trump Gets Fla. Judge To Lob China Tariff Suit To Trade Court
A Florida federal judge Tuesday relinquished jurisdiction over five small businesses' lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump's tariffs on Chinese imports, agreeing with Trump that the case fell within the U.S. Court of International Trade's "exclusive jurisdiction."
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May 20, 2025
'Not A Denny's': 5th Circ. Judge Chides High Court Stopwatch
The Fifth Circuit on Tuesday expedited a case brought by Venezuelans who are accused of being gang members and who are challenging the use of a 1798 wartime law to deport them to an El Salvador prison, with one judge chastising the U.S. Supreme Court's majority for allowing the appeal to move forward.
Expert Analysis
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Perspectives
Power To The Paralegals: The Value Of Unified State Licensing
Texas' proposal to become the latest state to license paraprofessional providers of limited legal services could help firms expand their reach and improve access to justice, but consumers, attorneys and allied legal professionals would benefit even more if similar programs across the country become more uniform, says Michael Houlberg at the University of Denver.
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Key Digital Asset Issues Require Antitrust Vigilance
As the digital assets industry continues to mature and consolidate during Trump 2.0, it will inevitably bump up against the antitrust laws in a new way, with potential pitfalls related to merger reviews, conspiratorial or monopolistic conduct, and interlocking directorates, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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What's Next For Lab Test Regulation Without FDA Authority
A recent Texas federal court decision vacating the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's final rule that would apply FDA regulations to laboratory-developed tests signals potential positive impacts in the diagnostic space, and could inspire more healthcare entities to litigate against the government, say attorneys at Hooper Lundy.
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11 Tips For Contractors Dealing With DOD Staff Reductions
Defense contractors should prepare for a wide range of disruptions related to procurement and contract administration that are likely amid federal workforce reductions, say attorneys at Covington.
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Pay Cos. That Adapt Can Benefit As Gov't Ends Paper Checks
Recent executive orders, instructing the government to cease issuing paper checks and to modernize and fraud-proof federal payments, will likely benefit financial services providers that facilitate government disbursements — provided they can manage the challenges and risks of transitioning to fully digital payments, say attorneys at Davis Wright.
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4 Takeaways From La. Coastal Wetland Damage Verdict
A recent $745 million verdict in a case filed by a Louisiana parish against Chevron for violating a Louisiana environmental law illustrates that climate-related liabilities pose increasing risk and litigation risk may not follow a red state versus blue state divide, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.
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Staying The Course On Consumer Financial Law Compliance
Although there may be some regulatory uncertainty, with many rule changes on hold, and enforcement actions and investigations terminated, 11 fundamental laws and rules governing consumer financial services are unlikely to change, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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10 Soft Skills Every GC Should Master
As businesses face shifting regulatory and technological uncertainty, general counsel will need to strengthen certain soft skills to succeed, from admitting when they make a mistake to maintaining a healthy dose of dispassion, says Douglas Brown at Manatt.
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How Proxy Advisory Firms Are Approaching AI And DEI
Institutional Shareholder Services' and Glass Lewis' annual updates to their proxy voting guidelines reflect some of the biggest issues of the day, including artificial intelligence and DEI, and companies should parse these changes carefully, say attorneys at Cahill Gordon.
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6 Criteria Can Help Assess Executive Branch Actions
With new executive policy changes announced seemingly every day, several questions can help courts, policymakers and businesses determine whether such actions are proper, effective and in keeping with our democratic norms, say Marc Levin and Khalil Cumberbatch at the Council on Criminal Justice.
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Opinion
Administrative Disaster At Bankruptcy Courts May Be In Sight
If, as a result of voluntary resignations or terminations, the professional staff of the U.S. Trustee's Office is depleted, it will undoubtedly cause a slowdown in the administrative process for the significant majority of bankruptcy cases, says Charles Tatelbaum at Tripp Scott.
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Reviving A Dormant Criminal Statute In Antitrust Prosecution
The U.S. Department of Justice is poised to revive a dormant misdemeanor statute to resolve bid-rigging charges against a foreign national, providing important context to a recent effort to entice foreign defendants to take responsibility for pending charges or face the risk of extradition, say attorneys at Axinn.
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End May Be In Sight For Small Biz Set-Aside Programs
A Jan. 21 executive order largely disarming the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, along with recent court rulings, suggests that the administration may soon attempt to eliminate set-asides intended to level the award playing field for small business contractors that qualify under socioeconomic programs, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
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Traversing The Shifting Sands Of ESG Reporting Compliance
Multinational corporations have increasingly found themselves between a rock and a hard place attempting to comply with EU and California ESG requirements while not running afoul of expanding U.S. anti-ESG regimes, but focusing on what is material to shareholder value and establishing strong governance can help, say attorneys at MoFo.
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An Unrestrained, Bright-Eyed View Of Legal AI's Future
Todd Itami at Covington offers a bright-eyed, laughing-all-the-way, skydive look at what the legal industry could look like after an artificial intelligence revolution, which he believes may happen much sooner and more dramatically than we expect.