Public Policy

  • August 14, 2025

    SpaceX Calls Va. Broadband Funding Plan 'Wasteful'

    SpaceX criticized Virginia over its spending plan for the $1.48 billion in broadband funding it's set to receive from the BEAD program, saying the state "has put its heavy thumb on the scale in favor of expensive, slow-to-build fiber bias" over satellite.

  • August 14, 2025

    Red States Back Feds' Push To End Trump Energy Orders Suit

    Republican-led states on Thursday threw their support behind the federal government's bid to dismiss a lawsuit by youths alleging that President Donald Trump's energy policy directives harm their future by exacerbating climate change, saying there are no grounds to sustain the suit.

  • August 14, 2025

    AGs Urge Meta To 'Prioritize Safety' With Location Feature

    A bipartisan coalition of more than three dozen state attorneys general is calling on Meta Platforms Inc. to strengthen the privacy and security safeguards for a new location tracking feature that recently debuted on Instagram, arguing that the social media giant has a duty "to prioritize user safety over product novelty."

  • August 14, 2025

    Okla. City Fights Creek Nation Over Tribal Court Authority

    An Oklahoma city is looking to dismiss a challenge by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation that looks to block the municipality from prosecuting Native Americans for crimes committed on tribal lands, arguing that a 2022 Supreme Court ruling gives it concurrent jurisdiction with the federally recognized tribe.

  • August 14, 2025

    PTAB Petitions To Get More Scrutiny Under New Policy

    A new Patent Trial and Appeal Board policy limiting the ability of the challengers to argue that "general knowledge" indicates that a patent is invalid will heighten scrutiny of petitions and could lead to more of them being denied if they don't comply with the rule, attorneys say.

  • August 14, 2025

    Wyden, Warren Ask Lutnick's Son About Firm's Tariff Bets

    Senate Democratic ranking members sent a letter published Thursday to Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. CEO Brandon Lutnick raising concerns about potential insider trading and conflicts of interest associated with a financial product hedging the legality of tariffs that his father, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, has been involved in.

  • August 14, 2025

    11th Circ. Looks For Immunity Line In $40M Taser Case

    An Eleventh Circuit panel appeared conflicted Thursday over whether to toss a $40 million verdict against the city of Atlanta and a cop who left a man a quadriplegic after shocking him with a Taser over suspicions of panhandling, struggling with whether the officer should have foreseen the injuries he caused.

  • August 14, 2025

    Mich. Mayor Gets 2 Years For $100K Bribery Scheme

    A federal judge sentenced a Detroit suburb's former mayor to two years in prison Thursday after he admitted to accepting bribes in exchange for a promise to secure a land deal.

  • August 14, 2025

    20 States Win Injunction Against ICE's Use Of Medicaid Data

    A California federal judge has blocked the federal government from using Medicaid information from 20 states for immigration enforcement purposes, marking a partial victory for the coalition of states challenging a new data-sharing arrangement between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security.   

  • August 14, 2025

    FCC Member Sees Special Authority As Key To Defense Tech

    The Federal Communications Commission could increasingly use its legal authority to temporarily authorize radio licenses as a way to test new wireless networks that bolster national security, an agency member said.

  • August 14, 2025

    5th Circ. Tosses Challenge To Texas Gas Terminal Permit

    The Fifth Circuit has dismissed an environmental group's petition challenging a permit issued by Texas regulators for a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal, finding that a previous permit for another project, which stipulated a lower emissions rate, has no bearing on the permit at issue here.

  • August 14, 2025

    US Targets Russia-Linked Crypto Exchanges Over Illicit Flows

    The Trump administration on Thursday renewed sanctions on Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex and moved against its successor, Grinex, accusing the platforms of helping launder illicit transactions and shifting business to dodge earlier penalties.

  • August 14, 2025

    HHS Relaunches Childhood Vaccine Panel After Lawsuit

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said on Thursday it is restarting a 1980s-era childhood vaccine task force that aims to improve safety and oversight, months after an anti-vaccine group previously headed by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sued the agency to reinstate the panel. 

  • August 14, 2025

    Minn. Telecom Officials Decry Push For Fed Preemption

    Minnesota's telecommunications regulators have told the Federal Communications Commission that local officials are tired of being punching bags for industry groups looking to speed up broadband infrastructure deployment, saying the industry's push for federal rules overriding local authority have been based on "unsubstantiated or vague" attacks on local guidelines.

  • August 14, 2025

    Mich. Panel Greenlights 911 Dispatcher's Whistleblower Suit

    A Michigan appellate panel said Wednesday that a former 911 operator may be protected by a whistleblower law for criticizing a supervisor's handling of a 911 call, clearing the way for his lawsuit to move forward.

  • August 14, 2025

    FCC Urged To Tackle Health, Enviro Impacts From Cellphones

    An environmental group called on the Federal Communications Commission to address what it sees as the agency's failure to meet a D.C. Circuit order from four years ago to back up the reasoning for its radiofrequency exposure limits.

  • August 14, 2025

    Rutgers Escapes Suit Over Visitor's Halloween Night Assault

    A lawsuit against Rutgers University brought by a guest who was assaulted by an undergraduate on a night of Halloween partying in 2017 was dismissed by a New Jersey state judge who ruled that the institution had no obligation to protect the visitor.

  • August 14, 2025

    Fla. Bar Fights Demand For Bondi Ethics Probe

    The Florida Bar has again pushed back on a request to investigate U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi for alleged unethical conduct, telling the Supreme Court of Florida that a group of complainants can't bulldoze past its policy of not investigating sitting government officials.

  • August 14, 2025

    AP Says DOJ Can't Turn Info Sharing Into Views Suppression

    The Associated Press, The Washington Post, Reuters and the BBC hit back Wednesday on Justice Department efforts to back a lawsuit from the anti-vaccine group once tied to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., alleging they colluded with social media platforms to censor rivals.

  • August 14, 2025

    Senate Democrats Urge 'Robust' Funding For US Defenders

    Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday implored congressional appropriators to ensure that the federal public defender program has adequate funding for fiscal year 2026 after budget shortfalls. 

  • August 14, 2025

    US Says It Can't Be Sued Over NM Burns Linked To Wildfire

    The U.S. government is looking to dismiss a challenge to a prescribed burn plan that a tribe, electric cooperatives and several property owners claim led to the destruction of nearly 46,000 acres in New Mexico's Jemez Mountains, saying the decision is barred under the Federal Tort Claims Act.

  • August 14, 2025

    Bipartisan Lawmaker Groups Lambaste Habba's Reappointment

    A bipartisan group of current and former members of Congress on Wednesday criticized the Trump administration's appointment of acting New Jersey U.S. Attorney Alina Habba, saying doing it without congressional approval is unconstitutional.

  • August 14, 2025

    NJ Gov. Wants Focus On Immunity In Ex-Elections Chief's Suit

    New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is urging a Garden State trial court judge to split up discovery in a lawsuit claiming he conspired with top staffers to oust the state's former elections chief, arguing the court first needs to focus on his qualified immunity defense.

  • August 14, 2025

    Feds Urge Court Not To Toss Rep. Cuellar's Bribery Case

    Allowing U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, to escape bribery charges under the Constitution's speech and debate clause would "eviscerate" several precedents set under the provision, prosecutors told a federal judge on Thursday.

  • August 14, 2025

    Pa. Tax Board Must Revisit Denial Of Calif. Co.'s $4.9M Refund

    The Pennsylvania Board of Finance and Revenue must review its denial of a California corporation's request for a refund of an overpayment of Pennsylvania income tax following a federal audit, the Commonwealth Court ruled Thursday.

Expert Analysis

  • 7 Ways Employers Can Avoid Labor Friction Over AI

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    As artificial intelligence use in the workplace emerges as a key labor relations topic in the U.S. and Europe, employers looking to reduce reputational risk and prevent costly disputes should consider proactive strategies to engage with unions, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Open Banking Is On Ice As CFPB Seeks To Toss Its Own Rule

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    Even as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's efforts to toss its open banking rule play out in Kentucky federal court, it remains statutorily required to effectuate consumer access to data, raising questions about how it would replace the previously finalized standard, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • SEC, FINRA Obligations In Changing AI Regulatory Landscape

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    Despite the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent withdrawal of its proposed artificial intelligence conflict rules, financial regulators remain focused on firms developing the correct AI compliance framework, as well as continuously testing and supervising them to ensure they're fit for purpose, say attorneys at Cahill Gordon.

  • Trump Air Emissions Carveouts Cloud The Regulatory Picture

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    President Donald Trump's new proclamations temporarily exempting key U.S. industries from air toxics standards, issued under a narrow, rarely-used provision of the Clean Air Act, will likely lead to legal challenges and tighter standards in some states, contributing to further regulatory uncertainty, say attorneys at GableGotwals.

  • Opinion

    DOJ's HPE-Juniper Settlement Will Help US Compete

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    The U.S. Department of Justice settlement with Hewlett Packard Enterprise clears the purchase of Juniper Networks in a deal that positions the U.S. as a leader in secure, scalable networking and critical digital infrastructure by requiring the divestiture of a WiFi network business geared toward small firms, says John Shu at Taipei Medical University.

  • How Property Insurers Serve As Climate Change Harbingers

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    Thomas Dawson at McDermott discusses the role that U.S. property insurers may play in identifying and assessing climate risk, as well as in financing climate change adaptation projects, in light of global warming and shifting geopolitical realities.

  • Series

    Playing Baseball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing baseball in college, and now Wiffle ball in a local league, has taught me that teamwork, mental endurance and emotional intelligence are not only important to success in the sport, but also to success as a trial attorney, says Kevan Dorsey at Swift Currie.

  • Assessing Impact Of USPTO's New Patent Policies

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    Recent data shows how the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's new patent policies are affecting America Invents Act trial institution rates, including spurring an uptick in discretionary denials, say attorneys at Armond Wilson.

  • What US Medicine Onshoring Means For Indian Life Sciences

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    Despite the Trump administration's latest moves to onshore essential medicine manufacturing, India will likely remain an indispensable component of the U.S. drug supply chain, but Indian manufacturers should prepare for stricter compliance checks, says Jashaswi Ghosh at Holon Law Partners.

  • APA Relief May Blunt Justices' Universal Injunction Ruling

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    The Administrative Procedure Act’s avenue for universal preliminary relief seems to hold the most promise for neutralizing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. CASA to limit federal district courts' nationally applicable orders, say attorneys at Crowell.

  • Wells Fargo Suit Shows Consumer Protection Limits In Mass.

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    The Massachusetts Appeals Court's May decision in Wells Fargo Bank v. Coulsey underscores that consumer rights are balanced against the need for closure, and even the broad protections of state consumer protection law will not open the door to relitigating the same claims, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Series

    Ohio Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    Ohio's financial services sector saw several significant developments in the second quarter of 2025, including a case that confirmed credit unions' setoff rights, another that established contract rights between banks and cardholders, and the House passage of a digital asset bill, say attorneys at Frost Brown.

  • Building Better Earnouts In The Current M&A Climate

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    In the face of market uncertainty, we've seen a continued reliance on earnouts in M&A deals so far this year, but to reduce the risk of related litigation, it's important to use objective standards, apply company metrics cautiously and ensure short time periods, among other best practices, say attorneys at White & Case.

  • Managing Risks As State AGs Seek To Fill Enforcement Gap

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    Given an unprecedented surge in state attorney general activity resulting from significant shifts in federal enforcement priorities, companies must consider tailored strategies for navigating the ever-evolving risk landscape, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • A Deep Dive Into 14 Nixed Gensler-Era SEC Rule Proposals

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last month formally withdrew 14 notices of proposed rulemaking, including several significant and widely criticized proposals that had been issued under former Chair Gary Gensler's leadership, signaling a clear and definitive shift away from the previous administration, say attorneys at Dechert.

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