Public Policy

  • June 25, 2025

    Tulsa Inks Jurisdiction Pact With Tribe As Okla. Gov. Objects

    The mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Wednesday settled a jurisdictional dispute with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation over law enforcement, saying the city will bring an end to the tribe's lawsuit by deferring to its criminal jurisdiction, despite Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt's objections that he's been cut out of the deal.

  • June 25, 2025

    Colo. Justices Unsure If Law Covers AI-Made Child Images

    The Colorado Supreme Court expressed uncertainty Wednesday over whether a state statute in place through 2024 made illegal the production of sexually explicit AI-generated images of minors, or if this month's revision to the law proves the 2024 statute did not cover those images.

  • June 25, 2025

    Montana Tribes Look To Back Union In Election Law Dispute

    Several Native American tribes are looking to intervene in a challenge to a Montana law that they allege harms the state's rural Indigenous communities by eliminating eight hours of voter registration on Election Day, arguing that it violates equal protection laws and due process ensured by the state's constitution.

  • June 25, 2025

    Lawmakers Can't Curb NC Gov.'s Power To Appoint Judges

    Republican lawmakers in North Carolina can't restrict the governor's ability to fill judicial vacancies in the state appellate courts, a state court has ruled, partially striking down a law the Legislature passed last year attempting to curb his appointment powers.

  • June 25, 2025

    Judge Tosses Suit Over Wash. Race-Based Home Program

    A Washington federal judge has thrown out a nonprofit's suit alleging that a state homeownership program is unconstitutional because it allegedly only helps first-time homebuyers who belong to specific minority groups.

  • June 25, 2025

    10th Circ. Urged To Revive Post-Jarkesy FDIC Challenge

    A Kansas bank has urged the Tenth Circuit to revive its suit claiming the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. violated the bank's right to a jury trial through an enforcement proceeding before an agency-appointed judge, arguing federal courts must be able to hear such constitutional claims.

  • June 25, 2025

    State Gets Second Chance Despite Delays, Pa. Court Rules

    A trial court erred in dismissing a criminal case against a man who was accused of illegally possessing firearms due to excessive delays, the Pennsylvania Superior Court said, finding that lapsed time was not entirely attributable to the commonwealth and should therefore not prevent prosecution.

  • June 25, 2025

    Media Matters' FTC Suit Can't Keep Same Judge As Texas Case

    The D.C. federal judge who blocked investigations into Media Matters by the attorneys general of Texas and Missouri won't be taking on the group's latest lawsuit challenging an allegedly similar probe by the Republican-controlled Federal Trade Commission after the judge concluded Wednesday that the FTC case is too different.

  • June 25, 2025

    Globalstar Concerned By Potential 'Big LEO' Band Changes

    Satellite company Globalstar is once again bashing SpaceX's proposal to rewrite the Federal Communications Commission's rules for the "Big LEO" band, telling agency officials in a recent meeting that there's no need to rethink things and let new entrants into its licensed spectrum.

  • June 25, 2025

    Wash. City Hits Ch. 9 After Arbitration Loss With Developer

    Cle Elum, a city in central Washington at the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, filed for Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy on Tuesday facing garnishment from a real estate developer to whom it owes $26 million.

  • June 25, 2025

    DOJ Says OC Won't Provide Noncitizen Voter Cancellation Info

    The Orange County Registrar of Voters is illegally withholding unredacted information of noncitizens whose registrations were voided, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in California federal court by the U.S. Department of Justice, which recently received a complaint from the relative of a noncitizen who purportedly received a mail-in ballot.

  • June 25, 2025

    SEC Grants Brokers More Time On Customer-Protection Rule

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission agreed Wednesday to extend until late June 2026 the time broker-dealers have to comply with recent amendments to a regulation protecting customers, saying that firms need more time to upgrade their operations.

  • June 25, 2025

    DOL Urges Judge Not To Block H-2A Prevailing Wage Rules

    The U.S. Department of Labor defended its 2022 H-2A prevailing wage regulations against claims from a farmworker union in Washington federal court, arguing the agency's rules are lawful and must be upheld.

  • June 25, 2025

    Ark., Idaho Push For Jury Trial In Google Ad Tech Case

    Arkansas and Idaho are hoping a Texas federal judge will reconsider the decision declaring they don't have a right to a jury trial and, as a result, can't seek civil penalties from Google on their antitrust claims accusing the tech behemoth of manipulating the advertising market.

  • June 25, 2025

    Feds Say Vet Failed To Back VA Malpractice Claim At Trial

    The U.S. government is urging a Washington federal court to give it a win following a bench trial on a suit brought by a Navy veteran and former Department of Veterans Affairs nurse alleging that malpractice by her VA psychiatrist led to an episode in which she stabbed her mother with a knife.

  • June 25, 2025

    Team Telecom Gives Its OK To $4.4B T-Mobile, UScellular Deal

    T-Mobile's plan to take over most of UScellular's wireless operations in a $4.4 billion deal cleared a regulatory hurdle with approval from the federal group that vets telecom mergers for security concerns.

  • June 25, 2025

    EU Probing Mars' $36B Deal For Pringles-Maker Kellanova

    European competition enforcers said Wednesday they are investigating snack food and candy giant Mars Inc.'s planned $35.9 billion purchase of Cheez-It and Pringles maker Kellanova over concerns the combined company would have too much negotiating power with retailers.

  • June 25, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Backs EPA's Firing Of 'Disruptive' Whistleblower

    The Federal Circuit upheld a decision finding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would've fired a federal employee even if she wasn't whistleblowing on its failure to submit affirmative employment plans, ruling Wednesday that while there was significant motive to retaliate, there's also evidence the employee was "disrespectful, disruptive and discourteous" toward colleagues.

  • June 25, 2025

    Alaska Doesn't Need 5G In Most Remote Reaches, FCC Told

    Alaskan telecoms should not have to bring 5G-level internet to every corner of the state to which they are designated to deploy under the Alaska Connect Fund, a trade group has told the Federal Communications Commission.

  • June 25, 2025

    Trade Court Cannot Stop Trump's Tariffs, Gov't Tells Fed. Circ.

    The U.S. Court of International Trade hamstrung President Donald Trump in ongoing global trade negotiations when it blocked emergency tariffs he had imposed and deemed them unlawful, the government told the Federal Circuit on Tuesday, urging it to reverse the lower court's ruling.

  • June 25, 2025

    Copyright Office Won't Collapse Sans Perlmutter, Trump Says

    The Trump administration has said the fired leader of the U.S. Copyright Office has not shown that the agency's operations "will grind to a halt" if she is not immediately reinstated and asked a D.C. federal judge to reject her motion for a preliminary injunction.

  • June 25, 2025

    Community College Fights DOJ's Bid To End Texas Dream Act

    A Texas community college wants to intervene in the Trump administration's lawsuit challenging a state law allowing in-state tuition for unauthorized immigrants, arguing that the federal government colluded with the state to deprive the court of the opportunity to consider the law's constitutionality.

  • June 25, 2025

    Michigan Builders Sue State Over Energy Code Mandates

    Michigan homebuilders have sued to challenge the state's adoption of new construction codes, saying the energy efficiency demands will make new homes more expensive.

  • June 25, 2025

    House Approps Bill Keeps Public Broadcast Warning System

    U.S. House lawmakers are considering keeping $40 million intact next year for the Next Generation Warning System used by public broadcasters to get critical information to the public during emergencies.

  • June 25, 2025

    RI Allows Providence To Exceed Tax Levy Cap For Fiscal 2026

    Providence, Rhode Island, may exceed the state's limit on property tax increases for the 2026 fiscal year under legislation signed by the governor.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Int'l Athletes' Wages Should Be On-Campus Employment

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    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security should recognize participation in college athletics by international student-athletes as on-campus employment to prevent the potentially disastrous ripple effects on teams, schools and their surrounding communities, says Catherine Haight at Haight Law Group.

  • What Banks Should Note As Regulators Plan To Nix CRA Rule

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    While federal bank regulators’ recently announced intent to rescind a Biden-era Community Reinvestment Act final rule will loosen the framework for evaluating banks’ lending, service and investing activities, the decision means industry innovations and changes will remain unaddressed, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Playing Guitar Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Being a lawyer not only requires logic and hard work, but also belief, emotion, situational awareness and lots of natural energy — playing guitar enhances all of these qualities, increasing my capacity to do my best work, says Kosta Stojilkovic at Wilkinson Stekloff.

  • Adapting To PTAB's Reembracing Of Discretionary Denials

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    Recent guidance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office marks a swing back toward procedural discretion in Patent Trial and Appeal Board trial institution decisions, bringing unpredictability but also opportunities for drafting petitions, and making and responding to discretionary denial arguments, says Taylor Stemler at Merchant & Gould.

  • Addressing PFAS Risks In Public Company Disclosures

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    As individual lawsuits and class actions over PFAS risks spanning multiple sectors and products increase, and rapidly evolving and often unclear regulatory initiatives on both the federal and state levels proliferate, it's more important than ever for companies to know how and when to complete PFAS-related disclosures, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Crisis Management Lessons From The Parenting Playbook

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    The parenting skills we use to help our kids through challenges — like rehearsing for stressful situations, modeling confidence and taking time to reset our emotions — can also teach us the fundamentals of leading clients through a corporate crisis, say Deborah Solmor at the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and Cara Peterman at Alston & Bird.

  • High Court's Ruling May Not Stop Ghost Gun Makers

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    In Bondi v. VanDerStok, a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Gun Control Act applies to untraceable "ghost gun" kits under certain circumstances — but companies that produce these kits may still be able to use creative regulatory workarounds to evade government oversight, says Samuel Bassett at Minton Bassett.

  • CFPB Vacatur Bid Sheds Light On Agency Decision-Making

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    While the CFPB's joint motion to vacate the settlement it reached with Townstone Financial last year won't affect precedent on the Equal Credit Opportunity Act's scope, it serves as a road map to CFPB decisional processes and provides insight into how other regulators make similar decisions, says Jason McElroy at Saul Ewing.

  • 4 Legislative Proposals Reflect Growing Scrutiny Of Pharma IP

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    Bipartisan legislative momentum in Congress, including a recent package of bills targeting exclusivity strategies that delay generic and biosimilar competition, signals growing scrutiny of life sciences intellectual property strategies, so biologics companies and investors must pay attention to new strategic, compliance and litigation risks, says Olga Berson at Thompson Coburn.

  • Wash. Justices' Moonlight Ruling Should Caution Employers

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    The Washington Supreme Court's recent decision in David v. Freedom Vans, which limited when employers can restrict low-wage workers from moonlighting, underscores the need for employers to narrowly tailor restrictive covenants, ensuring that they are reasonable and allow for workforce mobility, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • The Potential Efficiencies, Risks Of Folding PCAOB Into SEC

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    Integrating the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board into the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission offers the potential for regulatory efficiencies, as well as a more streamlined and consistent enforcement approach, but it also presents constitutional and operational uncertainties, say attorneys at Hilgers Graben.

  • What To Watch For As High Court Mulls NRC's Powers

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    If successful, Texas’ challenges to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s authority — recently heard by the U.S. Supreme Court and currently pending before a Texas federal court — may have serious adverse consequences for aspiring NRC licensees, including potential nuclear power plant operators, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • Tips For Companies Crafting Tariff Surcharge Disclosures

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    As the Trump administration imposes tariffs on imports, retail businesses considering itemizing tariff-related costs separately for consumers must ensure that any disclosures are both accurate and defensible to avoid regulatory enforcement or private suits, says Christopher Cole at Katten.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From NY Fed To BigLaw

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    While the move to private practice brings a learning curve, it also brings chances to learn new skills and grow your network, requiring a clear understanding of how your skills can complement and contribute to a firm's existing practice, and where you can add new value, says Meghann Donahue at Covington.

  • Reviewing Trump Admin's Rapid Pro-Crypto Regulatory Pivot

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    The digital asset industry has received a boost from the explicitly pro-crypto Trump administration, which in its first few months reversed Biden-era rules and installed industry proponents at regulatory agencies, marking one of the biggest regulatory about-faces by a government in recent memory, says Robert Appleton at Olshan Frome.

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