Public Policy

November 05, 2025
Lumbee Act Faces Senate Scrutiny Amid Tribal Identity Debate

Generations of ancestors and lawmaker allies have come and gone as the Lumbee Tribe has sought federal recognition, its chairman told the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee on Wednesday, arguing that legislation for the status has been introduced 13 times and its passage is long overdue.
November 05, 2025
Institutional Investors Rip SEC's 'Radical' Forced Arb. Policy

A coalition of more than 60 major institutional investors and pension systems slammed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent "radical" policy reversal allowing some newly public companies to adopt mandatory arbitration clauses, arguing the move harms both investors and companies, which will face "numerous, time-consuming and costly individual arbitrations."
November 05, 2025
Okla. Seeks Toss Of Medical Marijuana Operators' Suit

No one has a right to sell marijuana, Oklahoma argued when asking a federal court to quash a lawsuit by a group of medical marijuana companies accusing the state of violating the Constitution's dormant commerce clause by implementing residency requirements to obtain a license.
November 05, 2025
Daytona Beach Asks 11th Circ. To Revive Panhandling Law

The city of Daytona Beach, Florida, asked the Eleventh Circuit Wednesday to reverse an order declaring unconstitutional a city ordinance criminalizing panhandling in certain parts of the city, arguing the ordinance is not a content-based restriction on speech.
November 05, 2025
Kalshi, Robinhood Say Tribes' Gaming Law Case Lacks Merit

Kalshi and Robinhood have told a California federal judge that Native American tribes in the state can't bring claims that the trading platforms ran a criminal racket and flouted laws protecting tribal gaming by offering their sports event contracts, since the wagers are ultimately overseen by federal commodity laws.
November 05, 2025
UPS Crash Probe Begins, FAA Plans For 10% Cut In Air Traffic

A UPS cargo plane that crashed in Louisville, Kentucky, appeared to have an engine on fire that detached from the aircraft during takeoff, the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday as investigators began collecting and examining evidence from a fiery crash that left 11 people dead.
November 05, 2025
Dems Nab PSC Spots As Georgians React To High Utility Bills

Georgia Democrats rolled to victory Tuesday over two Republican members of the state's utility oversight board, breaking the GOP's monopoly on the Public Service Commission and opening the door for shakeups in Peach State energy policy, experts say.
November 05, 2025
Judge Demands Facts In Pa. Medicaid-Paid Abortion Ban Case

A Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court judge on Wednesday repeatedly asked healthcare providers at oral arguments to show her facts on why a statewide ban on Medicaid-funded abortions was unconstitutional, often remarking that the case was short on evidence to support making changes to the coverage exclusion.
November 05, 2025
AGs Defend Bid To Intervene In DOJ's HPE Merger Deal

More than a dozen Democratic attorneys general have assailed the Justice Department and Hewlett Packard Enterprise for fighting their bid to peek behind the controversial settlement clearing HPE's $14 billion purchase of Juniper Networks, telling a California federal judge that Congress created court oversight for deals just like this.
November 05, 2025
Alaska Plumber Fights Feds' Contractor Labor Rule

Former President Joe Biden's administration didn't have the authority to issue a rule requiring contractors on large federal contracts to agree to union deals, an Alaska plumbing and heating subcontractor argued Wednesday as it asked a federal court to vacate the rule.
November 05, 2025
Mamdani Taps Ex-FTC Chief Lina Khan For NYC Transition

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday named an all-women transition team, including former Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, who attracted the ire of tech giants and corporations by spearheading the Biden administration's aggressive antitrust enforcement.
November 05, 2025
Cypriot Firm Challenges OFAC Sanctions In DC Court

A Cypriot tech investment company is suing the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, claiming it should be removed from a list of entities under U.S. sanctions brought following the invasion of Ukraine.
November 05, 2025
Calif. GOP Sues To Block Voter-Approved Prop. 50 Districts

A group of Golden State Republicans sued Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state secretary in California federal court Wednesday, challenging the new redistricting maps that California voters approved Tuesday in passing Proposition 50, which could potentially flip five House seats for Democrats in next year's midterm election.
November 05, 2025
11th Circ. Says Not Feds' Fault If $345M Crypto Key Was Lost

The Eleventh Circuit has ruled that a man convicted of identity theft cannot sue the government for $345 million he claims he lost because federal investigators wiped a hard drive containing access codes to several thousand bitcoins, noting the man didn't tell investigators about the cryptocurrency.
November 05, 2025
Investigator Immunity Limited In Death Row Exoneree Suit

An exonerated Florida death row inmate who accused a fingerprint examiner and investigators of causing his wrongful double-murder convictions can continue his case against them, the Eleventh Circuit has ruled, affirming qualified immunity does not shield them from certain allegations.
November 05, 2025
Fla. County Employee Fights Prisoner's Injury Suit At 11th Circ.

A St. Lucie County, Florida, employee told the Eleventh Circuit Wednesday that a lower court should have granted him a win in a prisoner's suit over an injury he caused on a work site, arguing that the facts show there was no Eighth Amendment violation, and he has qualified immunity.
November 05, 2025
NTIA Rule Creates 'Impossible Choice,' Group Says

The Trump administration's plan to make BEAD recipients promise they will not need federal operational subsidies if they take money from the massive broadband infrastructure program is a bad one, says a broadband advocacy group.
November 05, 2025
Docs Show IRS Improperly Shared Data With ICE, Groups Say

Documents submitted by the U.S. government to a D.C. federal court show the IRS violated taxpayer privacy laws by sharing individuals' addresses with ICE despite its requests lacking required information and by accepting an unreasonable explanation about why the information was requested, several groups said.
November 05, 2025
FTC Wants 'Tainted' Drs. Testimony Barred From Merger Case

The Federal Trade Commission wants a D.C. federal judge to bar a pair of outside doctors and consultants from vouching for Edwards Lifesciences' planned JenaValve acquisition, arguing in a filing made public Tuesday that claims of minimal communication between the physicians' counsel and the companies "was, at best, misleading."
November 05, 2025
Trump Taps Former GOP Congressman To Lead BLM

President Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated former New Mexico Republican congressman Steve Pearce to lead the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Department of the Interior office that oversees energy development on federal lands.
November 05, 2025
San Antonio Voters Approve Funding For New Spurs Arena

Texas voters have approved a tax that will provide up to $311 million for a planned $1.3 billion arena for the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, paving the way for a partial downtown redevelopment.
November 05, 2025
Del. Justices Hear Early Challenge To Corp. Law Amendments

Delaware's corporate litigation elites squared off before the state's Supreme Court on Wednesday over arguments that state lawmakers either righted — or subverted — the Court of Chancery's equity powers in amending the state's General Corporation Law earlier this year.
November 05, 2025
Texas Justices Mull Pro Se Atty's Contact With Opposite Party

Texas' justices appeared skeptical that a lawyer deserved to get suspended for five years after he contacted members of the Commission for Lawyer Discipline, asking Wednesday whether the rule barring attorneys from directly contacting a party represented by counsel applies to lawyers representing themselves.
November 05, 2025
Conn. Justice Questions 'Credibility Contest' In Fatal Fire Suit

A Connecticut Supreme Court justice wondered Wednesday if a trial court should rely on expert affidavits to determine the law in a foreign jurisdiction, probing whether a "credibility contest" was the right method for deciding that a lawsuit over a massive fatal fire belongs in the Philippines instead of the U.S.
November 05, 2025
Justices Skeptical About Trump's Emergency Tariff Authority

Several U.S. Supreme Court justices asked the government to defend why well-established judicial doctrines shouldn't limit President Donald Trump's tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act during oral arguments Wednesday, casting doubt on whether they believe the law provides that kind of authority.

Editor's Picks

Trump's Legal Battles

States, federal employee unions, various advocacy groups and several individuals have filed over 220 lawsuits challenging the Trump administration's implementation of executive orders and other initiatives. Law360 has created a database of those lawsuits, separated into categories based on their subject matter.

Expert Analysis

HSR Data Shows Most Deals Exit Antitrust Review Unscathed

Merger activity is up, enforcement is down and the vast majority of deals are emerging from U.S. federal antitrust review in one piece, new 2024 fiscal-year Hart-Scott-Rodino data shows, meaning companies should not shy away from deals based on a perception that recent antitrust enforcement has been unusually aggressive, says Amanda Wait at Michael Best.
AI Litigation Tools Can Enhance Case Assessment, Strategy

Civil litigators can use artificial intelligence tools to strengthen case assessment and aid in early strategy development, as long as they address the risks and ethical considerations that accompany these uses, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.
Post-Genius Landscape Reveals Technical Stablecoin Hurdles

The Genius Act's implementation has revealed challenges for mass stablecoin adoption, but there are several factors that stablecoin issuers can use to differentiate themselves and secure market share, including interest rate, liquidity, and safety and security, say attorneys at Olshan Frome.
The Emerging Issues Shaping Real Estate Project Insurance

As real estate faces increasingly complex considerations — such as climate losses, "nuclear verdicts" and regulatory changes — insurance is evolving into a strategic function that should be discussed early in the planning stages of a project, says Jason Adams at Cox Castle.
How '24 Statements Show FTC's Direction On Political Speech

Two top Federal Trade Commission officials made concurring statements in 2024 that detailed a potential push to protect political speech, which have served as a preview of the commission's potential new focus on investigating social media and financial services firms to secure changes in those companies' internal business practices, says Benjamin Goldman at Montgomery McCracken.
Attys Beware: Generative AI Can Also Hallucinate Metadata

In addition to the well-known problem of AI-generated hallucinations in legal documents, AI tools can also hallucinate metadata — threatening the integrity of discovery, the reliability of evidence and the ability to definitively identify the provenance of electronic documents, say attorneys at Law & Forensics.
What May Be Ahead In Debanking Enforcement

President Donald Trump's executive order on politicized or unlawful debanking has spurred a flurry of activity by the federal banking regulators, so banks should expect debanking-related complaints submitted by consumers to increase, and for federal regulators to look for more enforcement opportunities, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.
Balancing Reliability, Competition In FERC's Pipeline Proposal

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's proposed transparency requirements for interstate natural gas pipelines endeavor to improve electric system reliability but could also unintentionally foster coordination, says Lyle Larson at Balch & Bingham.
SEC Crypto Custody Relief Offers Clarity For Funds

A recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission staff letter supplies a workable path for registered investment advisers and funds seeking to offer crypto custody services by using state trust companies, and may portend additional useful guidance regarding crypto custody, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
DC Circuit Charts Path On FERC Orders In Loper Bright Era

The D.C. Circuit's recent decision in Solar Energy Industries Association v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, upholding the agency's assessment of a power production facility's output, laid out an approach for addressing statutory interpretation in FERC appeals in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's game-changing Loper Bright decision, say attorneys at Bracewell.
DOJ's UnitedHealth Settlement Highlights New Remedies Tack

The use of divestitures and Hart-Scott-Rodino Act compliance in the recent U.S. Department of Justice settlement with UnitedHealth Group and Amedisys underscores the DOJ Antitrust Division's willingness to utilize merger remedies under the second Trump administration, say attorneys at Buchanan Ingersoll.
When Atty Ethics Violations Give Rise To Causes Of Action

Though the Model Rules of Professional Conduct make clear that a violation of the rules does not automatically create a cause of action, attorneys should beware of a few scenarios in which they could face lawsuits for ethical lapses, says Brian Faughnan at Faughnan Law.
A Shift To Semiannual Reporting May Reshape Litigation Risk

While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed change from quarterly to semiannual reporting may reduce the volume of formal filings, it wouldn't reduce litigation risk, instead shifting it into less predictable terrain — where informal disclosures, timing ambiguities and broader materiality debates will dominate, says Pavithra Kumar at Advanced Analytical Consulting Group.
TikTok Divestiture Deal Revolves Around IP Considerations

The divestiture deal between the U.S. and China to resolve a security dispute over TikTok's U.S. operations is seen as a diplomatic breakthrough, but its success hinges on the treatment of intellectual property and may set a precedent in the global contest over digital sovereignty and IP control, say attorneys at Brownstein Hyatt.
What's New In FDA's Latest Cell And Gene Therapy Guidance

New draft guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, along with other recent initiatives, come together to promote cell and gene therapy product development by streamlining development and review pathways, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.