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Public Policy
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October 31, 2025
Squires Vows To Open USPTO Doors To AI Technologies
New U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires said Friday his agency will embrace artificial intelligence technologies during his tenure, telling attorneys at the American Intellectual Property Law Association's annual gathering in Washington, D.C., that AI is "the most transcendent and transformative technology of our time — perhaps of any time."
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October 31, 2025
3 Argument Sessions Benefits Attys Should Watch In Nov.
The Third Circuit will hear a union's appeal in a withdrawal liability battle, a union health plan defends its partial win in a coverage fight at the Ninth Circuit, and pharmacy benefit managers will take a challenge to the Federal Trade Commission's authority to the full Eighth Circuit. Here are three arguments to keep an eye on in November.
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October 31, 2025
FERC Faces DC Circ. Fight Over Pipeline Project Revival
Environmental and homeowner groups have asked the D.C. Circuit to drop the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's reauthorization of a previously abandoned pipeline upgrade project in the Northeast, saying the agency can't simply restore an approval it issued six years ago.
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October 31, 2025
Mich. Judge DQs Lawyer Over Firm's Suspended Founder
An attorney working for a recently suspended lawyer cannot appear in a Michigan federal case because his boss's discipline bars any of his associates from practicing in the Wolverine state, a judge ruled Friday.
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October 31, 2025
IBEW Locals Fight Ouster Of Unions At Energy, Interior Depts.
President Donald Trump wasn't allowed to revoke the union status of electricians, linemen and plant operators at the Departments of Energy and the Interior, a group of union locals told a D.C. federal court, saying federal labor law enshrines their right to remain union-represented.
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October 31, 2025
FCC Plans To Drop More Regs Covering 'Obsolete' Techs
When the Federal Communications Commission convenes for its monthly meeting in November, it will vote on a measure that would nix nearly two dozen more rules that the agency has deemed obsolete in one fell swoop.
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October 31, 2025
Both Sides Claim Victory In Calif. Tribal Gaming Rights Fight
A federal judge says the U.S. Department of the Interior's decision to temporarily nix gaming eligibility for a proposed $700 million casino project violated a California tribe's due process rights, but both sides are claiming victory as claims of violations of the Administrative Procedure Act and Fifth Amendment against the federal agency were also dismissed.
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October 31, 2025
Industry Groups Seek More Time To Comment On PTAB Rules
A coalition of organizations representing the technology, automotive and pharmaceutical sectors has urged U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires to allow 30 additional days of public comments regarding new proposed rules that would curtail the number of Patent Trial and Appeal Board reviews.
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October 30, 2025
DC Circ. Judge Asks If Disputed Nuclear Rules 'Ignore Future'
The D.C. Circuit asked the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission whether it was "reasonable to ignore the future" when conducting environmental assessments for nuclear power plant license renewals during oral arguments Thursday morning.
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October 30, 2025
Michigan Tax Foreclosure Deal At Risk As Deadline Looms
Property owners on Wednesday asked a Michigan federal judge to undo the initial approval of a settlement reached with counties accused of illegally keeping the proceeds of tax-foreclosed home sales, saying the counties' delay in providing information will force claimants to miss a deadline to choose how they want to recover their share.
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October 30, 2025
Security Camera Co. May Have Chinese Govt. Ties, Paxton Says
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Wednesday he has opened an investigation into Lorex Technology Inc., a seller of Wi-Fi security cameras, for its possible sale of cameras linked to a system associated with the Chinese Communist Party
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October 30, 2025
Philly Accuses PBMs Of Knowingly Enabling Opioid Crisis
Philadelphia on Thursday sued CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and Optum, accusing the pharmacy benefit managers of contributing to the city's opioid epidemic via deceptive marketing and conspiring with drugmakers to increase the sale of OxyContin and other prescription opioids.
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October 30, 2025
11th Circ. Says Fla. Properties Can't Satisfy Venezuela Debt
The Eleventh Circuit has refused to revive litigation aimed at enforcing $43.4 million worth of defaulted Venezuelan bonds by seizing control of various Miami properties allegedly controlled by a wealthy businessman accused of bribing Venezuelan officials, saying there was no jurisdiction.
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October 30, 2025
11th Circ. Upholds Deportation Over Child-Neglect Conviction
The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday upheld the deportation of a Chilean green card holder who pled guilty to violating a Florida law criminalizing child neglect, finding the offense qualifies as a deportable crime under the federal Immigration and Nationality Act.
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October 30, 2025
USA Fencing Let Trans Athletes In Women's Events, Suit Says
Three women fencers, including a member of the 2024 U.S. Olympic team, accused their sport's national governing body of discriminating against them by allowing transgender female athletes to participate in women's competitions.
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October 30, 2025
ACLU Fights ICE's Alleged Warrantless Arrest Practices
A federal judge had questions about the reason to have a two-day preliminary injunction at the start of the hearing in Colorado federal court Thursday in a proposed class action against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and others claiming the agency is conducting warrantless arrests without probable cause.
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October 30, 2025
Small Biz Groups Seek Quick Win In CFPB Lending Data Fight
A coalition of consumer-aligned advocacy groups is seeking summary judgment in Washington, D.C., federal court in their suit aiming to compel the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to implement a 15-year-old Congressional mandate to collect lending data for women- and minority-owned small businesses.
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October 30, 2025
Med Robot Co. Tells 9th Circ. Not To Revive 'Disfavored' Suit
Intuitive Surgical urged the Ninth Circuit not to revive a surgical repair company's claims alleging it blocked third parties from refurbishing components for its popular da Vinci surgery robot, defending the district court's findings that cases alleging anticompetitive harm to a single brand aftermarket are "rare and disfavored."
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October 30, 2025
Squires' National Security Fears Over RPIs Draw Skepticism
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has started requiring patent challengers to disclose all real parties in interest when filing their initial Patent Trial and Appeal Board petitions, building on his policies to limit such challenges and citing concerns over national security.
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October 30, 2025
Judge Says FCA Qui Tam Provisions Don't Violate Constitution
A Wisconsin federal judge has rejected Wisconsin Bell's attempt to shutter a whistleblower's claims it overcharged schools and libraries for connectivity services provided under the federal E-Rate program by arguing the False Claims Act's qui tam provisions are unconstitutional.
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October 30, 2025
FDIC's Hill Says Deposit Insurance Boost May Not Raise Costs
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s top official said at his Thursday confirmation hearing that a targeted increase in his agency's coverage limits could dampen depositor run risk without necessarily requiring it to charge all banks more for the extra protection.
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October 30, 2025
GOP Senator Floats Fair Access Bill In 'Debanking' Push
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., introduced draft legislation Thursday that he says builds on an earlier attempt to prevent banks from blocking conservatives or disfavored industries from opening accounts, proposing the creation of a fair access standard that allows regulators and attorneys general to sue noncompliant banks.
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October 30, 2025
Trade Deals At Risk In Trump Tariff Case, Feds Tell Justices
The federal government told the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday that President Donald Trump's global tariffs have led to significant trade deals addressing the underlying national emergencies he declared, and a ruling determining them unlawful would prove catastrophic.
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October 30, 2025
FCC Dem Concerned About Broadband 'Bridge To Nowhere'
The Federal Communications Commission's lone Democrat said Thursday she's worried the government will end up building a "bridge to nowhere" by leaning too heavily on broadband deployment projects at the expense of connectivity aid.
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October 30, 2025
Wash. Justices Debate Judge's Future Amid Court Discord
The Washington Supreme Court on Thursday asked about the practical effect of returning a suspended municipal judge to the bench, probing whether there's any evidence that Judge Tracy S. Flood and staff of the Bremerton Municipal Court would be able to avoid further discord and subsequent impacts on litigants if she went back to her post.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
Ending Quarterly Reporting Would Erode Investor Protection
President Donald Trump recently called for an end to the long-standing practice of corporate quarterly reporting, but doing so would reduce transparency, create information asymmetries, provide more opportunities for corporate fraud and risk increased stock price volatility, while not meaningfully increasing long-term investments, say attorneys at Bleichmar Fonti.
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Series
Adapting To Private Practice: 3 Tips On Finding The Right Job
After 23 years as a state and federal prosecutor, when I contemplated moving to a law firm, practicing solo or going in-house, I found there's a critical first step — deep self-reflection on what you truly want to do and where your strengths lie, says Rachael Jones at McKool Smith.
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Strategies For Defending Banks In Elder Abuse Cases
Several recent cases demonstrate that banks have plenty of tools to defend against claims they were complicit in financial abuse of older adults, but financial institutions should also continue to educate customers about third-party scams before they happen, say attorneys at Troutman.
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AG Watch: Va. Race Spotlights Consumer Protection Priorities
Ahead of the state's attorney general election, Virginia companies should assess how either candidate's approach could affect their compliance posture, with incumbent Jason Miyares promising a business-friendly atmosphere that prioritizes public safety and challenger Jay Jones pledging to focus on economic justice and corporate accountability, says Chuck Slemp at Cozen O’Connor.
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Preparing For What DOD Cybersecurity Audits May Uncover
Defense contractors seeking certification under the U.S. Department of Defense's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program that begins implementation on Nov. 10 may discover previously unknown violations, but there are steps they can take to address any issues before they come to the attention of enforcement authorities, say attorneys at Troutman.
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A Look At Project Crypto's Plans For Digital Asset Regulation
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins' recent announcement of Project Crypto, an agencywide initiative to modernize federal securities regulations, signals a significant shift toward a more flexible regulatory framework that would shape the future of the U.S. digital asset market, say attorneys at WilmerHale.
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Breaking Down The Intersection Of Right-Of-Publicity Law, AI
Jillian Taylor at Blank Rome examines how existing right-of-publicity law governs artificial intelligence-generated voice-overs, deepfakes and deadbots; highlights a recent New York federal court ruling involving AI-generated voice clones; and offers practical guardrails for using AI without violating the right of publicity.
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Civil Maritime Nuclear Sector Poised For Growth, Challenges
The maritime industry now stands on the verge of a nuclear-powered renaissance, with the need for clean energy, resilient power generation and decarbonized logistics driving demand for commercial maritime nuclear technology — but these developments will raise significant new legal, regulatory and technical questions, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Series
Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Painting trains me to see both the fine detail and the whole composition at once, enabling me to identify friction points while keeping sight of a client's bigger vision, but the most significant lesson I've brought to my legal work has been the value of originality, says Jana Gouchev at Gouchev Law.
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H-2A Rule Rollback Sheds Light On 2 Policy Litigation Issues
The Trump administration’s recent refusal to defend an immigration regulation implemented by the Biden administration highlights a questionable process that both parties have used to bypass the Administrative Procedure Act’s rulemaking process, and points toward the next step in the fight over universal injunctions, says Mark Stevens at Clark Hill.
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NY AML Rules Get Crypto Rebrand: What It Means For Banks
A recent letter from the New York State Department of Financial Services outlining how banks can use blockchain analytics in anti-money laundering efforts is a reminder that crypto activity is not exempted from banks' role in keeping the financial system safe, says Katherine Lemire at Lankler Siffert.
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What's At Stake At High Court For Presidential Removal Power
Two pending U.S. Supreme Court cases —Trump v. Slaughter and Trump v. Cook — raise fundamental questions about the constitutional separation of powers, threaten the 90-year-old precedent of Humphrey's Executor v. U.S. and will determine the president's authority to control independent federal agencies, says Kolya Glick at Arnold & Porter.
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Using The GHG Protocol For California Climate Reporting
With the California Air Resources Board's recent announcement that entities subject to the state's climate disclosure laws can use the Greenhouse Gas Protocol as a standard for structured, auditable reporting, a review of methods, data sources and disclosures under the protocol is timely for compliance planning, says Thierry Montoya at Frost Brown.
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Employer Considerations As Ill. Ends Mandatory Fact-Finding
Illinois recently eliminated mandatory fact-finding conferences, and while such meetings tend to benefit complainants, respondent employers should not dismiss them out of hand without conducting a thorough analysis of the risks and benefits, which will vary from case to case, says Kimberly Ross at FordHarrison.
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Courts Are Still Grappling With McDonnell, 9 Years Later
The Seventh and D.C. Circuits’ recent decisions in U.S. v. Weiss and U.S. v. Paitsel, respectively, demonstrate that courts are still struggling to apply the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2016 ruling in McDonnell v. U.S., which narrowed the scope of “official acts” in federal bribery cases, say attorneys at Quinn Emanuel.