Public Policy

  • June 30, 2025

    Newsom Signs CEQA Reform, Aiming To Ease Housing Crisis

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday evening signed into law two bills overhauling the state's landmark environmental law to knock down hurdles to new development in an effort to address the state's ongoing housing shortage.

  • June 30, 2025

    Trump Tariff Challenge Belongs In Trade Court, Groups Argue

    The America First Legal Foundation and Coalition for a Prosperous America on Monday backed the federal government in an appeal brought by toy makers challenging President Donald Trump's emergency tariffs, arguing that the lower court should've never issued an injunction because the dispute belongs in the U.S. Court of International Trade.

  • June 30, 2025

    Trump And Paramount In 'Advanced' Talks To Settle $20B Suit

    President Donald Trump and CBS News' parent Paramount Global asked a Texas federal court on Monday to pause Trump's $20 billion lawsuit accusing the news company of deceptively doctoring a "60 Minutes" interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris, saying the parties are engaged in "advanced" settlement talks.

  • June 30, 2025

    DOJ Seeks Permanent Block On LA's Sanctuary City Policies

    The Trump administration filed suit Monday in California federal court seeking to permanently block the city of Los Angeles from enforcing policies it alleges unconstitutionally obstruct federal immigration enforcement, citing pushback during recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest operations.

  • June 30, 2025

    Tillis, Senate IP Leader, Announces Retirement

    The U.S. Senate's leader on intellectual property issues, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has announced his retirement shortly after coming out against the Republicans' spending bill, with blowback from President Donald Trump.

  • June 30, 2025

    Detainees Say Alien Enemies Act Meant For 'Large Scale' War

    A group of Venezuelans facing deportation over accusations of gang affiliation told the Fifth Circuit on Monday that the nation's founders didn't intend for a rarely invoked 1798 law to be used for anything other than "large-scale" war.

  • June 30, 2025

    Conn. Expects Corporate Tax Changes To Raise Almost $350M

    Connecticut will make changes to corporate taxes that are projected to raise nearly $350 million over two years — largely from repealing the state's $2.5 million cap on tax increases for some combined unitary taxpayers — under the 2026-27 budget signed Monday by the governor.

  • June 30, 2025

    DOL Plans To Nix H-2A Farmworker Organizing Protections

    The Trump administration is planning to roll back a Biden-era rule that protected seasonal farmworkers on H-2A visas from facing retaliation for workplace organizing, with the U.S. Department of Labor announcing its intent to rescind the contentious 2024 rule Monday.

  • June 30, 2025

    FCC To Screen Regulatory Offenses For Criminal Liability

    The Federal Communications Commission has outlined criteria to decide when regulatory offenses should lead to criminal liability, responding to a White House executive order issued to federal agencies in May.

  • June 30, 2025

    Texas Panel Says Suit Challenging Abortion Travel Is Unripe

    A split Texas appeals court panel found Monday that several anti-abortion groups lack standing to sue the city of San Antonio for allegedly earmarking money to pay for out-of-state abortion travel, saying the money had not gone out yet and the groups' claims were not ripe.

  • June 30, 2025

    Judge Urges DOJ, Assa Abloy To Reach Deal On Extension

    A D.C. federal court urged the U.S. Department of Justice and Assa Abloy on Monday to reach an agreement over a request from Fortune Brands Home & Security to extend a supply agreement that was part of a 2023 merger settlement.

  • June 30, 2025

    Vaping Interests Can't Pause New NC E-Cigarette Law

    North Carolina officials can proceed with enforcing a law that could prevent the sale of many types of e-cigarettes, a federal judge ruled, rejecting industry arguments that the law runs afoul of the U.S. Constitution's supremacy clause by having state officials enforce federal tobacco law.

  • June 30, 2025

    FCC Delays Deadlines To Cap Prison Phone Rates

    The Federal Communications Commission on Monday temporarily waived compliance deadlines for its contested new prison phone rate caps until April 2027.

  • June 30, 2025

    Feds Defend Authority To End NY Congestion Pricing Deal

    The U.S. Department of Transportation has told a Manhattan federal judge that courts cannot handcuff it to now-disfavored policies of earlier administrations, while New York transportation agencies maintain that the federal government is grasping at illusory legal arguments to justify trying to shut down congestion pricing.

  • June 30, 2025

    Meta Gets Court To Pause Its Challenge To FTC Privacy Order

    A D.C. federal judge has agreed to pause Meta's constitutional challenge to the Federal Trade Commission's effort to block the company from monetizing children's data, giving other courts hearing separate cases time to weigh in on the commission's structure and an injunction requested by the company before ruling on dismissal.

  • June 30, 2025

    Alaskan Tribe Found Immune In Residents' Casino Fight

    A federal judge has found that the Native Village of Eklutna is a required party in a lawsuit by Anchorage residents who oppose the construction of a 58,000-square-foot casino, but has simultaneously ruled the tribe can't be joined in the litigation due to its sovereign immunity.

  • June 30, 2025

    Md. Judge Presses DOJ On Baby Deportation Plans

    A Maryland federal judge ordered expedited briefing Monday amid an amended bid to block President Donald Trump's birthright citizenship executive order after questioning whether the administration can start deporting babies before a nationwide injunction expires in late July.

  • June 30, 2025

    Miami-Dade Fights Effort To Block 'Alligator Alcatraz'

    Miami-Dade County on Monday urged a Florida federal judge to deny environmental groups' request for an injunction blocking the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's plan for the construction of a migrant detention center dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" in the Everglades, arguing they have no basis for blocking the plan.

  • June 30, 2025

    Justices Won't Disturb 10th Circ. Oklahoma PBM Law Ruling

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear the state of Oklahoma's challenge to a Tenth Circuit decision that found parts of a recently enacted law regulating pharmacy benefit managers were preempted by federal benefits laws and Medicare Part D, cementing an industry group's win in the case.

  • June 30, 2025

    DOJ Says Over 300 Charged In $14.6B Healthcare Fraud Sting

    A healthcare fraud operation conducted by federal and state law enforcement groups netted more than 300 defendants in a slew of schemes amounting to $14.6 billion in potential false claims, the Justice Department announced Monday.

  • June 30, 2025

    Canada Removing Digital Tax To Salvage US Trade Talks

    Canada has agreed to roll back its 3% digital services tax just ahead of Monday's first payment deadline in order to continue trade negotiations with the U.S., Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Sunday evening.

  • June 30, 2025

    Fintech Group Goes To Bat For CFPB's Open Banking Rule

    A top fintech trade group has fired back in defense of a Biden-era open banking rule that bank groups and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau want struck down in Kentucky federal court, accusing them of twisting the law in a flawed effort to kill off the regulation.

  • June 30, 2025

    Top State & Local Tax Cases Of 2025: Midyear Report

    From the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of a group of Catholic charities seeking an unemployment tax exemption to the New York Supreme Court ruling on the state's rule governing the application of P.L. 86-272, it's been a busy first half of the year for state and local tax. Here, Law360 looks at some of the top state and local tax cases of the past six months.

  • June 30, 2025

    Pa. Judges Reduce $4.65M Bus Death Verdict To $500K

    A panel of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on Monday reduced a $4.65 million verdict in favor of the family of a woman killed when she was hit by a Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority bus down to $500,000, saying the verdict is subject to a statutory limit in the state's sovereign immunity law.

  • June 30, 2025

    Court Tosses Challenge To Nebraska Medical Pot Legalization

    A Nebraska state judge has dismissed a challenge brought by a Republican former state senator and opponent of cannabis reform seeking to invalidate a pair of ballot measures that legalized and regulated medical marijuana.

Expert Analysis

  • 2025's First Half Brings Regulatory Detours For Fintechs

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    The first half of the year has resulted in a bifurcated regulatory environment for fintechs, featuring narrowed enforcement in some areas, heightened scrutiny in others and a policy window that, with proper compliance, offers meaningful opportunities for innovation, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Debunking 4 Misconceptions Around Texas' IV Therapy Law

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    Despite industry confusion, an IV therapy law enacted in Texas last week may actually be the most business-friendly regulatory development the medical spa industry has seen in recent years, says Keith Lefkowitz at Hendershot Cowart.

  • A Pattern Emerges In Justices' Evaluation Of Veteran Statute

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    The recent Soto v. U.S. decision that the statute of limitations for certain military-related claims does not apply to combat-related special compensation exemplifies the U.S. Supreme Court's view, emerging in two other recent opinions, that it is a reviewing court's obligation to determine the best interpretation of the language used by Congress, says attorney Kenneth Carpenter.

  • Opinion

    Senate's 41% Litigation Finance Tax Would Hurt Legal System

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    The Senate’s latest version of the Big Beautiful Bill Act would impose a 41% tax on the litigation finance industry, but the tax is totally disconnected from the concerns it purports to address, and it would set the country back to a time when small plaintiffs had little recourse against big defendants, says Anthony Sebok at Cardozo School of Law.

  • Psychedelic Treatment Regs May Be At A Tipping Point

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    Recent scientific and public attention suggest that development of psychedelics as treatment for some conditions may be at a tipping point, which could bring on more rapid change and opportunities for stakeholders who may in the future benefit from greater access to safe and effective psychedelic medicines, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • In NRC Ruling, Justices Affirm Hearing Process Still Matters

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Texas safeguards the fairness, clarity and predictability of the regulatory system by affirming that to challenge an agency's decision in court, litigants must first meaningfully participate in the hearing process that Congress and the agency have established, says Jonathan Rund at the Nuclear Energy Institute.

  • Comparing Stablecoin Bills From UK, EU, US And Hong Kong

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    For multinational stablecoin issuers, navigating the differences and similarities among regimes in the U.K., EU, Hong Kong and U.S., which are currently unfolding in several key ways, is critical to achieving scalable, compliant operations, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • What Baseball Can Teach Criminal Attys About Rule Of Lenity

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    Judges tend to assess ambiguous criminal laws not unlike how baseball umpires approach checked swings, so defense attorneys should consider how to best frame their arguments to maximize courts' willingness to invoke the rule of lenity, wherein a tie goes to the defendant, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Series

    Performing As A Clown Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    To say that being a clown in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has changed my legal career would truly be an understatement — by creating an opening to converse on a unique topic, it has allowed me to connect with clients, counsel and even judges on a deeper level, says Charles Tatelbaum at Tripp Scott.

  • Focusing On Fluoride: From FDA To Class Action

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    A class action filed two days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced plans to remove ingestible fluoride prescription drug products for children from the market may be the tip of the iceberg in terms of the connection between government pronouncements on safety and their immediate use as evidence in lawsuits, says Rachel Turow at Skadden.

  • How Energy Cos. Can Prepare For Potential Tax Credit Cuts

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    The Senate Finance Committee's version of the One Big Beautiful Bill act would create a steep phaseout of renewable energy tax credits, which should prompt companies to take several actions, including conduct a project review to discern which could begin construction before the end of the year, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • The CFTC Is Shaking Up Sports Betting's Legal Future

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    The sports betting industry faces a potential sea change amid recent state and federal actions across the regulatory landscape that have expanded access to sporting event contracts against the backdrop of waning Commodity Futures Trading Commission opposition, says Nick Covek at Foley & Lardner.

  • DOJ Atty Firing Highlights Tension Between 2 Ethical Duties

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recent firing of a prosecutor-turned-whistleblower involved in the Abrego Garcia v. Noem case illustrates the tricky balancing act between zealous client advocacy and a lawyer’s duty of candor to the court, which many clients fail to appreciate, says David Atkins at Yale Law School.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Rejecting Biz Dev Myths

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    Law schools don’t spend sufficient time dispelling certain myths that prevent young lawyers from exploring new business opportunities, but by dismissing these misguided beliefs, even an introverted first-year associate with a small network of contacts can find long-term success, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.

  • Fla. Condo Law Fix Clarifies Control Of Common Areas

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    Florida's repeal of a controversial statutory provision that permitted developers of mixed-use condominium properties to retroactively assert control over common facilities marks a critical shift in legal protections for unit owners and associations, promoting fairness, transparency and accountability, say attorneys at Pardo Jackson.

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