Public Policy

  • September 09, 2025

    FCC OKs Waivers For Smart House Locks

    The Federal Communications Commission agreed Tuesday to make some exceptions to its rules for ultra-wideband devices — specifically a requirement that they be handheld — so a pair of companies can ensure their smart locks have the agency's seal of approval.

  • September 09, 2025

    Hemp Interests Drop Challenge To Louisiana THC Law

    A cannabis industry group and a wholesaler have asked a Louisiana federal judge to dismiss their lawsuit seeking to block the state from imposing new restrictions on consumables infused with hemp-derived THC.

  • September 09, 2025

    FDIC Eases Standards For Lifting Cease-And-Desist Orders

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is giving banks a quicker potential path out of its doghouse, rolling out a policy change that allows more flexibility to close out enforcement orders before firms have finished satisfying all their terms.

  • September 09, 2025

    Calif. Bar Seeks Justices' Clarity In Eastman Disbarment Case

    The State Bar of California asked the state's justices to affirm recommendations to disbar Donald Trump's onetime attorney John Eastman, who helped plan and promote the then-presidential candidate's strategy to overturn the 2020 election, but also review what it says are two legal errors that could "significantly impact future cases."

  • September 09, 2025

    Trump Admin Blocked From Boston Hospital Trans Care Docs

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration's bid to gain access to a wide array of documents related to gender-affirming care at Boston Children's Hospital, finding that the request is a veiled attempt to limit such care in the state.

  • September 09, 2025

    OCC Taps Cravath Atty As Principal Deputy Chief Counsel

    A former Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP corporate attorney has been tapped to serve as the principal deputy chief counsel of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, while a longtime agency official has been promoted to oversee its newly elevated chartering and licensing process, the regulator said Tuesday.

  • September 09, 2025

    Colo. Justices Rule Interest Not Covered By $1M Med Mal Cap

    The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that the state's $1 million cap on medical malpractice damages doesn't encompass certain interest awards when the so-called good cause exception applies, in a suit accusing a doctor of causing a baby's severe brain injury.

  • September 09, 2025

    5th Circ. Says Jarkesy Doesn't Doom OCC Enforcement Action

    A Fifth Circuit panel has upheld industry bans and $250,000 fines against two former top executives of a failed Texas bank, rejecting their bid to overturn an Office of the Comptroller of the Currency enforcement order, finding that the OCC's in-house proceedings and ordered sanctions did not violate the executives' constitutional right to a jury trial.

  • September 09, 2025

    Atty Flashes Weed In NC High Court To Challenge Odor Test

    A defense attorney on Tuesday pulled out a bag of weed in front of North Carolina's seven justices and a courtroom full of sheriffs to illustrate the outcome of letting officers conduct warrantless searches based on the smell of pot alone, saying such a test doesn't work in the age of legalized hemp.

  • September 09, 2025

    Mich. Appeals Court Unsure It Can Force Through Stalled Bills

    A Michigan state appeals court panel wrestled Tuesday with whether courts have the power to compel members of the state's House of Representatives to deliver to the governor legislation that was passed last year by their political opponents.

  • September 09, 2025

    7 Enviro Cases To Watch At The Supreme Court

    The U.S. Supreme Court is considering a slew of environmental cases for the coming term, including jurisdiction disputes in pipeline and pollution cases, a challenge to a Washington state climate change law and Monsanto's bid to undo a $1.2 million weed killer cancer award.

  • September 09, 2025

    PTAB Leader Urges Specificity In Discretionary Denial Briefs

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board's acting chief judge urged litigants Tuesday to support the arguments they make in the board's new discretionary denial process with specific details about their cases, during a panel where lawyers expressed both frustration about and praise for the system.

  • September 09, 2025

    Head Start Immigration Checks May Be Paused, Judge Hints

    A Washington federal judge seemed open to freezing a Trump administration policy requiring Head Start participants to prove citizenship, directing questions during a Tuesday hearing to how children will be affected after three decades of contrary practice.

  • September 09, 2025

    Ky. Judge Pauses Suit Over CFPB's Small-Biz Loan Rule

    A Kentucky federal judge on Tuesday paused a banking industry lawsuit challenging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's small business lender data collection rule while the agency works to revamp the Biden-era measure.

  • September 09, 2025

    Trump's Latest Tariff EO Offers Some Relief, But No Certainty

    President Donald Trump's latest tariff executive order essentially creates an exclusion process for many goods not readily available in the U.S. if the exporter countries enter trade agreements with the U.S., a strategic shift cautiously welcomed by importers even as they still seek certainty for their supply chains.

  • September 09, 2025

    NY Climate Law Challenge Moved To Join Similar Case

    A federal judge has denied business groups' bid to keep a suit challenging New York's climate Superfund law in the Southern District of New York, saying they must pursue the case in the Northern District where Republican-led states brought similar litigation first.

  • September 09, 2025

    New York State And Mohawk Tribe Settle 43-Year Land Dispute

    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state has reached a settlement agreement with the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe ending a decadeslong land purchase dispute, noting that the deal includes restoring tribal members' access to islands on the St. Lawrence River, improved power usage and education benefits.

  • September 09, 2025

    States, Oil Groups Push For Wins In Drilling Ban Fight

    Republican-led states and oil and gas industry groups pushed for a victory in their lawsuits challenging now-rescinded Biden-era memos that closed off federal waters to offshore drilling, telling a Louisiana federal judge that the memos were clearly unconstitutional.

  • September 09, 2025

    Calif. Bashes EPA's Effort To Toss Truck Emissions Petitions

    California, along with a group of states and cities, urged the Ninth Circuit on Monday to reject the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's motion to dismiss petitions challenging Clean Air Act waivers allowing the Golden State to make its own truck emissions standards, saying separate litigation should first play out.

  • September 09, 2025

    IRS Ordered To Notify Court Of ICE Info-Sharing Requests

    A D.C. federal judge in a series of orders Friday and Tuesday said the IRS must notify the court within 24 hours of receiving a request from immigration authorities for taxpayer information and hand over administrative records while the court considers a request to stop the intergovernmental data sharing.

  • September 09, 2025

    DC Says Crypto ATM Operator Profits Off Senior Scams

    Athena Bitcoin, one of the country's largest operators of so-called bitcoin automated teller machines, has been sued by the D.C. attorney general for allegedly charging undisclosed fees on deposits it knew were often the result of scams, for failing to implement adequate anti-fraud measures, and for refusing to refund scam victims.

  • September 09, 2025

    MAHA Report Calls For Increased Scrutiny Of Drug Advertising

    The Trump administration on Tuesday pledged to ramp up federal oversight of drug advertising, update dietary guidelines and slash unnecessary regulations as part of its strategy to boost the health of America's children and curb the rise in childhood chronic disease.

  • September 09, 2025

    Wash. Justices Doubt Amazon's Stance On Chemical Suicides

    Washington Supreme Court justices hinted on Tuesday at reviving a series of lawsuits against Amazon for allowing online sales of a chemical used in suicides, suggesting the plaintiff families' cases are strengthened by the alleged promotion of a suicide manual on the product page for sodium nitrite.

  • September 09, 2025

    SEC Sued To Lift Private Market Investment Cap

    A U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regulation that prohibits individuals making less than $200,000 a year from investing in the private markets is unconstitutionally discriminatory, according to a lawsuit launched against the agency in Texas federal court.

  • September 09, 2025

    Google Says Ad Tech MDL Market Should Stay Within US

    Google has urged a New York federal judge not to expand the scope of its advertising placement technology business as targeted by publishers and advertisers in multidistrict litigation, arguing the plaintiffs had their chance and cannot now latch onto the worldwide scope found in the Justice Department's successful case.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Skillful Persuasion

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    In many ways, law school teaches us how to argue, but when the ultimate goal is to get your client what they want, being persuasive through preparation and humility is the more likely key to success, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.

  • A Look At Trump 2.0 Antitrust Enforcement So Far

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    The first six months of President Donald Trump's second administration were marked by aggressive antitrust enforcement tempered by traditional structural remedies for mergers, but other unprecedented actions, like the firing of Federal Trade Commission Democrats, will likely stoke heated discussion ahead, says Richard Dagen at Axinn.

  • Reform Partly Modernizes Small Biz Stock Gains Exclusion

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    Changes to the Internal Revenue Code in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act update the qualified small business stock gains exclusion to reflect inflation, but the regime would be more in line with current business realities if Congress had also made the exemption available to additional business structures, says Mark Parthemer at Glenmede.

  • Breaking Down Novel Va. Social Media Law For Minors

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    While a Virginia bill passed in May is notable for setting a one-hour daily limit on minors' use of social media, other provisions create compliance burdens for social media operators and app store providers, and increase privacy and security risks associated with the collection of sensitive information to prove identity, says Jenna Rode at Hunton.

  • Lessons From Crackdown On Mexican Banks With Cartel Ties

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    Recent U.S. Treasury Department orders excluding three major Mexican financial institutions from the U.S. banking system for laundering drug cartel money and processing payments for fentanyl precursor chemicals offer guidance for companies in reviewing their procedures and controls to ensure they are not the next targets, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

  • Litigation Inspiration: How To Respond After A Loss

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    Every litigator loses a case now and then, and the sting of that loss can become a medicine that strengthens or a poison that corrodes, depending on how the attorney responds, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Tips For Cos. From California Climate Reporting FAQ

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    New guidance from the California Air Resources Board on how businesses must implement the state's sweeping climate reporting requirements should help companies assess their exposure, understand their disclosure obligations and begin documenting good-faith compliance efforts, says Thierry Montoya at Frost Brown.

  • FDA's Hasty Policymaking Approach Faces APA Challenges

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    Though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has abandoned its usual notice-and-comment process for implementing new regulatory initiatives, two recent district court decisions make clear that these programs are still susceptible to Administrative Procedure Act challenges, says Rachel Turow at Skadden.

  • DOJ Crypto Enforcement Is Shifting To Target Willfulness

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    Three pending criminal prosecutions could be an indication of how the U.S. Department of Justice's recent digital assets memo is shaping enforcement of the area, and show a growing focus on executives who knowingly allow their platforms to be used for criminal conduct involving sanctions offenses, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

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