Public Policy

  • August 05, 2025

    Ex-USPTO Heads, Judges Oppose Anti-Patent Thicket Bill

    A pro-innovation group composed of former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officials and former Federal Circuit judges on Tuesday asked Congress to oppose a bill introduced last month that would limit so-called patent thickets used by pharmaceutical companies to restrict the production of generic counterparts to their drugs.

  • August 05, 2025

    FCC Asked To Reconsider Paramount-Skydance Deal

    The Federal Communications Commission needs to rethink its decision to greenlight Skydance Media's controversial $8 billion acquisition of Paramount Global, a third-party firm has told the agency, arguing it never addressed "substantial evidence in the record" that Paramount was talking to President Donald Trump on the sidelines.

  • August 05, 2025

    10th Circ. Says No Signature Needed In Asylum Appeal

    The Tenth Circuit on Tuesday revived a Salvadoran family's appeal of an immigration judge's denial of their asylum claim, ruling that the Board of Immigration Appeals wrongly rejected it over a missing signature that wasn't legally required.

  • August 05, 2025

    Trump Fires Most Of Puerto Rico Fiscal Oversight Board

    The Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, a body managing the island's debt restructuring, announced Tuesday that President Donald Trump has terminated five of its seven members.

  • August 05, 2025

    Feds Aim To Shut Off Kids' Challenge To Trump Energy Orders

    A lawsuit filed by youths alleging that President Donald Trump's energy policy directives harm their future by exacerbating climate change should be dismissed because their claims can't be addressed by courts, the federal government said Monday.

  • August 05, 2025

    Foreign Service Union Seeks Early Win In State Dept. EO Case

    A union representing thousands of foreign service workers called on a D.C. federal judge to determine that President Donald Trump went too far with an executive order gutting collective bargaining rights for federal workers, alleging the directive violates the First Amendment.

  • August 05, 2025

    NAB Says Streamers' Success Makes 39% Cap Outdated

    The broadcast industry's top lobbying group said marketplace changes call for the Federal Communications Commission to lift the 39% cap on national TV audience share.

  • August 05, 2025

    FCC Moves Ahead On Controversial Broadband Inquiry

    The Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday it has launched a plan to study the deployment of broadband services across the U.S. that consumer groups have attacked as failing to account for wide gaps in adoption and affordability.

  • August 05, 2025

    Pa. Court Says State Can Suspend DUI Suspect's License

    In a precedential ruling, Pennsylvania's Commonwealth Court has found that a state law stripping those suspected of DUI of their driver's licenses for one year if they refuse to be tested for intoxicating substances is constitutional, despite a driver's contrary assertions.

  • August 05, 2025

    Ex-ComEd Lobbyist Gets 1 Year For Masking Madigan Bribes

    A former lobbyist for Commonwealth Edison was sentenced to a year and a day in prison Tuesday for allowing his lobbying firm to serve as a pass-through for the utility to pay associates of ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan for little to no work, as it sought his support for favorable energy legislation.

  • August 05, 2025

    RI Urges 1st Circ. To Toss Challenge To Pot License Regime

    Rhode Island cannabis regulators on Tuesday urged the First Circuit to uphold the dismissal of a Florida entrepreneur's challenge to the state's marijuana licensure program and to reject his bid to have the case remanded back to lower district court.

  • August 05, 2025

    Feds Float Long-Awaited Drone Rule For Beyond Line Of Sight

    The Trump administration on Tuesday proposed a long-awaited rule that would allow commercial drones to be flown beyond an operator's visual line of sight, paving the way for drones to be used for longer-range purposes like fighting wildfires and inspecting infrastructure.

  • August 05, 2025

    4th Circ. Faults Board For Shallow Review Of Asylum Case

    The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday partially revived a Salvadoran woman's claim for asylum, finding that the Board of Immigration Appeals failed to properly assess whether she belonged to a legally protected social group.

  • August 05, 2025

    Ghislaine Maxwell Slams Feds' Bid To Unseal Grand Jury Docs

    Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for trafficking children for late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, urged a New York federal judge Tuesday to deny the government's bid to unseal grand jury transcripts, saying release of the sealed materials could jeopardize the appeal of her 2021 conviction.

  • August 05, 2025

    A Free Exercise 'Blueprint' In Colo. Abortion Reversal Order

    A Colorado federal judge's decision to allow medication abortion "reversals" on free exercise grounds could serve as a model for other lawsuits meant to legitimize a practice that is outside the standard practice of medicine.

  • August 05, 2025

    Tenn. Executes Man With Intellectual Disability For 3 Murders

    Tennessee on Tuesday executed Byron Black, who the state conceded had an intellectual disability and should have been removed from death row, for a 1988 triple murder.

  • August 05, 2025

    Advocacy Org. Wants FTC's Full, Dropped Pepsi Complaint

    The Federal Trade Commission's price discrimination complaint against Pepsi could become public after all, despite the agency dropping the lawsuit, after a New York federal judge on Tuesday permitted an advocacy group to intervene in the case in order to seek the full, unredacted filing.

  • August 05, 2025

    Utah Judge Blocks 'Bad Faith' Prosecution Of Psilocybin Church

    A Utah federal judge has blocked a state court prosecution of the leader of a church that uses psilocybin in its sacrament, finding the prosecution was initiated in bad faith to harass the church and its members following a ruling against the state in the federal case.

  • August 05, 2025

    Korean War Vet's Widow Sues Feds For Wrongful Death

    The widow of a Korean War veteran has sued the federal government, alleging that staff at Georgia's Carl Vinson VA Medical Center caused her husband's death by failing to care for him properly while he was a patient at its community living center.

  • August 05, 2025

    Meet FDA Chief Counsel Sean Keveney

    The new top attorney at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, described as a "tremendous technical lawyer," rose through the ranks as a federal prosecutor before helping lead President Donald Trump's confrontation with elite universities this year.

  • August 05, 2025

    Gas Breaks Can't Justify Russian Fertilizer Duties, Fed. Circ. Told

    The federal government improperly concluded that EuroChem's Russian imports to the U.S. were subject to countervailing duties because of natural gas subsidies those products benefited from, counsel representing the company told the Federal Circuit during oral arguments Tuesday.

  • August 05, 2025

    Law Profs Urge 11th Circ. To Toss Judge-Shopping Sanctions

    A group of seven law school professors is urging the Eleventh Circuit to toss a sanctions ruling against three attorneys for judge shopping, arguing that federal law does not forbid the practice and citing the "potentially chilling effect the order will have on counsel, especially those involved in pro bono representation."

  • August 05, 2025

    ICE Temporarily Barred From Deporting Phoenix Mother

    An Arizona federal judge temporarily barred the Trump administration from deporting a 38-year-old Phoenix woman who is a mother of three U.S. citizen children after immigration officials put her in expedited removal proceedings under a purported new policy, despite her claim of living in the U.S. for 30 years.

  • August 05, 2025

    States Win Ruling To Shield FEMA Disaster Prevention Funds

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday temporarily barred the Trump administration from redirecting more than $4 billion in funds allocated by Congress for natural disaster mitigation efforts toward other Federal Emergency Management Agency programs.

  • August 05, 2025

    Ex-Officer Says LAPD Withheld Info In Military Leave Bias Suit

    A former Los Angeles Police Department officer claiming he was passed over for a promotion because of his military status said he has not received the records he requested containing information about similarly situated employees. 

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Legal Considerations Around Ibogaine As Addiction Therapy

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    Recent funding approval in Texas pertaining to the use of ibogaine for the potential treatment of substance use disorders signals a growing openness to innovative addiction treatments, but also underscores the need for rigorous compliance with state and federal requirements and ethical research standards, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • Unpacking DOJ's Suit Against Maryland Federal Bench

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    Political hoopla aside, the Trump administration’s suit naming the Maryland federal district court and all of its judges, which challenges a standing order that delays deportation upon the filing of a habeas petition, raises valid questions about both the validity of the order and the DOJ’s approach, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

  • What Calif. Insurance Ruling Means For Smoke Damage Limits

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    As California continues to grapple with an increasing number of wildfire claims, a state court's recent Aliff v. California FAIR Plan decision serves as a clear directive to insurers that policy language that narrows the scope of fire coverage below the California Insurance Code's minimum standards is impermissible, say attorneys at Wood Smith.

  • Wash. Law Highlights Debate Over Unemployment For Strikers

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    A new Washington state law that will allow strikers to receive unemployment benefits during work stoppages raises questions about whether such laws subsidize disruptions to the economy or whether they are preempted by federal labor law, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Why SEC Abandoned Microcap Convertible Debt Crackdown

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has recently dismissed several cases targeting microcap convertible debt lenders, a significant disavowal of what was a controversial enforcement initiative under the Biden administration and a message that the new administration will focus on clear fraud, say attorneys at O'Melveny.

  • Justices' Resentencing Ruling Fortifies First Step Act Tools

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Hewitt v. U.S. ruling clarifies that resentencing after vacatur must reflect the law in effect at the time of the new sentencing, ultimately strengthening the strategic tools available to defense attorneys under the First Step Act, says Benson Varghese at Varghese Summersett.

  • The Metamorphosis Of The Major Questions Doctrine

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    The so-called major questions doctrine arose as a counterweight to Chevron deference over the past few decades, but invocations of the doctrine have persisted in the year since Chevron was overturned, suggesting it still has a role to play in reining in agency overreach, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • A Rapidly Evolving Landscape For Noncompetes In Healthcare

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    A wave of new state laws regulating noncompete agreements in the healthcare sector, varying in scope, approach and enforceability, are shaped by several factors unique to the industry and are likely to distort the market, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • New PTAB Denial Processes Grow More And More Confusing

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    Guidance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office about the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's new workload management and discretionary denial processes has been murky and inconsistent, and has been further muddled by the acting director's seemingly contradictory decisions, say attorneys at Finnegan.

  • Arguing The 8th Amendment For Reduction In FCA Penalties

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    While False Claims Act decisions lack consistency in how high the judgment-to-damages ratio in such cases can be before it becomes unconstitutional, defense counsel should cite the Eighth Amendment's excessive fines clause in pre-trial settlement negotiations, and seek penalty decreases in post-judgment motions and on appeal, says Scott Grubman at Chilivis Grubman.

  • GENIUS Act Creates 'Commodity' Uncertainty For Stablecoins

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    Half a century ago, Congress made trading in onion futures on commodity exchanges unlawful, and payment stablecoins could soon face a similarly unstable fate in the markets as the GENIUS Act heads to the president's desk for signature, says Peter Malyshev at Cadwalader.

  • EU Space Act Could Stifle US Commercial Operators

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    The EU Space Act, proposed last month, has the potential to raise global standards for safety and sustainability in space, but the U.S. and EU need to harmonize their regulatory approaches to avoid imposing regulatory burdens that undermine commercial innovation and agility, say Jessica Noble and Adriane Mandakunis at Aegis Space Law.

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