Public Policy

  • May 05, 2025

    Jerome Gorgon Jr. Appointed Detroit's Interim US Attorney

    Detroit native Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. has been appointed as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, where he has prosecuted terrorism, violent crime and immigration for about 15 years, the office announced Friday.

  • May 05, 2025

    DC Circ. Urged To Revisit Copyright Denial For AI-Created Art

    A computer scientist challenging the U.S. Copyright Office's requirement that only humans are eligible to register works has asked the full D.C. Circuit to review a three-judge panel's decision that rejected his arguments for why a two-dimensional artwork created by an artificial intelligence system he invented should be registered.

  • May 05, 2025

    Credit Repair Specialist Gets 1 Year For Role In $14M Fraud

    A Pittsburgh credit repair specialist was sentenced to a little more than a year in prison for her role in referring businesses to get falsified federal pandemic relief loans, with a judge weighing her relatively small part in the conspiracy against the overall size of the $14.5 million, multistate scheme Monday.

  • May 05, 2025

    States Sue Trump Over Halt On Wind Energy Projects

    A coalition of states led by New York on Monday challenged President Donald Trump's executive order indefinitely freezing the federal review and permitting of wind energy projects, saying the move has created "an existential threat to the wind industry." 

  • May 05, 2025

    Novelist Owes $715K In FBAR Penalties, US Says

    A Japanese author with U.S. citizenship faces penalties exceeding $715,000 for failing to report accounts she held at a Swiss bank, the U.S. government told a California federal court.

  • May 05, 2025

    Mass. Justices Eye Potential Bias In Police Use Of Snapchat

    Justices on Massachusetts' highest court Monday pressed a county prosecutor over a police department's use of a fictitious non-white "bitmoji" and name on Snapchat to target suspected gang members in the city of Lowell, in the latest legal challenge to law enforcement's use of social media surveillance.

  • May 05, 2025

    Akin Hires Ex-Trump Trade Official From Hogan Lovells

    Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP said Monday it has hired the former co-leader of Hogan Lovells' geopolitical risk and national security program, who is bringing perspective from that role and experience navigating international economic issues at the White House to Akin's lobbying and public policy team.

  • May 05, 2025

    High Court Won't Hear Challenge To Miss. Ban On Pot Ads

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an opportunity to hear a First Amendment challenge to Mississippi's policy outlawing medical marijuana advertisements, effectively preserving a circuit court decision that upheld the state's ban.

  • May 05, 2025

    Supreme Court Won't Review Mass. Wind Farm Permits

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review the federal government's approval of a large offshore wind energy project in the waters off the Massachusetts coast, rejecting allegations that the go-ahead ignored the risks the project poses to the commercial fishing industry.

  • May 02, 2025

    Judge Axes Trump's Perkins Order With Shakespearean Flourish

    A Washington, D.C., federal judge on Friday struck down as unconstitutional President Donald Trump's retaliatory executive order targeting Perkins Coie LLP, permanently blocking enforcement of the directive and likening the president's action to a Shakespeare character's suggestion that the way to amass power is to "kill all the lawyers."

  • May 02, 2025

    Fla. Lawmakers Vote To Repeal Law That Limits Death Suits

    Florida lawmakers have voted to do away with a statute that plaintiffs attorneys say unfairly and arbitrarily limits pain-and-suffering damages in fatal medical malpractice cases, but an attorney representing healthcare providers says that repealing the law will cause a flood of new lawsuits.

  • May 02, 2025

    DOJ's Climate Change Suits Test Feds' Powers In State Affairs

    The Trump administration's new lawsuits challenging state-level efforts to combat climate change are an unprecedented approach, several environmental attorneys say, and will test the judiciary's view of federal interests in state matters.

  • May 02, 2025

    9th Circ. Says USFS Must Reassess Wash. Forest Fire Plan

    A Ninth Circuit panel partly sided with a conservation group Friday in a challenge of a federal forest restoration project, finding the U.S. Forest Service should've considered the potential impacts of a nearby project that took shape after a 2021 wildfire before approving the proposal.

  • May 02, 2025

    DC Circ. To Decide If 14 Miles Of Trains Is Too Many

    The D.C. Circuit is set to decide whether federal regulators used bad data to approve a $31 billion merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern that will see 14 miles of trains running through a set of Chicagoland communities each day.

  • May 02, 2025

    Feds Expand Hunting, Fishing Access In 16 Wildlife Refuges

    The federal government is proposing to expand hunting and fishing access on more than 87,000 acres within the 11 states in national wildlife and fish hatchery systems, saying on Friday the move would more than triple the number of opportunities for outdoor recreation.

  • May 02, 2025

    Musk, DOGE, Trump Look To Toss USAID Dismantling Suit

    Elon Musk, President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others targeted in a lawsuit by U.S. Agency for International Development workers urged a Maryland judge to toss the suit alleging the gutting of the agency is illegal, saying Rubio's appointed role overseeing USAID legitimizes the action.

  • May 02, 2025

    Dems Urge Fed To Rethink $35B Capital One-Discover Deal

    Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., have formally petitioned the Federal Reserve to pause and revisit its approval of Capital One's $35 billion acquisition of Discover, saying the central bank's analysis of the transaction had glaring gaps that make its conclusion legally unsustainable.

  • May 02, 2025

    Fla. Says It's Likely To Appeal Block Of Migrant Transport Law

    The Florida attorney general indicated Friday that he is likely to appeal an injunction blocking a state law that criminalizes the transportation of immigrants living in the country illegally and asked a Florida federal judge to pause the proceedings until the Eleventh Circuit had looked at the case.

  • May 02, 2025

    O'Reilly Auto Pregnant Worker Suit Geared Up For Wash. Trial

    The Washington State Attorney General's Office may proceed to trial with claims that O'Reilly Auto denied pregnant employees' accommodation requests it was legally required to grant, an Evergreen State judge said Friday, while trimming certain retaliation claims from the suit.

  • May 02, 2025

    DOJ Says Ill. Law Encroaches On Feds' Immigration Powers

    The U.S. Department of Justice has sued Illinois over recently enacted legislation restricting the use of systems such as E-Verify to check prospective workers' employment eligibility, saying the changes impede the federal government's ability to identify unauthorized foreigners.

  • May 02, 2025

    DOGE Takes Social Security Data Access Fight To High Court

    The Social Security Administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to lift a Maryland federal judge's order that limits the Department of Government Efficiency's access to millions of Americans' data, in the first high court case involving the supposed fraud-busting actions of Elon Musk's group.

  • May 02, 2025

    Mozilla Says Google Search Remedies Are Major Threat

    A Mozilla executive told a D.C. federal court on Friday that preventing Google from sharing revenue from its search ads would eliminate the nonprofit browser developer's primary source of income.

  • May 02, 2025

    Judge Blocks Feds' Appeal In Khalil's Unlawful Detention Suit

    A New Jersey federal judge refused to pave the way for the government to appeal his opinion that the court has jurisdiction over Columbia University graduate and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil's lawsuit claiming the Trump administration is unlawfully detaining him for his political views, reasoning that he issued an opinion, not an appealable order.

  • May 02, 2025

    Nevada Takes Another Step Toward Business Court Stand-Up

    Nevada's Assembly has made another move to position state courts to handle corporate and commercial law disputes, with the first-step passage of a bill that would make judges, rather than juries, the triers of fact for fiduciary duty breaches or suits brought in a company name, among other matters.

  • May 02, 2025

    NY Officials Say Feds' Memo In Filing Mishap Is Fair Game

    New York officials told a federal judge on Friday that a mistakenly filed memo from the federal government detailing its weak rationale for trying to cancel Manhattan's congestion pricing program is fair game and cannot be shielded after media outlets widely reported on it.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Baseball Fantasy Camp Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    With six baseball fantasy experiences under my belt, I've learned time and again that I didn't make the wrong career choice, but I've also learned that baseball lessons are life lessons, and I'm a better lawyer for my time at St. Louis Cardinals fantasy camp, says Scott Felder at Wiley.

  • DOJ Immigration Playbook May Take Cues From A 2017 Case

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    A record criminal resolution with a tree trimming company accused of knowingly employing unauthorized workers in 2017 may provide clues as to how the U.S. Department of Justice’s immigration crackdown will touch American companies, which should prepare now for potential enforcement actions, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Paul Atkins' Past Speeches Offer A Glimpse Into SEC's Future

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    Following Paul Atkins' Thursday Senate confirmation hearing, a look at his public remarks while serving as a commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission between 2002 and 2008 reveals eight possible structural and procedural changes the SEC may see once he likely takes over as chair, say attorneys at Covington.

  • McKernan-Led CFPB May Lead To Decentralized Enforcement

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    Though Jonathan McKernan’s confirmation as director would likely mean a less active Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the decreased federal oversight could lead to more state-led investigations, multistate regulatory actions and private lawsuits under consumer protection laws, says Jonathan Pompan at Venable.

  • How Fla. Is Floating A Raft Of Bills To Stem Insurance Woes

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    Proposed reforms that follow a report skewering Florida's insurance industry offer a step in the right direction in providing relief for property owners, despite some limitations, say attorneys at Farah & Farah.

  • Include State And Local Enforcers In Cartel Risk Evaluations

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    Any reassessment of enforcement risk following the federal designation of drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations should include applicable state and local enforcement authorities, which have powerful tools, such as grand jury subpoenas and search warrants, that businesses would be wise to consider, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From Fed. Prosecutor To BigLaw

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    Making the jump from government to private practice is no small feat, but, based on my experience transitioning to a business-driven environment after 15 years as an assistant U.S. attorney, it can be incredibly rewarding and help you become a more versatile lawyer, says Michael Beckwith at Dickinson Wright.

  • How Del. Supreme Court, Legislature Have Clarified 'Control'

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    The Delaware Supreme Court's January decision in In re: Oracle and the General Assembly's passage of amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law this week, when taken together, help make the controlling-stockholder analysis clearer and more predictable for companies with large stockholders, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • Service By Token Is Transforming Crypto Litigation Landscape

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    As the Trump administration advocates a new course of cryptocurrency regulation, courts in the U.S. and abroad are authorizing innovative methods of process service, including via nonfungible tokens and blockchain messaging, offering practical solutions for litigators grappling with the anonymity of cyber defendants, says Jose Ceide at Salazar Law.

  • What To Expect For Stem Cell Regulation Under Trump Admin

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    The new administration's push for deregulation, plus the post-Chevron legal landscape, and momentum from key political and industry players to facilitate stem cell innovation may create an opportune backdrop for a significant reduction in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's regulatory framework for stem cells, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Rebuttal

    6 Reasons Why Arbitration Offers Equitable Resolutions

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    Contrary to a recent Law360 guest article, arbitration provides numerous benefits to employees, consumers and businesses alike, ensuring fair and efficient dispute resolution without the excessive fees, costs and delays associated with traditional litigation, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Executive Orders Paving Way For New Era Of Crypto Banking

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    Recent executive orders have already significantly affected the day-to-day operations of financial institutions that have an interest in engaging with digital assets, and creating informed strategies now can support institutions as the crypto gates continue to open to the banking industry, say attorneys at Spencer Fane.

  • Opinion

    After Fires, Calif. Must Streamline Enviro Reviews For Housing

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    Recent waivers to the California Environmental Quality Act and other laws granted by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to expedite reconstruction of residential property damaged in the Los Angeles wildfires are laudable — but given the state's widespread housing shortage, policymakers should extend the same benefits to other communities, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • How Calif. Algorithmic Pricing Bills Could Affect Consumers

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    California's legislative efforts to regulate algorithmic pricing may address antitrust and fairness concerns, but could stop retailers from providing consumer discounts, says Alyssa Sones at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Jurisdiction Argument In USAID Dissent Is Up For Debate

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    A dissent refuting the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent order directing the U.S. Agency for International Development to pay $2 billion in frozen foreign aid argued that claims relating to already-completed government contract work belong in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims – answering an important question, but with a debatable conclusion, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

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