Public Policy

  • November 13, 2025

    Calif. Sheriff's Atty Sanctioned Over Discovery In Hemp Suit

    A California federal judge has sanctioned an attorney for a California county and its sheriff's office over bad faith conduct during discovery in a suit over 500 acres of bulldozed hemp crop, saying the attorney's arguments against the sanction show a fundamental misunderstanding of his obligations.

  • November 13, 2025

    NY Gov't Ethics Watchdog Called To Testify Against AG James

    The federal government subpoenaed the New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government on Wednesday to testify in its case against New York Attorney General Letitia A. James.

  • November 13, 2025

    IRS Increases Retirement Fund Contribution Limits

    The Internal Revenue Service on Thursday announced the increased limit for contributions to various retirement accounts, including upping the 401(k) limit to $24,500.

  • November 13, 2025

    Gov't Funding Deal Ends SNAP Benefits Battle

    President Donald Trump's signing of a government funding bill Wednesday rendered moot lawsuits seeking to make his administration tap emergency funds for food assistance benefits, the administration told the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday.

  • November 13, 2025

    Presidential Firing Limits Needed At FERC, Justices Told

    Former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission members on Thursday told the U.S. Supreme Court that overturning limits on the president's authority to fire certain agency officials could undermine FERC's independent oversight of the electricity and gas industries and harm companies and consumers.

  • November 12, 2025

    CFPB Forges Ahead On Rules As Funding Hangs In Doubt

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is rolling out plans to narrow how it defines and watches out for lending discrimination, even as the Trump administration casts fresh doubt on any plans to fund the agency once its reserves dry up.  

  • November 12, 2025

    11th Circ. Grounds DOT's Delta, Aeromexico JV Split Order

    The Eleventh Circuit Wednesday halted the U.S. Department of Transportation's order directing Delta Air Lines and Aeroméxico to scuttle their joint venture by Jan. 1, while the airlines pursue their petition asking the appellate court to void the government's order.

  • November 12, 2025

    Ex-NY Gov. Aide Tells Jury FARA Rap Is A Bridge Too Far

    Counsel for former New York state government official Linda Sun told a Brooklyn federal jury Wednesday that prosecutors overreached by accusing her of acting as an undisclosed agent for the People's Republic of China, saying the former aide was just doing her job as the go-between linking two Empire State governors and the Chinese-American community. 

  • November 12, 2025

    Congress Approves Spending Bill Banning Intoxicating Hemp

    The government funding agreement approved by both chambers of Congress includes a provision that would effectively recriminalize most THC products derived from hemp.

  • November 12, 2025

    Ensure Feds Preempt On Phone Line Upgrades, FCC Told

    The Federal Communications Commission must "seize this pivotal moment" and clarify that federal priorities to remove copper from the nation's telecommunications infrastructure have precedent over state or local regulations, says a Georgetown University-affiliated policy center.

  • November 12, 2025

    Adult Webcam Owner Says Illegal Thailand Studio Cost $1.5M

    A Florida adult webcam operator moved his family to Thailand and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars setting up a studio only to learn that production in the country is illegal, his business claims in a lawsuit against the streaming platform that it says encouraged the plan.

  • November 12, 2025

    Ex-CFPB Enforcers Launch Consumer Litigation Project

    Three former enforcement attorneys of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have joined the advocacy group Protect Borrowers as senior fellows to launch a new litigation project focused on the "weaponization of corporate power that is plunging working people into financial crisis."

  • November 12, 2025

    FCC To Face Senate Oversight Following Kimmel Controversy

    For the first time in half a decade, the full Senate Commerce Committee will convene for an oversight hearing, this time to place an examining eye on the FCC after the head of the agency said ABC could lose its license if it didn't punish talk show host Jimmy Kimmel for comments he made on air.

  • November 12, 2025

    NY Pot Shop's Suit Over Proximity Rule Must Wait

    New York's Cannabis Control Board will get additional time to respond to an entrepreneur's accusations that it arbitrarily denied him a waiver to allow him to open his cannabis dispensary within a thousand feet of another, a state court has ruled, despite the businessman's assertion that the delay hurts him.

  • November 12, 2025

    Copyright Guide Or Policy Change? Project Divides IP Attys

    The American Law Institute's restatements of law, widely regarded as influential reference points for judges and attorneys, are typically yearslong projects that are finished quietly and without much controversy, but one for copyright that concluded this year has diverged from that tradition.

  • November 12, 2025

    SEC's Atkins Previews Crypto 'Taxonomy' Plans, Exemptions

    U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins on Wednesday pledged to "draw clear lines" about which crypto transactions the SEC doesn't regulate, but said that coming rules and exemptions for digital assets are "not a promise of lax enforcement at the SEC."

  • November 12, 2025

    Fla. Lacked Evidence For Psychiatric Hold, Court Says

    A Florida appeals court on Wednesday reversed an involuntary commitment order after the state conceded its evidence was insufficient for a finding of mental illness under state law.

  • November 12, 2025

    1st Circ. Weighs Federal Halt To Planned Parenthood Funding

    First Circuit judges skeptically questioned a Planned Parenthood attorney Wednesday as they wrestled with whether Congress illegally singled out the organization in budget legislation that blocks its federal Medicaid funding for a year.

  • November 12, 2025

    Ports Warn USTR Against China Ship Fees, Crane Tariffs

    The U.S. Trade Representative should reconsider tariffs on Chinese cranes and fees on Chinese and other foreign ships while those measures are suspended for the next year as part of a trade truce between China and the U.S., according to comments recently submitted by a U.S. port industry association.

  • November 12, 2025

    8th Circ. Will Rehear Travelers' $27M Fire Award Challenge

    The Eighth Circuit agreed Wednesday to revisit its previous split decision affirming a Missouri-based apartment complex owner's $27 million jury award against a Travelers unit in a fire coverage dispute.

  • November 12, 2025

    Railroads Have Conditions For Supporting 900 MHz Changes

    The nation's railroads say they're fine with the Federal Communications Commission's plans to open up two more bands of 900 megahertz spectrum for broadband use, but not without protections in place to ensure that their critical safety communications aren't affected.

  • November 12, 2025

    Judge Questions EEOC's Halt On Disparate Impact Probes

    A D.C. federal judge wondered Wednesday whether he had the authority to force the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to continue probing disparate impact discrimination claims after an April executive order stopped all such investigations in their tracks.

  • November 12, 2025

    Justices Hint Early Release Factors 'Countermand' Congress

    Justices in the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative faction questioned Wednesday whether the U.S. Sentencing Commission overstepped when it said reductions in mandatory minimum sentences could be part of a court's consideration when weighing "compassionate release" for federal prisoners.

  • November 12, 2025

    NTIA Aims To Cut 'Red Tape' From Tribal Programs

    The Commerce Department agency in charge of two tribal connectivity programs said Wednesday it will streamline their funding rules in a notice coming out next spring.

  • November 12, 2025

    Illinois Court Says Tax Board Overstepped In Appeal Dismissal

    The Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board exceeded its statutory authority when it decided to sanction a commercial property owner by dismissing two tax appeals over the property, a state appellate panel said Wednesday.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Congress Must Resolve PSLRA Issue For Section 11 Litigants

    Author Photo

    By establishing a uniform judgment reduction credit for all defendants in cases involving Section 11 of the Securities Act, Congress could remove unnecessary statutory ambiguity from the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act and enable litigants to price potential settlements with greater certainty, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Stablecoin Committee Promotes Uniformity But May Fall Short

    Author Photo

    While the Genius Act's establishment of the Stablecoin Certification Review Committee will provide private stablecoin issuers with more consistent standards, fragmentation remains due to the disparate regulatory approaches taken by different states, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • FTC's Reseller Suit Highlights Larger Ticket Platform Issues

    Author Photo

    Taken together, the recent Federal Trade Commission lawsuit and Ticketmaster's recent antitrust woes demonstrate that federal enforcers are testing the resilience of antitrust and consumer-protection frameworks in an evolving, tech-driven marketplace, says Thomas Stratmann at George Mason University.

  • Agentic AI Puts A New Twist On Attorney Ethics Obligations

    Author Photo

    As lawyers increasingly use autonomous artificial intelligence agents, disciplinary authorities must decide whether attorney responsibility for an AI-caused legal ethics violation is personal or supervisory, and firms must enact strong policies regarding agentic AI use and supervision, says Grace Wynn at HWG.

  • Parsing Trump Admin's First 6 Months Of SEC Enforcement

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement results for the first six months of the Trump administration show substantially fewer new enforcement actions compared to the same period under the previous administration, but indicate a clear focus on traditional fraud schemes affecting retail investors, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • HSR Compliance Remains A Priority From Biden To Trump

    Author Photo

    Several new enforcement actions from the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice illustrate that rigorous attention to Hart-Scott-Rodino Act compliance has become a critical component of the U.S. merger review process, even amid the political transition from the Biden to Trump administrations, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Cos. Face EU, US Regulatory Tension On Many Fronts

    Author Photo

    When the European Union sets stringent standards, companies seeking to operate in the international marketplace must conform to them, or else concede opportunities — but with the current U.S. administration pushing hard to roll back regulations, global companies face an increasing tension over which standards to follow, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • How EU Is Tweaking Enviro Laws After US Trade Deal

    Author Photo

    While a recent joint statement from the European Union and the U.S. in the wake of their trade deal does not mention special treatment for U.S. companies, the EU's ongoing commitment to streamline its sustainability legislation suggests an openness to addressing concerns raised by the U.S., say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • The Consequences Of OCC's Pivot On Disparate Impact

    Author Photo

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's recent move to stop scrutinizing facially neutral lending policies that disproportionately affect a protected group reflects the administration's ongoing shift in assessing discrimination, though this change may not be enough to dissuade claims by states or private plaintiffs, says Travis Nelson at Polsinelli.

  • FDA Transparency Plans Raise Investor Disclosure Red Flags

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recently announced intent to publish complete response letters for unapproved drugs and devices implicates certain investor disclosure requirements under securities laws, making it necessary for life sciences and biotech companies to adopt robust controls going forward, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Rising USCIS Denials May Signal Reverse On Signature Policy

    Author Photo

    Increasingly, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services appears to be issuing denials and requests for evidence in cases where petitioners digitally affix handwritten signatures to paper-based petitions, upending a long-standing practice with potentially grave consequences for applicants, says Sherry Neal at Corporate Immigration.

  • Series

    Being A Professional Wrestler Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Pursuing my childhood dream of being a professional wrestler has taught me important legal career lessons about communication, adaptability, oral advocacy and professionalism, says Christopher Freiberg at Midwest Disability.

  • 2 Calif. Cases Could Reshape Future Of Trap-And-Trace Suits

    Author Photo

    A California federal judge's recent dismissal of two California Invasion of Privacy Act cases demonstrates an inherent contradiction in pen register and trap-and-trace claims, teeing up a Ninth Circuit appeal that could either breathe new life into such claims or put an end to them outright, says Matthew Pearson at Womble Bond.

  • How FDIC Appeals Plan Squares With Fed, OCC Processes

    Author Photo

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s recent proposal to revise its appeals process merits a fresh comparison to the appeals systems of the Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and would provide institutions with greater transparency and independence, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • How GILTI Reform Affects M&A Golden Parachute Planning

    Author Photo

    Deal teams should evaluate the effect of a recent seemingly technical change to U.S. international tax law on the golden parachute analysis that often plays a critical part of many corporate transactions to avoid underestimating its impact on an acquirer's worldwide taxable income following a triggering transaction, say attorneys at MoFo.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Public Policy archive.