Public Policy

  • May 02, 2025

    Workers Say UMich Fired Them For Pro-Palestine Protests

    Former University of Michigan employees alleged in a new lawsuit that they were illegally fired and barred from seeking future work at the university because they participated in demonstrations to support the rights of Palestinians in the conflict in Gaza.

  • May 02, 2025

    USPTO's Financial Officer Latest To Depart Agency Leadership

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's chief financial officer has left the agency, marking another departure of a high-level USPTO official while the Trump administration looks to reduce government headcount.

  • May 02, 2025

    Virginia Accuses Tribe Of Medicaid Billing Fraud

    Virginia is fighting a bid by the Nansemond Indian Tribe for an order that would require it to continue processing the tribe's unpaid Medicaid reimbursement claims, telling a federal court that it instead suspended payments and its Medicaid fraud unit is investigating the tribal healthcare entity.

  • May 02, 2025

    IRS Updates Rates For Foreign Insurance Company Equations

    The Internal Revenue Service on Friday published updated domestic asset/liability and yields percentages for 2024 that foreign life insurance companies and foreign property and liability insurance companies need to compute their minimum effectively connected net investment income.

  • May 02, 2025

    DOL Halts Enforcement Of Biden's Contractor Rule

    The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division will stop enforcing a former President Joe Biden-era final rule determining whether workers are independent contractors or employees under federal law, the agency announced, as three federal courts paused suits challenging the rule.

  • May 02, 2025

    Community Groups Accept Pause In CTA Litigation

    A group of community associations has told the Fourth Circuit they aren't opposed to a government motion to pause litigation over the Corporate Transparency Act, even as they maintained the information disclosure law aimed at small businesses still carries constitutional flaws.

  • May 02, 2025

    DC US Atty Pick Vows To Take On Judicial Threats

    Ed Martin, nominee to be U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia who is currently serving in the role on an interim basis, has told federal judges in D.C. he is concerned about the increase in threats to judges and pledged to work together to stop it.

  • May 02, 2025

    Trump Announces First Judicial Nominee Of 2nd Term

    President Donald Trump announced his first judicial nominee of his second administration late Thursday night.

  • May 01, 2025

    Judge Won't Ax Anti-DEI Injunction For Plaintiffs' Tweaks

    A Maryland federal judge Thursday declined to upend his preliminary injunction barring the Trump administration from implementing the bulk of the president's executive orders aiming to slash diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the public and private sectors.

  • May 01, 2025

    New Bill Holds Judges Accountable Even After They Retire

    A Georgia Congressman on Thursday introduced legislation that would ensure misconduct complaints against judges would still be investigated, even if the judge has resigned, retired or even died.

  • May 01, 2025

    Ex-Credit Union Regulator Says Suing Trump 'Had To Be Done'

    One of two Democrats suing President Donald Trump for unlawful termination from the National Credit Union Administration warned Thursday of damaging potential ripple effects if their firings are allowed to stand, casting their decision to litigate as daunting but necessary.

  • May 01, 2025

    Ex-Amtrak Director Steered IT Contracts For Bribes, Feds Say

    Pennsylvania federal prosecutors announced Thursday that the former director of network planning and engineering for Amtrak is charged with taking bribes worth tens of thousands of dollars in exchange for steering millions of dollars in Amtrak contract work to various vendors.

  • May 01, 2025

    Troops Urge High Court To Keep Transgender Ban On Ice

    Several transgender service members and recruits told the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to reject the Trump administration's bid to lift a federal judge's order prohibiting implementation of the Pentagon's ban on transgender military service, claiming the policy is so deeply rooted in animosity that it won't survive judicial inspection.

  • May 01, 2025

    DOJ Grilled On 'Bottleneck' After Refugee Processing Orders

    A Washington federal judge expressed frustration with the federal government Thursday for moving "with one hand behind its back" to resume processing of certain refugees after the Ninth Circuit clarified the scope of a partial block on the Trump administration's refugee program shutdown.

  • May 01, 2025

    Aetna And Humana Accused Of Medicare Kickbacks And Bias

    The federal government brought a bombshell False Claims Act suit Thursday against Aetna, Elevance and Humana, claiming the insurers paid hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal kickbacks to brokers in exchange for enrollments into their Medicare Advantage plans, with Humana and Aetna also accused of discriminating against disabled beneficiaries.

  • May 01, 2025

    HHS Report Finds 'Serious Concerns' On Trans Care For Youth

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday released a report it says raises "serious concerns" about medical interventions used to aid young people in gender transition.

  • May 01, 2025

    SEC Drops Case Against Crypto Promoter Ian Balina

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission moved Thursday to drop its suit over cryptocurrency influencer Ian Balina's alleged promotion of so-called SPRK tokens, about a month after Balina's attorneys said the federal regulator planned to walk away from the case.

  • May 01, 2025

    FinCEN Targets Cambodian Firm As Crypto Money Launderer

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury's financial crimes watchdog on Thursday called out Cambodia-based Huione Group as a primary money laundering concern and proposed to "sever its access to the U.S. financial system" due to its alleged laundering of $4 billion worth of crypto scam and other illicit proceeds.

  • May 01, 2025

    Judge Rejects Appeal Over Pronoun Use In Trans Athlete Case

    A Colorado federal judge told a group of athletes Thursday that any stigma they perceive over his choice of pronouns to refer to a transgender volleyball player is "self-inflicted," according to an order declining to get the Tenth Circuit involved in his decision not to recuse from the case. 

  • May 01, 2025

    Judge Told Data Would Let Rivals Mimic Google Search

    An academic testifying for Google on Thursday told a D.C. federal court that the data sharing provisions being proposed as a fix in the search monopolization case would allow rivals to reverse engineer Google search and if not match the results, at least mimic them.

  • May 01, 2025

    'Fingers Crossed' At FCC As Court's Subsidy Ruling Closes In

    There's plenty of hand-wringing at the Federal Communications Commission as a U.S. Supreme Court decision draws near over the legality of the revenue-raising scheme used to pay for more than $9 billion in broadband and phone service subsidies.

  • May 01, 2025

    NY School District Appeals Mascot Ban While Feds Investigate

    A Long Island, New York, school district is appealing a decision that denied its bid to block a ban on the use of Indigenous mascots and names in public schools, while the federal government investigates the state's education department and board of regents alleging Civil Rights Act violations.

  • May 01, 2025

    States, Green Groups Look To Vacate NEPA Ruling

    States that had asked the Eighth Circuit to revive vacated National Environmental Policy Act regulations are now abandoning their appeal because the White House has eliminated the standards — but they're still asking that a lower court's decision striking down the regulations be overturned.

  • May 01, 2025

    GOP Seeks To Stop 'Frivolous Lawsuits' With Reconciliation

    The House Judiciary Committee approved along party lines a proposal they say will prevent "frivolous lawsuits" by barring courts from enforcing contempt citations for failure to comply with injunctions if the plaintiff has not posted a bond for litigation costs.

  • May 01, 2025

    DHS Urges Justices To Let Venezuelan Protections Be Undone

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security turned to the nation's highest court on Thursday, asking the justices to pause a nationwide injunction blocking the agency from undoing the Biden administration's extension of temporary protected status for Venezuela during its appeal.

Expert Analysis

  • How Citizen Petitions Have Affected Drug Competition

    Author Photo

    In light of recent citizen petitions and proposed legislation regulating such petitions, Omar Robles at Managing Health analyzes the statistics of the extent to which citizen petitions have been filed, and to what extent they have delayed competition in prescription pharmaceuticals.

  • Texas Fraud Case Shows Dangers Of Faulty Crypto Reporting

    Author Photo

    The recent sentencing of a man who failed to properly report capital gains from bitcoin sales is a reminder that special attention must be given to the IRS' reporting requirements in order to stay out of the government's crosshairs, says Saverio Romeo at Fox Rothschild.

  • Potential Impacts Of IRS' $1M Affiliate Pay Deduction Cap

    Author Photo

    If finalized, a recent Internal Revenue Service proposal expanding Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code to include the highly compensated employees of affiliates would make tracking which executives may be subject to the limit from year to year far more complex, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • 5 Keys To Building Stronger Attorney-Client Relationships

    Author Photo

    Attorneys are often focused on being seen as the expert, but bonding with clients and prospects by sharing a few key personal details provides the basis for a caring, trusted and profoundly deeper business relationship, says Deb Feder at Feder Development.

  • Justices' TikTok Ruling May Pose Threat To Online Expression

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent landmark ruling upholding a federal law mandating TikTok's forced divestiture in the name of data security may embolden digital censorship agendas worldwide, says IP lawyer Bahram Jafari.

  • Suggestions For CFTC Enforcement's New Leadership

    Author Photo

    The recent change in leadership at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission presents an opportunity to reflect on past practices and consider opportunities for improvement at the commission's Enforcement Division, including in observing precedent and providing greater enforcement transparency, say attorneys at Clifford Chance.

  • What SDNY Judge Can And Can't Do In Adams Case

    Author Photo

    The federal judge in the Southern District of New York overseeing the criminal case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams deferred making a decision on the government's motion to dismiss the indictment, and while he does have limited authority to deny the motion, that would ultimately be a futile gesture, says Ethan Greenberg at Anderson Kill.

  • Assessing PE Risk After Mass. False Claims Act Amendments

    Author Photo

    A law recently passed in Massachusetts amends the commonwealth's False Claims Act by dramatically expanding potential liability for private equity firms and investors, underscoring the importance of robust diligence and risk assessments for private equity firms conducting transactions in the commonwealth, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • How Crypto Firms Should Approach Patchwork Of State Laws

    Author Photo

    The Money Transmission Modernization Act was designed to create uniformity across state digital regulations, but the reality remains far from consistent — as demonstrated by the patchwork of laws in states like Texas, Vermont, New York and California — so as state legislatures convene in the coming weeks, crypto firms should watch closely for developments that could shape the regulatory landscape, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • A Path Forward For Cos. Amid Trump's Anti-DEIA Efforts

    Author Photo

    Given the Trump administration’s recent efforts targeting corporate diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs — including threatening possible criminal prosecution — companies should carefully tailor their DEIA initiatives to comply with both the letter and the spirit of antidiscrimination law, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • The Current And Future State Of Bank-Fintech Partnerships

    Author Photo

    Though the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under President Donald Trump seems likely to cultivate an environment friendlier to the financial services industry, bank-fintech partnerships should stay devoted to proactive compliance and be ready to adapt to regulatory shifts that may intensify scrutiny from enforcers, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Chancery Ruling Holds Authorized Share Takeaways For Cos.

    Author Photo

    The Delaware Chancery Court’s recent ruling in Salama v. Simon resolved statutory ambiguity in favor of boards seeking authorized share increases, and has important implications for litigators presenting extrinsic evidence in support of contract or statutory interpretation arguments, says Robin Wechkin at Sidley.

  • What Trump Actions Mean For Federal Research Funding

    Author Photo

    New guidance from the National Institutes of Health represents a massive policy shift regarding federal funding for researchers at institutions of higher education, contributing to a perfect storm of significant resource shortfalls in upcoming years, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Opinion

    NFT Bill Needs Refining To Effectively Regulate Digital Assets

    Author Photo

    A recent bill in the U.S. House proposing to regulate nonfungible tokens as digital assets would leave key concepts undefined until the U.S. comptroller general completes an after-the-fact study of NFTs, showing it needs more work before it is comprehensive enough to meaningfully protect the market, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

  • How The AI Antitrust Landscape Might Evolve Under Trump

    Author Photo

    The Trump administration's early actions around artificial intelligence and antitrust policy, along with statements from competition regulators, suggest that the AI competition landscape may see reduced scrutiny around acquisitions, but not an entirely hands-off enforcement approach, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

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.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!