Public Policy

September 23, 2025
Two Longtime HHS Attys Depart Posts For Crowell & Moring

Two prominent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services attorneys have left their posts for Crowell & Moring LLP after more than two decades in the federal government.
September 23, 2025
Chief Judge In Ala. To Take Semiretirement Status Next Year

Chief U.S. District Judge David Proctor of the Northern District of Alabama has informed the president that he will take senior status Jan. 1, 2026.
September 23, 2025
Texas Bans Hemp Sales To Minors Under Emergency Rule

Texas regulators on Tuesday adopted emergency rules restricting the sale of hemp-derived psychoactive products to anyone under the age of 21.
September 23, 2025
1st Circ. Won't Let Citizens Bank Escape Escrow Interest Suit

The First Circuit has revived a proposed class action accusing Citizens Bank of violating Rhode Island law by not making interest payments for mortgage escrow accounts, ruling the action must be reinstated in part because of a U.S. Supreme Court decision handed down after the case was dismissed.
September 23, 2025
Minnesota's Deepfake Crackdown Foreshadows Legal Clashes

Minnesota's law cracking down on deepfake videos aimed at influencing elections has drawn separate court challenges to stop its enforcement, including one by X Corp., offering a glimpse into the hurdles other states and Congress may face as they address the proliferation of digital replicas created with artificial intelligence.
September 23, 2025
Judge Demands Summary Of Unspent Foreign Aid Funds

A D.C. federal judge ordered the Trump administration to file a summary of uncommitted foreign aid funds from pre-2024 appropriations acts expiring at the end of September, after aid organizations said the government was deliberately trying to evade his injunction requiring that it obligate more than $6 billion by the end of the month.
September 23, 2025
Chemours Asks 4th Circ. To Toss Ohio River Pollution Order

Chemours told the Fourth Circuit a West Virginia federal judge botched the law and the science about the risks a forever chemical poses when he ordered its Washington Works facility to stop discharging permit-exceeding amounts of the substance into the Ohio River.
September 23, 2025
Admin Argues Copyright Chief Seeks 'Sweeping Remedies'

The Trump administration told a D.C. federal court that it had the authority to remove Shira Perlmutter as head of the U.S. Copyright Office, saying her suit over her firing seeks "sweeping remedies" she isn't entitled to.
September 23, 2025
Bipartisan House Reps Float Bill Protecting Older Job Seekers

House lawmakers from both sides of the aisle said they have introduced legislation that would amend the Age Discrimination in Employment Act to state explicitly that it shields job applicants as well as employees.
September 23, 2025
DOL Greenlights Guaranteed Income Investments In 401(k)s

The U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits arm issued guidance Tuesday making clear that employers can offer lifetime income insurance products as a default investment in 401(k) plans, responding to an executive order by President Donald Trump calling for expanded access to nontraditional retirement plan assets.
September 23, 2025
Ga. Panel Says Kemp Doesn't Have To Probe Election Board

The Georgia Court of Appeals on Tuesday said a trial court rightly dismissed a suit that sought to force the state's governor to hold a hearing on ethics charges brought against three Republican members of the State Election Board.
September 23, 2025
Star Chef Didn't Violate 'Vague' Pact With Boston, Judge Says

A Massachusetts state court has ruled that a "vague" agreement between celebrity chef Barbara Lynch and the city of Boston to escrow proceeds from the sale of her flagship No. 9 Park restaurant while the city seeks to collect her unpaid taxes doesn't prevent Lynch from using the funds to pay other creditors.
September 23, 2025
Full Effects Of US Tariffs 'Yet To Be Felt,' OECD Report Says

Economic growth in the U.S. is expected to dip in 2026 partly because of global trade tensions, the full effects of which "have yet to be felt," the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said in a report Tuesday.
September 22, 2025
Trump Appoints 'Loyal' Aide Following Va. US Atty's Exit

One of President Donald Trump's White House aides and former personal attorneys Monday was sworn in as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, a day after the resignation of the office's previous Senate-approved top prosecutor, who had declined to bring charges against two of the president's foes.
September 22, 2025
Oracle To Secure TikTok Users' Data In Deal To Skirt US Ban

Tech giant Oracle will be tasked with safeguarding U.S. TikTok users' personal data, and the app's recommendation algorithm will be "retrained" and operated outside the control of TikTok's Chinese parent company under a deal that President Donald Trump is expected to sign this week to avert a shutdown of TikTok, the White House said Monday.
September 22, 2025
Google Ad Tech Breakup 'Drastic' But Best, DOJ Tells Judge

A U.S. Department of Justice attorney pressed a Virginia federal judge Monday to break up Google's advertising placement technology business, asserting in opening statements that a divestiture is doable and the only way to fully address Google's monopoly.
September 22, 2025
VoIP Provider Seeks Faster Switch To Internet-Based Lines

Local carriers are dragging their feet in changing from older switching systems to internet-based call interconnection, and federal rules should be crafted to hasten the transition, says a telecom technology platform.
September 22, 2025
$100K H-1B Fee Will Likely Hurt Both US And Foreign Workers

The new $100,000 fee for H-1B visas, which took effect on Sunday with little advance notice, blindsided immigration attorneys who told Law360 that it could ultimately hurt domestic workers by driving U.S. companies to do business elsewhere.
September 22, 2025
Colo. Justices Unsure How To Interpret Open Records Law

Colorado Supreme Court justices grilled an attorney representing the state Monday about how its interpretation of Colorado's open records laws actually protects the identity of children, and whether its reading of the statute isn't overly broad.
September 22, 2025
New Framework Needed For Satellite Power Caps, Orgs Say

More than a dozen groups on Monday told the Federal Communications Commission it's time to update spectrum sharing rules between low earth orbit and other satellites to spur industry growth.
September 22, 2025
UK, US To Collaborate On Capital Markets, Crypto Policy

The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the United Kingdom's financial ministry on Monday announced the formation of a joint taskforce to explore ways to collaborate on digital asset policy and "improve links" between the two countries' capital markets.
September 22, 2025
T-Mobile, Sprint Push DC Circ. To Revisit $92M FCC Fines

T-Mobile and Sprint are asking the full D.C. Circuit to review a $92 million fine from the Federal Communications Commission over their sale of sensitive user location data with third-party companies, asking for an en banc rehearing of their challenge after a three-judge panel unanimously affirmed the penalty last month.
September 22, 2025
DC Circ. Mulls International Media Funding, Firings

The D.C. Circuit is set to decide whether or not to allow the Trump administration to continue dismantling the agency that oversees state news broadcaster Voice of America after hearing consolidated arguments Monday morning in a quartet of cases challenging the shutdown.
September 22, 2025
DOJ Urges 7th Circ. To Affirm Strike Of Ill. Assault Rifle Ban

The Department of Justice's civil rights chief told a Seventh Circuit panel on Monday that an Illinois law banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines is unconstitutional and that the appellate court set an "inaccurate standard" when it denied an earlier bid to block the law's enforcement.
September 22, 2025
Feds Urge No Injunction In Ill. Migrant Shelter Fund Fight

An Illinois federal judge hearing Chicago and other municipalities' dispute over migrant-focused grant funds the U.S. Department of Homeland Security stopped reimbursing should not halt that decision while the parties' case plays out, because the funds aren't being moved or used elsewhere, the federal government argued Monday.

Editor's Picks

Trump's Legal Battles

States, federal employee unions, various advocacy groups and several individuals have filed over 220 lawsuits challenging the Trump administration's implementation of executive orders and other initiatives. Law360 has created a database of those lawsuits, separated into categories based on their subject matter.

Expert Analysis

How Hyperlinks Are Changing E-Discovery Responsibilities

A recent e-discovery dispute over hyperlinked data in Hubbard v. Crow shows how courts have increasingly broadened the definition of control to account for cloud-based evidence, and why organizations must rethink preservation practices to avoid spoliation risks, says Bree Murphy at Exterro.
Pharma Copay Programs Raise Complex Economic Questions

The growing prevalence of copay accumulator and maximizer programs in the pharmaceutical industry is drawing increased scrutiny from patients, advocacy groups, lawmakers and courts, bringing complex questions about how financial responsibility for prescription drug purchases is determined and complicating damages assessments in litigation, say analysts at Analysis Group.
State False Claims Acts Can Help Curb Opioid Fund Fraud

State versions of the federal False Claims Act can play an important role in policing the misuse of opioid settlement funds, taking a cue from the U.S. Department of Justice’s handling of federal fraud cases involving pandemic relief funds, says Kenneth Levine at Stone & Magnanini.
Pemex Bribery Charges Provide Glimpse Into FCPA Evolution

A recently unsealed indictment against two Mexican nationals for allegedly bribing officials at Pemex, Mexico’s state-owned oil company, reveals that Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement is adapting to new priorities, but still remains active, and compliance programs should continue apace, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
CFPB Proposal Defining Consumer Risk May Add Uncertainty

Though a recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposal would codify when risks to consumers justify supervisory intervention against nonbanks, furthering Trump administration plans to curtail CFPB authority, firms may still struggle to identify what could attract supervisory designation under the new rule, say attorneys at Steptoe.
Targeting Execs Could Hurt SEC's Probusiness Goals

While many enforcement changes under the Trump administration’s U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have been touted by commission leadership as proinnovation and probusiness, a planned focus on holding individual directors and officers responsible for wrongdoing may have the opposite effect, say attorneys at MoFo.
Preserving Refunds As Tariffs Await Supreme Court Weigh-In

In the event that the U.S. Supreme Court decides in V.O.S. Selections v. Trump that the president doesn't have authority to levy tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, importers should keep records of imports on which they have paid such tariffs and carefully monitor the liquidation dates, say attorneys at Butzel.
How Justices' Ruling Upends Personal Jurisdiction Defense

The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Fuld v. Palestinian Liberation Organization, holding that the Fifth Amendment's due process clause does not require a defendant to have minimum contacts with a forum, may thwart foreign defendants' reliance on personal jurisdiction to evade federal claims in U.S. courts, say attorneys at Axinn.
Key Points From DOJ's New DeFi Enforcement Outline

Recent remarks by the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division head Matthew Galeotti reveal several issues that the decentralized finance industry should address in order to minimize risk, including developers' role in evaluating protocols and the importance of illicit finance risk assessments, says Drew Rolle at Alston & Bird.
Revamped Opportunity Zones Can Aid Clean Energy Projects

The Qualified Opportunity Zone program, introduced in 2017 and reshaped in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, offers investors federal tax incentives for development in low-income communities — incentives that are especially meaningful for clean energy projects, where capital-intensive infrastructure and long-term planning are essential, say attorneys at Dentons.
Assessing Potential Ad Tech Remedies Ahead Of Google Trial

The Virginia federal judge tasked with prying open Google’s digital advertising monopoly faces a smorgasbord of potential remedies, all with different implications for competition, government control and consumers' internet experience, but compromises reached in the parallel Google search monopoly litigation may point a way forward, say attorneys at MoloLamken.
Earned Wage Access Providers Face State Law Labyrinth

At least 12 states have established laws or rules regulating services that allow employees to access earned wages before payday, with more laws potentially to follow suit, creating an evolving state licensing maze even for fintech providers that partner with banks, say attorneys at Venable.
The Pros And Cons Of Levying Value-Based Fees On Patents

The potential for a recurring, value-based maintenance fee on patents, while offering some benefits, raises several complications, including that it would likely exceed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's statutory authority and reduce research and development activities in the U.S., says Sandip Patel at Marshall Gerstein.
Sales And Use Tax Strategies For Renewables After OBBBA

With the One Big Beautiful Bill Act sharply curtailing federal tax incentives for solar and wind projects, it is vital for developers to carefully manage state and local sales and use tax exposures through early planning and careful contract structuring, say advisers at KPMG.
9th Circ. Ruling Leaves SEC Gag Rule Open To Future Attacks

Though the Ninth Circuit's recent ruling in Powell v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission leaves the SEC's no-admit, no-deny rule intact, it could provide some fodder for litigants who wish to criticize the commission's activities either before or after settling with the commission, says Jonathan Richman at Brown Rudnick.