Public Policy

  • September 11, 2025

    Audible Credit Suit Raises Question On Wash. Gift Card Law

    A federal judge in Seattle has floated asking Washington's high court to clarify the scope of the Evergreen State's gift card law, suggesting on Thursday that a consumer suit over expiring Audible credits hinges on whether the statute only covers instruments with monetary value.  

  • September 11, 2025

    FCC Warns Cable, Prime Customers Of Scam Offering 50% Off

    Comcast and Amazon won't offer customers discounts on their subscription if they pay in gift cards, the Federal Communications Commission is warning after noticing the proliferation of a new scam claiming that a "50% discount on your monthly bill is set to expire."

  • September 11, 2025

    Google, Apple Fight Proposed UK App Ranking, Pay Mandates

    Apple and Google both pushed back on proposals by United Kingdom antitrust authorities to stop the companies from boosting their own apps and using commission-based payment systems but took slightly different approaches, according to separate responses made public Thursday.

  • September 11, 2025

    Judge Won't Sink Calif. Offshore Oil Platform Suit

    A California federal judge has rejected Sable Offshore Corp.'s bid to toss a lawsuit accusing the federal government of failing to make the company update safety and pollution-control plans, saying the government's decision to not require an update doesn't sink green groups' allegations.

  • September 11, 2025

    Muscogee Can Continue Fight Over Ala. Burial Grounds

    A federal district judge has conditionally allowed the Muscogee Creek Nation to renew its challenge against an Alabama tribe in a dispute over a sacred burial site, saying it must first cure its sovereignty pleading problem before refiling the complaint.

  • September 11, 2025

    Insurer, Firearms Co. Drop Ghost Gun Coverage Dispute

    A firearms retailer and its insurer have resolved a dispute over coverage for three underlying government suits alleging that the company contributed to gun violence by selling unfinished components used to assemble so-called ghost guns, according to a New York federal court filing.

  • September 11, 2025

    23 States Back High Court Stay Of FTC Dem's Reinstatement

    Florida and 22 other states have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to grant the Trump administration's request to block a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission from serving on the commission while she challenges her firing.

  • September 11, 2025

    Trump Admin Should Release Climate Panel Docs, Judge Says

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Thursday encouraged the Trump administration to voluntarily turn over records from a recently disbanded panel that environmental groups say worked secretly with regulators to justify a proposed reversal of the government's longstanding position that greenhouse gases are a threat to public health.

  • September 11, 2025

    Cook Co. Judges Select First New Chief In 24 Years

    For the first time in more than two decades, the Circuit Court of Cook County will have a new chief judge.

  • September 11, 2025

    NY Cannabis Regulators Back Hold On Proximity Rule

    New York cannabis regulators on Wednesday signaled support for marijuana stores' proposal to temporarily halt enforcement of a recent regulatory reinterpretation about store location requirements that threatens to upend more than a hundred cannabis businesses.

  • September 11, 2025

    Declining Corp. Tax Rate Trend Shows Reversal, OECD Finds

    A downward trend in corporate income tax rates among OECD members and other jurisdictions that lasted for decades showed further signs of reversing last year, yet countries continued a long-standing practice of narrowing their corporate tax bases, the organization said Thursday in a report.

  • September 11, 2025

    State Regulators Press FERC To Back $21.8B MISO Grid Plan

    Utility commissions in favor of a $21.8 billion transmission development plan told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission this week that other state commissions challenging the plan are mischaracterizing their policy differences as tariff violations.

  • September 11, 2025

    US Attorneys, Judicial Noms Advance Amid Senate Tensions

    Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, faulted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Thursday, for getting in the way of efforts by him and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the committee's ranking Democrat, to expedite the confirmation of U.S. attorney nominees. 

  • September 11, 2025

    4th Circ. Seems Wary Of Backing Freeze On Trump DEI Orders

    A Fourth Circuit panel appeared reluctant Thursday to uphold an injunction blocking parts of President Donald Trump's executive orders that aimed to cut grants and rein in diversity programs among federal contractors, posing tough questions to the groups who claim the orders are unconstitutional.

  • September 11, 2025

    Bill Giving White House More Control Of DC Judges Advances

    The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has advanced a bill on party lines that would abolish the commission in Washington, D.C., that vets and picks potential judicial nominees for the district's local courts.

  • September 11, 2025

    Trump Taps American Airlines Pilot For NTSB

    President Donald Trump has nominated an American Airlines pilot to serve as a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, filling a vacancy on the five-member board that's contending with a series of high-profile accident investigations.

  • September 11, 2025

    Pa. Justices Seek Fair Process For Picking Tax Appeals

    Pennsylvania's Supreme Court grappled Thursday with whether a school district's tax assessment appeals ran afoul of prior rulings upholding the uniformity clause of the state Constitution, suggesting that any criteria for choosing appeals might favor one kind of property over another.

  • September 11, 2025

    Senate Energy Panel Advances Republican FERC Nominees

    The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on Thursday advanced President Donald Trump's picks to fill Republican slots on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in a largely party-line vote.

  • September 11, 2025

    NYC Council Overrides Mayor's Vetoes On Workers' Pay

    The New York City Council overrode Mayor Eric Adams' veto of two bills that establish a minimum pay for grocery delivery drivers and roll out protections for delivery drivers, putting the legislation back on track.

  • September 11, 2025

    Montana Tribe Members Ask To Join Justices' Tariff Suit Review

    Members of the Blackfeet Nation have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to join its review of cases challenging President Donald Trump's emergency tariffs, telling the justices that their arguments' inclusion in the matter is essential to support tribal rights under federal law.

  • September 11, 2025

    Connecticut City HR Chief Loses Pay Cut Case

    A Connecticut federal judge has dismissed constitutional claims against the city of Derby and declined to hear a state-level breach of contract claim from the human resources director who said her pay was cut improperly, finding that she is not owed the salary she demanded.

  • September 11, 2025

    2nd Circ. Axes Hotel's Appeal After Town Drops Zoning Suit

    The Second Circuit tossed a hotel's appeal bid for a district court order that remanded a New York town's zoning suit concerning asylum seekers staying at the hotel, ruling Thursday that it will also vacate the remand order because the town permanently dropped its suit against the hotel.

  • September 11, 2025

    Nadine Menendez Gets 4½ Years In Bribery Case

    A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday sentenced Nadine Menendez to 4½ years in prison following her conviction at trial for aiding her husband Bob Menendez's corruption by acting as the go-between for bribe payments made to the former U.S. senator to help further the business and personal interests of three New Jersey businessmen.

  • September 10, 2025

    Feds Barred From Axing 30-Year Noncitizen Services, For Now

    A Rhode Island federal judge Wednesday blocked the Trump administration from enacting a policy change requiring immigration status checks for a number of federally funded community services, saying a coalition of Democratic-led states is likely to succeed in its assertion that the move is unconstitutional, as well as arbitrary and capricious.

  • September 10, 2025

    Long Island Town Hit With Another Pot Shop Suit Over Zoning

    The Long Island town of Southampton, New York, was hit with another lawsuit accusing it of weaponizing its zoning to block marijuana shops from opening, with the latest suit claiming it changed its laws at the last minute to prohibit an all but ready-to-open retail shop, wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars the cannabis entrepreneur spent.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Navigating Client Trauma

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    Law schools don't train students to handle repeated exposure to clients' traumatic experiences, but for litigators practicing in areas like civil rights and personal injury, success depends on the ability to view cases clinically and to recognize when you may need to seek help, says Katie Bennett at Robins Kaplan.

  • What To Expect As UK, US Gov'ts Develop Stablecoin Policies

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    While the U.K. and U.S. governments’ policies both suggest that fiat-backed stablecoins can improve efficiency and safety in payments systems, a perception that crypto-assets remain high risk means consumers are unlikely to use them in significant volume anytime soon, say lawyers at Cadwalader.

  • Series

    Texas Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    In the second quarter of 2025, the Texas Business Court's newly expanded jurisdiction set the stage for rising caseloads, while the state Legislature narrowed an exception to state bank control requirements and closed a cryptocurrency dividends payments loophole, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • Lawsuit, Exec Orders Should Boost Small Modular Reactors

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    A lawsuit in Texas federal court and a set of new executive orders from the White House may finally push the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to allow for accelerated deployment of small modular reactors — a technology that could change the country's energy future, says Aleksey Shtivelman at Shutts & Bowen.

  • Opinion

    4 Former Justices Would Likely Frown On Litigation Funding

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    As courts increasingly confront cases involving hidden litigation finance contracts, the jurisprudence of four former U.S. Supreme Court justices establishes a constitutional framework that risks erosion by undisclosed financial interests, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

  • Congress Crypto Movement Could Bring CFTC 'Clarity' At Last

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    The Clarity Act's arrival at the House floor during "Crypto Week" in Congress demonstrates enduring bipartisan support for legislation addressing digital assets and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's important role in a future regulatory structure, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • What Employers Can Learn From Axed Mo. Sick Leave Law

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    Missouri's recent passage and brisk repeal of Proposition A, which would have created a paid sick time benefit for employees, serves as a case study for employers, highlighting the steps they can take to adapt as paid sick leave laws are increasingly debated across the country, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • Preparing For Trump Pushback Against State Climate Laws

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    An April executive order from President Donald Trump mandated a report from the U.S. attorney general on countering so-called state overreach in climate policy, and while that report has yet to appear, companies can expect that it will likely call for using litigation, legislation and funding to actively reshape energy policy, say attorneys at Bracewell.

  • Practical Implications Of SEC's New Crypto Staking Guidance

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent staff guidance that protocol staking does not constitute securities offerings provides a workable compliance blueprint for crypto developers, validators and custodial platforms willing to keep staking strictly limited to protocol-driven rewards, say attorneys at Cahill.

  • Stablecoin Bills Present Opportunities, Challenges For Banks

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    Stablecoin legislation that Congress is expected to adopt in the coming weeks — the GENIUS and STABLE Acts — would create openings for banks to engage in digital asset activities, but it also creates a platform for certain tech-savvy nonbanks to directly compete, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • How Attys Can Use AI To Surface Narratives In E-Discovery

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    E-discovery has reached a turning point where document review is no longer just about procedural tasks like identifying relevance and redacting privilege — rather, generative artificial intelligence tools now allow attorneys to draw connections, extract meaning and tell a coherent story, says Rose Jones at Hilgers Graben.

  • New FCPA Guidance May Flip The Whistleblowing Script

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s updated Foreign Corrupt Practices Act guidelines lay out a new incentive structure that may put multinational U.S.-based companies in an unusual offensive whistleblowing position, potentially spurring them to conduct external investigations of their foreign rivals, says Markus Funk at Perkins Coie.

  • Opinion

    GENIUS Act Could Muck Up Insolvency Proceedings

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    While some of the so-called GENIUS Act's insolvency provisions are straightforward, others run the risk of jeopardizing the success of stablecoin issuers' insolvency proceedings and warrant another look from Congress, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • How McKesson Ruling Will Inform Interpretations Of The TCPA

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    Amid the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson, we can expect to see both plaintiffs and defendants utilizing the decision to revisit the Federal Communications Commission's past Telephone Consumer Protection Act interpretations and decisions they did not like, says Jason McElroy at Saul Ewing.

  • A Look At Florida's New Protected Series LLC Legislation

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    A new law in Florida enhances the flexibility of using limited liability companies as the entities of choice for most privately held businesses, moving Florida into a small group of states with reliable uniform protected series legislation for series LLCs, says Louis Conti at Holland & Knight.

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