Public Policy

  • August 22, 2025

    9th Circ. Tosses Wash. City's Win In Military Leave Suit

    A Ninth Circuit panel threw out a Washington federal judge's ruling that a City of Ocean Shores firefighter was not entitled to pay for military leave after the state's top court decided otherwise.

  • August 22, 2025

    BB&K Taps Gov't Affairs Director From Interior Leadership

    Best Best & Krieger LLP has hired a U.S. Department of the Interior leader who helped advance drought resilience plans and advise the agency's secretary on water and science policy as the new director of its government affairs group, the firm announced Thursday.

  • August 22, 2025

    Fla. Appeals Order To Wind Down Detention Center Operations

    A Florida official filed notice late Thursday that the state will appeal a federal judge's ruling ordering the government to begin winding down operations at the Everglades immigration detention center dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" after finding the plaintiffs challenging it are likely to prevail on their environmental claims.

  • August 21, 2025

    Fla. Judge Orders Wind Down Of Everglades Detention Center

    A Florida federal judge Thursday ordered the government to stop bringing new detainees to the Everglades immigration detention center dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" and to begin winding down operations after finding the plaintiffs challenging the center are likely to prevail on their environmental claims.

  • August 21, 2025

    9th Circ. Dissenters Rip Judge's 'Weaponization Of Sanctions'

    A half-dozen Ninth Circuit judges Thursday denounced six-figure sanctions against attorneys for prominent politicians challenging Arizona election procedures, accusing a lower court of "twisting and contorting" allegations in order to punish lawyers "based on the nature of the complaint and the clients that they represented."

  • August 21, 2025

    FTC Warns Tech Cos. To Honor Data Vows In Foreign Dealings

    The head of the Federal Trade Commission on Thursday cautioned Meta, Google, Apple, Amazon and other major tech companies to refrain from weakening data security protections or censoring content in response to pressure from foreign governments, reminding them that reneging on promises they make to U.S. consumers could land them in hot water with the agency.

  • August 21, 2025

    Pa. Court Revives Fired County Worker's Whistleblower Claim

    A Pennsylvania appeals court on Thursday sent back a dispute to a lower court over a fired county employee's whistleblower allegation tied to her reporting that a union representative secretly taped meetings, determining the union official acted as a county employee when she made the recordings.

  • August 21, 2025

    Pa. Biz Groups, Providers, Uber Want Fault Loophole Closed

    Uber and a coalition of organizations often targeted by injury lawsuits urged a Pennsylvania appeals court to close a legal loophole that they claim largely undermines the purpose of the Fair Share Act, which limits a defendant's liability to their portion of fault.

  • August 21, 2025

    Challenge To Fed. Layoffs A 'Fishing Expedition,' 9th Circ. Told

    A federal government attorney told a Ninth Circuit panel Thursday that a group of unions, nonprofits and cities challenging President Donald Trump's massive layoffs of federal workers have no right to communications and documents showing what went into the layoff decisions, saying it's a "fishing expedition in search of a viable legal theory."

  • August 21, 2025

    SBA Proposes Increasing Small Business Size Thresholds

    The Small Business Administration has proposed increasing the monetary thresholds for what it considers to be a small business across 263 industries, creating a larger pool of small businesses for federal agencies to secure services from.

  • August 21, 2025

    Appeals Court Says Dallas Must Release Discrimination Records

    A Texas appeals court ruled Thursday that the city of Dallas has to turn over records on a federal housing discrimination investigation to The Dallas Morning News, saying the information was not exempt from public disclosure.

  • August 21, 2025

    Biz Groups Appeal Calif. Climate Reporting Ruling To 9th Circ.

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups have appealed a court order rejecting their bid to block new California state regulations requiring large companies to publicly disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related financial risks that they claim violate their First Amendment rights.

  • August 21, 2025

    Consumer Advocates Blast FERC Inaction On Power Auction

    Consumer advocates and municipal utilities have told the D.C. Circuit that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission can't use a Third Circuit ruling to claim it is powerless to prevent the rerunning of a flawed electricity capacity auction that overcharged consumers by $183 million.

  • August 21, 2025

    DC Circ. Lets Trump's NCUA Board Purge Stand Amid Appeal

    A D.C. Circuit panel said Thursday that the Trump administration can continue blocking two ousted National Credit Union Administration leaders from returning to the agency's board while it appeals a lower-court ruling reinstating them.

  • August 21, 2025

    Property Owners Say SF Vacancy Tax Violates Rights

    A San Francisco levy on vacant residential units is not a tax, but a penalty, and violates property owners' constitutional rights to keep their private property from being taken for public use without just compensation, the owners told a California appellate court.

  • August 21, 2025

    Pro-Israel Group Seeks Sanctions Against Fired Emory Prof

    A pro-Israel foundation has demanded a Georgia federal court sanction a Palestinian-American former Emory University professor who said the foundation was complicit in her ouster from the school, arguing the professor and her attorney have baselessly blamed "an imaginary Jewish conspiracy" for her firing.

  • August 21, 2025

    DC Judge Leaves Travel Ban Intact, But Blocks No-Visa Policy

    A D.C. federal judge ruled Thursday that federal immigration law gives President Donald Trump the authority to implement a ban restricting travel from 19 countries, but does not authorize the executive branch to implement a ban on issuing visas.

  • August 21, 2025

    9th Circ. Rejects Rehearing On Alaskan Willow Oil Project

    A Ninth Circuit panel won't undo its ruling to uphold the federal government's decision to only move forward with alternative versions of the ConocoPhillips Willow project that strayed from its original plans and that Alaskan Native and environmental advocacy groups say will result in full development of the Arctic oil reservoir.

  • August 21, 2025

    CFPB Calls For Input On Open-Banking Fees, Access Issues

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is taking a first step toward reopening its Biden-era open-banking rule, issuing a fresh call for comment on key sticking points that have divided banks and fintech firms and become a focus of industry litigation.

  • August 21, 2025

    GTCR Deal A 'Smokescreen' For Coatings Merger, FTC Says

    GTCR BC Holdings LLC's $627 million bid to buy the nation's largest medical device coatings company is a blatant attempt to overwhelmingly dominate an already highly concentrated market, and the "smokescreen" of a partial divestiture shouldn't convince anyone otherwise, the Federal Trade Commission told an Illinois federal judge Thursday.

  • August 21, 2025

    Trump Urges DC Circ. Not To Review Its Foreign Aid Decision

    The Trump administration is urging the D.C. Circuit to leave its panel's split decision that nonprofits can't force the government to release foreign aid in place, arguing that full en banc review is unnecessary and that private enforcement of the Impoundment Control Act would run afoul of the law.

  • August 21, 2025

    Texas AG Can't Question NGO Over Alleged Border Crossing Aid

    A Texas appellate court shot down the state attorney general's request to take a presuit deposition from an aid organization that allegedly helped unauthorized immigrants cross the southern border, saying in a Thursday split decision the attorney general failed to show adequate evidence.

  • August 21, 2025

    CVS, Drugmakers Illegally Inflated Insulin Prices, City Claims

    Drugmakers Eli Lilly and Co., Novo Nordisk Inc. and Sanofi-Aventis US LLC, pharmacy benefit managers CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and Optum Rx, and others have been hit with civil racketeering and state unfair trade practices law claims by the city of Torrington, Connecticut, over an alleged scheme to inflate insulin prices.

  • August 21, 2025

    FCC Seeks Feedback On New Pole Attachment Deadlines

    The Federal Communications Commission wants industry and interested parties to share what they think about a set of rule changes the agency has proposed to make pole attachment regulations less complicated and hopefully to speed up the deployment of broadband.

  • August 21, 2025

    9th Circ. Lets DHS End More Temporary Protections, For Now

    A Ninth Circuit panel put on hold for now a district court ruling postponing the Trump administration's bid to end temporary protected status for 60,000 people from Nicaragua, Honduras and Nepal, but denied the government's bid to halt the lower court proceedings.

Expert Analysis

  • Adapting To USPTO's Tighter Inter Partes Review Rules

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent pivot regarding how it will address general knowledge in inter partes review petitions presents immediate strategic implications for petitioners, patent owners and litigants watching the contours of Patent Trial and Appeal Board practice, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • Opinion

    Aviation Watch: Liability Lessons From 737 Max Blowout

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    The National Transportation Safety Board's recently released report on the 2024 door plug blowout on board a Boeing 737 Max airliner helps illuminate how a company's strategic mistakes can lead to flawed decision-making and supply chain oversight failures, ultimately increasing regulatory and legal exposure, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

  • Genius Act Sets Stablecoin Standards — Without Regulation E

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    While the Genius Act expressly requires payment stablecoin issuers to be treated as financial institutions for purposes of the Bank Secrecy Act, it is notably silent as to whether they are to be treated as such under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, as implemented by Regulation E, says Tom Witherspoon at Stinson.

  • Breaking Down The Proposed Hemp Bill

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    A proposed bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, recently approved by the House Appropriations Committee, contains a rider that would significantly change the definition of hemp and dramatically reshape the current hemp-derived product market, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • Opinion

    Sometimes Int'l Competition Should Trump Antitrust Concerns

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    The U.S. Justice Department's approval of HPE's $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks shows that a merger that significantly enhances innovation and competitiveness may serve consumer and national interests despite marginally increasing industry concentration, says John Reeves at Reeves Law.

  • Divest Order Shows How Security Fears Extend CFIUS Scope

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    A recent White House order forcing a Chinese company to divest its 2020 acquisition of a U.S. audiovisual supplier demonstrates the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States’ growing power to sink foreign transactions over national security concerns — and the enormous risks to U.S. companies from such reviews, say attorneys at Bass Berry.

  • Art Market Must Prepare For More AML Scrutiny

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    Calls for art market regulation continue to grow, as evidenced by a recently introduced bill that would subject it to the Bank Secrecy Act’s anti-money laundering requirements, so participants should consider adopting basic, risk-based controls, says Jane Levine at The ArtRisk Group.

  • NY Tax Talk: ALJ Vacancy, Online Sales, Budget

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    Among the most notable developments in New York tax law last quarter, an administrative law judge vacancy continued affecting taxpayers, a state court decision tested the scope of the Interstate Income Act, and Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the 2025-2026 fiscal budget containing key tax-related provisions, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • Series

    Quilting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Turning intricate patterns of fabric and thread into quilts has taught me that craftsmanship, creative problem-solving and dedication to incremental progress are essential to creating something lasting that will help another person — just like in law, says Veronica McMillan at Kramon & Graham.

  • Lessons Learned 3 Years After First CCPA Enforcement Action

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    Three years after the first public enforcement action under the California Consumer Privacy Act, Attorney General Rob Bonta has pursued a steady stream of enforcement actions across industries, providing a clearer picture of how the law is being interpreted and enforced, says Tatum Andres at Kilpatrick.

  • Utility Agency Suits May Rise As Calif. Justices Nix Deference

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    A recent California Supreme Court ruling rejecting the uniquely deferential standard of review accorded to California Public Utilities Commission decisions interpreting the Public Utilities Code will incentivize more litigation against the agency, as long as litigants can show their challenges meet certain requirements, says Thaila Sundaresan at Davis Wright.

  • 2 Appellate Rulings Offer Clickwrap Enforcement Road Map

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    Two recent decisions from the Fourth and Eleventh Circuits in cases involving Experian signal that federal appellate courts are recognizing clickwrap agreements' power in spite of their simplicity, and offer practical advice on how companies can sufficiently demonstrate notice and assent when attempting to enforce contractual terms, says Brian Willett at Saul Ewing.

  • How Tariffs Can Affect Event Studies In Securities Litigation

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    When the control period is calm and the event window is stormy — often the case with breaking political or economic developments, like President Donald Trump's recent tariff announcements — traditional event study methodology can increase the risk of misleading conclusions in securities litigation, say economic consultants at NERA.

  • A Look At Robinson-Patman Enforcement In The MLM Industry

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent focus on price discrimination in high-profile speeches and litigation suggests a renewed interest around Robinson-Patman Act enforcement, particularly in multilevel marketing, making it an apt time for direct sellers to audit their pricing, say Katrina Eash at Winston & Strawn and Juliet Belling Warren and Branko Jovanovic at Edgeworth Economics.

  • A Former PTAB Judge Weighs The End Of Remote Hearings

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    Former Patent Trial and Appeal Board Judge Amanda Wieker, now at McGuireWoods, examines the costs and benefits of the PTAB's impending in-person hearing requirement, and offers suggestions for making the most out of this new regime.

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