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Public Policy
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December 12, 2025
4 Big ERISA Litigation Developments From 2025's 2nd Half
The Eleventh Circuit signaled it may be willing to change its precedent to make it easier for federal benefits lawsuits to get to the courthouse door, while the Second Circuit shut down a challenge to a union pension plan's private equity investment emphasis. Here's a look back at these and two other significant Employee Retirement Income Security Act litigation developments from the latter half of 2025 that benefits attorneys should have on their radar.
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December 12, 2025
5th Circ. Tosses Chinese Citizen's Suit Over Texas Land Law
The Fifth Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of a Chinese citizen's suit challenging a Texas law that bars residents and entities domiciled in specific countries, such as China, from buying property in the state, ruling the plaintiff lacks standing to sue because China is not his permanent home and he does not "intend to return."
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December 12, 2025
Ore. Court OKs Retroactive Property Tax On Logged Land
An Oregon county correctly assessed property taxes on two acres of land retroactively disqualified from a forestland special assessment due to logging to clear space for a residence, the state tax court said.
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December 12, 2025
Mass. Judge Pauses Haitian TPS Suit For Separate Appeal
A Massachusetts federal judge paused a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's revocation of temporary protected status for Haitian and Venezuelan immigrants, pointing to a similar case that he said is expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
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December 12, 2025
DHS To Revoke Temporary Protected Status For Ethiopians
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem will revoke temporary protected status for Ethiopian immigrants, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Friday.
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December 12, 2025
Higgs Fletcher Forms White Collar, Regs Enforcement Team
San Diego-based law firm Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP has launched a white collar crime and regulatory enforcement defense practice group, citing heightened regulatory scrutiny in the financial and healthcare sectors and rising enforcement risks for licensed professionals and institutions.
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December 12, 2025
2025 Sees State Courts Diverge From Federal Criminal Norms
Some of this year's most notable criminal appellate rulings homed in on differences between state and federal constitutional protections against the most serious punishments, with movement in Michigan, bucking the trend in Wyoming, and an ambiguous but potentially earthshaking decision out of Texas.
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December 12, 2025
Dems Demand Release Of 2nd Jack Smith Report
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday demanding she release the second volume of former special counsel Jack Smith's report on President Donald Trump's retention of classified documents after he left office the first time.
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December 11, 2025
Trump Executive Order Targets 'Excessive' State AI Laws
President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a controversial executive order establishing a "minimally burdensome national standard" for regulating artificial intelligence, deeming the order necessary for the United States to remain a leader in AI amid "excessive" state regulation.
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December 11, 2025
FSOC To Tack Toward Deregulation For Growth, Bessent Says
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday that the Financial Stability Oversight Council will pivot toward a focus on promoting economic growth through deregulation, charting a new course for the panel that mirrors shifts underway at its member agencies.
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December 11, 2025
9th Circ. Upholds Apple App Store Injunction In Epic Fight
The Ninth Circuit mostly affirmed an injunction blocking Apple Inc. from charging developers "prohibitive" commissions on iPhone app purchases made outside its systems on Thursday, handing Epic Games Inc. a partial win in their hotly contested compliance fight while agreeing with Apple that the injunction's commissions ban and certain restrictions are punitive and overbroad.
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December 11, 2025
House Panel Advances Nearly 20 Bills To Protect Kids Online
A package of 18 bills that propose using methods such age verification mandates, government-run studies and educational campaigns to enhance online safeguards for children passed through a House subcommittee Thursday, despite concerns from Democrats that the measures wouldn't be enough to counter recent moves to reduce the roles of states and the Federal Trade Commission in this space.
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December 11, 2025
DoorDash, Uber Sue NYC To Block Checkout Tip Prompt Law
DoorDash and Uber Eats filed suit together Thursday in Manhattan federal court, seeking to block two New York City laws that the food delivery companies say force them to solicit tips before or as customers check out, in an alleged violation of the companies' constitutional rights.
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December 11, 2025
Alaska Natives Say Arctic Oil Project Ignores Enviro Risks
The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management failed to properly evaluate the environmental impacts of ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc.'s seismic and exploration drilling program in the National Petroleum Reserve, Alaskan natives and green groups said Thursday in a new lawsuit.
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December 11, 2025
Grants Can Be Axed For Political Reasons, DOJ Atty Says
A Trump administration lawyer said Thursday that the president had blanket authority to cancel every discretionary grant slated for states that broke against him in the general election, and it wouldn't amount to a violation of the Fifth Amendment's equal protection guarantee.
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December 11, 2025
House Weighs CFTC's Future As Admin Looks To Fill Positions
The White House said Thursday that it will soon fill some of the open leadership positions at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as industry experts and former CFTC insiders told Congress that the agency will need more funding and additional personnel if it's to properly police the cryptocurrency and prediction markets.
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December 11, 2025
Feds Reportedly Fail To Reindict NY AG Letitia James, Again
New York Attorney General Letitia James' attorney Thursday celebrated reports that another Virginia federal grand jury declined to reindict her on charges of mortgage fraud, the second jury in a week to reject a case President Donald Trump had pushed prosecutors to pursue against a political opponent he's called "guilty as hell."
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December 11, 2025
NY Gov. Signs Landmark AI Bill On 'Synthetic' Ad Performers
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday signed into law landmark legislation requiring disclosure of the use of any artificial intelligence-generated "synthetic" performers in advertisements and also requiring the consent of heirs or executors to use the name, image or likeness of a person who has died.
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December 11, 2025
6th Circ. Hesitant To Call CDC Puppy Import Rule A 'Ban'
Sixth Circuit judges Thursday appeared skeptical that updated U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rules for bringing in dogs from other countries amounted to a ban that exceeded the agency's authority, but still challenged the agency on why age and microchip requirements are needed to prevent the spread of rabies.
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December 11, 2025
Fla. Lawmaker Proposes Medical Marijuana Home Cultivation
Florida is considering a bill that would allow qualified medical marijuana patients to grow up to six flowering cannabis plants at home for personal use and purchase seeds from licensed centers.
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December 11, 2025
Kratom, Kava Sellers Drop Suit Over Utah Product Ban
A company that marketed psychoactive products derived from the kratom leaf and kava root has permanently dropped its federal lawsuit against Utah regulators challenging the constitutionality of rules blocking the sale of their wares in the state.
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December 11, 2025
NJ Judge Won't Lift Bid Deadline On Tunnel Rail Project
A New Jersey federal judge said Thursday she won't lift a deadline to bid on a railway-construction project associated with building a new tunnel to New York City, saying a New Jersey construction company isn't likely to win its challenge to a project labor agreement tied to the venture.
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December 11, 2025
Colo. Appeals Court Backs New Reasonable Doubt Instruction
A split Colorado appeals court Thursday upheld the use of a new model jury instruction on a reasonable doubt standard that a man convicted of possessing child sexual abuse material said lowered the burden for prosecutors to prove that a defendant is guilty.
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December 11, 2025
'Totally Unacceptable': Alsup Rips Feds In Student Loan Deal
U.S. District Judge William Alsup on Thursday denied the U.S. Department of Education's request for an 18-month extension to process over 200,000 loan cancellation applications for students claiming they were defrauded by colleges they attended, calling it "totally unacceptable" and setting an April deadline to get the job done.
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December 11, 2025
Court Orders Redesign Of Calif. Cannabis Tracking System
California's Department of Cannabis Control must overhaul its tracking system, a state court judge has ruled, saying it fails to highlight suspicious transactions or notify the department of regulatory violations, as required by state law.
Expert Analysis
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Revisiting Jury Trial Right May Upend State Regulatory Power
Justice Neil Gorsuch’s recent use of a denial of certiorari to call for the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit whether the Seventh Amendment jury trial right extends to states, building off last year's Jarkesy ruling, could foretell a profound change in state regulators' ability to enforce penalties against regulated companies, say attorneys at Sidley.
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How Nasdaq, SEC Proposals May Transform Listing Standards
Both Nasdaq and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have increasingly focused their recent regulatory efforts on small and foreign issuers, particularly those from China, reflecting an intention to strengthen the overall quality of companies accessing U.S. markets, but also potentially introducing a chilling effect on certain issuers, say attorneys at Norton Rose.
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New NCAA Betting Policy Fits Trend Of Eased Restrictions
Allowing NCAA student-athletes to bet on professional sports fits into a decade-long trend of treating college athletes more like adults in a commercial system, but decreasing player restrictions translates to increased compliance burdens for schools, say attorneys at Robins Kaplan.
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Series
Building With Lego Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Building with Lego has taught me to follow directions and adapt to unexpected challenges, and in pairing discipline with imagination, allows me to stay grounded while finding new ways to make complex deals come together, says Paul Levin at Venable.
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How Banks Can Safely Handle Payments For Gambling Biz
As the betting market continues to expand, it's crucial for banks and fintechs to track historical developments in wagering and ongoing prediction markets litigation that can factor into a risk analysis for payment processing with respect to gambling operators, says Laura D'Angelo at Jones Walker.
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Wading Into NY Wetland Regs' 2025 Changes And Challenges
Solar developers in New York should keep a weather eye on litigation challenging the New York Department of Environmental Conservation’s recently expanded authority to regulate wetlands and waterways, which could erode the impact of a new permitting process meant to streamline solar development on protected wetlands, say attorneys at Foley Hoag.
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Series
Law School's Missed Lessons: Networking 101
Cultivating a network isn't part of the law school curriculum, but learning the soft skills needed to do so may be the key to establishing a solid professional reputation, nurturing client relationships and building business, says Sharon Crane at Practising Law Institute.
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Defeating Estoppel-Based Claims In Legal Malpractice Actions
State supreme court cases from recent years have addressed whether positions taken by attorneys in an underlying lawsuit can be used against them in a subsequent legal malpractice action, providing a foundation to defeat ex-clients’ estoppel claims, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin and Lodgen.
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Takeaways As Justices Let 5th Circ. Pollution Ruling Stand
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent certiorari denial leaves intact a Fifth Circuit ruling that environmental justice organizations have standing to pursue a civil rights challenge to a parish's land-use practice, underscoring the importance of local governments proactively engaging with communities to address cumulative impacts of development, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.
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AI's Role In Google Antitrust Suit May Reshape Tech Markets
The evolution of AI in retail has reshaped the U.S.' antitrust case against Google, which could both benefit small business innovators and consumers, and fundamentally alter future antitrust cases, including the Federal Trade Commission's lawsuit against Amazon, says Graham Dufault at ACT.
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Series
The Biz Court Digest: How It Works In Massachusetts
Since its founding in 2000, the Massachusetts Business Litigation Session's expertise, procedural flexibility and litigant-friendly case management practices have contributed to the development of a robust body of commercial jurisprudence, say James Donnelly at Mirick O’Connell, Felicia Ellsworth at WilmerHale and Lisa Wood at Foley Hoag.
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Next Steps For DOE's Large-Load Interconnection Reforms
The U.S. Department of Energy's recent letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission may mark a substantial expansion of FERC's open-access framework for large-load facilities, though the proposed timeline for the rulemaking appears to be extraordinarily short, say attorneys at Davis Wright.
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Adapting To Calif.'s Enhanced Regulation Of PE In Healthcare
New California legislation enhances oversight on the role of private equity groups and hedge funds in healthcare transactions, featuring both a highly targeted nature and vague language that will require organizations to carefully evaluate existing practices, says Andrew Demetriou at Husch Blackwell.
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What To Note In OCC, FDIC Plan To Standardize Supervision
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s recent proposals to standardize the meaning of "unsafe or unsound practice" and revise the process for issuing matters requiring attention could significantly narrow the scope of activities that spawn enforcement actions, says Brendan Clegg at Luse Gorman.
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How The SEC May Overhaul Its Order Protection Rule
Attorneys at Skadden trace the evolution of the controversial Rule 611 of Regulation National Market System, examine the current debate surrounding its effectiveness, and consider how the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's emerging Project Crypto initiative could reshape Regulation NMS for a tokenized, on-chain market environment.