Public Policy

  • October 17, 2025

    Ex-Official Enforced Fee Deal With Job Threat, Jury Hears

    Connecticut school construction director Kosta Diamantis on Friday admitted during cross-examination that he threatened to yank a masonry subcontractor from jobs in Tolland and Hartford if it didn't pay him what he claimed was a legitimate, agreed-upon $70,000 fee for lining up an introduction to a general contractor.

  • October 17, 2025

    NJ Parents Keep Fighting State Over Storage Of Babies' DNA

    Across the U.S., health departments draw small blood samples from newborns' heels to test for metabolic and genetic disorders. After a new mother discovered that New Jersey police had used DNA extracted from such samples in criminal investigations, she signed on as plaintiff in a suit that says parents have a right to refuse these blood draws.

  • October 17, 2025

    An Unseen Epidemic: Correctional Officers Dying By Suicide

    It's not news that there are problems in America's prisons, including mass incarceration and forced labor, but another crisis in those same prisons doesn't always garner the same attention: the number of correctional officers dying by suicide.

  • October 17, 2025

    Trump Commutes Ex-Rep. Santos' 7-Year Fraud Sentence

    President Donald Trump announced on social media Friday that he has commuted the seven-year prison sentence of former U.S. Rep. George Santos, who admitted to falsely inflating fundraising reports to qualify for National Republican Congressional Committee funding during the 2022 election.

  • October 17, 2025

    Feds Say Immigration Dismissal Policy Suit Now Moot

    The Trump administration has urged a New York federal judge to find a lawsuit challenging ICE arrests at courthouses moot since the Executive Office for Immigration Review withdrew a May email at the heart of the litigation.

  • October 17, 2025

    Texas Readies $1.3B Spending Plan For Broadband Access

    Texas, which was originally allocated $3.3 billion under the Biden administration, is about to submit its plans for using the $1.3 billion in federal broadband funding that was eventually awarded after a Trump administration revamp of the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program.

  • October 17, 2025

    Texas Appeals Court Clears River Authority Of Flood Claim

    A Texas appeals court found that the San Jacinto River Authority had governmental immunity when it decided to release water from its Lake Conroe reservoir during a hurricane, saying it took a good faith action even though the decision damaged some properties.

  • October 17, 2025

    NM Medical Cannabis Co. Tells Tax Court 280E Does Not Apply

    A New Mexico medical marijuana company said Friday that a federal policy barring cannabis enterprises from taking ordinary business deductions should not apply, and the company is entitled to a refund for overpayment.

  • October 17, 2025

    Georgia Justices Affirm Stormwater Charge Is Fee, Not Tax

    A stormwater utility charge levied by a local government in Georgia is a fee, not a tax, the state Supreme Court said, upholding a trial court's finding that the charge did not violate the state constitution's uniformity provision on property taxation.

  • October 17, 2025

    Idaho Asks Justices To Reject Mootness In Trans Ban Case

    The state of Idaho has again encouraged the U.S. Supreme Court to proceed with its review of whether the state's ban on transgender women in sports is unconstitutional after a lower court earlier this week rejected the plaintiff's efforts to voluntarily dismiss the suit.

  • October 17, 2025

    Bolton Pleads Not Guilty To Mishandling Documents

    Former National Security Advisor John Bolton pled not guilty to charges that he illegally retained and shared classified national defense information Friday, a day after federal prosecutors unsealed an 18-count indictment against the former appointee of President Donald Trump who has become a critic of his administration since.

  • October 17, 2025

    Electronic Co. Tells Justices Trump Tariffs Are The Emergency

    Emergency tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump are creating extraordinary economic threats under a law that was intended to protect U.S. retailers from such harm, a Virginia-based electronics company told the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday.

  • October 17, 2025

    Congressional Dems Push For No Layoffs At Interior And EPA

    Democratic lawmakers are demanding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of the Interior halt any plans to reduce staff as the federal government shutdown continues into its third week.

  • October 17, 2025

    Man Arrested In Mistaken ID Case Can Sue, 11th Circ. Says

    A Florida police officer cannot escape a lawsuit alleging the officer violated the Fourth Amendment when he entered a home without a warrant and then tasered and arrested the father of a suspect in a case of mistaken identity, the Eleventh Circuit has ruled, while remanding related claims for further review.

  • October 17, 2025

    Federal Courts To Scale Back Operations Amid Shutdown

    The federal court system has run out of money and will scale back operations beginning Monday as a result of the ongoing government shutdown, possibly leading to case delays.

  • October 17, 2025

    Native Policy Roundup: $128M Protects Tribal, Farm Lands

    Despite the U.S. government moving into its third week of a shutdown, state and federal lawmakers continue to introduce — and approve — legislation toward advancing Native American rights and sovereignty. Law360 examines some of the state, federal and tribal legislation and policies introduced in the past week

  • October 17, 2025

    Lawmakers Press DOD To Undo Weapons Testing Office Cuts

    Two Democratic lawmakers pushed the U.S. Department of Defense to explain and reverse funding, staff and program cuts for an independent office that evaluates weapons systems, saying they are concerned the cuts will waste tax dollars and put service members at risk.

  • October 17, 2025

    Texas Farm Bureau Suit Alleging USDA Discrimination Stayed

    A Texas federal judge on Thursday opted to stay the Texas Farm Bureau's suit against the USDA over the agency's alleged preferential treatment of minority farmers while a similar case plays out.

  • October 17, 2025

    USPTO Head To Take Over Patent Review Institution Decisions

    John Squires, director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, said Friday that he will now make all decisions on whether to institute America Invents Act reviews of patents, including on the merits of the challenge and discretionary issues, in a major overhaul of the review system.

  • October 17, 2025

    NC Justices Say Doctor Can't Appeal Dismissal Denial

    The North Carolina Supreme Court on Friday denied a doctor and hospital's attempt to reverse an appeals court order upholding the denial of their requests to dismiss a malpractice suit, saying they did not have the right to appeal the denial in the first place.

  • October 17, 2025

    Industry Calls On Policymakers To Tackle Telecom Vandalism

    Growing theft and vandalism of telecom lines can trigger not only immediate costs, but broader economic and social ripple effects from network shutdowns, a wireless infrastructure group warned in a pair of new reports issued to support the group's call for stepped-up law enforcement.

  • October 17, 2025

    UN Shipping Agency Delays Carbon Price Opposed By US

    The United Nations' shipping agency agreed Friday to postpone for one year its plan to introduce a global carbon price, which the U.S. government opposes, having called it a "global carbon tax."

  • October 17, 2025

    Va. Judge Orders Bond Hearing For Detained Salvadoran

    A Virginia federal judge ordered the Trump administration to provide a bond hearing before an immigration judge for a Salvadoran man who U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained in August, rejecting the government's argument that he is subject to mandatory detention.

  • October 17, 2025

    9th Circ. Upholds Nigerian's Asylum Denial For Marriage Fraud

    An immigration judge reasonably denied a Nigerian man's application for asylum after finding him not credible based on a prior marriage fraud admission, a Ninth Circuit panel ruled.

  • October 16, 2025

    Proposed New Rules Would Cut Off Many PTAB Challenges

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office proposed rules Thursday that would prevent inter partes reviews challenging patents from being instituted in many scenarios, and attorneys said implementing the plan would significantly reduce challenges and make them far less appealing to accused infringers.

Expert Analysis

  • How The FTC Is Stepping Up Subscription Enforcement

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    Despite the demise of the Federal Trade Commission's click-to-cancel rule in July, the commission has not only maintained its regulatory momentum, but also set new compliance benchmarks through recent high-profile settlements with Match.com, Chegg and Amazon, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • How DHS' H-1B Proposal May Affect Hiring, Strategic Planning

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    For employers, DHS’ proposal to change the H-1B visa lottery from a random selection process to one favoring higher-wage workers may increase labor and compliance costs, limit access to entry-level international talent, and raise strategic questions about compensation, geography and long-term workforce planning, says Ian MacDonald at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Colo. Law Brings Some Equilibrium To Condo Defect Reform

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    Colorado's American Dream Act, effective next year, does not eliminate litigation risk for developers entirely, but it does introduce a process, some predictability and a more holistic means for parties to resolve condominium construction defect claims, and may improve the state's housing shortage, says Bob Burton at Winstead.

  • A Primer For Lenders On NY's New Mortgage Disclosure Regs

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    A recent New York regulation requiring licensed lenders and mortgage bankers to distribute a significant new disclosure pamphlet, essentially a borrower bill of rights, to applicants serves as a reminder to the industry to follow existing best practices, says Scott Samlin at Blank Rome.

  • Mass. Ruling May Pave New Avenue To Target Subpoenas

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    A Massachusetts federal court’s recent decision to quash a subpoena seeking information on gender-affirming care at Boston Children’s Hospital is a significant departure from courts' deferential approach to subpoena enforcement, and may open a new pathway for practitioners challenging investigative tools in the future, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • How Trump Admin. Is Shifting Biden's Antitrust Merger Enforcement

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    Antitrust enforcement trends under the Trump administration have included a moderation in the agencies' approach to merger enforcement as compared to enforcers compared to the prior administration, but dealmakers should still expect aggressive enforcement when the agencies believe consumers will be harmed and they expect to win in court, say attorneys at Rule Garza.

  • Why Justices Seem Inclined To Curtail Del. Affidavit Statute

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    After recent oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in Berk v. Choy — asking whether Delaware's affidavit-of-merit statute applies in federal diversity actions, or whether the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure displace the state requirement — it appears the court is poised to simplify the standard approach, says Eric Weitz of The Weitz Law Firm.

  • How Financial Cos. Can Prep As NYDFS Cyber Changes Loom

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    Financial institutions supervised by the New York State Department of Financial Services can prepare for two critical cybersecurity requirements relating to multifactor authentication and asset inventories, effective Nov. 1, by conducting gap analyses and allocating resources to high-risk assets, among other steps, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Shutdown May Stall Hearings, But Gov't Probes Quietly Go On

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    Thanks to staff assurances under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act, the core work of congressional investigations continues during the shutdown that began Oct. 1 — and so does the investigative work that is performed behind closed doors on Capitol Hill, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Opinion

    Ending Quarterly Reporting Would Erode Investor Protection

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    President Donald Trump recently called for an end to the long-standing practice of corporate quarterly reporting, but doing so would reduce transparency, create information asymmetries, provide more opportunities for corporate fraud and risk increased stock price volatility, while not meaningfully increasing long-term investments, say attorneys at Bleichmar Fonti.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: 3 Tips On Finding The Right Job

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    After 23 years as a state and federal prosecutor, when I contemplated moving to a law firm, practicing solo or going in-house, I found there's a critical first step — deep self-reflection on what you truly want to do and where your strengths lie, says Rachael Jones at McKool Smith.

  • Strategies For Defending Banks In Elder Abuse Cases

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    Several recent cases demonstrate that banks have plenty of tools to defend against claims they were complicit in financial abuse of older adults, but financial institutions should also continue to educate customers about third-party scams before they happen, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • AG Watch: Va. Race Spotlights Consumer Protection Priorities

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    Ahead of the state's attorney general election, Virginia companies should assess how either candidate's approach could affect their compliance posture, with incumbent Jason Miyares promising a business-friendly atmosphere that prioritizes public safety and challenger Jay Jones pledging to focus on economic justice and corporate accountability, says Chuck Slemp at Cozen O’Connor.

  • Preparing For What DOD Cybersecurity Audits May Uncover

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    Defense contractors seeking certification under the U.S. Department of Defense's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program that begins implementation on Nov. 10 may discover previously unknown violations, but there are steps they can take to address any issues before they come to the attention of enforcement authorities, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • A Look At Project Crypto's Plans For Digital Asset Regulation

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    U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins' recent announcement of Project Crypto, an agencywide initiative to modernize federal securities regulations, signals a significant shift toward a more flexible regulatory framework that would shape the future of the U.S. digital asset market, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

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