Public Policy

  • October 07, 2025

    3rd Circ. Says State Lawmakers Mostly Immune From TCPA

    State legislators in certain instances can make robocalls if they want, the Third Circuit has declared after finding that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act's ban on automated and prerecorded texts and calls without consent doesn't apply to them.

  • October 07, 2025

    Ex-Conn. Official Says Contractor Was The One Seeking Cash

    The first witness in a federal corruption case against former Connecticut budget official Kosta Diamantis is a repeat liar who misled his own masonry company's president into advancing his personal year-end bonus, which he used to leverage family connections and seek the government's favor, Diamantis' attorney suggested Tuesday during cross-examination.

  • October 07, 2025

    Hemp Retailer Sues Ohio Police Department Over Seizure

    An Ohio police department seized more than half a million dollars' worth of hemp using a bad search warrant claiming that the hemp, which is legal, was marijuana, the hemp retailer told a federal court Monday.

  • October 07, 2025

    Puerto Rico Utility Bondholders Pull Out Of Reorg Deal

    A group of Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholders Tuesday informed a bankruptcy judge that they were following through on a promise to exit a restructuring agreement and join other bondholders in supporting an alternative bankruptcy plan for PREPA.

  • October 07, 2025

    1st Circ. Left In Limbo Over FCC's Prison Phone Rate Caps

    First Circuit judges Tuesday questioned the Federal Communications Commission's turnabout in defense of its Biden-era prison phone rate caps and were unsure how to construct a legal ruling with the FCC poised to vote on a policy makeover within weeks.

  • October 07, 2025

    DC, 18 States Back Campaign Spending Caps At High Court

    The District of Columbia and 18 states urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday not to lift caps on the amount political parties may spend in coordination with candidates for federal office, saying state-level campaign finance regulations could be destabilized.

  • October 07, 2025

    Quiet Down! Calif. Law Targets Loud Streaming Platform Ads

    California enacted a new law Monday requiring video streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu to curb the volume on television commercials, making it the first state to issue regulations on commercial noise for streaming services. 

  • October 07, 2025

    FAA Drone Rule Draws Over 1M Comments As Public Weighs In

    Complex safety certification, technological and other security requirements are among the issues that U.S. regulators must still iron out before a long-awaited new rule allowing drones to fly beyond the sight line of their operators can truly take off, according to drone companies, aviation and other industry groups.

  • October 07, 2025

    Drug Tax Outdoes Biblical Punishment, 5th Circ. Judge Says

    A Fifth Circuit panel pressed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to justify the basis for the Medicare drug pricing program's steep excise tax, asking Tuesday whether the government had ever levied a higher tax in the nation's history.

  • October 07, 2025

    9th Circ. Rejects 'Kitchen Sink' Challenge To Vaccine Mandate

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Monday upheld a lower court's rejection of a lawsuit brought by dozens of former employees of a nonprofit healthcare system who claimed Washington state's requirement that healthcare workers be vaccinated against COVID-19 violated their statutory and constitutional rights.

  • October 07, 2025

    Colo. Panel Weighs School's Liability In 2019 Shooting

    Colorado appellate judges on Tuesday asked attorneys representing the parents of a student who was killed during a school shooting and the school itself how to interpret a state law that allows schools to be held liable for school shootings.

  • October 07, 2025

    AGs Rip DOJ Bid To Pause Planned Parenthood Funding Suit

    The U.S. Department of Justice wants to use the ongoing government shutdown as a "shield" to stop a group of states from seeking an injunction against a halt to Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, the states told a Massachusetts federal judge in opposing a possible pause on their lawsuit.

  • October 07, 2025

    Camp Lejeune Litigation Goes On Despite Gov't Shutdown

    The consolidated litigation over water contamination at the Camp Lejeune military base will not pause during the federal government shutdown, a North Carolina federal judge ruled, saying that such a halt, for an unknown length, would cause "severe disruptions" in the case and for the "ailing and older" plaintiffs.

  • October 07, 2025

    Senate Confirms 2 DOJ Nominees, 16 US Attys

    The U.S. Senate voted 51-47 Tuesday, along party lines, to confirm a slew of nominees for the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • October 07, 2025

    Lawmakers, States Back Tribes In Supreme Court Voting Case

    A bipartisan group of 10 current and former members of Congress and 22 states have supported two North Dakota tribes in their U.S. Supreme Court bid to overturn an Eighth Circuit order that prohibits suits against states for violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

  • October 07, 2025

    EMS Workers Tell 4th Circ. NC County Owes Them Wages

    Emergency medical services workers argued that a North Carolina county created a "mathematical impossibility" when it calculated their wages, urging the Fourth Circuit to flip a federal court's ruling that the county didn't owe them anything despite having violated federal law.

  • October 07, 2025

    Senate Confirms FERC Republican Nominees

    The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed President Donald Trump's picks to fill Republican slots on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, giving the GOP a 3-2 majority at the agency.

  • October 07, 2025

    Okla. Judge Cites McGirt Ruling For 200% Caseload Surge

    An Oklahoma federal judge chided a group of tribal plaintiffs in a dispute over jurisdiction in Indian Country after they inquired about the status of their summary judgment motions, saying a landmark 2020 Supreme Court ruling has increased the court's criminal caseload by 200%.

  • October 07, 2025

    Apple Seeks To Toss IPhone, Watch Buyers' Antitrust Suits

    Apple has asked a New Jersey federal court to toss multidistrict antitrust litigation brought by iPhone and Apple Watch buyers, arguing that while they "try in vain to invent" theories about how Apple charges monopoly prices the inflation-adjusted price of the latest iPhone is nearly the same as the first model.

  • October 07, 2025

    Justices Probe Standard Of Care In 'Conversion Therapy' Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday wrestled with whether gay "conversion" therapy banned by a Colorado law is a medical treatment that falls outside the accepted standard of care, or whether it's protected First Amendment speech.

  • October 07, 2025

    Cruise Cos. Say Tax Injunction Act Doesn't Bar Hawaii Suit

    A group of cruise companies should be allowed to proceed with their complaint against the state of Hawaii for an extension of a transient occupancy tax to cruise passengers, the companies told a federal district court, saying the Tax Injunction Act doesn't bar the complaint.

  • October 07, 2025

    2nd Circ. Rules Inmates Not Entitled To Specific Gender Care

    A Second Circuit panel has overturned a transgender inmate's partial win in a lawsuit against prison officials in Connecticut over allegedly inadequate gender dysphoria treatment, holding that the defendants are entitled to qualified immunity and that "inmates have no clearly established right to be treated by gender-dysphoria specialists" or receive specific treatments for the condition.

  • October 07, 2025

    Gov't, Gun Defendant Urge Justices Not To 'Double-Punish'

    The government and a New York man convicted in a fatal robbery both asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to rule that subjecting defendants to separate sentences stemming from a single deadly federal firearm offense is a double-jeopardy violation.

  • October 07, 2025

    Senate Confirms Boyden Gray Atty As Trump's Labor Solicitor

    The Senate confirmed on Tuesday a Boyden Gray PLLC managing partner as President Donald Trump's nominee for labor solicitor, the third-highest-ranking position at the U.S. Department of Labor.

  • October 07, 2025

    Senate Confirms Trump's Pick For EEOC, Restoring Quorum

    The Senate voted along party lines Tuesday to confirm an assistant U.S. attorney to serve on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, restoring the agency to its full decision-making capacity after months without a quorum.

Expert Analysis

  • 5 Ways Lawyers Can Earn Back The Public's Trust

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    Amid salacious headlines about lawyers behaving badly and recent polls showing the public’s increasingly unfavorable view of attorneys, we must make meaningful changes to our culture to rebuild trust in the legal system, says Carl Taylor at Carl Taylor Law.

  • What Insurers Must Know About New La. Proof Of Loss Law

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    Insurers that comply with all the requirements under a Louisiana law effective this month may condition claim payments on receipt of proof of loss statements, but those that overlook even one prerequisite risk penalties and late payments, say attorneys at Phelps Dunbar.

  • Legal Jeopardy Looms Over Trump's Trade Negotiation Plans

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    Even as the Trump administration announces one trade deal after another, the legal authority of the executive branch to impose tariffs under consensual arrangements with leading trading partners is just as debatable as the unilateral imposition of U.S. tariffs under the president's executive orders, says Jeffrey Bialos at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • Criminal Healthcare Fraud Takeaways From 4th Circ. Reversal

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    After the Fourth Circuit reversed a doctor’s postconviction acquittal in U.S. v. Elfenbein last month, defense attorneys should consider three strategies when handling complex criminal healthcare matters, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Opinion

    Furtive Changes To Federal Health Data Threaten Admissibility

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    A recent study showing that nearly 100 U.S. federal health datasets have been modified this year without any notation in official change logs should concern plaintiffs counsel, defense counsel and judges alike — because undermining data's integrity, authenticity and chain of custody threatens its admissibility in litigation, say attorneys at Kershaw Talley.

  • State Laws Show Uniformity Is Key To Truly Fair Bank Access

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    The lack of uniformity among state laws — including new Idaho legislation — that forbid banks from discriminating against customers based on ideology shows that a single set of federally administered fair access rules would better serve financial institutions and American consumers, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.

  • A Look At Justices' Rare Decision Not To Limit Agency Powers

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    The Supreme Court's recent denial of Alpine's cert petition in its long-running case against the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority sends a strong signal that litigation strategies dependent on the elimination of government agencies merit caution, even from a court that lately hasn't been shy about paring back agency authority, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Series

    Hiking Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    On the trail, I have thought often about the parallels between hiking and high-stakes patent litigation, and why strategizing, preparation, perseverance and joy are important skills for success in both endeavors, says Barbara Fiacco at Foley Hoag.

  • Opportunity Zone Overhaul Is Good News For Investors

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    Recently enacted reforms making the qualified opportunity zone program permanent, restoring the basis step-up for capital gains and adding flexibility to the zone designation process enhance the program’s appeal for long-term investment, says Steven Hadjilogiou at McDermott.

  • What US-India Trade Deal Will Mean For Indian Pharma

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    Complicated by newly imposed tariffs from the U.S., the outcome of the U.S.-India trade talks is poised to reshape not just trade policy, but also the strategic alignment of the two countries' pharmaceutical ecosystems, says Jashaswi Ghosh at Holon Law Partners.

  • Opinion

    Time For Full Disclosure Of Third-Party Funding In MDLs

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    It is appropriate that the Federal Advisory Committee on Civil Rules is considering a rule to require disclosure of third-party litigation funding in civil litigation — something that is particularly needed in multidistrict litigation, which now comprises more than half of all civil cases in the federal courts, says Eric Hudson at Butler Snow.

  • Regulating Online Activity After Porn Site Age Check Ruling

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    A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding an age verification requirement for accessing online adult sexual content applied a lenient rational basis standard, raising questions for how state and federal courts will determine what kinds of laws regulating online activity will satisfy this standard going forward, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • White House Report Strikes An Optimistic Note On Crypto

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    Taking seriously President Donald Trump's pledge to adopt a pro-innovation mindset toward digital assets and blockchain technologies, a recent benchmark White House report on crypto provides a comprehensive regulatory framework that takes into account the products' novel characteristics within the high-tech ecosystem, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • ICJ Climate Opinion Raises Cos.' Legal, Compliance Risks

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    The International Court of Justice's recent advisory opinion on governments' climate change obligations could have important consequences for the regulated community — including a more complex compliance landscape, heightened legal risks for carbon-intensive activities, and renewed market and investor focus on climate issues, says J. Michael Showalter at ArentFox Schiff.

  • DC Circ. Ruling Augurs More Scrutiny Of Blanket Gag Orders

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    The D.C. Circuit’s recent ruling in In re: Sealed Case, finding that an omnibus nondisclosure order was too sweeping, should serve as a wake-up call to prosecutors and provide a road map for private parties to push back on overbroad secrecy demands, says Gregory Rosen at Rogers Joseph.

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