Public Policy

  • May 13, 2025

    Texas Investigates Gen­er­al Mills Over Food Coloring In Cereal

    Texas launched an investigation against General Mills Inc. over allegedly illegal misrepresentations the company made about its cereals such as Trix and Lucky Charms, saying in a Tuesday announcement the cereals contain artificial dyes that pose severe health risks for children.

  • May 13, 2025

    FTC Says It Won't Enforce 'Click To Cancel' Until July

    The Federal Trade Commission, currently only staffed with Republicans following President Donald Trump's firing of the remaining two Democratic commissioners, has decided to pump the brakes on its plan to start enforcing the agency's new "click to cancel" rule this month.

  • May 13, 2025

    Planned Parenthood Wants Teen Program Fund Rule Blocked

    Planned Parenthood on Monday urged a D.C. federal judge to vacate the U.S. government's "unlawful" requirements to "align" with President Donald Trump's executive orders lest risk losing Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program funding, arguing its facilities will suffer staff cuts and loss of medically accurate, age-appropriate education services absent an injunction.

  • May 13, 2025

    Senators Grill Allstate, State Farm Heads On Disaster Claims

    Officials from Allstate and State Farm defended their claims-handling procedures for natural disasters before a U.S. Senate committee Tuesday amid testimony that the two major homeowners insurers routinely altered estimates and underpaid policyholders to protect their profits.

  • May 13, 2025

    House Panel Clears $3.8T Extension of 2017 Tax Overhaul Law

    The House Ways and Means Committee voted along party lines early Wednesday to approve a $3.8 trillion tax bill that would make permanent many of the tax cuts for businesses and individuals enacted in President Donald Trump's first term.

  • May 13, 2025

    Pa. Justices Question Ruling Over Verizon's Utility Pole Rents

    Some justices on Pennsylvania's Supreme Court questioned Tuesday whether the state's Public Utility Commission skipped steps in declaring that electrical utility FirstEnergy was charging Verizon "unjust and unreasonable" rates to rent space on utility poles, since the decision appeared to rest mainly on federal price limits the state had adopted.

  • May 13, 2025

    Senate Dems Say Paramount Deal Needs Full FCC Vote

    Two Democratic senators called Tuesday for a full Federal Communications Commission vote on the tie-up of Paramount and Skydance Media to avoid even the "appearance of impropriety" from the deal gaining approval amid President Donald Trump's suit against Paramount's CBS.

  • May 13, 2025

    NIH Letters Ending Grants Lack Factual Support, Judge Says

    A Massachusetts federal judge said Tuesday that a "blast" of hundreds of virtually identical letters in March canceling National Institutes of Health-funded research projects appeared to offer no factual basis, only unsupported assertions that the projects were unscientific or discriminatory.

  • May 13, 2025

    Michigan Judge Strikes Down State's Abortion Restrictions

    A Michigan judge struck down several of the state's abortion restrictions Tuesday, including a mandatory waiting period, required counseling materials and a rule that only doctors may perform abortions, finding the laws make it harder for people to access abortion and don't protect patients' health. 

  • May 13, 2025

    The Man Who Ended Affirmative Action Is Just Getting Started

    Nearly two years after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions, the legal strategist who brought the landmark case is using the ruling in a bid to end race-based programs in the public and private sectors, bolstered by allies in the executive branch.

  • May 13, 2025

    Fox Nabs Smartmatic Bribery Probe Docs In Defamation Case

    A New York state appeals court on Tuesday ordered Smartmatic to give Fox News documents related to a federal investigation into allegations that executives of the election systems company bribed officials in the Philippines, ruling the materials are "plainly relevant" to the network's defense against defamation claims.

  • May 13, 2025

    Trade Court Panel Looks Askance At Trump Tariff Justification

    A U.S. Court of International Trade panel expressed skepticism Tuesday that the emergency law President Donald Trump is using to impose global tariffs left the determination of an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to be a political rather than legal question.

  • May 13, 2025

    PBMs Get Bipartisan Bashing At Hearing On Drug Costs

    Senators across party lines slammed pharmacy benefit managers on Tuesday, sometimes in coarse language, as they wrestled with how to reduce drug prices for patients while also preventing the closure of rural pharmacies.

  • May 13, 2025

    States Grapple With Feds Revoking Digital Equity Grants

    States that received grant money under the $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act are scrambling to figure out their next steps after the Trump administration called the program "unconstitutional" and cut off their funding in recent days.

  • May 13, 2025

    1st Circ. Urged To Rule In Appeal Over Canceled HUD Grants

    Groups challenging Trump administration cuts to $30 million in housing grants asked the First Circuit to rule that a Massachusetts federal judge, in fact, has the power to order federal officials to fund the grants, even after the judge dissolved such a ruling in reaction to a recent U.S. Supreme Court finding.

  • May 13, 2025

    SEC's Uyeda Encourages Opening 401(k)s To Private Assets

    U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissioner Mark Uyeda said Tuesday that regulators should explore how retirement accounts could expand to include private equity investments, arguing that such a shift would put 401(k) plans on par with pension funds.

  • May 13, 2025

    11th Circ. Looks Open To Reviving Ga. Voter Intimidation Suit

    Eleventh Circuit judges scrutinizing a ruling that a conservative election monitoring group didn't intimidate Georgians when it challenged the voter registration of hundreds of thousands of citizens said Tuesday the district judge may have gotten it wrong, suggesting during oral arguments the group may have at least tried it.

  • May 13, 2025

    Climate NGOs Attack EPA Appeal In Funding Clawback Fight

    Climate investment groups asked the D.C. Circuit to affirm a district court ruling blocking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from clawing back billions of dollars disbursed to them under the Inflation Reduction Act, characterizing its actions as "textbook arbitrariness."

  • May 13, 2025

    Pa. Sens. Reject Bill To Legalize Pot Through State-Run Shops

    A Pennsylvania Senate committee on Tuesday voted to reject a bill to legalize adult-use marijuana and regulate its sale via state-run stores.

  • May 13, 2025

    10th Circ. Pushes Vail On Safety Claim Behind Truck Limits

    A Tenth Circuit panel on Tuesday pressed the ski town of Vail, Colorado, on whether it has enough evidence that an ordinance limiting commercial truck deliveries in pedestrian-only zones would improve public safety, with one judge saying the town's rationale "almost sounds like a pretext."

  • May 13, 2025

    FTC To Keep Focus On Key Sectors, Address Personal Liberty

    The head of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Competition said Tuesday the agency will remain focused on healthcare, technology and labor issues as enforcers also work to ensure corporate power does not infringe on personal liberties.

  • May 13, 2025

    Ex-BIA Chief Returns To Private Practice At Grossman Young

    Former Board of Immigration Appeals chair David Wetmore has joined Grossman Young & Hammond as senior counsel, returning to private practice after more than 16 years in government service handling immigration matters across the U.S. Department of Justice and the White House.

  • May 13, 2025

    Trump Nudges Justices To Lift Ban On Venezuelan Removals

    The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to lift a 3-week-old order temporarily prohibiting the government from removing a group of almost 200 alleged Venezuelan gang members currently detained in northern Texas to an El Salvador prison, citing new lower court rulings and a detention center protest.

  • May 13, 2025

    Texas House OKs Bill Expanding Biz Court Disputes

    A bill that would bring sweeping changes to the state's business court is one step closer to becoming law after approval by the Texas House on Tuesday.

  • May 13, 2025

    Pot Dispensary Asks Mo. High Court To Block County Taxes

    In incorporated areas of Missouri counties, a municipality's imposition of a 3% sales tax on adult-use cannabis supersedes a county's ability to impose its own additional tax, a dispensary told the Missouri Supreme Court during oral arguments Tuesday.

Expert Analysis

  • Tips For Companies Crafting Tariff Surcharge Disclosures

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    As the Trump administration imposes tariffs on imports, retail businesses considering itemizing tariff-related costs separately for consumers must ensure that any disclosures are both accurate and defensible to avoid regulatory enforcement or private suits, says Christopher Cole at Katten.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From NY Fed To BigLaw

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    While the move to private practice brings a learning curve, it also brings chances to learn new skills and grow your network, requiring a clear understanding of how your skills can complement and contribute to a firm's existing practice, and where you can add new value, says Meghann Donahue at Covington.

  • Reviewing Trump Admin's Rapid Pro-Crypto Regulatory Pivot

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    The digital asset industry has received a boost from the explicitly pro-crypto Trump administration, which in its first few months reversed Biden-era rules and installed industry proponents at regulatory agencies, marking one of the biggest regulatory about-faces by a government in recent memory, says Robert Appleton at Olshan Frome.

  • Cos. Face Enviro Justice Tug-Of-War Between States, Feds

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    The second Trump administration's sweeping elimination of environmental justice policies, programs and funding, and targeting of state-level EJ initiatives, creates difficult questions for companies on how best to avoid friction with federal policy, navigate state compliance obligations and maintain important stakeholder relationships with communities, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Top 3 Litigation Finance Deal-Killers, And How To Avoid Them

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    Like all transactions, litigation finance deals can sometimes collapse, but understanding the most common reasons for failure, including a lack of trust or a misunderstanding of deal terms, can help both parties avoid problems, say Rebecca Berrebi at Avenue 33 and Boris Ziser at Schulte Roth.

  • A 2-Step System For Choosing A Digital Asset Reporting Path

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    Under the Internal Revenue Service's new digital asset reporting regulation, each type of asset may have three potential reporting destinations, so a detailed testing framework can help to determine the appropriate path, says Keval Sonecha at Sonecha & Amlani.

  • NEPA Repeal Could Slow Down Environmental Review

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    As the Trump administration has rescinded the Council on Environmental Quality's long-standing National Environmental Policy Act regulations, projects that require NEPA review may be bogged down by significant regulatory uncertainty and litigation risks, potentially undermining the administration's intent to streamline the permitting process, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • 5th Circ. Ruling Is Latest Signal Of Shaky Qui Tam Landscape

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    In his recent concurring opinion in U.S. v. Peripheral Vascular Associates, a Fifth Circuit judge joined a growing list of jurists suggesting that the False Claims Act's whistleblower provisions are unconstitutional, underscoring that acceptance of qui tam relators can no longer be taken for granted, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.

  • Foreign Countries Have Strong Foundation To Fill FCPA Void

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    Though the U.S. has paused enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, liberal democracies across the globe are well equipped to reverse any setback in anti-corruption enforcement, potentially heightening prosecution risk for companies headquartered in the U.S., says Stephen Kohn at Kohn Kohn.

  • How Attys Can Use A Therapy Model To Help Triggered Clients

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    Attorneys can lean on key principles from a psychotherapeutic paradigm known as the "Internal Family Systems" model to help manage triggered clients and get settlement negotiations back on track, says Jennifer Gibbs at Zelle.

  • A Tale Of Two Admins: Parsing 1st Half Of SEC's FY 2025

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    The first half of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's fiscal year 2025, which ended March 31, was unusually eventful, marked by a flurry of enforcement actions in the last three months of former Chair Gary Gensler's tenure and a prompt pivot after Inauguration Day, say attorneys at Jones Day.

  • A Closer Look At Amendments To Virginia Noncompete Ban

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    Recently passed amendments in Virignia will prohibit noncompetes for all employees who are eligible for overtime pay under federal law, and though the changes could simplify employers’ analyses as to restrictive covenant enforceability, it may require them to reassess and potentially adjust their use of noncompetes with some workers, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

  • What Bank Regulator Consolidation Would Mean For Industry

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    Speculation over the Trump administration’s potential plans to consolidate financial service regulators is intensifying uncertainty, but no matter the outcome for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the industry should expect continued policy changes, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • Getting Ahead Of The SEC's Continued Focus On Cyber, AI

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is showing it will continue to scrutinize actions involving cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, but there are proactive measures that companies and financial institutions can take to avoid regulatory scrutiny going forward, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Navigating Florida's Bad Faith Reforms After Appellate Ruling

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    A Florida appellate court's recent decision is among the first to interpret two significant amendments to the state's insurance bad faith law, and its holding that one of the statutes could not apply retroactively may affect insurers' interpretation of the other statute, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

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