Public Policy

June 10, 2025
House Ag Committee Advances Crypto Market Structure Bill

The House Committee on Agriculture on Tuesday advanced a bill to regulate digital asset markets with broad bipartisan support despite concerns from Democrats that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission will need more funding to accomplish the broad crypto mandate contemplated by the bill.
June 10, 2025
Stewart's Newest Discretionary Denial Has Attys On Edge

The acting U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director's decision on Friday to reject patent challenges due to the petitioner's long-standing knowledge of a patent has many attorneys bracing for either a massive rise or dip in Patent Trial and Appeal Board filings.
June 10, 2025
Judiciary Panel Advances New Rules On Amici, AI, Subpoenas

The federal judiciary's top policy panel Tuesday propelled revamped rules regarding numerous hot legal topics, including artificial intelligence, "dark money" groups bankrolling amicus briefs and the subpoena powers of courts and defense counsel.
June 10, 2025
Feds Fight Calif. Tribe's Bid To Undo BIA Organization Rule

The federal government is fighting a D.C. Circuit appeal by nine California Valley Miwok Tribe members who are looking to overturn a lower court order allowing an expansion of the tribe's organization, arguing the decision was not arbitrary and capricious.
June 10, 2025
NJ Rep. LaMonica McIver Indicted Over ICE Facility Incident

U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver has been charged with forcibly impeding and interfering with federal officers during her inspection of a Newark, New Jersey, immigration detention facility last month, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
June 10, 2025
Calif. Gets Hearing On Bid To Stop Trump's Troop Deployment

A California federal judge Tuesday gave the Trump administration until Wednesday morning to respond to Gov. Gavin Newsom's request to immediately block the federal government's takeover of the state's National Guard unit in response to protests in Los Angeles sparked by federal immigration raids, and set a hearing for Thursday.
June 10, 2025
Feds Reboot FCPA Agenda With Narrower Enforcement Focus

The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday released new and tightened guidelines for enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act after a four-month pause on such prosecutions, centering prospective investigations on situations that affect U.S. competitiveness and national security as well as transnational cartels.
June 10, 2025
ABA 'Surprised And Disappointed' By DOJ Shunning

The American Bar Association on Tuesday defended its long-standing process for reviewing judicial nominees and said Attorney General Pam Bondi was wrong to call the group an "activist organization."
June 10, 2025
Ga. Justices Rein In Admin Power & 'Unbridled' Election Board

The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled Tuesday that a Trump-allied majority on the state's Election Board overstepped its authority last year when it passed a slew of voting rule changes in the run-up to the 2024 election, discarding 35 years of precedent on the rulemaking powers of administrative government bodies.
June 10, 2025
Time-Barred Sex Abuse Claims Could Become Viable In Pa.

House lawmakers in Pennsylvania have passed a pair of bills that could allow those who suffered from sexual abuse as minors to file a lawsuit decades after the statute of limitations expired, explicitly waving sovereign immunity defense for state agencies.
June 10, 2025
Florida Man Avoids Prison Over Ashley Biden's Stolen Diary

A Florida resident who admitted that he and an associate sold the stolen diary of former President Joe Biden's daughter to right-wing activist group Project Veritas was spared any time in prison, as a Manhattan federal judge on Tuesday determined that his cooperation with prosecutors weighed heavily in his favor.
June 10, 2025
Trump's CFTC Pick Won't Push To Fill Leadership Vacancies

President Donald Trump's pick to lead the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission told senators Tuesday that the financial regulator would likely need to beef up its staff should Congress grant it more authority over the cryptocurrency industry, but he would not commit to pushing the president to fill vacancies at the top of the agency.
June 10, 2025
State Chief Justices Blast Plans To Cut Legal Services Corp.

A coalition of 37 state Supreme Court chief justices have asked federal lawmakers to reject President Donald Trump's plans to eliminate the Legal Services Corp., arguing that the "justice system is hobbled when citizens are deprived of legal counsel."
June 10, 2025
Ala. Judge Orders Trans Health Org. To Publish Training Vids

In a case challenging Alabama's ban on gender-affirming care for youths, a federal judge this week ordered a trans health organization to publish video recordings of the group's conferences and a medical training course, after the group had sought to protect the content's confidentiality.
June 10, 2025
9th Circ. Skeptical Oregon Hospital Merger Law Is Too Vague

A Ninth Circuit panel on Monday appeared skeptical of a hospital association's challenge to an Oregon law that grants a state agency broad power to block proposed healthcare consolidations to ensure equitable access to healthcare, with two of the three judges questioning whether federal law could limit the state's authority.
June 10, 2025
Relax Power Limits, But Don't Move CBRS Users, FCC Told

Federated Wireless is urging the Federal Communications Commission to reject a proposal to relocate the Citizens Broadband Radio Service band, telling the agency Monday that despite AT&T's claims that the band sees "low demand," it is actually home to "the largest ecosystem of any commercial band in the world."
June 10, 2025
House Conservatives Push Senate To 'Rein In' Judges

House conservatives are imploring their Senate counterparts to do more to "rein in" federal judges with the budget reconciliation package.
June 10, 2025
US Judge Tells Some Agents To Disarm In Connecticut Courts

Connecticut's chief federal judge issued a standing order Monday updating the weapons policy for the state's federal courthouses, including limiting some law enforcement officers' ability to carry weapons in certain areas without permission, a step he took not long after banning most arrests and detentions in the courthouses.
June 10, 2025
Lawmakers Float NIL Bills Following NCAA Deal

Members of Congress introduced a pair of bills Tuesday looking to establish national standards for how college athletes monetize their name, image and likeness in the wake of the landmark NCAA class action settlement last week.
June 10, 2025
EU Says OK To $3.1B Intelsat-SES Merger

Satellite titan SES SA's $3.1 billion plan to buy rival satellite operator Intelsat Holdings has won the approval of the European Commission, which has waved the merger through with no conditions.
June 10, 2025
Judge Denies Calif. Tribe's Bid To Restore Gaming Eligibility

A D.C. federal judge Tuesday declined to reinstate a California tribe's gaming eligibility for a casino-resort project in the San Francisco Bay Area while the U.S. Department of the Interior reassesses its approval, ruling that the tribe hasn't shown it would be imminently harmed by the eligibility suspension.
June 10, 2025
DHS Unit Has Until Friday To Show Parole Changes Are Live

A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday gave the Trump administration until Friday to confirm that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has resumed adjudicating immigration benefits requests for a class of noncitizens granted entry through humanitarian parole.
June 10, 2025
Health Records Co. Looks To Toss Patient Data Access Case

PointClickCare is urging a Maryland federal court to toss a case seeking to force the medical records company to allow Real Time Medical Systems to access patient data with automated bots after the Fourth Circuit refused to lift an order requiring access while the case plays out.
June 10, 2025
House 23andMe Hearing Raises National Security Concerns

Lawmakers pressed current and former 23andMe executives during a House Oversight Committee hearing Tuesday over national security and consumer privacy in connection with a planned Chapter 11 sale of 15 million customers' DNA profiles.
June 10, 2025
Power Co. Asks Justices To Settle Split In Tribal Tax Dispute

Arizona courts were wrong to rule that an energy company located on tribal land is subject to property taxes, the company told the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, urging it to address an "intolerable" state-federal split.

Editor's Picks

Trump's Legal Battles

States, federal employee unions, various advocacy groups and several individuals have filed over 220 lawsuits challenging the Trump administration's implementation of executive orders and other initiatives. Law360 has created a database of those lawsuits, separated into categories based on their subject matter.

Expert Analysis

Section 899 Could Be A Costly Tax Shift For US Borrowers

Intended to deter foreign governments from applying unfair taxes to U.S. companies, the proposal adding new Section 899 to the Internal Revenue Code would more likely increase tax burdens on U.S. borrowers than non-U.S. lenders unless Congress limits its scope, says Michael Bolotin at Debevoise.
Calif. Bar Exam Fiasco Shows Why Attys Must Disclose AI Use

The recent revelation that a handful of questions from the controversial California bar exam administered in February were drafted using generative artificial intelligence demonstrates the continued importance of disclosure for attorneys who use AI tools, say attorneys at Troutman.
The Sentencing Guidelines Are Commencing A New Era

Sweeping new amendments to the U.S. sentencing guidelines — including the elimination of departure provisions — intended to promote transparency and individualized justice while still guarding against unwarranted disparities will have profound consequences for all stakeholders, say attorneys at Blank Rome.
The State Of Play For Bank Merger Act Applications

Both the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's recent reversal of changes to its bank merger policies and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s rescission of its 2024 statement may be relevant for all banks considering a transaction, as responsibility for review depends on the identity of the parties and the transaction structure, say attorneys at Davis Polk.
Del. Corporate Law Rework May Not Stem M&A Challenges

While Delaware's S.B. 21 introduced significant changes regarding controllers and conflicted transactions by limiting what counts as a controlling stake and improving safe harbors, which would seem to narrow the opportunities to challenge a transaction as conflicted, plaintiffs bringing shareholder derivative claims may merely become more resourceful in asserting them, say attorneys at Debevoise.
State AGs' Focus On Single-Firm Conduct Is Gaining Traction

Despite changes in administration, both federal antitrust agencies and state attorneys general have shown a trending interest in prosecuting monopolization cases involving single-firm conduct, with federal and state legislative initiatives encouraging and assisting states’ aggressive posture, says Steve Vieux at Bartko Pavia.
What Parity Rule Freeze Means For Plan Sponsors

In light of a District of Columbia federal court’s recent decision to stay litigation challenging a Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act final rule, as well as federal agencies' subsequent decision to hold off on enforcement, attorneys at Morgan Lewis discuss the statute’s evolution and what plan sponsors and participants can expect going forward.
Max Pressure On Iran May Raise Secondary Sanctions Risk

New sanctions designations announced June 6 are the latest in a slew of actions the administration has taken to put pressure on Iran’s military programs and petroleum exports that will likely increase non-U.S. businesses’ secondary sanctions risk, says John Sandage at Berliner Corcoran.
Platforms Face Liability Shift Under Anti-Revenge Porn Law

The federal Take It Down Act, signed into law last month, aims to combat deepfake pornography with criminal penalties for individual wrongdoers, but the notice and takedown provisions change the broad protections provided by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in ways that directly affect platform providers, say attorneys at Troutman.
4 Midyear Employer Actions To Reinforce Compliance

The legal and political landscape surrounding what the government describes as unlawful diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives has become increasingly complex over the past six months, and the midyear juncture presents a strategic opportunity to reinforce commitments to legal integrity, workplace equity and long-term operational resilience, say attorneys at Krevolin & Horst.
CFPB's Guidance Withdrawal Deepens Industry Uncertainty

Following the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent withdrawal of dozens of guidance documents in a post-Chevron world, financial services providers are left to make their own determinations about the complex issues addressed in the now-revoked materials, presenting a significant compliance burden, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.
Justices Widen Gap Between Federal, Calif. Enviro Reviews

While the U.S. Supreme Court's recent opinion in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, narrowed the scope of National Environmental Policy Act reviews, it may have broadened the gulf between reviews conducted under NEPA and those under the California Environmental Quality Act, say attorneys at Hanson Bridgett.
In 2nd Place, Va. 'Rocket Docket' Remains Old Reliable

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia was again one of the fastest civil trial courts in the nation last year, and an interview with the court’s newest judge provides insights into why it continues to soar, says Robert Tata at Hunton.
SEC Signals Opening For Private Fund Investment Reform

At SEC Speaks in late May, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission made clear that it's considering allowing registered funds of private funds to be offered broadly to true retail investors, meaning existing funds should review their disclosures focusing on conflicts of interest, liquidity and fees, say attorneys at Stradley Ronon.
CIPA May Not Be Necessary To Protect Ad Tech Plaintiffs

A California bill designed to protect businesses from advertising technology claims under the California Invasion of Privacy Act by amending the act retroactively has been highly contested by various consumer advocacy groups, but other existing law may sufficiently protect any plaintiff who suffers actual harm from such tech, says Justin Donoho at Duane Morris.