Public Policy

  • 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 U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed 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.

  • October 07, 2025

    BREAKING: Senate Confirms Trump's Wage Chief Pick

    The U.S. Senate confirmed President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division on Tuesday.

  • October 07, 2025

    Judge Alarmed As Feds Keep Immigration Atty's Phone Data

    A federal prosecutor told a Massachusetts judge on Tuesday that the government has returned a phone it seized from an immigration lawyer but does not intend to delete data it pulled from the device, prompting the court to raise concerns that the information could be used to identify and arrest immigrants.

  • October 07, 2025

    Approach The Bench: Judge Kaplan On Suit Against The Gov't

    U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Elaine Kaplan's docket doesn't always garner attention in the same way trial court cases do, but that may change as the executive branch makes sweeping budget and policy changes that could lend more political significance to monetary claims against the government.

  • October 07, 2025

    Planners Should Be Tariffed As Calendars, Fed. Circ. Told

    Weekly planners sold by a California calendar company are advertised for their calendars and should be considered such for tariff purposes, counsel for the business told Federal Circuit judges Tuesday, arguing the lower court and government incorrectly classified them as a type of notebook.

  • October 07, 2025

    La. Challenges Mail-Order Access To Abortion Medication

    The state of Louisiana on Monday sued federal regulators for expanding access to the abortion medication mifepristone under the Biden administration, alleging the removal of an in-person dispensing requirement allows the drug to be mailed illegally into anti-abortion states.

  • October 07, 2025

    Baker Donelson Forms Gov't Solutions, Public Funding Group

    Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC announced Tuesday that it has launched a government solutions and public funding group to help clients prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters — while identifying and securing public funding opportunities at the federal, state and local levels.

  • October 07, 2025

    Bondi Declines To Discuss James Comey Indictment

    Appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi deflected when questioned on the recent indictment of former FBI Director James Comey and other controversies involving the U.S. Department of Justice. 

  • October 07, 2025

    Mich. Court Scraps Ruling That Affirmed Solar Farm Permit

    A Michigan state appeals court tossed a ruling that upheld a township's permit for an Invenergy subsidiary's industrial-scale solar farm, concluding that its board of trustees failed to sufficiently explain or provide a basis for its decision.

  • October 07, 2025

    ​​​​​​​California Aims To Sink DOJ's 'Egg Prices' Animal Law Case

    California, state egg farmers and animal rights groups are asking a federal court to dismiss the U.S. government's lawsuit that seeks to eliminate animal welfare laws that it alleges have contributed to a rise in egg prices.

  • October 07, 2025

    Pa. Justices Wary Of Lifting Corporate Veil To Beat Time Limit

    Members of Pennsylvania's Supreme Court seemed skeptical of a bid by asbestos claimants to sue the parent company of a defunct industrial firm, pointing to a two-year time limit for claims against the dissolved subsidiary.

  • October 07, 2025

    Mich. Panel Upholds Hazing Charges In Frat Member's Death

    A Michigan appeals panel upheld the constitutionality of a state law criminalizing hazing that results in injury or death, greenlighting charges stemming from a Michigan State University fraternity pledge's death from alcohol poisoning.

  • October 07, 2025

    11th Circ. Won't Halt Labor Mandate Case For Gov't Shutdown

    The federal government can't stay a builders association's case challenging an executive order that requires union-favoring labor agreements for expensive government contracts, the Eleventh Circuit ruled, declining a request made in light of the government shutdown.

  • October 07, 2025

    SEC's Atkins Wants To 'Future-Proof' Deregulatory Agenda

    U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins said Tuesday that he hopes that moving quickly to adopt new rules deregulating the public and private markets will "future-proof" his agenda against potential tampering by succeeding presidential administrations.

  • October 07, 2025

    Copyright Chief Says DC Circ. Decision Bars Removal

    Shira Perlmutter has shot back at the government's arguments defending President Donald Trump's decision to fire her as head of the U.S. Copyright Office, saying the D.C. Circuit has said in her case that Trump likely never had the power to do so.

  • October 07, 2025

    Cos., Mass. Town End $50M Earth Removal Permit Bylaw Suit

    A construction supplies company and its quarry operator have agreed to permanently bring an end to their more than $50 million suit challenging a Massachusetts town's amended bylaw for earth removal permits that allegedly impeded the plaintiff's quarry operations, according to a stipulation of dismissal filed in Massachusetts federal court.

  • October 07, 2025

    Calif. Allows Tax Break For Solar Property Until Owner Change

    A California property tax exclusion for newly built solar energy systems that is set to end in 2027 will continue to apply until there is a change in a qualifying property's ownership under a bill signed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.

  • October 07, 2025

    FDIC, OCC Rule Proposals Seek To Rein In Bank Supervision

    Federal banking regulators on Tuesday unveiled a pair of proposed curbs on their supervision programs that would formally ban the use of reputation risk as an exam factor and constrain what examiners can call out for criticism as an "unsafe or unsound" practice.

  • October 06, 2025

    High Court Declines Challenge To Ore. Secret Recording Ban

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to take up conservative media group Project Veritas' First Amendment challenge to an Oregon law prohibiting secret audio recordings of people's conversations, leaving in place a Ninth Circuit ruling upholding the measure. 

  • October 06, 2025

    New H-2A Wage Rule May Worsen Farm Labor Shortages

    A new regulation revamping wage calculations for workers on temporary H-2A visas is being welcomed by agricultural employers, but the possibility of depressed wages could tie up the policy in litigation at a time when the Trump administration is predicting farm labor shortages.

  • October 06, 2025

    OCC To Ease Exams, Simplify Licensing For Smaller Banks

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency moved Monday to ease its oversight of banks with under $30 billion in assets, rolling out policy changes that include cutting back on their exam requirements and potentially expanding their access to expedited licensing options.

  • October 06, 2025

    Justices Hint At Barring Del. Med Mal Law In Federal Court

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday appeared to side with a retired attorney's position that a Delaware medical malpractice statute clashes with federal rules of procedure and is therefore unenforceable in federal court, with several justices saying the law appears to be an improper procedural requirement.

  • October 06, 2025

    Justices Urged To Leave Trans Passport Ban On Ice

    Two classes of transgender and nonbinary people urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to reject the Trump administration's bid to lift a nationwide order that requires it to continue issuing passports that reflect the holders' gender identity, saying the proposed policy change is a textbook example of an unreasoned decision.

Expert Analysis

  • Compliance Pointers Amid Domestic Terrorism Clampdown

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    A recent presidential memorandum marks a shift in federal domestic-terrorism enforcement that should prompt nonprofits to enhance diligence related to grantees, vendors and events, and financial institutions to shore up their internal resources for increased suspicious-activity monitoring and reporting obligations, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Trump Tax Law Has Mixed Impacts On Commercial Real Estate

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    The One Big Beautiful Bill Act brings sweeping changes to the real estate industry — and while the permanency of opportunity zones and bonus depreciation creates predictability for some taxpayers, sunsetting incentives for renewable energy projects will leave others with hard choices, says Jordan Metzger at Cole Schotz.

  • CFTC, SEC Joint Statement Highlights New Unity On Crypto

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's recent joint statement announcing a cross-agency initiative enabling certain spot crypto-asset products to trade on regulated exchanges is the earliest and most visible instance of interagency cooperation on crypto regulation, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Regulatory Uncertainties Loom As Fed Ends Crypto Oversight

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    The Federal Reserve Bank's recently ended crypto supervisory program headlines other recent federal actions from Congress, the White House and relevant agencies that may complicate financial institutions' digital-asset use and attendant compliance strategies, say attorneys at Buchalter.

  • What The New Nondomiciled-Trucker Rule Means For Carriers

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    A new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration interim final rule restricting states' issuance of commercial drivers licenses to nondomiciled drivers does not alter motor carriers' obligations to verify drivers' qualifications, but may create disruptions by reducing the number of eligible drivers, say attorneys at Benesch.

  • EU-US Data Transfer Ruling Offers Reassurance To Cos.

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    The European Union General Court’s recent upholding of the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework in Latombe v. European Commission, although subject to appeal, provides companies with legal certainty for the first time by allowing the transfer of European Economic Area personal data without relying on alternative mechanisms, say lawyers at Wilson Sonsini.

  • Opinion

    SEC Arbitration Shift Is At Odds With Fraud Deterrence

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent statement allowing the use of mandatory arbitration by new publicly traded companies could result in higher legal costs, while removing the powerful deterrent impact of public lawsuits that have helped make the U.S. securities markets a model of transparency and fairness, say attorneys at Labaton Keller.

  • Drug Ad Crackdown Demonstrates Admin's Aggressive Stance

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    Recent actions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services targeting pharmaceutical companies' allegedly deceptive advertising practices signal an active — potentially even punitive — intent to regulate direct-to-consumer advertising out of existence, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • Protecting Sensitive Court Filings After Recent Cyber Breach

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    In the wake of a recent cyberattack on federal courts' Case Management/Electronic Case Files system, civil litigants should consider seeking enhanced protections for sensitive materials filed under seal to mitigate the risk of unauthorized exposure, say attorneys at Redgrave.

  • DOJ Chemical Seizure Shows Broad Civil Forfeiture Authority

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent seizure of meth precursor chemicals en route from China to Mexico illustrates the U.S. government's powerful jurisdictional reach to seek forfeiture of cartel-related assets, and company compliance programs must take note, say attorneys at White & Case.

  • DOJ Settlement Offers Guide To Avoiding Key Antitrust Risks

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    The U.S. Justice Department's settlement with Greystar Management shows why parties looking to acquire companies that use pricing recommendation software should carefully examine whether the software algorithm and how it is used in the market create antitrust dangers, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • Unleashing LNG And Oil Exports With The Deepwater Port Act

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    The U.S. Department of Transportation and its Maritime Administration are now poised to use the streamlined licensing process of an existing statutory framework — the Deepwater Port Act — to approve proposed offshore terminals for exporting oil and liquefied natural gas, thus advancing the Trump administration's energy agenda, says Joanne Rotondi at Hogan Lovells.

  • Minimizing AI Bias Risks Amid New Calif. Workplace Rules

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    In light of California implementing new regulations to protect job applicants and employees from discrimination linked to artificial intelligence tools, employers should take proactive steps to ensure compliance, both to minimize the risk of discrimination and to avoid liability, says Alexa Foley at Gordon Rees.

  • Series

    NC Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

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    There were several impactful changes to the financial services landscape in North Carolina in the third quarter of the year, including statutory updates, enforcement developments from Office of the Commissioner of Banks, and notable mergers, acquisitions and branch expansions, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Wash. Ruling Raises Pay Transparency Litigation Risk

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    Washington Supreme Court’s recent decision in Branson v. Washington Fine Wine and Spirits, affirming applicants standing to sue regardless of their intent in applying, broadens state employers' already broad exposure — even when compared to other states with pay transparency laws, say attorneys at Hunton.

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