Public Policy

  • July 14, 2025

    Ex-City Workers' Disability Bias Suit Should Fail, Judge Says

    An Atlanta suburb shouldn't have to face a suit alleging it fired two employees because of their stress and anxiety, a Georgia federal magistrate judge recommended, saying neither worker could overcome explanations that poor performance cost her the job.

  • July 14, 2025

    NY Court Declines To Make Trump US Atty Permanent

    The Northern District of New York said on Monday that it has declined to appoint interim U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III to the permanent seat ahead of his short-term tenure's expiration, despite his previous comments to the contrary to local media.

  • July 14, 2025

    Nonprofit Sues DHS For Info On ICE Actions

    Democracy Forward Foundation has launched a lawsuit against the Trump administration in Washington federal court, seeking to compel the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to release documents pertaining to White House official Stephen Miller's role in leading immigration enforcement actions.

  • July 14, 2025

    Calif. Panel Upends Arbitration Pact In Worker's Firing Suit

    A Charter Communications worker's wrongful termination suit should not have been sent to arbitration, a California appeals court said, after finding the company's alternative dispute resolution pact held one-sided provisions and made it difficult for employees to opt out.

  • July 11, 2025

    Judge Bars Indiscriminate Immigration Stops In SoCal

    A California federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from relying on people's perceived ethnicity or job to stop individuals amid federal immigration raids in Southern California, while also ordering the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to provide detainees with access to lawyers.

  • July 11, 2025

    Adams Loses Suit Seeking Reelection Campaign Match Funds

    A Brooklyn federal judge Friday backed the New York City Campaign Finance Board's decision to deny Mayor Eric Adams $3.5 million in reelection campaign matching funds, saying the board didn't deny the funds solely due to now-tossed corruption charges against the mayor.

  • July 11, 2025

    DOJ Sends Warning In Gender Care Provider Subpoenas

    The announcement of federal subpoenas targeting doctors who offer gender-affirming care signals an escalation in the Trump administration's campaign against such treatment, experts say, delivering a warning to healthcare providers.

  • July 11, 2025

    Midyear 2025: A Glimpse At Sports Betting Enforcement

    The first half of 2025 saw a flurry of activity in the enforcement of sports betting rules, with two NBA veterans finding themselves at the center of a federal gambling probe, two mixed martial arts fighters receiving lengthy suspensions, and Shohei Ohtani's disgraced interpreter catching a 57-month prison sentence for theft.

  • July 11, 2025

    Catching Up On Stewart's Discretionary Denial Decisions

    Acting U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Coke Morgan Stewart and a top administrative patent judge issued 15 discretionary denial decisions on Patent Trial and Appeal Board petitions over the past week, across nearly 40 cases. Here's what they decided.

  • July 11, 2025

    Grayscale Tells SEC 'End-Run' Shouldn't Delay Crypto ETP

    Digital asset management firm Grayscale Investments LLC has challenged a decision by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to hold back the launch of its multi-crypto exchange-traded fund, arguing in a letter to the agency that the stay violates the Exchange Act's rules on approval timelines.

  • July 11, 2025

    Colo. Court Mostly Backs Coal Mine In Water Permit Dispute

    A Colorado appeals court said that most of the stormwater discharges produced by a mining company in Gunnison County do not require a permit, reversing lower court and administrative judge rulings.

  • July 11, 2025

    Hospital Says Wash. Withholding Docs In Billing Fraud Suit

    A hospital system accused of overbilling Medicaid in connection to a neurosurgeon's fraud scheme contends the Washington state attorney general's office has wrongly refused to provide records from agencies involved in the misconduct investigation, according to new filings in federal court.

  • July 11, 2025

    Courts Face Early Push To Expand Justices' Injunction Ruling

    In the two weeks since the U.S. Supreme Court curtailed federal judges' ability to issue universal injunctions, Trump administration attorneys have begun pushing to expand the decision's limits to other forms of relief used in regulatory challenges and class actions. So far, judges don't appear receptive to those efforts. 

  • July 11, 2025

    Cannabis Industry Group Praises Hemp Ban In Spending Bill

    A cannabis industry trade group has applauded a U.S. Senate committee's adoption of language in a federal appropriations bill that would ban consumable hemp-derived products with THC, while hemp industry stakeholders are seeking to use a one-year delay to amend a policy they say would kill the market.

  • July 11, 2025

    Census Didn't Change Rural Carrier Definition, FCC Says

    The Federal Communications Commission hasn't changed its definition of a "rural competitive local exchange carrier," the agency assured companies after the U.S. Census Bureau's shift in terminology for urban areas threw the definition into doubt.

  • July 11, 2025

    9th Circ. Upholds Feds' Arctic Ringed Seal ESA Protections

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday upheld the federal government's Endangered Species Act protections for Arctic ringed seals and rejected Alaska's effort to roll them back.

  • July 11, 2025

    State Dept. Defends Visa Revocations For Anti-Israel Protests

    A senior U.S. Department of State official testified Friday that a series of high-profile visa and green card revocations were based on participation in campus protests or other acts that "fostered a hostile environment for Jewish students" and included expressions of support for terrorist organizations.

  • July 11, 2025

    Former NC Rep. Says State Law Covers Discrimination Suit

    A former North Carolina lawmaker is fighting back against the state body of independent administrative law judges' effort to defeat his discrimination and retaliation case, saying state statute should cover his claims of being unfairly fired as its general counsel.

  • July 11, 2025

    Ga. Judge Pauses Discovery In Suit Against Ex-Atlanta IG

    A Georgia federal judge has stayed discovery in a case in which a lobbyist and city contractor sued Atlanta's former inspector general for allegedly violating state law by issuing subpoenas for the lobbyist's bank records in order to bolster a frivolous corruption probe.

  • July 11, 2025

    Google Won't Have To Turn Over EU Ad Tech Settlement Docs

    A Virginia federal judge refused a request from the U.S. Department of Justice Friday to force Google to hand over submissions it made to European enforcers when trying to settle their investigation as the sides ready for a remedies trial in the ad tech monopolization case.

  • July 11, 2025

    Gun Group's NJ Nuisance Law Case Paused Amid State Action

    A New Jersey federal judge has put the National Shooting Sports Foundation's lawsuit against the Garden State on hold, finding that the group's challenges to a state law — holding gunmakers and sellers liable for crimes committed with their products — are also being raised by one of its members in a related state enforcement action.

  • July 11, 2025

    Judge Considers Halt On Abrego Garcia's Deportation

    A Maryland federal judge said Friday she would seek to ensure that Kilmar Abrego Garcia isn't deported without due process again, pressing government attorneys to either adequately guarantee that he'll get sufficient notice and a chance to challenge his removal, or to expect an order from her requiring it.

  • July 11, 2025

    PepsiCo Challenges $2.1M Tax Penalty In Ill. Supreme Court

    Illinois' justices should overturn lower court decisions allowing $2.1 million in penalties on PepsiCo for categorizing Frito-Lay expatriates' compensation as foreign payroll, a categorization that excluded Frito-Lay's profits from PepsiCo's state income tax calculations, the food and beverage giant said in a petition.

  • July 11, 2025

    2nd Circ. Backs NY Liability Law Targeting Gunmakers

    The Second Circuit has upheld a New York public nuisance statute that opens up firearm manufacturers to civil lawsuits for acts of violence involving their guns.

  • July 11, 2025

    FCC Approves T-Mobile's $4.4B UScellular Deal

    Federal Communications Commission staff late Friday approved the license transfers needed for T-Mobile to complete its $4.4 billion acquisition of UScellular wireless operations.

Expert Analysis

  • A Pattern Emerges In Justices' Evaluation Of Veteran Statute

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    The recent Soto v. U.S. decision that the statute of limitations for certain military-related claims does not apply to combat-related special compensation exemplifies the U.S. Supreme Court's view, emerging in two other recent opinions, that it is a reviewing court's obligation to determine the best interpretation of the language used by Congress, says attorney Kenneth Carpenter.

  • Opinion

    Senate's 41% Litigation Finance Tax Would Hurt Legal System

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    The Senate’s latest version of the Big Beautiful Bill Act would impose a 41% tax on the litigation finance industry, but the tax is totally disconnected from the concerns it purports to address, and it would set the country back to a time when small plaintiffs had little recourse against big defendants, says Anthony Sebok at Cardozo School of Law.

  • Psychedelic Treatment Regs May Be At A Tipping Point

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    Recent scientific and public attention suggest that development of psychedelics as treatment for some conditions may be at a tipping point, which could bring on more rapid change and opportunities for stakeholders who may in the future benefit from greater access to safe and effective psychedelic medicines, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • In NRC Ruling, Justices Affirm Hearing Process Still Matters

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Texas safeguards the fairness, clarity and predictability of the regulatory system by affirming that to challenge an agency's decision in court, litigants must first meaningfully participate in the hearing process that Congress and the agency have established, says Jonathan Rund at the Nuclear Energy Institute.

  • Comparing Stablecoin Bills From UK, EU, US And Hong Kong

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    For multinational stablecoin issuers, navigating the differences and similarities among regimes in the U.K., EU, Hong Kong and U.S., which are currently unfolding in several key ways, is critical to achieving scalable, compliant operations, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • What Baseball Can Teach Criminal Attys About Rule Of Lenity

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    Judges tend to assess ambiguous criminal laws not unlike how baseball umpires approach checked swings, so defense attorneys should consider how to best frame their arguments to maximize courts' willingness to invoke the rule of lenity, wherein a tie goes to the defendant, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Series

    Performing As A Clown Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    To say that being a clown in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has changed my legal career would truly be an understatement — by creating an opening to converse on a unique topic, it has allowed me to connect with clients, counsel and even judges on a deeper level, says Charles Tatelbaum at Tripp Scott.

  • Focusing On Fluoride: From FDA To Class Action

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    A class action filed two days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced plans to remove ingestible fluoride prescription drug products for children from the market may be the tip of the iceberg in terms of the connection between government pronouncements on safety and their immediate use as evidence in lawsuits, says Rachel Turow at Skadden.

  • How Energy Cos. Can Prepare For Potential Tax Credit Cuts

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    The Senate Finance Committee's version of the One Big Beautiful Bill act would create a steep phaseout of renewable energy tax credits, which should prompt companies to take several actions, including conduct a project review to discern which could begin construction before the end of the year, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • The CFTC Is Shaking Up Sports Betting's Legal Future

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    The sports betting industry faces a potential sea change amid recent state and federal actions across the regulatory landscape that have expanded access to sporting event contracts against the backdrop of waning Commodity Futures Trading Commission opposition, says Nick Covek at Foley & Lardner.

  • DOJ Atty Firing Highlights Tension Between 2 Ethical Duties

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recent firing of a prosecutor-turned-whistleblower involved in the Abrego Garcia v. Noem case illustrates the tricky balancing act between zealous client advocacy and a lawyer’s duty of candor to the court, which many clients fail to appreciate, says David Atkins at Yale Law School.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Rejecting Biz Dev Myths

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    Law schools don’t spend sufficient time dispelling certain myths that prevent young lawyers from exploring new business opportunities, but by dismissing these misguided beliefs, even an introverted first-year associate with a small network of contacts can find long-term success, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.

  • Fla. Condo Law Fix Clarifies Control Of Common Areas

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    Florida's repeal of a controversial statutory provision that permitted developers of mixed-use condominium properties to retroactively assert control over common facilities marks a critical shift in legal protections for unit owners and associations, promoting fairness, transparency and accountability, say attorneys at Pardo Jackson.

  • Trade In Limbo: The Legal Storm Reshaping Trump's Tariffs

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    In the final days of May, decisions in two significant court actions upended the tariff and trade landscape, so until the U.S. Supreme Court rules, businesses and supply chains should expect tariffs to remain in place, and for the Trump administration to continue pursuing and enforcing all available trade policies, say attorneys at Ice Miller.

  • Shareholder Takeaways From NY Internal Affairs Doctrine Suit

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    A May New York Court of Appeals decision in Ezrasons v. Rudd involving Barclays — affirming the state's "firmly entrenched" internal affairs doctrine — is a win for all corporate stakeholders seeking stability in resolving disputes between shareholders and directors and officers, say attorneys at Sadis & Goldberg.

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