Public Policy

  • July 07, 2025

    Green Group, Chemours Battle Over W.Va. PFAS Injunction Ask

    An environmental group is urging a West Virginia federal court to prevent Chemours from releasing a "forever chemical" into public drinking water sources along the Ohio River, while the company is fighting the effort.

  • July 07, 2025

    ​​​​​​​Gov't Says OPM Didn't Order Probationary Worker Firings

    The Trump administration maintained that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's guidance on probationary federal employees was lawful, telling a California federal judge the OPM did not order agencies to carry out a mass termination of these workers despite the claims of unions representing them.

  • July 07, 2025

    Countries Get August Ultimatum To Avoid US Tariff Hikes

    Goods entering the U.S. from numerous countries will face tariff hikes beginning Aug. 1 unless their governments commit to address trade concerns the U.S. has raised, according to letters President Donald Trump sent Monday.

  • July 07, 2025

    USPTO Ups Number Of Prioritized Patent Applications

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is raising the number of applications it can accept each year for a prioritized patent examination to 20,000.

  • July 07, 2025

    Settlement Unlikely In Airline Group's Colo. Sick Leave Suit

    An airline lobby and the state of Colorado told a federal court last week that a settlement "appears unlikely" in the airline group's case claiming the state's sick leave law is preempted by federal law.

  • July 07, 2025

    Biggest Enviro Cases To Watch In 2025: Midyear Report

    Law360 previews the lawsuits environmental attorneys will be watching closely during the second half of 2025, including the Trump administration's challenge to states' efforts to slow climate change, a lawsuit seeking to continue federal funding for climate change projects and product liability cases over forever chemicals in consumer goods.

  • July 07, 2025

    Ex-FTC Antitrust Chief Returns To Covington As Co-Chair

    Covington & Burling LLP has rehired the former director of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Competition as a co-chair of its antitrust and competition practice group in Washington, D.C., the firm announced Monday.

  • July 07, 2025

    MyPillow CEO's Attys Sanctioned Over False AI Citations

    Two attorneys for MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell were sanctioned by a Colorado federal judge on Monday over a February brief containing nearly 30 "defective citations" after using artificial intelligence.

  • July 07, 2025

    DOJ Wants Md. Federal Judges' Immigration Orders Blocked

    A Maryland federal court standing order temporarily staving off the deportation of detained noncitizens who file habeas petitions is barred by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that federal judges do not have authority to issue universal injunctions, according to the Trump administration.

  • July 07, 2025

    Maine Authorizes Task Force To Explore Property Tax Changes

    Maine authorized the creation of a task force to explore the need for legislation and constitutional amendments to provide more effective property tax relief for residents under a bill signed by the governor.

  • July 07, 2025

    Trump Threatens Extra 10% Tariff On BRICS-Aligned Nations

    President Donald Trump threatened an additional 10% tariff on any country aligning with what's known as the BRICS coalition, which includes Brazil, Russia, India and China.

  • July 07, 2025

    Arnold & Porter Adds Biden DOJ Official To DC Team

    A former third-ranking official at the U.S. Department of Justice, who also held top positions in the Office of Personnel Management and served as solicitor general in his home state of Ohio, has joined Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP in Washington, D.C., the firm announced Monday.

  • July 07, 2025

    Feds Cite National Security As Trial Over Student Visas Begins

    A Trump administration lawyer told a Massachusetts federal judge Monday that the government's decision to revoke the visas of hundreds of college students and faculty over their pro-Palestinian speech was not viewpoint discrimination but a response to what it contends are threats to national security.

  • July 07, 2025

    Ex-Oklahoma Pot Regulator's Discrimination Claims Tossed

    An Oklahoma federal judge has thrown out discrimination claims filed by a former employee of the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority in a suit alleging she was terminated for whistleblowing, saying she failed to allege that she was dismissed in retaliation for protected speech or activities.

  • July 07, 2025

    Leaders Of €15M Motor Oil VAT Scheme Convicted, EU Says

    Three ringleaders of a €15 million ($17.6 million) value-added tax fraud ring involving motor oil were among 13 people convicted for their roles in the scheme, with Italian courts handing out a combined 34 years in sentences, the European Public Prosecutor's Office said.

  • July 03, 2025

    SEC Signals Openness To Novel Crypto ETPs

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission appears to be laying the groundwork to approve increasingly innovative crypto exchange-traded products with a staff statement on disclosure expectations and the recent approval of a novel fund, but experts said the commission's openness comes with a focus on fulsome disclosure.

  • July 03, 2025

    139 EPA Workers Put On Leave For Letter Critical Of Trump

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency confirmed Thursday that it had placed 139 employees on administrative leave after they signed onto a letter criticizing the Trump administration's policies as undermining the agency's "mission of protecting human health and the environment."

  • July 03, 2025

    FDIC's Consumer Compliance Enforcement Surged In 2024

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. hit banks with a surge of consumer protection-related enforcement actions in the final year of the Biden administration, issuing the largest total dollar amount of fines in almost a decade, according to a new report from the agency.

  • July 03, 2025

    State Telecom Roundup: States Rush To Meet New BEAD Regs

    States were allocated their share of the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program two years ago. Some states were nearly ready to announce which companies would receive a slice of the funding and exactly how much they would get when President Donald Trump's administration shook things up in early June by rescinding all the awards.

  • July 03, 2025

    Stewart Drops Mixed Bag Of Discretionary Denial Rulings

    Acting U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Coke Morgan Stewart has released 24 more discretionary denial decisions, more than half of which she cleared challenges to move forward through the Patent Trial and Appeal Board process.

  • July 03, 2025

    Dems Query Banks On Any Zelle Fraud Link To Social Media

    Top Democratic lawmakers are questioning major banks on how they're protecting customers from "significant scams and fraud" via Zelle, in light of JPMorgan Chase's recent decision to block transactions that originate from social media on the peer-to-peer payment platform.

  • July 03, 2025

    Youths Urge 9th Circ. To Revive Federal Equal Protection Case

    A group of youths is asking the Ninth Circuit to revive its lawsuit alleging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Office of Management and Budget are violating the youngsters' constitutional rights by not properly protecting them from climate change.

  • July 03, 2025

    CFPB Funding Cut Could Alter Injunction Calculus At DC Circ.

    The steep funding cut that Republicans have passed for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau could strengthen the Trump administration's position in its court fight to resume downsizing the agency, even if it doesn't directly resolve the legal questions at play.

  • July 03, 2025

    Biggest Environmental Law Decisions Of 2025: Midyear Report

    The first half of 2025 saw the U.S. Supreme Court impose limitations on water permit requirements, as well as key decisions in lower courts in climate change and environmental justice cases. Here, Law360 takes a look at some of the biggest environmental law rulings of 2025.

  • July 03, 2025

    Colo. Sales Tax Applies To Netflix Subscriptions, Court Rules

    Netflix's streaming services in Colorado are tangible personal property subject to sales tax, a state appeals court ruled, reversing a district court's finding that the subscriptions were not taxable under state law because they were not tangible physical items.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    FCPA Shift Is A Good Start, But There's More DOJ Should Do

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s new Foreign Corrupt Practices Act guidelines bring a needed course correction amid overexpansive enforcement, but there’s more the DOJ can do to provide additional clarity and predictability for global companies, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • Opinion

    IRS Should Work With Industry On Microcaptive Regs

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    The IRS should engage with microcaptive insurance owners to develop better regulations on these arrangements or risk the emergence of common law guidance as taxpayers with legitimate programs seek relief in the federal courts, says Dustin Carlson at SRA 831(b) Admin.

  • How Providers Can Brace For Drug Pricing Policy Changes

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    Though it's uncertain which provisions of the Trump administration's executive order aimed at addressing prescription drug costs will eventually be implemented, stakeholders can reduce potential negative outcomes by understanding pathways that could be used to effectuate the order's directives, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Comparing New Neural Data Privacy Laws In 4 States

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    Although no federal law yet addresses neural privacy comprehensively, the combined effect of recent state laws in Colorado, California, Montana and Connecticut is already shaping the regulatory future, but a multistate compliance strategy has quickly become a gating item for those experimenting with neuro-enabled workplace tools, says Kristen Mathews at Cooley.

  • 2025's First Half Brings Regulatory Detours For Fintechs

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    The first half of the year has resulted in a bifurcated regulatory environment for fintechs, featuring narrowed enforcement in some areas, heightened scrutiny in others and a policy window that, with proper compliance, offers meaningful opportunities for innovation, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Debunking 4 Misconceptions Around Texas' IV Therapy Law

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    Despite industry confusion, an IV therapy law enacted in Texas last week may actually be the most business-friendly regulatory development the medical spa industry has seen in recent years, says Keith Lefkowitz at Hendershot Cowart.

  • 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.

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