Public Policy

  • May 15, 2025

    Gov't Fights Expansion Of Transgender Passport Ruling

    The U.S. State Department is fighting a request to expand to thousands of people a Massachusetts federal court's preliminary ruling ordering the government to issue or renew passports to six transgender or nonbinary people to reflect their gender identity.

  • May 15, 2025

    Feds' Memo In Filing Mishap Is Privileged, NY Judge Says

    A New York federal judge has determined that the federal government's mistakenly filed memo in litigation over Manhattan's congestion pricing program is privileged and cannot be cited in the parties' arguments, but the memo won't be sealed because it's already been widely reported on.

  • May 15, 2025

    Texas Senate OKs Bill Allowing 1st Amend. Suits Against Bar

    The Texas Senate has passed a bill prohibiting the state bar from creating policies that affect bar members' First Amendment rights.

  • May 15, 2025

    Judge Puts Buffer Between ICE And Tufts Student After Bail Order

    A Vermont federal judge on Thursday said he will require U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to provide at least 48 hours' notice to his court of any future plan to detain Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk, after her lawyers expressed concern that the government could attempt an end-run around his bail order.

  • May 15, 2025

    Covington Hires Former Trump Regulations Czar In DC

    Covington & Burling LLP has hired President Donald Trump's former regulations czar, who has joined as an of counsel in its Washington, D.C. office, months after the president called for an immediate suspension of security clearances for any firm attorneys who represented former special counsel Jack Smith.

  • May 15, 2025

    11th Circ. Upholds Fla. Atty's COVID Relief Fraud Conviction

    The Eleventh Circuit upheld the 75-month sentence given to a Florida lawyer for a COVID-19 loan fraud scheme, finding that the lower court did not err by admitting a co-conspirator's testimony about a threat the attorney allegedly made.

  • May 15, 2025

    Feds, Immigrants Spar Over Defense Dept. Role In Removals

    A group of immigrants facing deportation to countries where they have no prior ties and may be at risk of harm urged a Massachusetts federal judge to add the U.S. Department of Defense as a defendant in their pending class action, a move the government says is unnecessary.

  • May 15, 2025

    Maryland Man Convicted Of Threatening Federal Judges

    A Maryland man has been convicted of making violent threats to multiple federal judges after already serving time in prison for threatening other members of the bench, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia.

  • May 15, 2025

    Nevada Resorts Want In On Kalshi Sports Betting Brawl

    A trade group representing Nevada's powerful gaming and resort industries is aiming to line up against KalshiEx LLC in its suit against state regulators over its sporting event offerings, arguing that the online trading platform is attempting an end-around of federal gambling laws.

  • May 15, 2025

    'Tornado Cash' Indictment Largely Intact After Crypto Memo

    A memo outlining the Trump administration's cryptocurrency enforcement priorities prompted federal prosecutors in Manhattan to slightly trim their indictment charging Tornado Cash founder Roman Storm with facilitating $1 billion of unlawful transactions via his crypto-mixer, a Thursday letter says.

  • May 15, 2025

    Senate Confirms Trump's Pick For EPA General Counsel

    The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to confirm Sean Donahue as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's general counsel.

  • May 15, 2025

    Feds Freeze Parity Enforcement As Agencies Rethink Regs

    Federal agencies said Thursday they will hold off on enforcing a rule requiring employer group health plans to analyze how they restrict coverage for mental health and substance use disorder treatments, citing ongoing litigation aimed at blocking the policy and broader plans to reevaluate enforcement priorities.

  • May 15, 2025

    C-Band Payment Clearinghouse Says Its Work Is Done

    The Federal Communications Commission's C-Band Relocation Payment Clearinghouse is planning to wind down its operation by the end of June, saying it's "completed all substantive functions required" by the commission dating back to its 2020 order expanding use of the C-band for 5G.

  • May 15, 2025

    House Bill Aims To Nix FMLA Leave Cap For Married Couples

    A bipartisan group of U.S. House members floated a bill that aims to strike a provision from the Family and Medical Leave Act that limits leave for married couples who work for the same employer.

  • May 15, 2025

    Asset-Rich Menendez Associate Must Pony Up $1.8M Fine

    A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday refused to adjust the payment schedule for a $1.75 million criminal fine for a New Jersey businessman who was convicted of bribing former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, citing his plentiful assets.

  • May 15, 2025

    Justices Say Context Matters When Evaluating Use Of Force

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for a civil rights lawsuit against a Houston-area traffic officer who shot and killed a fleeing man, ruling that courts must weigh the full sequence of events — not just the instant a threat arises — when deciding if police used excessive force.

  • May 15, 2025

    Jenner & Block Hires Garland's Former Chief Of Staff

    Matthew Klapper, who was chief of staff to former Attorney General Merrick Garland, has joined Jenner & Block LLP in the latest expansion of the firm's congressional investigations team, the firm announced Thursday.

  • May 14, 2025

    NY Judge Skeptical Of Huawei's Pretrial Bid To Nix Charges

    A Brooklyn federal judge seemed skeptical of a push by Huawei Technologies and affiliates to dismiss charges from a criminal case alleging Huawei deceived banks and the U.S. government for years about its business dealings in sanctioned countries and conspired to steal intellectual property from U.S. companies.

  • May 14, 2025

    Smartmatic Says Fox News Deleted 'Incriminating' Texts

    Fox News and its executives — including Rupert Murdoch and his son, Lachlan — deleted "critical" and "incriminating" text messages related to the network's allegedly defamatory broadcasts about Smartmatic during the 2020 election, the voting tech company said Wednesday.

  • May 14, 2025

    2 Mothers Fighting 'Inhumane' ICE Conditions To Stay In US

    A Maryland federal judge on Wednesday blocked the federal government from deporting two mothers detained in immigration holding cells in Baltimore pending their putative class action challenging the lawfulness of allegedly prolonged, inhumane and punitive detention conditions.

  • May 14, 2025

    DOGE Can't Dodge Limited FOIA Discovery, DC Circ. Says

    The Office of Management and Budget and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency must restart efforts to hand over thousands of pages of documents to a watchdog group seeking insight into DOGE's "secretive operations," the D.C. Circuit ruled Wednesday.

  • May 14, 2025

    Lawmakers Question Legality Of Library Of Congress Moves

    The Trump administration's recent removal of the head of the U.S. Copyright Office has triggered concerns from Senate Democrats who questioned Wednesday if the president had the authority to do it and whether it threatens the agency's independence.

  • May 14, 2025

    Mont. Court Blocks 'Ideological' Transgender Youth Care Ban

    A Montana judge on Tuesday struck down a state statute that banned gender-affirming care for minors, holding that the state's interest is "ideological rather than medical" and violates the constitutional rights of transgender youth seeking gender-affirming care and of healthcare professionals who provide it.

  • May 14, 2025

    Connecting With Friends Becoming 'Secondary,' FB Head Says

    The head of Facebook acknowledged in D.C. federal court Wednesday that Meta Platforms Inc.'s original application remains focused heavily on sharing with friends, but, despite Federal Trade Commission claims it's monopolized that business, said social media has evolved so much that those connections are no longer the platform's "main character."

  • May 14, 2025

    DOJ Tells Judge It's Reshaping, Not Killing, Detainee Legal Aid

    A D.C. federal judge suggested he might need more in an administrative record to decide whether to reinstate government-backed legal assistance programs for detained noncitizens after a late filing from the feds suggested congressionally appropriated funds would still go out but to different recipients.

Expert Analysis

  • Unpacking Trump Admin Plans For Value-Based Care

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    Recent developments from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation suggest the Trump administration intends to put its own stamp on value-based care, emphasizing cost savings assessment in particular, with its recent cancellation of several payment models that had supported primary care, says Miranda Franco at Holland & Knight.

  • Trending At The PTAB: A Pivot On Discretionary Denials

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    Following the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's rescission of the 2022 Vidal memorandum and a reversion to the standards under Apple v. Fintiv, petitioners hoping to avoid discretionary denials should undertake holistic review of all Fintiv factors, rather than relying on certain fail-safe provisions, say attorneys at Finnegan.

  • Key Insurance Issues Likely To Arise From NY Superfund Law

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    The recently enacted New York Climate Change Superfund Act imposes a massive $75 billion in liabilities on energy companies in the fossil fuel industry, which can be expected to look to their insurers for coverage, raising a slew of coverage issues both old and new, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • SDNY Sentencing Ruling Is Boon For White Collar Defendants

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    Defense attorneys should consider how to maximize the impact of a New York federal court’s recent groundbreaking ruling in U.S. v. Tavberidze, which held that a sentencing guidelines provision unconstitutionally penalizes the right to a jury trial, says Sarah Sulkowski at Gelber & Santillo.

  • How Trump Policies Are Affecting The Right To Repair

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    Recent policy changes by the second Trump administration — ranging from deregulatory initiatives to tariff increases — are likely to have both positive and negative effects on the ability of independent repair shops and individual consumers to exercise their right to repair electronic devices, say attorneys at Carter Ledyard.

  • How Attorneys Can Master The Art Of On-Camera Presence

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    As attorneys are increasingly presented with on-camera opportunities, they can adapt their traditional legal skills for video contexts — such as virtual client meetings, marketing content or media interviews — by understanding the medium and making intentional adjustments, says Kerry Barrett.

  • Justices' TikTok Ruling Sets Stage For 1st Amendment Battle

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's landmark ruling upholding a law requiring TikTok's sale sets the stage for an inevitable clash between free speech and government interests and signals that future cases will turn on whether a regulation poses a substantial burden on speech, say attorneys at Dykema.

  • What Del. Corporate Law Rework Means For Founder-Led Cos.

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    Although the amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law have proven somewhat divisive, they will provide greater clarity and predictability in the rules that apply to founder-led companies navigating transactions concerning controlling stockholders and responding to books-and-records requests, say attorneys at Munger Tolles.

  • Border Cash Transaction Rule Heralds Wider AML Crackdown

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    The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s new order for money services providers near the Mexican border to report cash transactions over $200 should warn financial institutions to prepare for the new administration's heightened scrutiny of cross-border transactions and anti-money laundering compliance, says Daniel Silva at Buchalter.

  • Opinion

    Congress Must Reform The PTAB To Protect Small Innovators

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    Lawmakers must reintroduce the Promoting and Respecting Economically Vital American Innovation Leadership Act or similar legislation to prevent larger companies from leveraging the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to target smaller patent holders, says Schwegman Lundberg's Russell Slifer, former deputy director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

  • Series

    Baseball Fantasy Camp Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    With six baseball fantasy experiences under my belt, I've learned time and again that I didn't make the wrong career choice, but I've also learned that baseball lessons are life lessons, and I'm a better lawyer for my time at St. Louis Cardinals fantasy camp, says Scott Felder at Wiley.

  • DOJ Immigration Playbook May Take Cues From A 2017 Case

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    A record criminal resolution with a tree trimming company accused of knowingly employing unauthorized workers in 2017 may provide clues as to how the U.S. Department of Justice’s immigration crackdown will touch American companies, which should prepare now for potential enforcement actions, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Paul Atkins' Past Speeches Offer A Glimpse Into SEC's Future

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    Following Paul Atkins' Thursday Senate confirmation hearing, a look at his public remarks while serving as a commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission between 2002 and 2008 reveals eight possible structural and procedural changes the SEC may see once he likely takes over as chair, say attorneys at Covington.

  • McKernan-Led CFPB May Lead To Decentralized Enforcement

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    Though Jonathan McKernan’s confirmation as director would likely mean a less active Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the decreased federal oversight could lead to more state-led investigations, multistate regulatory actions and private lawsuits under consumer protection laws, says Jonathan Pompan at Venable.

  • How Fla. Is Floating A Raft Of Bills To Stem Insurance Woes

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    Proposed reforms that follow a report skewering Florida's insurance industry offer a step in the right direction in providing relief for property owners, despite some limitations, say attorneys at Farah & Farah.

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