Public Policy

  • December 23, 2025

    Mass. Panel OKs $300M Real Estate Transfer Fee Hike

    Massachusetts would double its real estate transfer fees under a bill advanced by a legislative committee that would raise an estimated $300 million annually to fund affordable housing and climate mitigation efforts.

  • December 23, 2025

    11th Circ. Asked To Rehear Pregnancy Center Vandalism Case

    A Florida woman convicted of vandalizing crisis pregnancy centers across the state asked the Eleventh Circuit Monday to reconsider a ruling affirming her conviction, arguing that she should not have been prosecuted under a conspiracy statute for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.

  • December 23, 2025

    Notable North Carolina Laws Passed In 2025

    In 2025, North Carolina state legislators reacted to the brutal death of a Ukrainian refugee that garnered national attention by quickly drafting and passing a bill that retooled criminal law and shifted how judicial officers do their jobs. Another headline-grabbing law siphoned $6 million from free civil legal aid following concerns from GOP lawmakers that grant money was spent on "leftist groups."

  • December 23, 2025

    DHS Ordered To Restore $233M Grants To 'Sanctuary' States

    A Rhode Island federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reinstate $233 million in funding to immigration "sanctuary jurisdictions," finding the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had illegally terminated the grants for political reasons.

  • December 23, 2025

    Federal Prison Workers Seek Block On CBA Cancellation

    The union that represents employees of the Federal Bureau of Prisons asked a Connecticut federal judge to unwind the cancellation of their collective bargaining agreement, saying the agency's reasons for ending workers' union rights don't add up.

  • December 23, 2025

    Michigan AG Launches Probe Into Native Boarding Schools

    Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has opened a criminal investigation into Native American boarding schools and other institutions that once operated in the state.

  • December 22, 2025

    NY's James, 21 Other Dem AGs Say CFPB Defunding Unlawful

    New York Attorney General Letitia James led a coalition of nearly two dozen Democratic attorneys general in claiming the Trump administration's effort to defund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is illegal, telling an Oregon federal court Monday the municipalities are statutorily entitled to the CFPB's resources

  • December 22, 2025

    FTC Tosses Ban On AI-Fueled Tool For Stifling Innovation

    The Federal Trade Commission on Monday threw out a 2024 order that imposed a ban on an artificial intelligence-powered writing assistance service that allegedly enabled its subscribers to generate false and deceptive online reviews, concluding that the prior directive was inconsistent with the Trump administration's current policy against undermining innovation in the emerging AI field. 

  • December 22, 2025

    Trump Admin Adds Drones To Nat'l Security Threat List

    The Federal Communications Commission on Monday deemed new foreign-made drones an unacceptable risk to the national security and safety of the country.

  • December 22, 2025

    Christian University Loses Challenge To Wash. Bias Law

    A Seattle federal judge has disposed of a private Christian university's lawsuit claiming a Washington anti-discrimination law interferes with its First Amendment rights to only hire job candidates who share similar religious views, ruling the university hasn't provided evidence it faces realistic danger of injury from the statute.

  • December 22, 2025

    Attys Say ICE Won't Let Them Talk To Detained US Citizen

    Attorneys for a Maryland woman who immigration officials recently arrested in Baltimore said Monday that their client is a U.S. citizen, but that the government might remove her from the country despite a federal judge's order blocking it.

  • December 22, 2025

    Hochul Signs AG James' Bill To Expand Consumer Law

    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed into law New York Attorney General Letitia James' legislation to expand the state's ban on deceptive business practices to also protect against unfair and abusive practices, in the first updates to the state's primary consumer protection law in 45 years.

  • December 22, 2025

    PayPal Pares Bias Suit Over Minority-Focused Economic Fund

    A New York federal judge trimmed down a venture capital firm CEO's lawsuit accusing PayPal of discriminating against Asian Americans in a $500 million economic opportunity fund for Black- and minority-led businesses in 2020, allowing two claims against the financial technology company to go forward while tossing a couple of others.

  • December 22, 2025

    Boasberg Orders Admin To Return Venezuelans For Hearings

    U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg has once again ordered the Trump administration to return more than 100 Venezuelan migrants who were flown to the CECOT prison in El Salvador without removal hearings in March, ruling that the government had violated their due process rights.

  • December 22, 2025

    As US Executions Decline, Florida Surges

    During Florida's 1994 gubernatorial race, Republican candidate Jeb Bush accused Democratic incumbent Lawton Chiles of being too soft on crime; Chiles' immediate predecessor, Bush pointed out, had signed almost 10 times as many death warrants as Chiles had.

  • December 22, 2025

    Ex-CIA Director's Lawyers Accuse DOJ Of Judge Shopping

    Former CIA Director John Brennan's attorneys asked the chief judge for the Southern District of Florida on Monday to block prosecutors from trying to steer any potential charges against him for investigating Russia's 2016 election interference to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon's courtroom.

  • December 22, 2025

    9th Circ. Sides With Wash. Professor In Free Speech Case

    A split Ninth Circuit panel has determined that the University of Washington violated a professor's First Amendment rights by punishing him for mocking a suggested Native American land acknowledgment, concluding in a new published opinion that "student discomfort" alone is not enough to warrant restrictions on academic free speech.

  • December 22, 2025

    21 AGs Support Gun Ban For Cannabis Users

    A federal law that prohibits habitual drug users from possessing firearms is constitutional and necessary for public safety, a coalition of attorneys general from 20 states and Washington, D.C., told the U.S. Supreme Court, urging the justices to overturn a finding that the law violates the Second Amendment except when a user is actively intoxicated.

  • December 22, 2025

    Montana Tribe, County Settle Voting Rights Dispute

    A federal court judge has dismissed a challenge to a Montana county's at-large election system following a settlement that will allow tribal citizens to elect a representative of their choice to its board of commissioners through a single-member district election.

  • December 22, 2025

    Trump Admin Sues To Undo Ill. Immigrant Protection Laws

    The Trump administration sued the state of Illinois on Monday, claiming two recent state laws allowing for civil legal action against any law enforcement agent who knowingly violates the Illinois or U.S. Constitution and prohibiting civil arrests in and around state courthouses unlawfully discriminate against federal officers and violate the supremacy clause.

  • December 22, 2025

    10th Circ. Tosses Plumbing Co.'s Captive Deduction Bid

    The Tenth Circuit is not the proper forum for a Utah plumbing company to challenge the Internal Revenue Service's 2016 notice denying a microcaptive insurance deduction, the appeals court found Monday, citing two statutes that bar the company's arguments.

  • December 22, 2025

    Schumer Pushes Senate To Sue Over Epstein File Release

    Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., introduced a resolution on Monday that would direct the Senate to take legal action to force the Trump administration to fully comply with the law to release the files of the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

  • December 22, 2025

    OPM Must Face DOGE Data Access Suit

    A New York federal judge has denied the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's bid to end a lawsuit claiming it unlawfully gave employment records to President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, saying its assertion that the alleged privacy law violation "effects" have been "eradicated" is unsupported by the record.

  • December 22, 2025

    Chicago Council's $16.6B Budget Axes Mayor's Head Tax Plan

    Chicago aldermen have passed a budget that omits Mayor Brandon Johnson's signature tax proposal of a $33-per-employee monthly tax on larger businesses, setting up a clash with the mayor, who must now decide whether to veto the council's plan.

  • December 22, 2025

    Draft House Bill Would Clarify Tax Rules For Digital Assets

    A bipartisan draft bill in the U.S. House would modernize the federal tax code for digital assets, its backers said, by establishing a "commonsense tax treatment" for regulated payment stablecoins, clarifying source-of-income rules for trading and extending existing securities-lending rules to digital assets.

Expert Analysis

  • Revisiting Jury Trial Right May Upend State Regulatory Power

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    Justice Neil Gorsuch’s recent use of a denial of certiorari to call for the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit whether the Seventh Amendment jury trial right extends to states, building off last year's Jarkesy ruling, could foretell a profound change in state regulators' ability to enforce penalties against regulated companies, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • How Nasdaq, SEC Proposals May Transform Listing Standards

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    Both Nasdaq and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have increasingly focused their recent regulatory efforts on small and foreign issuers, particularly those from China, reflecting an intention to strengthen the overall quality of companies accessing U.S. markets, but also potentially introducing a chilling effect on certain issuers, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • New NCAA Betting Policy Fits Trend Of Eased Restrictions

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    Allowing NCAA student-athletes to bet on professional sports fits into a decade-long trend of treating college athletes more like adults in a commercial system, but decreasing player restrictions translates to increased compliance burdens for schools, say attorneys at Robins Kaplan.

  • Series

    Building With Lego Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Building with Lego has taught me to follow directions and adapt to unexpected challenges, and in pairing discipline with imagination, allows me to stay grounded while finding new ways to make complex deals come together, says Paul Levin at Venable.

  • How Banks Can Safely Handle Payments For Gambling Biz

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    As the betting market continues to expand, it's crucial for banks and fintechs to track historical developments in wagering and ongoing prediction markets litigation that can factor into a risk analysis for payment processing with respect to gambling operators, says Laura D'Angelo at Jones Walker.

  • Wading Into NY Wetland Regs' 2025 Changes And Challenges

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    Solar developers in New York should keep a weather eye on litigation challenging the New York Department of Environmental Conservation’s recently expanded authority to regulate wetlands and waterways, which could erode the impact of a new permitting process meant to streamline solar development on protected wetlands, say attorneys at Foley Hoag.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Networking 101

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    Cultivating a network isn't part of the law school curriculum, but learning the soft skills needed to do so may be the key to establishing a solid professional reputation, nurturing client relationships and building business, says Sharon Crane at Practising Law Institute.

  • Defeating Estoppel-Based Claims In Legal Malpractice Actions

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    State supreme court cases from recent years have addressed whether positions taken by attorneys in an underlying lawsuit can be used against them in a subsequent legal malpractice action, providing a foundation to defeat ex-clients’ estoppel claims, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin and Lodgen.

  • Takeaways As Justices Let 5th Circ. Pollution Ruling Stand

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent certiorari denial leaves intact a Fifth Circuit ruling that environmental justice organizations have standing to pursue a civil rights challenge to a parish's land-use practice, underscoring the importance of local governments proactively engaging with communities to address cumulative impacts of development, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • AI's Role In Google Antitrust Suit May Reshape Tech Markets

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    The evolution of AI in retail has reshaped the U.S.' antitrust case against Google, which could both benefit small business innovators and consumers, and fundamentally alter future antitrust cases, including the Federal Trade Commission's lawsuit against Amazon, says Graham Dufault at ACT.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: How It Works In Massachusetts

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    Since its founding in 2000, the Massachusetts Business Litigation Session's expertise, procedural flexibility and litigant-friendly case management practices have contributed to the development of a robust body of commercial jurisprudence, say James Donnelly at Mirick O’Connell, Felicia Ellsworth at WilmerHale and Lisa Wood at Foley Hoag.

  • Next Steps For DOE's Large-Load Interconnection Reforms

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    The U.S. Department of Energy's recent letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission may mark a substantial expansion of FERC's open-access framework for large-load facilities, though the proposed timeline for the rulemaking appears to be extraordinarily short, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Adapting To Calif.'s Enhanced Regulation Of PE In Healthcare

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    New California legislation enhances oversight on the role of private equity groups and hedge funds in healthcare transactions, featuring both a highly targeted nature and vague language that will require organizations to carefully evaluate existing practices, says Andrew Demetriou at Husch Blackwell.

  • What To Note In OCC, FDIC Plan To Standardize Supervision

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    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s recent proposals to standardize the meaning of "unsafe or unsound practice" and revise the process for issuing matters requiring attention could significantly narrow the scope of activities that spawn enforcement actions, says Brendan Clegg at Luse Gorman.

  • How The SEC May Overhaul Its Order Protection Rule

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    Attorneys at Skadden trace the evolution of the controversial Rule 611 of Regulation National Market System, examine the current debate surrounding its effectiveness, and consider how the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's emerging Project Crypto initiative could reshape Regulation NMS for a tokenized, on-chain market environment.

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