Public Policy

  • October 07, 2025

    Camp Lejeune Litigation Goes On Despite Gov't Shutdown

    The consolidated litigation over water contamination at the Camp Lejeune military base will not pause during the federal government shutdown, a North Carolina federal judge ruled, saying that such a halt, for an unknown length, would cause "severe disruptions" in the case and for the "ailing and older" plaintiffs.

  • October 07, 2025

    Senate Confirms 2 DOJ Nominees, 16 US Attys

    The U.S. Senate voted 51-47 Tuesday, along party lines, to confirm a slew of nominees for the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • October 07, 2025

    Lawmakers, States Back Tribes In Supreme Court Voting Case

    A bipartisan group of 10 current and former members of Congress and 22 states have supported two North Dakota tribes in their U.S. Supreme Court bid to overturn an Eighth Circuit order that prohibits suits against states for violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

  • October 07, 2025

    EMS Workers Tell 4th Circ. NC County Owes Them Wages

    Emergency medical services workers argued that a North Carolina county created a "mathematical impossibility" when it calculated their wages, urging the Fourth Circuit to flip a federal court's ruling that the county didn't owe them anything despite having violated federal law.

  • October 07, 2025

    Senate Confirms FERC Republican Nominees

    The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed President Donald Trump's picks to fill Republican slots on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, giving the GOP a 3-2 majority at the agency.

  • October 07, 2025

    Okla. Judge Cites McGirt Ruling For 200% Caseload Surge

    An Oklahoma federal judge chided a group of tribal plaintiffs in a dispute over jurisdiction in Indian Country after they inquired about the status of their summary judgment motions, saying a landmark 2020 Supreme Court ruling has increased the court's criminal caseload by 200%.

  • October 07, 2025

    Apple Seeks To Toss IPhone, Watch Buyers' Antitrust Suits

    Apple has asked a New Jersey federal court to toss multidistrict antitrust litigation brought by iPhone and Apple Watch buyers, arguing that while they "try in vain to invent" theories about how Apple charges monopoly prices the inflation-adjusted price of the latest iPhone is nearly the same as the first model.

  • October 07, 2025

    Justices Probe Standard Of Care In 'Conversion Therapy' Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday wrestled with whether gay "conversion" therapy banned by a Colorado law is a medical treatment that falls outside the accepted standard of care, or whether it's protected First Amendment speech.

  • October 07, 2025

    Cruise Cos. Say Tax Injunction Act Doesn't Bar Hawaii Suit

    A group of cruise companies should be allowed to proceed with their complaint against the state of Hawaii for an extension of a transient occupancy tax to cruise passengers, the companies told a federal district court, saying the Tax Injunction Act doesn't bar the complaint.

  • October 07, 2025

    2nd Circ. Rules Inmates Not Entitled To Specific Gender Care

    A Second Circuit panel has overturned a transgender inmate's partial win in a lawsuit against prison officials in Connecticut over allegedly inadequate gender dysphoria treatment, holding that the defendants are entitled to qualified immunity and that "inmates have no clearly established right to be treated by gender-dysphoria specialists" or receive specific treatments for the condition.

  • 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 Senate confirmed on Tuesday 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

    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 Concerned 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.

Expert Analysis

  • How To Navigate NYC's Stricter New Prenatal Leave Rules

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    On top of the state's prenatal leave law, New York City employers now face additional rules, including notice and recordkeeping requirements, and necessary separation from sick leave, so employers should review their policies and train staff to ensure compliance with both laws, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • HHS Plan To Cut Immigrant Benefits Spurs Provider Questions

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    A recent notice from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services identifying new federal public benefit programs for which nonqualified aliens are not eligible may have a major impact on entities that participate in these programs — but many questions remain unanswered, say attorneys at Foley.

  • A Simple Way Courts Can Help Attys Avoid AI Hallucinations

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    As attorneys increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence for legal research, courts should consider expanding online quality control programs to flag potential hallucinations — permitting counsel to correct mistakes and sparing judges the burden of imposing sanctions, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl and Connors.

  • Strategies For ICE Agent Misconduct Suits In The 11th Circ.

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    Attorneys have numerous pathways to pursue misconduct claims against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the Eleventh Circuit, and they need not wait for the court to correct its misinterpretation of a Federal Tort Claims Act exception, says Lauren Bonds at the National Police Accountability Project.

  • Opinion

    SEC Should Restore Its 2020 Proxy Adviser Rule

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    Due to concerns over proxy advisers' accuracy, reliability and transparency, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should reinstate its 2020 rule designed to suppress the influence that they wield in shareholder voting, says Kyle Isakower at the American Council for Capital Formation.

  • DOJ Consumer Branch's End Leaves FDA Litigation Questions

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    With the dissolution of the U.S. Department of Justice's Consumer Protection Branch set to occur by Sept. 30, companies must carefully monitor how responsibility is reallocated for civil and criminal enforcement cases related to products regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • Surveying The Changing Overdraft Fee Landscape

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    Despite recent federal moves that undermine consumer overdraft fee protections, last year’s increase in fee charges suggests banks will face continued scrutiny via litigation and state regulation, says Amanda Kurzendoerfer at Bates White.

  • Handling Sanctions Risk Cartel Control Brings To Mexico Port

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    Companies operating in or trading with Mexico should take steps to mitigate heightened exposure triggered by routine port transactions following the U.S. Treasury’s recent unequivocal statement that a foreign terrorist organization controls the port of Manzanillo, says Jeremy Paner at Hughes Hubbard.

  • The Road Ahead For Digital Assets Looks Promising

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    With new legislation expected to accelerate the adoption of blockchain technology, and with regulators taking a markedly more permissive approach to digital assets, the convergence of traditional finance and decentralized finance is closer than ever, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Asbestos Trusts And Tort Litigation Are Still Not Aligned

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    A recent ruling by a New York state court in James Petro v. Aerco International highlights the inefficiencies that still exist in asbestos litigation — especially regarding the continued lack of coordination between the asbestos tort system and the well-funded asbestos trust compensation system, says Peter Kelso at Roux.

  • Opinion

    Closing The Chemical Safety Board Is A Mistake

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    The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, which investigates the root causes of major chemical incidents, provides an essential component of worker and community safety and should not be defunded, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • The Evolving Legal Landscape For THC-Infused Beverages

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    A recent Eighth Circuit ruling, holding that states may restrict the sale of intoxicating hemp-derived products without violating federal law, combined with ongoing regulatory uncertainty at both the federal and state levels, could alter the trajectory of the THC-infused beverage market, say attorneys at Pashman Stein.

  • New NY Residential Real Estate Rules May Be Overbroad

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    New legislation imposing a 90-day-waiting period and tax deduction restrictions on certain New York real estate investors may have broad effects and unintended consequences, creating impediments for a wide range of corporate and other transactions, says Libin Zhang at Fried Frank.

  • Cos. Must Tailor Due Diligence As Trafficking Risks Increase

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    As legislators, prosecutors and plaintiffs attorneys increasingly focus on labor and sex trafficking throughout the U.S., companies must tailor their due diligence strategies to protect against forced labor trafficking risks in their supply chains, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • Series

    Creating Botanical Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Pressing and framing plants that I grow has shown me that pursuing an endeavor that brings you joy can lead to surprising benefits for a legal career, including mental clarity, perspective and even a bit of humility, says Douglas Selph at Morris Manning.

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