Public Policy

  • December 12, 2025

    Md. Judge Probes Limits Of Review In ICE Church Raids Suit

    A Maryland federal judge on Friday seemed unsure whether a coalition of religious organizations have a viable Administrative Procedure Act challenge to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security policy loosening restrictions on where immigration enforcement can take place.

  • December 12, 2025

    Judge Tosses 'Problem Solver' TM Suit In Calif. Gov. Race

    A California federal judge has dismissed a trademark complaint from gubernatorial candidate Stephen Cloobeck, ruling that his effort to stop Democratic primary opponent Antonio Villaraigosa from saying he is a "proven problem solver" in his campaign could stifle political expression.

  • December 12, 2025

    Treasury Withdraws Proposed Regs On Spousal Tax Liability

    The U.S. Treasury Department has withdrawn two sets of proposed regulations addressing married individuals who filed joint tax returns then later sought relief from joint and several tax liability, according to a notice issued Friday.

  • December 12, 2025

    Tort Reform Fight Dominated 2025 For Ga. Lawmakers

    Sweeping changes to Georgia's civil practice rules amid a Republican-led tort reform push took center stage in the state's legislative session in 2025, shaking up how litigators navigate new claims and setting the stage for years of appellate battles, attorneys in the state say.

  • December 12, 2025

    Ex-Rabobank Exec Will Press For Fees From OCC At 9th Circ.

    A former Rabobank compliance official will make another attempt to force the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to pick up the tab for her legal fees for the office's now-abandoned enforcement proceeding, which she says cost her millions of dollars to defend.

  • December 12, 2025

    Betting, Trading Platforms Form Prediction Market Alliance

    A group of betting and trading platforms said they've created a new organization to advance the interests of prediction markets as betting challenges from states intensify and Congress starts to formally structure the cryptocurrency market writ large.

  • December 12, 2025

    FCC's Carr Cheers Trump Order Curtailing State AI Laws

    Federal Communications Commission Chief Brendan Carr on Friday lauded a White House move to restrict states from passing "onerous" laws and regulations covering artificial intelligence.

  • December 12, 2025

    4th Circ. Won't Revive Black Worker's Promotion Bias Suit

    The Fourth Circuit backed a community college's win Friday in a Black former employee's suit claiming her race and gender caused her to lose out on a promotion, ruling she failed to rebut the college's explanation that the white, male candidate who got the role was more qualified.

  • December 12, 2025

    NLRB Asks Calif. Judge To Follow Colleague On Fill-In Law

    A California federal judge should follow his New York colleague's lead and hold that states likely cannot let their labor boards fill the National Labor Relations Board's shoes if the NLRB is faltering, the NLRB argued, saying "profound labor relations instability" could result if courts begin endorsing such laws.

  • December 12, 2025

    Treasury Issues Final Regs For Taxing Foreign Govt. Income

    The U.S. Treasury Department issued final regulations Friday for determining whether income of foreign governments derived within the U.S. is taxable along with proposed regulations concerning when a foreign government has effective control of a commercial entity.

  • December 12, 2025

    Nasdaq Seeks Power To Block IPOs Over Manipulation Risks

    Nasdaq proposed a rule change on Friday that would give the exchange new discretion to block initial public offerings even when companies meet all quantitative listing requirements, citing concerns that certain stocks could be vulnerable to manipulation once they begin trading.

  • December 12, 2025

    Del. US Atty Resigns Citing 'Politics,' Successor Appointed

    The acting U.S. Attorney for Delaware said Friday that she is resigning, citing "a highly politicized, flawed blue-slip tradition" for nominees and saying she "fully" supports her first assistant, who has been appointed by a federal judge to succeed her.

  • December 10, 2025

    Colo. Asks 10th Circ. To OK Social Media Law Aimed At Minors

    The Colorado Attorney General's Office asked the Tenth Circuit to review a lower court decision to enjoin the state from enforcing its recently passed law that would display warning messages to minors using social media platforms after a trade association claimed the law was unconstitutional.

  • December 12, 2025

    US Atty Nominee For Wyo. Was Outside Capitol On Jan. 6

    One of President Donald Trump's U.S. attorney nominees, who was on the U.S. Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021, and recently told senators he still thinks "there were imperfections" in the 2020 election process, has been advanced toward Senate confirmation.

  • December 12, 2025

    Colo. Mobile Home Was Properly Valued, Court Says

    A Colorado mobile home was correctly valued by a county's board of tax appeals and should not have its value lowered, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled. 

  • December 12, 2025

    HUD Opens Investigation Into Boston's Housing Policies

    The federal government said it is investigating alleged racial discrimination in Boston's housing programs, accusing the city of favoring nonwhite residents in an effort to achieve racial equity in housing.

  • December 12, 2025

    Neb. Co.'s Properties Have Lower Value, Commission Says

    Four storage facilities were overvalued after determining that the storage company's appraiser offered a persuasive appraisal of the properties, the Nebraska Tax Equalization Commission found. 

  • December 12, 2025

    Judge Vacates Montana Logging Plan Over Wildlife Risks

    A Montana federal court judge vacated a U.S. Forest Service plan to log more than 16,500 acres in the Custer Gallatin National Forest, saying its failure to consider future impacts on grizzly bears and Canada lynx was arbitrary and capricious.

  • December 12, 2025

    Watchdog Sues White House For Records On Law Firm Deals

    A Washington-based nonprofit watchdog has sued the Trump administration, seeking records related to deals BigLaw firms struck to provide an estimated nearly $1 billion worth of pro bono legal services to further the administration's priorities, following the president's executive orders to withhold security clearances and investigate the firms.

  • December 12, 2025

    4 Big ERISA Litigation Developments From 2025's 2nd Half

    The Eleventh Circuit signaled it may be willing to change its precedent to make it easier for federal benefits lawsuits to get to the courthouse door, while the Second Circuit shut down a challenge to a union pension plan's private equity investment emphasis. Here's a look back at these and two other significant Employee Retirement Income Security Act litigation developments from the latter half of 2025 that benefits attorneys should have on their radar.

  • December 12, 2025

    5th Circ. Tosses Chinese Citizen's Suit Over Texas Land Law

    The Fifth Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of a Chinese citizen's suit challenging a Texas law that bars residents and entities domiciled in specific countries, such as China, from buying property in the state, ruling the plaintiff lacks standing to sue because China is not his permanent home and he does not "intend to return." 

  • December 12, 2025

    Ore. Court OKs Retroactive Property Tax On Logged Land

    An Oregon county correctly assessed property taxes on two acres of land retroactively disqualified from a forestland special assessment due to logging to clear space for a residence, the state tax court said.

  • December 12, 2025

    Mass. Judge Pauses Haitian TPS Suit For Separate Appeal

    A Massachusetts federal judge paused a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's revocation of temporary protected status for Haitian and Venezuelan immigrants, pointing to a similar case that he said is expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • December 12, 2025

    DHS To Revoke Temporary Protected Status For Ethiopians

    U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem will revoke temporary protected status for Ethiopian immigrants, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Friday.

  • December 12, 2025

    Higgs Fletcher Forms White Collar, Regs Enforcement Team

    San Diego-based law firm Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP has launched a white collar crime and regulatory enforcement defense practice group, citing heightened regulatory scrutiny in the financial and healthcare sectors and rising enforcement risks for licensed professionals and institutions.

Expert Analysis

  • Insuring Equality: 3 Tips To Preserve Coverage For DEI Claims

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    Directors and officers and employment practices liability are key coverages for policyholders to review as potentially responsive to the emerging liability threat of Trump's executive orders targeting corporate diversity, equity and inclusion policies and practices, says Micah Skidmore at Haynes Boone.

  • Opinion

    Justice Requires Excluding Manner Of Death As Evidence

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    A recent report showing that the unstandardized and subjective U.S. system of medicolegal death investigations contributes to unjust convictions should prompt courts and lawmakers to reject manner of death testimony in favor of more transparent and testable forensic evidence, say Peter Neufeld and Isabelle Cohn at the Innocence Project.

  • The SEC Whistleblower Program A Year Into 2nd Trump Admin

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's whistleblower program continues to operate as designed, but its internal cadence, scrutiny of claims and operational structure reflect a period of recalibration, with precision mattering more than ever, say attorneys Scott Silver and David Chase.

  • Autonomous Vehicle Liability Trends To Watch In 2026

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    With autonomous vehicles increasingly making their own decisions, the liability landscape for AVs has changed over the past year — highlighting a number of important issues that companies and practitioners should keep a close eye on in 2026, says Farid Yaghoubtil at Downtown LA Law Group.

  • Key Crypto Class Action Trends And Rulings In 2025

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    As the law continued to take shape in the growing area of crypto-assets, this year saw a jump in crypto class action litigation, including noteworthy decisions on motions to compel arbitration and class certification, according to Justin Donoho at Duane Morris.

  • New Russia Energy Sanctions Add Compliance Complexity

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    Recent U.S. and U.K. designations of Russian oil companies and related entities, as well as a new sanctions package from EU, mark a significant escalation in restrictions on the Russian energy industry and add a new layer of regulatory complications for companies operating in the global energy sector, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • 6 Laws For Calif. Employers To Know In 2026

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    California's legislative changes for 2026 impose sweeping new obligations on employers, including by expanding pay data reporting, clarifying protections related to bias mitigation training and broadening record access rights, but employers can avoid heightened exposure by proactively evaluating their compliance, modernizing internal systems and updating policies, says Alexa Foley at Gordon Rees.

  • How New SEC Policies Shift Shareholder Proposal Landscape

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    U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins' recent remarks provide a road map for public companies to exclude nonbinding shareholder proposals from proxy materials, which would disrupt the mechanism that has traditionally defined how shareholders and companies engage on governance matters, say attorneys at Gunderson.

  • NBA, MLB Betting Indictments: Slam Dunks Or Strikeouts?

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    Recent fraud charges against bettors, NBA players and MLB pitchers raise questions about what the government will need to prove to prosecute individuals involved in placing bets based on nonpublic information, and it could be a tough sell to juries, say attorneys at Ford O'Brien.

  • Tracking The Evolution Of AI Insurance Regulation In 2025

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    As artificial intelligence continues to transform the insurance industry, including underwriting, pricing, claims processing and customer engagement, state regulators, led by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, are increasing oversight to ensure that innovation does not outpace consumer protections, say attorneys at Fenwick.

  • Series

    Knitting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Stretching my skills as a knitter makes me a better antitrust attorney by challenging me to recalibrate after wrong turns, not rush outcomes, and trust that I can teach myself the skills to tackle new and difficult projects — even when I don’t have a pattern to work from, says Kara Kuritz at V&E.

  • How 11th Circ.'s Qui Tam Review Could Affect FCA Litigation

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    On Dec. 12, the Eleventh Circuit will hear arguments in U.S. ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, setting the stage for a decision that could drastically reduce enforcement under the False Claims Act, and presenting an opportunity to seek U.S. Supreme Court review of the act's whistleblower provisions, say attorneys at Epstein Becker.

  • Prepping For 2026 Shifts In Calif. Workplace Safety Rules

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    California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health is preparing for significant shifts and increased enforcement in 2026, so key safety programs — including injury and illness prevention plans, workplace violence plans, and heat illness prevention procedures — must remain a focus for employers, says Rachel Conn at Conn Maciel.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Welcome To Miami

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    After nearly 20 years in operation, the Miami Complex Business Litigation Division is a pioneer upon which other jurisdictions in the state have been modeled, adopting many innovations to keep its cases running more efficiently and staffing experienced judges who are accustomed to hearing business disputes, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • How AI Exec Order May Tee Up Legal Fights With States

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    The Trump administration's draft executive order would allow it to challenge and withhold federal dollars from states with artificial intelligence laws, but until Congress passes comprehensive AI legislation, states may have to defend their regulatory frameworks in extended litigation, says Charles Mills, a clerk at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.

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