Public Policy

  • May 13, 2025

    Fox Nabs Smartmatic Bribery Probe Docs In Defamation Case

    A New York state appeals court on Tuesday ordered Smartmatic to give Fox News documents related to a federal investigation into allegations that executives of the election systems company bribed officials in the Philippines, ruling the materials are "plainly relevant" to the network's defense against defamation claims.

  • May 13, 2025

    Trade Court Panel Looks Askance At Trump Tariff Justification

    A U.S. Court of International Trade panel expressed skepticism Tuesday that the emergency law President Donald Trump is using to impose global tariffs left the determination of an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to be a political rather than legal question.

  • May 13, 2025

    PBMs Get Bipartisan Bashing At Hearing On Drug Costs

    Senators across party lines slammed pharmacy benefit managers on Tuesday, sometimes in coarse language, as they wrestled with how to reduce drug prices for patients while also preventing the closure of rural pharmacies.

  • May 13, 2025

    States Grapple With Feds Revoking Digital Equity Grants

    States that received grant money under the $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act are scrambling to figure out their next steps after the Trump administration called the program "unconstitutional" and cut off their funding in recent days.

  • May 13, 2025

    1st Circ. Urged To Rule In Appeal Over Canceled HUD Grants

    Groups challenging Trump administration cuts to $30 million in housing grants asked the First Circuit to rule that a Massachusetts federal judge, in fact, has the power to order federal officials to fund the grants, even after the judge dissolved such a ruling in reaction to a recent U.S. Supreme Court finding.

  • May 13, 2025

    SEC's Uyeda Encourages Opening 401(k)s To Private Assets

    U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissioner Mark Uyeda said Tuesday that regulators should explore how retirement accounts could expand to include private equity investments, arguing that such a shift would put 401(k) plans on par with pension funds.

  • May 13, 2025

    11th Circ. Looks Open To Reviving Ga. Voter Intimidation Suit

    Eleventh Circuit judges scrutinizing a ruling that a conservative election monitoring group didn't intimidate Georgians when it challenged the voter registration of hundreds of thousands of citizens said Tuesday the district judge may have gotten it wrong, suggesting during oral arguments the group may have at least tried it.

  • May 13, 2025

    Climate NGOs Attack EPA Appeal In Funding Clawback Fight

    Climate investment groups asked the D.C. Circuit to affirm a district court ruling blocking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from clawing back billions of dollars disbursed to them under the Inflation Reduction Act, characterizing its actions as "textbook arbitrariness."

  • May 13, 2025

    Pa. Sens. Reject Bill To Legalize Pot Through State-Run Shops

    A Pennsylvania Senate committee on Tuesday voted to reject a bill to legalize adult-use marijuana and regulate its sale via state-run stores.

  • May 13, 2025

    10th Circ. Pushes Vail On Safety Claim Behind Truck Limits

    A Tenth Circuit panel on Tuesday pressed the ski town of Vail, Colorado, on whether it has enough evidence that an ordinance limiting commercial truck deliveries in pedestrian-only zones would improve public safety, with one judge saying the town's rationale "almost sounds like a pretext."

  • May 13, 2025

    FTC To Keep Focus On Key Sectors, Address Personal Liberty

    The head of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Competition said Tuesday the agency will remain focused on healthcare, technology and labor issues as enforcers also work to ensure corporate power does not infringe on personal liberties.

  • May 13, 2025

    Ex-BIA Chief Returns To Private Practice At Grossman Young

    Former Board of Immigration Appeals chair David Wetmore has joined Grossman Young & Hammond as senior counsel, returning to private practice after more than 16 years in government service handling immigration matters across the U.S. Department of Justice and the White House.

  • May 13, 2025

    Trump Nudges Justices To Lift Ban On Venezuelan Removals

    The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to lift a 3-week-old order temporarily prohibiting the government from removing a group of almost 200 alleged Venezuelan gang members currently detained in northern Texas to an El Salvador prison, citing new lower court rulings and a detention center protest.

  • May 13, 2025

    Texas House OKs Bill Expanding Biz Court Disputes

    A bill that would bring sweeping changes to the state's business court is one step closer to becoming law after approval by the Texas House on Tuesday.

  • May 13, 2025

    Pot Dispensary Asks Mo. High Court To Block County Taxes

    In incorporated areas of Missouri counties, a municipality's imposition of a 3% sales tax on adult-use cannabis supersedes a county's ability to impose its own additional tax, a dispensary told the Missouri Supreme Court during oral arguments Tuesday.

  • May 13, 2025

    NJ AG, Data Co. Defend Judicial Privacy Law At 3rd Circ.

    Data protection company Atlas Data Corp. and New Jersey's attorney general are urging the Third Circuit to uphold a decision declaring the state's judicial privacy measure known as Daniel's Law as constitutional.

  • May 13, 2025

    Schumer Vows To Hold Up Trump's DOJ Noms Over Qatari Jet

    Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday that he has placed a hold on all of President Donald Trump's U.S. Department of Justice nominees due to Trump's plans to accept a $400 million private jet from the Qatari royal family.

  • May 13, 2025

    Attys Push 11th Circ. To Weigh Judge Shopping Sanctions

    The Eleventh Circuit can hear three attorneys' appeal of sanctions against them for judge shopping during their legal challenge to an Alabama law criminalizing gender-affirming care, because the underlying case was dismissed, making the jurisdictional question moot, two of those lawyers told the appellate court.

  • May 13, 2025

    Snubbing Migrant Law Order Isn't Contempt, Fla. AG Says

    Florida's attorney general has argued that he should not be held in contempt for telling law enforcement agencies he could not force them to comply with a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of a state law criminalizing the entry of unauthorized immigrants.

  • May 13, 2025

    CFPB Axes Order For Toyota Unit To Pay Millions In Redress

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has quietly lifted a consent order with Toyota's U.S. financing arm, releasing it from "any alleged noncompliance" with the order — including requirements that called for it to return nearly $42 million to consumers.

  • May 13, 2025

    6th Circ. Demands New Atty Fee Calculation In Property Row

    The Sixth Circuit has agreed that the state of Michigan and one of its counties are liable for attorney fees in a lawsuit alleging the county unlawfully kept proceeds from a tax-foreclosed sale, adding on Monday that the lower court must better explain why it slashed the victorious property owner's fee request.

  • May 13, 2025

    Menendez 'Laptop Problem' May Not Sway 2nd Circ. On Bail

    The Second Circuit pushed back Tuesday on arguments by two New Jersey businessmen convicted of bribing former Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., after they asked for bail pending the outcome of their appeals, with the men pointing to a laptop used by jurors that contained excluded evidence.

  • May 13, 2025

    Ex-FERC Chair And His Chief Of Staff Join Holland & Knight

    The former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and his former chief of staff and legal adviser at the agency have joined Holland & Knight LLP's public policy and regulation practice in Washington, D.C., the firm announced on Tuesday.

  • May 13, 2025

    Justice Souter: Who He Was And How He Shaped The Law

    Retired Justice David Souter died last week at age 85. Here, Law360 looks at the former U.S. Supreme Court justice's legacy — not just through his legal work, but in his mentoring of clerks and friendships with peers.

  • May 12, 2025

    3M Says It'll Pay $285M To End Past, Future NJ PFAS Claims

    3M has agreed to shell out $285 million to put to rest environmental claims brought by New Jersey officials over purported PFAS contamination at the Chamber Works manufacturing facility in Salem County as well as statewide claims the Garden State may have in the future, according to an announcement made Monday.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Preparing For Corporate Work

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    Law school often doesn't cover the business strategy, financial fluency and negotiation skills needed for a successful corporate or transactional law practice, but there are practical ways to gain relevant experience and achieve the mindset shifts critical to a thriving career in this space, says Dakota Forsyth at Olshan Frome.

  • 6 Ways The Dole Act Alters USERRA Employment Protections

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    The recently passed Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act continues a long-standing trend of periodically increasing the scope of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, expanding civilian employment rights for service members and veterans with some of the most significant changes yet, say attorneys at Littler.

  • Opinion

    Federal Limits On Counter-Drone Options Need Updating

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    As malicious actors swiftly and creatively adapt drone technology for nefarious ends, federal legislation is needed to expand the authority of state and local governments, as well as private businesses and individuals, to take steps against such threats, says Carter Lee at Woods Rogers.

  • FTC Focus: Synthetic Data Yields Antitrust Considerations

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    Attorneys at Proskauer explore the burgeoning world of synthetic data, the antitrust implications involved, the Federal Trade Commission's role in regulating this space and practical takeaways from these emerging issues.

  • OCC Patriot Bank Order Spotlights AML Issues For Managers

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    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's focus on payments and prepaid card program managers in its recent consent order with Patriot Bank is noteworthy and shows regulators are unlikely to back down on enforcement related to Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • FDIC Shift On ALJs May Show Agencies Meeting New Norms

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    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s recent reversal, deciding to not fight a Kansas bank’s claim that the FDIC's administrative law judge removal process is unconstitutional, shows that independent agencies may be preemptively reconsidering their enforcement and adjudication authority amid executive and judicial actions curtailing their operations, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

  • Opinion

    The SEC Must Protect Its Best Tool For Discovering Fraud

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    By eliminating the consolidated audit trail's collection of most retail customer information, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission may squander a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deter securities market fraud and abuse, something new Chair Paul Atkins must ensure doesn't happen, says former SEC data strategist Hugh Beck.

  • 7 Things Employers Should Expect From Trump's OSHA Pick

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    If President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is confirmed, workplace safety veteran David Keeling may focus on compliance and assistance, rather than enforcement, when it comes to improving worker safety, say attorneys at Fisher Phillips.

  • How Cos. Can Mitigate Increasing Microplastics Liability Risk

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    Amid rising scrutiny in the U.S. and Europe of microplastics' impact on health and the growing threat of litigation against consumer product and food and beverage manufacturers, companies can limit liability through compliance with labeling laws, careful contract management and other practices, say attorneys at Rogers Joseph.

  • Strategizing For Renewable Energy Project Success In Texas

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    The Electric Reliability Council of Texas has long been a key market for renewable energy projects, but rising financial and regulatory uncertainty means that developers and investors must prepare for inflation and policy risks, secure robust insurance coverage, and leverage tax equity transferability to ensure success, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Opinion

    Slater Heralds Return To US Antitrust Norms, Innovation

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    Under recently confirmed Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice can fulfill President Donald Trump's objective to reestablish American economic dominance on the global stage while remaining faithful to antitrust's core principles, says Ediberto Roman at the Florida International University College of Law.

  • A Cold War-Era History Lesson On Due Process

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    The landmark Harry Bridges case from the mid-20th century Red Scare offers important insights on why lawyers must be free of government reprisal, no matter who their client is, says Peter Afrasiabi at One LLP.

  • How Latin American Finance Markets May Shift Under Trump

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    Changes in the federal government are bringing profound implications for Latin American financial institutions and cross-border financing, including increased competition from U.S. banks, volatility in equity markets and stable green investor demand despite deregulation in the U.S., says David Contreiras Tyler at Womble Bond.

  • Series

    Improv Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Improv keeps me grounded and connected to what matters most, including in my legal career where it has helped me to maintain a balance between being analytical, precise and professional, and creative, authentic and open-minded, says Justine Gottshall at InfoLawGroup.

  • TikTok Bias Suit Ruling Reflects New Landscape Under EFAA

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    In Puris v. Tiktok, a New York federal court found an arbitration agreement unenforceable in a former executive's bias suit, underscoring an evolving trend of broad, but inconsistent, interpretation of the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, say attorneys at Williams & Connolly.

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