Public Policy

  • May 02, 2025

    A Look At Trump's Pick For The 6th Circuit

    President Donald Trump's first judicial nominee, Whitney Hermandorfer, who's been tapped for a seat Democrats tried to fill while Joe Biden was in the White House, has been part of litigation on several politically charged issues due to her job with the Tennessee Attorney General's office.

  • May 02, 2025

    Trump Proposes Billions In Cuts To EPA State Grant Programs

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would lose more than half of its funding compared with 2025 under the 2026 budget request released Friday by the Trump administration, with proposed cuts to drinking water infrastructure grants for states amounting to $2.4 billion. 

  • May 02, 2025

    With Lowell's New Firm, San Juan Bank Appeals NY Fed Loss

    Abbe Lowell — the high-profile litigator who on Friday announced he will launch a boutique firm aiming to aid with "politicized investigations" after exiting the partnership of Winston & Strawn LLP — will help handle a Puerto Rico bank's appeal of an order affirming the closure of its Federal Reserve master account by federal regulators.

  • May 02, 2025

    Civil Rights Groups Told They Can't Block Trump's DEI Orders

    A D.C. federal judge declined Friday to block executive orders from President Donald Trump canceling funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs and contracts, ruling the orders haven't infringed on the missions of the three civil rights groups behind the suit beyond federally funded projects.

  • May 02, 2025

    Opening Upper C-Band Poses Air Safety Concerns, FCC Told

    The Federal Communications Commission needs to scrutinize how a plan to open the upper C-Band airwaves for commercial wireless would affect aircraft safety equipment before moving toward new rules, airline pilots said.

  • May 02, 2025

    US, China Battling Over Entrenched Economies, Experts Say

    Differing economic philosophies are contributing to the escalating trade war between the United States and China, according to professionals who follow the countries' relations, with the Chinese government's supply-side ideology rooted in exports and U.S. deficit spending driving demand for imports.

  • May 02, 2025

    Layoffs, Grant Cutoffs On Hold At Federal Library Agency

    Employees of the federal agency that provides grants and resources to public libraries can keep their jobs for now, with a federal judge in Washington, D.C., issuing a temporary restraining order blocking a mass layoff scheduled for May 4 from going into effect.

  • May 02, 2025

    More Crypto Easing For Banks Is 'Critical,' Trade Groups Say

    A coalition of Wall Street trade groups urged the executive branch to continue removing "barriers" limiting financial institutions from engaging with digital assets in a joint letter calling for uniform risk-management expectations over processes that require firms to clear their crypto activities with banking regulators ahead of time.

  • May 02, 2025

    Feds Urge Judge To Deny ACLU's Broader Injunction Request

    The Trump administration said a Washington, D.C., federal judge can't order the government to facilitate the return of Venezuelan nationals deported from the U.S. to El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center "in a district in which none of the affected individuals are located."

  • May 02, 2025

    4 Mass. Rulings You May Have Missed In April

    Some notable Massachusetts state court decisions in April wrestled with a Staples affiliate's jurisdictional challenge in an employment case, a discovery dispute in the state's greenwashing litigation against Exxon involving McKinsey & Co., and an insurer's effort to be let off the hook for representing a lawyer in a malpractice claim.

  • May 02, 2025

    Pot Co. Drops Challenge To Mich. City's Licensing Scheme

    A would-be Michigan dispensary has dropped its suit alleging that the city of Auburn Hills violated a voter-approved ordinance by awarding a cannabis license to a company it had previously said didn't fit the criteria for one.

  • May 02, 2025

    Ad Tech Judge Mulls Possible Google Exchange Divestiture

    A Virginia federal judge expressed interest Friday in potentially forcing Google to divest a key piece of its advertising placement technology business, while voicing reservations with a U.S. Department of Justice proposal to also force another sale to address the search giant's ad tech monopoly.

  • May 02, 2025

    Trooper Guilty On Most Counts In Driver's License Scheme

    A former Massachusetts State Police trooper was convicted Friday on most counts in a case alleging he accepted bribes in exchange for giving passing scores on commercial driver's license exams.

  • May 02, 2025

    Conn. Exoneree Says Town Can't Escape $5.7M Jury Verdict

    A murder exoneree who spent three decades in prison has asked a federal judge to reject a Connecticut town's attempt to escape a $5.7 million evidence fabrication award, saying a limited post-verdict review weighs in his favor and that the town's prior Second Circuit loss supports his win.

  • May 02, 2025

    Trade War Spurs Companies To Freshen Disclosure Playbooks

    Against the backdrop of a protracted trade war that has rattled investors, companies are honing their securities filings and public communications strategies, posing fresh challenges for corporations and their lawyers, who are otherwise accustomed to navigating global disruptions.

  • May 02, 2025

    Mass. Board Knocks $36K Off Senior Condo's Tax Valuation

    A Massachusetts senior condominium unit was overvalued by $36,000, the state Appellate Tax Board ruled in an opinion released Friday, saying the owner's comparable sales analysis showed the property's valuation was inconsistent with the other properties.

  • May 02, 2025

    FCC Poised To Pull Plug On Thousands Of 'Inactive' Dockets

    The Federal Communications Commission's GOP leader said Friday the agency plans to shut down more than 2,000 regulatory dockets that have become outdated and "inactive."

  • May 02, 2025

    Groups Seek Order Halting Trump's Restructuring Of Gov't

    A California district court must stop federal agencies from moving ahead with President Donald Trump's directive to reorganize and terminate government workers, unions and other groups argued, calling for a temporary restraining order based on alleged harms from the administration's "radical restructuring."

  • May 02, 2025

    Emory Fired Palestinian Prof Over Gaza Posts, Bias Suit Says

    Emory University folded to pressure from an advocacy group and illegally fired a medical school professor for criticizing on social media Israel's treatment of Palestinian people, the ousted educator alleged Friday in Georgia federal court.

  • May 02, 2025

    Conn. AG Scuttles Nursing School Suit After $5M Student Deal

    The state of Connecticut has formally withdrawn an unfair trade practices lawsuit against defunct nursing school Stone Academy after the facility penned a $5 million deal for students and the state attorney general vowed not to seek additional penalties from the shuttered entity.

  • May 02, 2025

    DC Circ. Seems Unconvinced That Proxy Firms 'Solicit'

    An industry group's bid to revive a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule regulating proxy advisory firms seemed to meet a skeptical D.C. Circuit panel on Friday, as the judges questioned whether those firms "solicit" proxy votes.

  • May 02, 2025

    Miner, Recreationists Look To Dissolve Chuckwalla Monument

    A miner and an advocacy group have asked a Michigan federal court to revoke the protected status of the Chuckwalla National Monument in a suit that takes aim at presidential power to protect vast areas of federal land.

  • May 02, 2025

    3rd Circ. Says County Judges Need Notice To Pull Probation

    The Third Circuit on Friday partly revived claims from criminal defendants who said they were jailed for alleged probation violations too hastily and too long by Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Judges Jill Rangos, Anthony Mariani and Kelly Bigley, but the split panel declined to require more than "probable cause" for someone to be returned to jail.

  • May 02, 2025

    Live Nation Antitrust Fight Won't Have Split Damages Phase

    A Manhattan federal judge declined Friday to break out a possible monetary damages phase in a suit by federal and state authorities accusing Live Nation of quashing competition in live entertainment, saying the move would be unlikely to streamline the complex case.

  • May 02, 2025

    Reuters Escapes Suit Over NJ Judicial Privacy Law

    A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit alleging Thomson Reuters violated the New Jersey judicial privacy measure Daniel's Law, finding the plaintiffs failed to properly serve the Canadian organization.

Expert Analysis

  • Avoiding Pitfalls Around New Calif. Commercial Lease Law

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    A California law that became effective this year requires commercial landlords to extend certain protections previously afforded to residential tenancies, and a few key provisions of the law especially warrant reexamination of leasing and operational processes, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • How BigLaw Executive Orders May Affect Smaller Firms

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    Because of the types of cases they take on, solo practitioners, small law firms and public interest attorneys may find themselves more dramatically affected by the collective impact of recent government action involving the legal industry than even the BigLaw firms named in the executive orders, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Filial Consortium Claims' Future After Conn. High Court Ruling

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    While the Connecticut Supreme Court recently ruled for defendants in rejecting parents’ attempt to recover loss of companionship damages in a severe child injury case, there is still potential for the plaintiffs bar to lobby for a law that would allow filial consortium claims, Glenn Coffin at Gordon Rees.

  • 5 Tools To Help Existing Gov't Contracts Manage Tariff Costs

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    Five pointers can help government contractors scrutinize their existing contracts for protections like equitable adjustment and duty-free entry clauses, which may help insulate them from tariff-related cost increases, say attorneys at Covington.

  • 4th Circ. Health Data Ruling Opens Door To State Law Claims

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    In Real Time Medical v. PointClickCare, the Fourth Circuit recently clarified that state law claims can rest in part on violations of a federal law that prohibits electronic health information blocking, expanding legal risks for health IT companies and potentially creating exposure to a range of competitive implications, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • Opinion

    Lawsuits Shouldn't Be Shadow Assets For Foreign Capital

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    Third-party litigation financing amplifies inefficiencies from litigation and facilitates national exposure to foreign influence in the U.S. justice system, so full disclosure of financing arrangements should be required as a matter of institutional integrity, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

  • 2 Del. Rulings Reinforce Proof Needed For Records Demands

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    Two recent Delaware Court of Chancery decisions involving Amazon and Paramount Global illustrate the significance of the credible basis standard on books and records requests, underscoring that stockholders seeking to investigate wrongdoing must come forward with actual evidence of misconduct — not mere allegations, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • How To Accelerate Your Post-Attorney Career Transition

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    Professionals seeking to transition to nonattorney careers may encounter skepticism as nontraditional candidates, but there are opportunities for thought leadership and to leverage speaking and writing to accelerate a post-attorney career transition, say Janet Falk at Falk Communications and Evgeny Efremkin at Toronto Metropolitan University.

  • Key Takeaways From The 2025 Spring Antitrust Meeting

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    Leadership changes, shifting priorities and evolving enforcement tools dominated the conversation at the recent American Bar Association Spring Antitrust Meeting, as panelists explored competition policy under a second Trump administration, agency discretion under the 2023 merger guidelines and new frontiers in conduct enforcement, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • 3 Action Items For Innovators Amid Fintech Regulatory Pivot

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    As the federal banking agencies seek to smooth the way for banks to engage in crypto-related activities, banks and technology companies should take note of this new chapter in payments services, especially as leadership in digital financial technology becomes a national priority, says Jess Cheng at Wilson Sonsini.

  • What PFAS-Treated Clothing Tariff Bill Would Mean For Cos.

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    In keeping with a nationwide trend of greater restrictions on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, legislation pending in the U.S. House of Representatives would remove tariff advantages for PFAS-treated clothing — so businesses would be wise to proactively adapt their supply chains and review contracts to mitigate liability, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • How Tariffs May Affect Proxy Contests This Season

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    While global tariffs imposed by the Trump administration will certainly chill at least some activity this proxy season, and make defending contests significantly easier, there will likely be many new activist investments once there is more economic certainty, meaning more proxy fights this fall, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Running A Compliant DEI Program After EEOC, DOJ Guidance

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    Following recent guidance from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice that operationalized the Trump administration's focus on ending so-called illegal DEI, employers don't need to eliminate DEI programs, but they must ensure that protected characteristics are not considered in employment decisions, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • A Closer Look At New NYSE, Nasdaq Listing Rule Changes

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has recently approved changes to the New York Stock Exchange's and the Nasdaq's listing rules on reverse stock splits, minimum share price requirements and required liquidity for initial listings, meaning listed companies facing delisting will have fewer means to regain compliance, say attorneys at Cahill Gordon.

  • Opinion

    GENIUS Act Can Bring Harmony To Crypto-Banking Discord

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    ​​​​​​​By embracing crypto innovation while establishing appropriate guardrails, the so-called GENIUS Act charts a path forward that promotes financial inclusion and technological advancement without compromising stability or constitutional rights, says J.W. Verret at George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School.

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