Public Policy

  • July 17, 2025

    Trump Picks Two For NLRB, Setting Up Return Of Quorum

    President Donald Trump announced his choices Thursday of an in-house counsel at Boeing and a longtime National Labor Relations Board official to fill two long-standing vacancies on the board, setting up confirmations that would restore a quorum on the NLRB.

  • July 17, 2025

    Watchdog Raises Concerns On 9th Circ. Nominee's Crypto Work

    President Donald Trump's nominee for the Ninth Circuit has a long record of representing cryptocurrency companies, which a watchdog group fears could aid what it calls the president's "self-enrichment" with digital currency.

  • July 16, 2025

    11th Circ. Nixes Walmart Win, Backs ALJ Removal Restriction

    The Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday ruled in a published opinion that a removal restriction for administrative law judges is constitutional, reversing Walmart's win in a lawsuit that had blocked a chief administrative law judge from deciding on immigration-related complaints against the hypermarket company.

  • July 16, 2025

    Fla. Man Convicted In Plot To Kill Fed Prosecutor, FBI Agent

    A Florida federal jury convicted a former university student of charges in connection with a murder-for-hire plot and attempting to kill U.S. government officials, including a prosecutor and FBI agent shortly before his trial commenced in a separate cyberstalking case.

  • July 16, 2025

    Immigrants Slam 'Unlawful' Immigration Courthouse Arrests

    A group of immigrants and advocacy groups on Wednesday filed a proposed class action over the Trump administration's recent practice of arresting and fast-tracking the deportation of people attending hearings at immigration courts, calling the arrests "unprecedented" and "unlawful."

  • July 16, 2025

    Fed IG To Probe $2.5B HQ Renovation Amid Trump Criticism

    The Federal Reserve's inspector general confirmed Wednesday that it plans to look into the central bank's $2.5 billion renovation of its Washington, D.C., headquarters, an overbudget project that has become a target of White House criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

  • July 16, 2025

    Dallas Beats Suit By Motorist Hit By Police Car

    Sovereign immunity shields municipalities in instances where their police officers run red lights with their warning sirens off during emergency calls, according to a Texas appeals court, which ruled against a motorist who was hit by a Dallas police patrol vehicle.

  • July 16, 2025

    Fla. Judge Will Hear Out Suit Over Postponed Miami Elections

    A Florida state judge on Wednesday declined to rule on a lawsuit challenging a Miami ordinance postponing municipal elections, instead considering arguments over the legality of the law that bypasses a voter referendum and extends the offices of some city elected representatives whose terms expire at the end of this year.

  • July 16, 2025

    Nonprofits Taking Immigrant Legal Aid Fight To DC Circ.

    Nonprofit groups that are trying to stop the U.S. Department of Justice from cutting off funding to four programs that provide legal information to noncitizens are taking their fight with the Trump administration to the D.C. Circuit after a federal judge killed their lawsuit.

  • July 16, 2025

    House Crypto Bills Clear Procedural Hurdle After Late Stall

    Three pieces of crypto legislation moved forward late Wednesday night after stumbling at a procedural hurdle in the House of Representatives as multiple Republican lawmakers broke with their party and temporarily withheld their support.

  • July 16, 2025

    Trump Taps Ex-Thomas, Kavanaugh Clerk For 3rd Circ.

    President Donald Trump announced on social media Wednesday that he has chosen a Catholic University of America law professor, who is currently serving in the White House Counsel's office and has clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh, to serve on the Third Circuit.

  • July 16, 2025

    GAO Tells Congress Loser-Pays Model Not Needed

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a letter to Congress that it does not endorse creating a loser-pays model for unsuccessful protests of defense contracts because sufficient measures already exist to limit the impact of protests filed without a substantial basis.

  • July 16, 2025

    With Discretionary Denials, PTAB Accepting Fewer Petitions

    The rate of patent challenges accepted by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board is still declining, with data for July showing a sharp decrease in the institution rate following major changes in board practice, according to data shared at a Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox PLLC webinar Wednesday.

  • July 16, 2025

    Maine Clinics Sue Over Medicaid Ban On Abortion Providers

    A Maine family planning organization sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday over abortion-related Medicaid restrictions outlined in President Donald Trump's budget act, saying they violate constitutional equal protection rights.

  • July 16, 2025

    AI Tools Taking On Bigger Role In USPTO Patent Examination

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is expanding how artificial intelligence is used in patent examination, adding an image search tool that design patent examiners will soon be trained on to existing tools for utility patent examiners, officials said at a Wednesday event.

  • July 16, 2025

    Cornell Workers Urge 2nd Circ. Remand Suit Justices Revived

    Cornell University workers urged the Second Circuit to remand their sweeping class action alleging retirement plan mismanagement to New York federal court, arguing that the lower court should decide whether to hold a jury trial on a claim that the U.S. Supreme Court revived in April.

  • July 16, 2025

    Family Of Philly Teacher Pushes City For Answers On Death

    The family of Ellen Greenberg, a Philadelphia teacher whose 2011 death was ruled a suicide despite 20 stab wounds, is pressing city officials to honor a settlement in which they agreed to revisit her cause of death after a decade-long legal battle.

  • July 16, 2025

    Hawley Accuses AI Cos. Of Largest IP Theft In US History

    U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley condemned artificial intelligence developers accused of using pirating sites to obtain training material for their AI models, calling the claims part of "the largest intellectual property theft in American history" during a hearing Wednesday.

  • July 16, 2025

    Ga. Prosecutor Resigns Amid DUI Handling Feud With Judge

    A Georgia prosecutor announced his resignation from a county solicitor's post Wednesday amid a public feud with a state court judge and dueling allegations of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct.

  • July 16, 2025

    Mass. Judges To Mull Dismissals Amid Defender Pay Standoff

    Nearly two months after many court-appointed attorneys in Massachusetts stopped accepting new cases over what they say is poor pay, a solution still appears elusive, even as judges will soon start hearing motions to dismiss cases under an emergency order issued by a state high court justice.

  • July 16, 2025

    Dominion Exec Settles Defamation Suit With Election Denier

    A former Dominion Voting Systems Inc. executive reached a settlement on Wednesday in Colorado federal court with a right-wing podcast and speaking tour that he said were spreading defamatory statements surrounding the 2020 election.

  • July 16, 2025

    Justice Kavanaugh Pauses 8th Circ.'s Voting Rights Ruling

    Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on Wednesday administratively paused an Eighth Circuit decision to vacate two North Dakota tribes' challenge to two of the state's voting laws, pending the outcome of a forthcoming petition to the full high court.

  • July 16, 2025

    FCC Looks To Streamline Regs For Enviro Reviews

    The Federal Communications Commission expects to move a plan forward in August that would overhaul its rules for scrutinizing telecom and broadband projects under the National Environmental Policy Act.

  • July 16, 2025

    House Panel Urged To Modernize Tax Rules For Digital Assets

    Congress needs to create tax rules for digital assets such as cryptocurrency and nonfungible tokens because the current regime is burdensome for businesses and pushing development out of the U.S., industry representatives told a House Ways and Means Committee subcommittee Wednesday.

  • July 16, 2025

    DOJ Tells 9th Circ. TPS Cancellation Delay Can't Stand

    The U.S. Department of Justice maintained that the Ninth Circuit should vacate a California federal judge's order postponing its termination of temporary protected status for Venezuelans, based on the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling curtailing nationwide injunctions.

Expert Analysis

  • Trump Antitrust Shift Eases Pressure On Private Equity Deals

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    Enforcement actions and statements by Trump administration antitrust officials forecast a shift away from specifically targeting private equity activity, which should be welcome news to dealmakers, but firms shouldn't expect to escape traditional antitrust scrutiny, says Nathaniel Bronstein at Fried Frank.

  • How Cos. Can Prep For Calif. Cybersecurity Audit Regulations

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    As the California Privacy Protection Agency Board finalizes cybersecurity audit requirements, companies should take six steps to prepare for the audit itself and to build a compliant cybersecurity program that can pass the audit, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Series

    Competing In Modern Pentathlon Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Opening myself up to new experiences through competing in modern Olympic pentathlon has shrunk the appearance of my daily work annoyances and helps me improve my patience, manage crises better and remember that acquiring new skills requires working through your early mistakes, says attorney Mary Zoldak.

  • Shifting DEI Expectations Put Banks In Legal Crosshairs

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    The Trump administration's rollbacks on DEI-friendly policies create something of a regulatory catch-22 for banks, wherein strict compliance would contradict established statutory and administrative mandates regarding access to credit for disadvantaged communities, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • Compliance Tips After Court Axes EEOC's Trans Rights Take

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    A Texas federal court's recent decision struck portions of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's 2024 guidance pertaining to sexual orientation and gender identity under Title VII, barring their use nationwide and leaving employers unsure about how to proceed in their compliance efforts, say attorneys at Dorsey & Whitney.

  • Atkins' Crypto Remarks Show SEC Is Headed For A 'New Day'

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    A look at U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins' recent speeches provides significant clues as to where the SEC is going next and how its regulatory approach to crypto will differ from that of the previous administration, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Teaching Yourself Legal Tech

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    New graduates often enter practice unfamiliar with even basic professional software, but budding lawyers can use on-the-job opportunities to both catch up on technological skills and explore the advanced legal and artificial intelligence tools that will open doors, says Alyssa Sones at Sheppard Mullin.

  • State Farm Rate Hike Portends Intensifying Insurance Crisis

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    The California Department of Insurance's unprecedented emergency approval of a 17% rate increase for State Farm General Insurance, the first interim rate relief granted before completing full actuarial justification, represents a regulatory watershed and establishes precedent that could fundamentally reshape insurers' response to climate-driven market instability, says Daniel Veroff at Merlin Law Group.

  • Steps For Universities To Pass Tax-Exempt Test Amid Scrutiny

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    After decades of a quiet governmental acceptance of tax-exempt status, universities are facing unprecedented and public pressure to defend themselves, and must consider how to protect this valuable status, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • In 2nd Term, Trump Has New Iran Sanctions Enforcement Tool

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    As tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalate, the Trump administration may use a whistleblower program enacted in 2022 to target violations that were previously more difficult to detect, thus expanding enforcement of economic sanctions, say attorneys at MoloLamken and Zuckerman Law.

  • Texas Targets Del. Primacy With Trio Of New Corporate Laws

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    Delaware has long positioned itself as the leader in attracting business formation, but a flurry of new legislation in Texas aimed at attracting businesses to the Lone Star State is aggressively trying to change that, says Andrew Oringer at the Wagner Law Group.

  • Explicit Pic Takedown Law Casts A Wide Net

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    With a surprisingly broad range of online platforms potentially subject to the new Take It Down Act’s process for removing revenge porn or explicit deepfakes, all services that allow user interaction or content hosting should proactively evaluate their legal obligations and demonstrate compliance, say attorneys at Goodwin, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • How AI May Reshape The Future Of Adjudication

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    As discussed at a recent panel at Texas A&M, artificial intelligence will not erase the human element of adjudication in the next 10 to 20 years, but it will drive efficiencies that spur private arbiters to experiment, lead public courts to evolve and force attorneys to adapt, says Christopher Seck at Squire Patton.

  • What Money Transmitters Need To Know About New Colo. Law

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    Colorado's new Money Transmission Modernization Act updates standards for the licensing, supervision and regulation of money transmitters while codifying an agent-to-payee exemption, and represents another step toward standardizing these rules across state governments, say Sarah Auchterlonie and Joel Herberman at Brownstein Hyatt.

  • How States Are Taking The Lead On Data Center Regulation

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    While support for data center growth is a declared priority for the current administration, federal data center policy has been slow to develop — so states continue to lead in attracting and regulating data center growth, say attorneys at Steptoe.

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