Expert Analysis

• SEC's Shareholder Activism Role After The '26 Proxy Season

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently proposed eliminating its shareholder proposal rule, but this proxy season's combination of elevated campaign activity, limited formal escalation and measured voting outcomes illustrates why a targeted SEC role remains important, say attorneys at Sidley.

• Series

  NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

  

  Several developments from New York financial services regulators in the third quarter reflect a common theme — regulators are increasingly seeking to apply established supervisory expectations to newer market participants and emerging financial products, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

• AG Watch: Texas Takes A Lone State Stand Against Tech Cos.

  

  A look at Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's recent actions against Meta Platforms and Amazon.com illustrates how Texas is distancing itself from multistate coordination, offering practitioners a crucial perspective on navigating individual state actions amid coordinated attorney general litigation, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

• Contact Lens Rule's Evolution Steers FTC Guidance Program

  

  The history of the Federal Trade Commission's Contact Lens Rule illustrates the goals of the FTC's recently announced guidance program, which aims to strengthen consumer protection and safeguard competition, say attorneys at Wilson Sonsini.

• Upholding Energy Efficiency Rules If DOE Eases Enforcement

  

  Despite recent moves by the Energy Department and Congress to limit energy efficiency enforcement, companies should maintain current efficiency standards and testing procedures lest they risk state or private action, enforcement lookbacks during future administrations, truth-in-advertising complaints and more, say attorneys at HWG.

• DOJ-Agri Stats Settlement Offers Key Benchmarking Lessons

  

  A Minnesota federal court's recent approval of the Agri Stats settlement marks a significant milestone as it's the most granular U.S. Justice Department guidance on permissible competitor benchmarking since the 2023 withdrawal of the safety zone, lending predictability for companies in data-pooling arrangements, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

• Abbott FCA Deal Shows Enforcement Adequacy Quandaries

  

  Abbott Laboratories’ recent False Claims Act resolution illustrates several tricky questions that both prosecutors and defense counsel must address when weighing whether a civil enforcement action alone adequately addresses allegedly wrongful conduct, says James Koukios at MoFo.

• 3 Illinois Updates That Bolster Mortgage Lender Enforcement

  

  Illinois lenders can use clarifications from recent legislative and judicial developments — a law defining the limitations period for home equity loans and two rulings on quiet title actions and lien expirations during foreclosures — to sharpen their enforcement tools and better protect their mortgage rights, says Stephanie Mulcahy at Hinshaw.

• Visa Ruling Exposes APA Risks For DHS Grace Period Repeal

  

  Four defects described in a September district court decision halting the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's new restrictions on student visas as arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act can also be seen in the agency's recent proposal to eliminate a long-standing grace period for laid-off skilled foreign workers, says Jun Li at Reid & Wise.

• Series

  Mich. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

  

  We are at an inflection point for Michigan financial services law, with a state Supreme Court decision recently overruling more than 25 years of precedent on the Michigan Consumer Protection Act, and pending legislation that could significantly shift the regulatory landscape, say attorneys and advisers at Dykema.

• HSR Compliance Lessons Abound In Proposed $250M Deal

  

  The U.S. Justice Department's recently proposed $250 million Hart-Scott-Rodino Act settlement with KKR sheds light on additional safeguards that companies can put into place to mitigate risk as they prepare for their next deal, including implementation of a robust document process, say attorneys at White & Case.

• FTC Proposal Puts Personalized Pricing On Notice

  

  The Federal Trade Commission’s recent proposed policy statement on undisclosed personalized pricing signals the potential for harm when business practices diverge from consumer expectations, indicating a need to disclose not only data usage, but also how it influences the prices consumers see, says Linda Goldstein at CM Law.

• Religious Accommodation Lessons From Recent EEOC Focus

  

  With several recent U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforcement actions focusing on religious accommodations, employers should identify the actual burden an accommodation imposes, distinguish operational hardship from co-workers' objections, and pay attention to how the accommodation is implemented, says Crystal Banse at Spencer West.

• Opinion

  CFTC's New Award Policy Punishes Whistleblower Success

  

  The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently capped four whistleblower awards because it considered them too large, arguing that it could lead to frivolous reporting, but the move instead penalizes the program for its own success and flies in the face of the framework enacted by Congress, say attorneys at Whistleblower Partners.

• DC Circ. Ruling Highlights Limits Of DOE Grid Orders

  

  The D.C. Circuit's recent decision in Michigan v. U.S. Department of Energy, vacating a DOE order to keep a coal-burning power plant open, gives utilities more insight into the durability of federal orders premised on protecting grid security, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.