Public Policy

  • December 15, 2025

    USPTO Replaces Denver Office With Center In Montana

    Montana has been picked by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to be the first state to oversee community outreach in the area formerly serviced by the now-shuttered Rocky Mountain Regional Outreach Office in Denver.

  • December 15, 2025

    IRS Finalizes Tribal Welfare, Energy Direct Pay Rules

    The IRS finalized a pair of long-awaited tribal regulations Monday governing a taxable income exclusion for welfare benefits and classifying certain tribe-owned entities as tax-exempt to allow them to directly monetize tax credits for clean energy projects.

  • December 15, 2025

    Beyond Nuclear Pushes Justices To Undo Storage License

    The nonprofit seeking to stop the U.S. Department of Energy from contracting out nuclear waste storage hit back at the contractor's bid to keep the case out of the U.S. Supreme Court, saying the contractor's own brief supports the nonprofit's position.

  • December 15, 2025

    Groups Say Texas Food Labeling Law Must Be Blocked

    A group of food industry associations are urging a Texas federal judge to block a section of the state's new Make Texas Healthy Again Act, saying the section is preempted by federal law because it requires them to put false and misleading information on the labels.

  • December 15, 2025

    Fishery Says NY, NJ Wind Project 'Obliterated' Fishing Area

    A Garden State fishery has sued the owner of the Empire Offshore Wind project in New Jersey federal court, alleging that it has "completely and permanently obliterated" the ability to harvest shellfish in the project area and caused it more $25 million in damages.

  • December 15, 2025

    Nix FCC's Public Interest Standard, Free Market Group Says

    Lawmakers need to consider scrapping the longstanding public interest standard rather than seeking to hold broadcasters to a measure from the Communications Act, a free-market think tank argued Monday.

  • December 15, 2025

    Connecticut 'Likely' To Settle Generic Drug Price Cap Dispute

    A pharmaceutical industry trade group and the state of Connecticut have signaled their intent to settle a feud over the interpretation of the state's generic drug price cap law, and a federal judge gave them until Monday to say more about their plan.

  • December 15, 2025

    Ex-US Attys Say Pardons, Loyalty Demands Hurt Rule Of Law

    A bipartisan group of former U.S. attorneys spoke publicly Monday on their concerns regarding the direction the U.S. justice system has taken since the start of the second Trump administration and the potential risks that may pose to the rule of law.

  • December 15, 2025

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Litigation in Delaware's Court of Chancery sprawled from a dispute over control of banana plantations along Africa's Congo River to a fight over the late musician Prince's estate last week. Along the way, a court ruling rejected a motion for a quick decision favoring Blue Bell Creameries director and officer calls for liability releases in a tainted ice cream saga that dates to 2015.

  • December 15, 2025

    Judge Won't Boot Bondi-Appointed Prosecutor In LA

    A federal judge has refused to reconsider his ruling disqualifying Bill Essayli from holding the role of U.S. attorney but allowing him to serve as the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, finding that Essayli's appointment by U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi is valid.

  • December 15, 2025

    Fed. Court Asked To Block IRS' Microcaptive Reporting Rule

    A Texas federal court should vacate an IRS rule aimed at flagging potential tax avoidance by requiring companies to disclose information about their microcaptive insurance transactions because it undermines Congress' authority, according to a Texas plastics company and its microcaptive adviser.

  • December 15, 2025

    Texas, Toronto Stock Exchanges End Trademark Dispute

    The Texas Stock Exchange has buried the hatchet with the Toronto Stock Exchange and ended its suit seeking a court finding that the two exchanges' logos are dissimilar. 

  • December 15, 2025

    11th Circ. Wants Alabama High Court's Help On Voting Law

    The Eleventh Circuit balked Monday at ruling on a challenge to Alabama statutes enacted last year which restrict voters from receiving help in applying for an absentee ballot, asking the state's Supreme Court to first try to untangle what it called "not a very clear law."

  • December 15, 2025

    Atty Seeks To Block Law Banning Fee-Sharing With ABS Firms

    The attorney challenging a California law that blocks fee-sharing with out-of-state law firms owned by nonlawyers has petitioned for enforcement of the law to be suspended before it is set to go into effect on Jan. 1.

  • December 15, 2025

    DC Judge Blocks ICE Plan To Funnel Teens To Adult Detention

    A D.C. federal judge blocked a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement policy aimed at transferring people who entered the country as unaccompanied minors into adult immigrant detention centers once they turn 18 and age out of Office of Refugee Resettlement custody.

  • December 15, 2025

    Sen. Tim Scott's Ex-Chief Of Staff Joins Holland & Hart

    Holland & Hart LLP has tapped the former chief of staff for Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., to serve as a senior director of federal affairs in the firm's Washington, D.C., office, according to a Monday announcement.

  • December 15, 2025

    Employee-Related Charges Against Goldstein Are Tossed

    A Maryland federal judge has dismissed several charges against SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein related to employees at his law firm, agreeing that prosecutors had failed to establish a clear rule for determining whether employees are legitimate for tax purposes.

  • December 15, 2025

    PTAB Creates New Prehearing Conference For AIA Reviews

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has rolled out a change to its trial practice guide that will create a new prehearing conference 15 days prior to oral hearings under the America Invents Act in cases implemented by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director.

  • December 15, 2025

    High Court Will Review Racial Bias In Miss. Jury Strikes

    The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear its second case involving the same Mississippi prosecutor's peremptory strikes of Black prospective jurors in a Black defendant's death penalty case — and the same state judge's approval of those strikes.

  • December 15, 2025

    Court Says Anti-SLAPP Doesn't Shield Facebook Insult Of Atty

    The Massachusetts Appeals Court on Monday ruled that the state's anti-SLAPP law does not cover a Facebook insult hurled at an attorney on a local political page, though the court still held that the lawyer cannot sue over the online slight.

  • December 12, 2025

    1st Circ. OKs Barring Medicaid Planned Parenthood Coverage

    A First Circuit panel on Friday upheld the Trump administration's ban on Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, vacating a lower court's order that would've kept in place Medicaid reimbursements for Planned Parenthood clinics in 22 states.

  • December 12, 2025

    Live Nation Consumers Get Class Certified In Antitrust Case

    A California federal judge Friday certified a class of consumers accusing Live Nation of monopolizing the live entertainment industry, rejecting the company's argument that there aren't common issues that predominate over individual ones and adopting a tentative ruling he issued earlier this month.

  • December 12, 2025

    Reddit Fights Australia's Social Media Ban For Kids Under 16

    Global online discussion forum Reddit on Thursday launched a legal challenge to Australia's first-of-its-kind law prohibiting children under 16 from creating accounts on nearly a dozen popular social media platforms, telling the country's top court that the measure illegally restrains minors' political communications and that there are "less restrictive" ways to protect kids online.

  • December 12, 2025

    Fired MSPB Member Urges Full DC Circ. To Rehear Case

    A D.C. Circuit panel based its decision to uphold Merit Systems Protection Board member Cathy Harris' firing on a mischaracterization of the agency, Harris argued Friday to the full D.C. Circuit, asking the en banc court to override the decision, bring her back to work and preserve MSPB members' job protections.

  • December 12, 2025

    Texas Justices Broaden Protections For Road Contractors

    The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that contractors doing work superintended by the state Department of Transportation may be able to avoid personal injury liability, reasoning that an appellate panel erroneously found the department had to hire the contractors for the statute's protections to apply.

Expert Analysis

  • Why Foreign Cos. Should Prep For Increased SEC Oversight

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    With the recent trading suspensions of 10 foreign-based issuers listed on the Nasdaq, an enforcement action against a U.K. security-based swap dealer and the announcement of a cross-border task force, it's clear that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will expand oversight on foreign companies participating in the U.S. capital markets, says Tejal Shah at Cooley.

  • How Litigating Antitrust Fix Helped GTCR Prevail In Court

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    An Illinois federal judge's recent denial of the Federal Trade Commission's injunction request in the GTCR acquisition of Surmodics joins a developing series of cases in which deal parties have prevailed against government antitrust challenges by proposing a post-complaint fix and litigating the as-amended deal, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

  • What Narrower FinCEN Reporting Spells For Industry

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    As compliance costs soar, the potential slimming down of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism regime is welcome news for banks, and would allow a shift in resources to ever-evolving cybercrime threats, say attorneys at Quarles & Brady.

  • Revisiting Jury Trial Right May Upend State Regulatory Power

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    Justice Neil Gorsuch’s recent use of a denial of certiorari to call for the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit whether the Seventh Amendment jury trial right extends to states, building off last year's Jarkesy ruling, could foretell a profound change in state regulators' ability to enforce penalties against regulated companies, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • How Nasdaq, SEC Proposals May Transform Listing Standards

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    Both Nasdaq and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have increasingly focused their recent regulatory efforts on small and foreign issuers, particularly those from China, reflecting an intention to strengthen the overall quality of companies accessing U.S. markets, but also potentially introducing a chilling effect on certain issuers, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • New NCAA Betting Policy Fits Trend Of Eased Restrictions

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    Allowing NCAA student-athletes to bet on professional sports fits into a decade-long trend of treating college athletes more like adults in a commercial system, but decreasing player restrictions translates to increased compliance burdens for schools, say attorneys at Robins Kaplan.

  • Series

    Building With Lego Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Building with Lego has taught me to follow directions and adapt to unexpected challenges, and in pairing discipline with imagination, allows me to stay grounded while finding new ways to make complex deals come together, says Paul Levin at Venable.

  • How Banks Can Safely Handle Payments For Gambling Biz

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    As the betting market continues to expand, it's crucial for banks and fintechs to track historical developments in wagering and ongoing prediction markets litigation that can factor into a risk analysis for payment processing with respect to gambling operators, says Laura D'Angelo at Jones Walker.

  • Wading Into NY Wetland Regs' 2025 Changes And Challenges

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    Solar developers in New York should keep a weather eye on litigation challenging the New York Department of Environmental Conservation’s recently expanded authority to regulate wetlands and waterways, which could erode the impact of a new permitting process meant to streamline solar development on protected wetlands, say attorneys at Foley Hoag.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Networking 101

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    Cultivating a network isn't part of the law school curriculum, but learning the soft skills needed to do so may be the key to establishing a solid professional reputation, nurturing client relationships and building business, says Sharon Crane at Practising Law Institute.

  • Defeating Estoppel-Based Claims In Legal Malpractice Actions

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    State supreme court cases from recent years have addressed whether positions taken by attorneys in an underlying lawsuit can be used against them in a subsequent legal malpractice action, providing a foundation to defeat ex-clients’ estoppel claims, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin and Lodgen.

  • Takeaways As Justices Let 5th Circ. Pollution Ruling Stand

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent certiorari denial leaves intact a Fifth Circuit ruling that environmental justice organizations have standing to pursue a civil rights challenge to a parish's land-use practice, underscoring the importance of local governments proactively engaging with communities to address cumulative impacts of development, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • AI's Role In Google Antitrust Suit May Reshape Tech Markets

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    The evolution of AI in retail has reshaped the U.S.' antitrust case against Google, which could both benefit small business innovators and consumers, and fundamentally alter future antitrust cases, including the Federal Trade Commission's lawsuit against Amazon, says Graham Dufault at ACT.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: How It Works In Massachusetts

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    Since its founding in 2000, the Massachusetts Business Litigation Session's expertise, procedural flexibility and litigant-friendly case management practices have contributed to the development of a robust body of commercial jurisprudence, say James Donnelly at Mirick O’Connell, Felicia Ellsworth at WilmerHale and Lisa Wood at Foley Hoag.

  • Next Steps For DOE's Large-Load Interconnection Reforms

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    The U.S. Department of Energy's recent letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission may mark a substantial expansion of FERC's open-access framework for large-load facilities, though the proposed timeline for the rulemaking appears to be extraordinarily short, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

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