Public Policy

  • July 07, 2025

    USPTO Ups Number Of Prioritized Patent Applications

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is raising the number of applications it can accept each year for a prioritized patent examination to 20,000.

  • July 07, 2025

    Settlement Unlikely In Airline Group's Colo. Sick Leave Suit

    An airline lobby and the state of Colorado told a federal court last week that a settlement "appears unlikely" in the airline group's case claiming the state's sick leave law is preempted by federal law.

  • July 07, 2025

    Biggest Enviro Cases To Watch In 2025: Midyear Report

    Law360 previews the lawsuits environmental attorneys will be watching closely during the second half of 2025, including the Trump administration's challenge to states' efforts to slow climate change, a lawsuit seeking to continue federal funding for climate change projects and product liability cases over forever chemicals in consumer goods.

  • July 07, 2025

    Ex-FTC Antitrust Chief Returns To Covington As Co-Chair

    Covington & Burling LLP has rehired the former director of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Competition as a co-chair of its antitrust and competition practice group in Washington, D.C., the firm announced Monday.

  • July 07, 2025

    MyPillow CEO's Attys Sanctioned Over False AI Citations

    Two attorneys for MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell were sanctioned by a Colorado federal judge on Monday over a February brief containing nearly 30 "defective citations" after using artificial intelligence.

  • July 07, 2025

    DOJ Wants Md. Federal Judges' Immigration Orders Blocked

    A Maryland federal court standing order temporarily staving off the deportation of detained noncitizens who file habeas petitions is barred by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that federal judges do not have authority to issue universal injunctions, according to the Trump administration.

  • July 07, 2025

    Maine Authorizes Task Force To Explore Property Tax Changes

    Maine authorized the creation of a task force to explore the need for legislation and constitutional amendments to provide more effective property tax relief for residents under a bill signed by the governor.

  • July 07, 2025

    Trump Threatens Extra 10% Tariff On BRICS-Aligned Nations

    President Donald Trump threatened an additional 10% tariff on any country aligning with what's known as the BRICS coalition, which includes Brazil, Russia, India and China.

  • July 07, 2025

    Arnold & Porter Adds Biden DOJ Official To DC Team

    A former third-ranking official at the U.S. Department of Justice, who also held top positions in the Office of Personnel Management and served as solicitor general in his home state of Ohio, has joined Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP in Washington, D.C., the firm announced Monday.

  • July 07, 2025

    Feds Cite National Security As Trial Over Student Visas Begins

    A Trump administration lawyer told a Massachusetts federal judge Monday that the government's decision to revoke the visas of hundreds of college students and faculty over their pro-Palestinian speech was not viewpoint discrimination but a response to what it contends are threats to national security.

  • July 07, 2025

    Ex-Oklahoma Pot Regulator's Discrimination Claims Tossed

    An Oklahoma federal judge has thrown out discrimination claims filed by a former employee of the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority in a suit alleging she was terminated for whistleblowing, saying she failed to allege that she was dismissed in retaliation for protected speech or activities.

  • July 07, 2025

    Leaders Of €15M Motor Oil VAT Scheme Convicted, EU Says

    Three ringleaders of a €15 million ($17.6 million) value-added tax fraud ring involving motor oil were among 13 people convicted for their roles in the scheme, with Italian courts handing out a combined 34 years in sentences, the European Public Prosecutor's Office said.

  • July 03, 2025

    SEC Signals Openness To Novel Crypto ETPs

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission appears to be laying the groundwork to approve increasingly innovative crypto exchange-traded products with a staff statement on disclosure expectations and the recent approval of a novel fund, but experts said the commission's openness comes with a focus on fulsome disclosure.

  • July 03, 2025

    139 EPA Workers Put On Leave For Letter Critical Of Trump

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency confirmed Thursday that it had placed 139 employees on administrative leave after they signed onto a letter criticizing the Trump administration's policies as undermining the agency's "mission of protecting human health and the environment."

  • July 03, 2025

    FDIC's Consumer Compliance Enforcement Surged In 2024

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. hit banks with a surge of consumer protection-related enforcement actions in the final year of the Biden administration, issuing the largest total dollar amount of fines in almost a decade, according to a new report from the agency.

  • July 03, 2025

    State Telecom Roundup: States Rush To Meet New BEAD Regs

    States were allocated their share of the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program two years ago. Some states were nearly ready to announce which companies would receive a slice of the funding and exactly how much they would get when President Donald Trump's administration shook things up in early June by rescinding all the awards.

  • July 03, 2025

    Stewart Drops Mixed Bag Of Discretionary Denial Rulings

    Acting U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Coke Morgan Stewart has released 24 more discretionary denial decisions, more than half of which she cleared challenges to move forward through the Patent Trial and Appeal Board process.

  • July 03, 2025

    Dems Query Banks On Any Zelle Fraud Link To Social Media

    Top Democratic lawmakers are questioning major banks on how they're protecting customers from "significant scams and fraud" via Zelle, in light of JPMorgan Chase's recent decision to block transactions that originate from social media on the peer-to-peer payment platform.

  • July 03, 2025

    Youths Urge 9th Circ. To Revive Federal Equal Protection Case

    A group of youths is asking the Ninth Circuit to revive its lawsuit alleging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Office of Management and Budget are violating the youngsters' constitutional rights by not properly protecting them from climate change.

  • July 03, 2025

    CFPB Funding Cut Could Alter Injunction Calculus At DC Circ.

    The steep funding cut that Republicans have passed for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau could strengthen the Trump administration's position in its court fight to resume downsizing the agency, even if it doesn't directly resolve the legal questions at play.

  • July 03, 2025

    Biggest Environmental Law Decisions Of 2025: Midyear Report

    The first half of 2025 saw the U.S. Supreme Court impose limitations on water permit requirements, as well as key decisions in lower courts in climate change and environmental justice cases. Here, Law360 takes a look at some of the biggest environmental law rulings of 2025.

  • July 03, 2025

    Colo. Sales Tax Applies To Netflix Subscriptions, Court Rules

    Netflix's streaming services in Colorado are tangible personal property subject to sales tax, a state appeals court ruled, reversing a district court's finding that the subscriptions were not taxable under state law because they were not tangible physical items.

  • July 03, 2025

    G7 Deal's Details To Dictate How US Cos. Fare Under Pillar 2

    Republicans' international tax changes in their major reconciliation bill that passed Thursday raise questions about the U.S. tax system's ability to coexist with the OECD-designed Pillar Two global minimum tax regime.

  • July 03, 2025

    FCC Aims To Advance Fast-Track Process For Removing Regs

    The Federal Communications Commission plans to vote this month on whether to employ a fast-track procedure to remove regulations that are deemed obsolete without having to go through the typical process of first issuing a public notice and soliciting comment.

  • July 03, 2025

    Ga. Sheriff's Conviction Wins Civil Rights Claim For Detainee

    A Georgia federal judge handed an early win Wednesday to a man who said he was one of several detainees tortured by former Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill, ruling that the "conditions are all met" to decide the civil rights claims based on Hill's criminal convictions.

Expert Analysis

  • Focusing On Fluoride: From FDA To Class Action

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    A class action filed two days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced plans to remove ingestible fluoride prescription drug products for children from the market may be the tip of the iceberg in terms of the connection between government pronouncements on safety and their immediate use as evidence in lawsuits, says Rachel Turow at Skadden.

  • How Energy Cos. Can Prepare For Potential Tax Credit Cuts

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    The Senate Finance Committee's version of the One Big Beautiful Bill act would create a steep phaseout of renewable energy tax credits, which should prompt companies to take several actions, including conduct a project review to discern which could begin construction before the end of the year, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • The CFTC Is Shaking Up Sports Betting's Legal Future

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    The sports betting industry faces a potential sea change amid recent state and federal actions across the regulatory landscape that have expanded access to sporting event contracts against the backdrop of waning Commodity Futures Trading Commission opposition, says Nick Covek at Foley & Lardner.

  • DOJ Atty Firing Highlights Tension Between 2 Ethical Duties

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recent firing of a prosecutor-turned-whistleblower involved in the Abrego Garcia v. Noem case illustrates the tricky balancing act between zealous client advocacy and a lawyer’s duty of candor to the court, which many clients fail to appreciate, says David Atkins at Yale Law School.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Rejecting Biz Dev Myths

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    Law schools don’t spend sufficient time dispelling certain myths that prevent young lawyers from exploring new business opportunities, but by dismissing these misguided beliefs, even an introverted first-year associate with a small network of contacts can find long-term success, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.

  • Fla. Condo Law Fix Clarifies Control Of Common Areas

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    Florida's repeal of a controversial statutory provision that permitted developers of mixed-use condominium properties to retroactively assert control over common facilities marks a critical shift in legal protections for unit owners and associations, promoting fairness, transparency and accountability, say attorneys at Pardo Jackson.

  • Trade In Limbo: The Legal Storm Reshaping Trump's Tariffs

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    In the final days of May, decisions in two significant court actions upended the tariff and trade landscape, so until the U.S. Supreme Court rules, businesses and supply chains should expect tariffs to remain in place, and for the Trump administration to continue pursuing and enforcing all available trade policies, say attorneys at Ice Miller.

  • Shareholder Takeaways From NY Internal Affairs Doctrine Suit

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    A May New York Court of Appeals decision in Ezrasons v. Rudd involving Barclays — affirming the state's "firmly entrenched" internal affairs doctrine — is a win for all corporate stakeholders seeking stability in resolving disputes between shareholders and directors and officers, say attorneys at Sadis & Goldberg.

  • The Legal Fallout Of The Open Model AI Ecosystem

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    The spread of open-weight and open-source artificial intelligence models is introducing potential harms across the supply chain, but new frameworks will allow for the growth and development of AI technologies without sacrificing the safety of end users, says Harshita Ganesh at CMBG3 Law.

  • Move Beyond Surface-Level Edits To Master Legal Writing

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    Recent instances in which attorneys filed briefs containing artificial intelligence hallucinations offer a stark reminder that effective revision isn’t just about superficial details like grammar — it requires attorneys to critically engage with their writing and analyze their rhetorical choices, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • 3 Rulings May Reveal Next Frontier Of Gov't Contract Cases

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    Several U.S. Supreme Court decisions over the past year — involving wire fraud, gratuities and obstruction — offer wide-ranging and arguably conflicting takeaways for government contractors that are especially relevant given the Trump administration’s focus on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, say attorneys at Rogers Joseph.

  • How Ore. Law Puts New Confines On Corp. Health Ownership

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    A newly enacted law in Oregon strengthens the state’s restrictions on corporate ownership of healthcare practices, with new limitations on overlapping control, permissible services, restrictive covenants and more making it necessary for practices to review decades-old physician practice arrangements, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Early Trends In Proxy Exclusion After SEC Relaxes Guidance

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent guidance broadening shareholder proposal exclusion under Rule 14a-8 has been undoubtedly useful to issuers this proxy season, but it does not guarantee exclusion, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • How New Texas Law Revamps Electric Grid To Meet Demand

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    A new Texas law enacted in response to the burdens that data centers, crypto mining and other large-scale users are placing on the state's electric grid means that stakeholders must review updated requirements around grid interconnection, disclosure of development plans and operational flexibility during tight conditions, say attorneys at Jackson Walker.

  • Best Practices For State Banks Eyeing Federal Conversions

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    Amid a notable uptick — fueled by ongoing regulatory upheaval — in state-chartered banks exploring conversion to national bank charters, banks contemplating the decision should weigh the benefits, like uniform supervision, and potential impediments, like costly exam fees, say attorneys at Skadden.

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