Public Policy

  • June 18, 2025

    Tesla Says Justices Shouldn't Wait On La. Auto Sales Law

    Tesla is asking the U.S. Supreme Court not to push off considering Louisiana regulators' petition seeking to appeal the revival of a lawsuit brought by the electric-car maker targeting the state's ban on direct sales by automakers, even though the state has asked the justices to wait.

  • June 18, 2025

    ACLU Asks 5th Circ. To Note Report Disputing Gang Invasion

    The American Civil Liberties Union advised the Fifth Circuit to consider a National Intelligence Council assessment that the Maduro regime likely does not cooperate with the Tren de Aragua gang in its bid to halt removals under the Alien Enemies Act in the Northern District of Texas.

  • June 18, 2025

    FDA Says Vape Co.'s Suit Doesn't Merit Jury Trial

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration told a Texas federal court a company that allegedly sold illegal vapes does not have the right to a jury trial, saying that Congress expressly created administrative proceedings for infractions such as the one the company allegedly committed.

  • June 18, 2025

    Mississippi Social Media Law Blocked Again By Federal Judge

    A Mississippi federal judge reinstated a preliminary injunction Wednesday that blocks a state law requiring digital service providers to verify users' ages and social media platforms to acquire parental consent for a minor's account, preventing it from taking effect after the Fifth Circuit lifted the court's previous injunction.

  • June 18, 2025

    OCC Orders Earnings, Strategy Overhaul For 'Troubled' Carver

    Carver Federal Savings Bank, one of the nation's largest Black-led banks, has agreed to undertake new strategic planning and efforts to improve its earnings in response to regulatory concerns flagged by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

  • June 18, 2025

    NY Prosecutors Seize Crypto Linked To Social Media Scams

    New York Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday said her office and the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office collaborated to seize and freeze $440,000 worth of cryptocurrency that was stolen via Facebook scams targeting Russian-speaking communities in the city and beyond.

  • June 18, 2025

    4th Circ. Backs Ban On Handgun Sales To Young Adults

    A Fourth Circuit panel upheld a set of federal laws barring licensed firearm dealers from selling handguns to 18- to 20-year-olds Wednesday, reversing lower court decisions in Virginia and West Virginia in a split decision.

  • June 18, 2025

    NC Panel Rejects HCA Unit's Appeal Over Rival Project Award

    A North Carolina appeals court on Wednesday rejected an HCA Healthcare subsidiary's challenge to an award of a certificate of need allowing a rival to build a new acute care facility, backing a decision in favor of the state health department behind the award.

  • June 18, 2025

    Cities Sign On To Chicago's Suit Over DHS Funding 'Pause'

    Boston, Denver, San Francisco and Seattle have joined Chicago's federal lawsuit accusing the Trump administration of illegally suspending federal counterterrorism funding meant for urban areas, saying the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has failed to fulfill nearly $3 million in preapproved reimbursement requests.

  • June 18, 2025

    DC Circuit Tosses Guantanamo Detainee's Repatriation Bid

    The D.C. Circuit said a Pakistani national detained at Guantánamo Bay for nearly 20 years has failed to show that the appeals court can review a district court's denial of his attempt to force the government to determine if he's eligible for repatriation.

  • June 18, 2025

    Psychedelics And The Law In Focus At Colo. Conference

    Colorado Gov. Jared Polis announced a pardon for all state-level convictions for psilocybin and psilocin possession at a psychedelics conference this week, in recognition that these substances are now legal in the state and in another indication that their relationship with the law is in flux.

  • June 18, 2025

    High Court Concurrences Signal Hard Battle For Trans Rights

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the court's two most conservative members Wednesday to suggest laws that differentiate based on transgender status should be subject to the lowest level of judicial review, providing guidance to lower courts that will likely make it harder for litigants to vindicate trans rights.

  • June 18, 2025

    NY High Court Lifts Block On NYC Shifting Retiree Healthcare

    New York's highest court lifted an injunction Wednesday that had blocked New York City from switching retired city employees' health insurance provider, ruling that the city never promised its retirees that it would keep them on a Medicare supplemental plan.

  • June 18, 2025

    US Seizes $225M In Crypto Tied To 'Pig Butchering' Schemes

    Law enforcement on Wednesday asked a Washington, D.C., federal judge to help it return more than $225.3 million worth of stolen digital assets to victims of phony crypto investment schemes, including to a small Kansas bank that failed after its CEO got entangled in a so-called pig butchering scheme, as part of what the U.S. Department of Justice called its largest ever seizure connected with such scams.

  • June 18, 2025

    Ore. Lawmakers Approve $800M Portland MLB Stadium Bill

    Oregon lawmakers have advanced a plan to attract a Major League Baseball team with $800 million in state spending on a new arena at a waterfront site in Portland, a development effort advised by attorneys from firms that include Sidley Austin LLP and Holland & Knight LLP.

  • June 18, 2025

    Dealmakers Eye More Crypto-Targeted SPAC Mergers

    More special purpose acquisition companies plan to seize upon the revival of cryptocurrencies under a second Trump administration and take cryptocurrency-related ventures public in the coming months, an attorney told a gathering of dealmakers on Wednesday.

  • June 18, 2025

    Pittsburgh, State Should Pay For Demolished Bridge, Co. Says

    A Pennsylvania property owner has accused Pittsburgh and the state's Department of Transportation of effectively taking its property by demolishing a railroad-highway bridge that provided access to a parking lot, an auto parts distribution center and other land, arguing the company is owed damages.

  • June 18, 2025

    Feds Refer NY To Justice Department Over Native Mascot Ban

    The federal government is referring the New York State Education Department and its Board of Regents to the U.S. Department of Justice for enforcement actions over the state ban on the use of Native American mascots in public schools after education officials rejected a proposal to resolve alleged civil rights violations.

  • June 18, 2025

    Trump's Attack On Fed. Worker Unions Meets Skeptical Judge

    A California federal judge Wednesday appeared open to temporarily blocking President Donald Trump's executive order reclassifying hundreds of thousands of federal workers to bar them from collective bargaining, calling the order "dramatic" and "unprecedented," and asking about the downsides of keeping the status quo until trial.

  • June 18, 2025

    Ga. Court Backs Dismissal Of Hemp Farm's Drug Raid Suit

    A Georgia appellate panel has said that state law enforcement cannot be held liable for allegedly damaging tens of thousands of dollars worth of product at a hemp farm, ruling that the Georgia Department of Public Safety was wholly shielded by sovereign immunity.

  • June 18, 2025

    Bills On Both Sides Of Capitol Hill Seek Tech Deployment Help

    Rural wireless companies praised the recent filing of bills in both chambers of Congress to expand responsibility for funding phone and broadband subsidies to edge providers and tech companies, saying the programs are "no longer sustainable" without more revenue sources.

  • June 18, 2025

    FDA Dodges Suit Over Ozempic, Wegovy Listing

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration was able to escape allegations that it catered to Big Pharma by nixing cheaper versions of the miracle weight loss drug Ozempic, after a Texas federal judge tossed a lawsuit from two compounding pharmacies.

  • June 18, 2025

    DC Judge Restores Some Canceled COVID Grants For Now

    A D.C. federal judge has ordered the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to restore at least some canceled public health grants to four local governments, ruling the Trump administration likely exceeded its constitutional power when it terminated the grants in March.

  • June 18, 2025

    AG Paxton Says Austin Bank Contract Violates 2021 Gun Law

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is giving the city of Austin a month to cure a contract that he says violates a 2021 law preventing government entities from doing business with companies that discriminate against companies involved in the firearm industry.

  • June 18, 2025

    FTC, Amazon Trade Blows Over Attempts To End Prime Case

    The Federal Trade Commission and Amazon have slammed one another in federal court filings over their competing bids to win regulators' case targeting Prime subscription enrollment practices, continuing to spar over the applicability of a consumer protection law shielding online shoppers.

Expert Analysis

  • CIPA May Not Be Necessary To Protect Ad Tech Plaintiffs

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    A California bill designed to protect businesses from advertising technology claims under the California Invasion of Privacy Act by amending the act retroactively has been highly contested by various consumer advocacy groups, but other existing law may sufficiently protect any plaintiff who suffers actual harm from such tech, says Justin Donoho at Duane Morris.

  • Parsing A Lack Of Antitrust Info-Sharing Enforcement Clarity

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    Information sharing among competing firms has recently faced dramatic changes in antitrust agency guidance, while courts grapple with the permissible scope of pricing algorithms, leaving companies in limbo, but potential Trump administration changes could offer some reprieve, say attorneys at Axinn.

  • What FCA Liability Looks Like In The Cybersecurity Realm

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    ​Two recent settlements highlight how whistleblowers and the U.S. Department of Justice have been utilizing the False Claims Act to allege fraud predicated on violations of cybersecurity standards — timely lessons given new bipartisan legislation introducing potential FCA liability for artificial intelligence use, say​ attorneys Rachel Rose and Julie Bracker.

  • 'A Deal Is A Deal': Tariffs No Excuse To Dodge Contract Terms

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    Tariff policy uncertainty is unlikely to be a basis for allowing a party to avoid contractual obligations, but businesses can still plan for future disputes related to pricing, operations and the supply chain, including with the addition of tariffs to any force majeure provision, say attorneys at Arnold Porter.

  • Proposed State AI Rule Ban Could Alter Employer Compliance

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    A proposal in the congressional budget bill that would ban state and local enforcement of laws and regulations governing artificial intelligence may offer near-term clarity by freezing conflicting rules, but long-term planning would remain difficult for employers seeking safe, lawful AI deployment strategies, say attorneys at Fisher Phillips.

  • Operating Via Bank Charter Offers Perks Amid Industry Shift

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    As bank regulators become more receptive to streamlining barriers that have historically stood in the way of de novo bank formation, and as fintechs show more interest in chartering, attorneys at Goodwin outline the types of charters available and their benefits.

  • How Attorneys Can Become Change Agents For Racial Equity

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    As the administration targets diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and law firms consider pulling back from their programs, lawyers who care about racial equity and justice can employ four strategies to create microspaces of justice, which can then be parlayed into drivers of transformational change, says Susan Sturm at Columbia Law School.

  • 5 Takeaways From DOJ's Media Compulsory Process Rules

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s new rules, making it easier for law enforcement investigating leaks to compel members of the media and third parties to disclose information, could have wide-ranging impacts, from reduced protections for journalists and organizations, to an expanded focus on nonclassified material, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Public Cos. Must Heed Disclosure Risks Amid Trade Chaos

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    Ongoing uncertainties caused by President Donald Trump's shifting stances on tariffs and trade restrictions have exponentially escalated financial reporting pressures on public companies, so businesses must ensure that their operations and accounting practices align with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's standards, say Jennifer Lee at Jenner & Block and Edward Westerman at Secretariat Advisors.

  • Seven County Ruling Should Trim Agency Enviro Analysis

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County provides needed clarity for infrastructure projects by expressly directing agencies to narrow environmental reviews, and reducing the threat of litigation if even tangential issues are not exhaustively evaluated, say attorneys at Dentons.

  • CMS Guidance May Complicate Drug Pricing, Trigger Lawsuits

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    Recent draft guidance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposes to expand the scope of what counts as the same qualifying single-source drug, which would significantly alter the timeline for modified drugs facing price controls and would likely draw legal challenges from innovator drug companies, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Digital Equity Act Grant Terminations Raise Key Legal Issues

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    The Trump administration's move to cancel grant programs created under the Digital Equity Act yields key legal and policy questions facing the executive branch, Congress and the courts, including how the administration plans to implement the cancellation of the Digital Equity Act's appropriations in the first place, say attorneys at Akin.

  • GAO Report Reveals How Banks And Regulators Are Using AI

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    A U.S. Government Accountability Office report published last month makes clear that while both federal regulators and regulated entities like banks and credit unions are employing artificial intelligence to improve efficiency, they're maintaining some skepticism, say attorneys at Orrick.

  • Robinson-Patman Enforcement May Fizzle Out After PepsiCo

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    After securing an early Robinson-Patman Act victory against the largest wine and spirits distributor in the U.S., the Federal Trade commission's voluntary dismissal of its own enforcement action against PepsiCo throws into doubt the future of the federal statute that prohibits price discrimination and other anticompetitive practices, say attorneys at V&E.

  • Series

    Running Marathons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    After almost five years of running marathons, I’ve learned that both the race itself and the training process sharpen skills that directly translate to the practice of law, including discipline, dedication, endurance, problem-solving and mental toughness, says Lauren Meadows at Swift Currie.

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