Public Policy

  • April 30, 2025

    House GOP Bill To Cut CFPB Budget, Audit Board Clears Panel

    The U.S. House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday approved Republican budget legislation that would strip most funding from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and wind down an independent audit regulator for public companies.  

  • April 30, 2025

    CFPB Scraps More Cases, Curbs Small Biz Loan Rule Focus

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday abandoned more lawsuits, including its Fifth Circuit appeal over a Biden-era policy that expanded the agency's anti-discrimination scrutiny of financial firms, and said it will not focus on enforcing a contested small business lending rule.

  • April 30, 2025

    Oil Group Drops Suit After DOI Says Leasing Redo Coming

    The D.C. Circuit on Wednesday granted the American Petroleum Institute's request to dismiss a suit challenging the U.S. Department of the Interior's 2024–29 offshore oil and gas leasing program after the government promised to develop a more industry-friendly plan.

  • April 30, 2025

    Tariffs, FCPA Enforcement Pause Heighten Bribery Risk

    President Donald Trump's decision to ratchet up tariffs and lower the guard on antibribery enforcement creates heightened risks for multinational companies, as employees potentially face pressure to avoid costly tariffs while conceiving there are fewer risks in going around the law to do so.

  • April 30, 2025

    DOJ Urges 11th Circ. To Restore FCA Whistleblower Provision

    The U.S. Department of Justice told the 11th Circuit on Wednesday that a Florida federal judge was wrong to rule that the provision of the False Claims Act that lets whistleblowers bring suits on the government's behalf was unconstitutional, arguing that the judge erred in saying whistleblowers were an unappointed part of the federal workforce.

  • April 30, 2025

    NYPD Hit With Class Action Claiming Racial Bias In Gang List

    Three men on a New York Police Department list of criminal gang members filed a putative class action alleging officers unconstitutionally surveil, detain and harass Black and Latino people on the list, civil rights groups said Wednesday.

  • April 30, 2025

    CEO Asked How Rivals Can Possibly Match Google Money

    Google CEO Sundar Pichai testified Wednesday that the Justice Department's proposed monopolization fixes amount to a "de facto divestiture" of the company's entire search intellectual property, only for the D.C. federal judge to wonder how rival search engines could hope to match its financial resources.

  • April 30, 2025

    Calif. Bar Seeks Credits, Lower Pass Score After Exam Fiasco

    The California Bar has asked the state's supreme court to help it account for rampant technical difficulties on the February 2025 bar exam by approving a lower passing score and allowing the bar to give test-takers credit for some questions they left blank.

  • April 30, 2025

    Feds Say Trump Has Broad Nat'l Emergency Tariff Powers

    The Trump administration is urging the U.S. Court of International Trade to nix a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump's power to impose his sweeping global tariffs, saying the plain text, history and purpose of an emergency law Trump invoked supported his authority.

  • April 30, 2025

    FCC Could Ban Foreign Adversaries' Testing Labs

    The Federal Communications Commission plans to vote in May on whether to ban U.S. operations of telecom equipment test labs owned by foreign adversaries.

  • April 30, 2025

    Senate Bill Would Make FCC List Foreign Foes' Telecom Stakes

    The U.S. Senate will consider a bipartisan bill to direct the Federal Communications Commission to publish a list of foreign adversaries' ownership stakes in regulated companies.

  • April 30, 2025

    Ga. Panel Backs Benefits For Worker Over COVID Safety

    The Georgia Court of Appeals has backed a former salesperson in a long-running fight with the state's Department of Labor over its refusal to pay her unemployment benefits when she quit her job over her company's refusal to follow public health protocols during the pandemic.

  • April 30, 2025

    House Votes To Nix Two Calif. Air Emissions Waivers

    The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed two Congressional Review Act resolutions that would repeal clean-vehicle waivers for California that were approved by the Biden administration, leaving the fate of the measures up to the Senate.

  • April 30, 2025

    FTC Transfer Stripped From House Judiciary Reconciliation

    A provision to transfer the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust functions to the U.S. Department of Justice was stripped out of the House Judiciary Committee's budget reconciliation bill on Wednesday.

  • April 30, 2025

    Senate Rejects Bill To End Trump's Nat'l Emergency On Tariffs

    The U.S. Senate narrowly rejected a bipartisan bill Wednesday that sought to end the national emergency declared by President Donald Trump to underpin his global tariff regime, with two senators absent for the vote, and with U.S. House consideration delayed until October.

  • April 30, 2025

    DOI Says Mich. Tribe's $1.5M Atty Fee Request Years Too Late

    The U.S. Department of the Interior on Wednesday contested a bid for $1.5 million in fees from the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians in a dispute over the process of being recognized as a federal tribe, telling a District of Columbia federal court that the amount requested was "staggering" and nearly five years too late.

  • April 30, 2025

    Tribes Say Calif. Sheriffs Illegally Raided Pot Grow Sites

    Members of the Round Valley Indian Tribes are suing two California county sheriff's departments and the California Highway Patrol, alleging they violated state and federal law by conducting gunpoint raids on cannabis cultivation sites on tribal land without their permission.

  • April 30, 2025

    Amazon's Suit Over Soured Solar Deals Survives Dismissal

    Amazon can sue a California-based private equity company and firms tied to a pair of Golden State solar energy developments for allegedly trying to sabotage the projects after signing long-term power purchase deals, a Washington state judge has ruled, rejecting jurisdictional arguments from the defendants.

  • April 30, 2025

    Cos. Must Plan For China-Taiwan Risks, Ex-Trump Official Says

    A former U.S. Treasury Department official warned Wednesday that U.S. firms should take a serious look at their business exposure to China and develop contingency plans in the event the country invades Taiwan, saying an escalation in the conflict between the U.S. and China would have devastating effects globally.

  • April 30, 2025

    3rd Circ. Preview: NJ To Defend ICE Contractor Law In May

    The Third Circuit's argument lineup for May will see the state of New Jersey defend a law barring its immigration detention centers from contracting with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while Rutgers University seeks to keep its victory over claims it falsely inflated its business school's ranking.

  • April 30, 2025

    Website Operators Challenge $102M FTC Judgment

    Two former executives of On Point Global LLC urged the Eleventh Circuit to reverse a civil contempt sanction of $102 million for violating a prior injunction, arguing that the lower court should have held a hearing to allow them to present evidence in their favor.

  • April 30, 2025

    Ex-Atlanta IG Aims To Toss Lobbyist's Bank Subpoena Suit

    The city of Atlanta's former inspector general asked a Georgia federal judge Tuesday to end a lobbyist and city contractor's suit against her over a corruption probe she launched into his dealings with the city, arguing that the Fourth Amendment provides no protections against subpoenas she issued for his bank records.

  • April 30, 2025

    Senate Bill Moves Ahead To Beef Up FCC Disaster Reports

    A bipartisan bill to require the Federal Communications Commission release more data on disaster-related network outage reports cleared a U.S. Senate committee Wednesday.

  • April 30, 2025

    Tribes Join Push For High Court To Review Ariz. Tax On Plant

    Arizona misinterpreted federal law and threatened the sovereignty of a Native American tribe with its taxation of a natural-gas-powered plant that sits on a reservation, the tribe told the U.S. Supreme Court in a brief Wednesday.

  • April 30, 2025

    TikTok Exec Calls Facebook, Instagram 'Complements'

    A TikTok executive said Wednesday that his company views Facebook and Instagram as "complements" to the Chinese-owned short-form video platform rather than direct competitors playing in the same market, in testimony that largely supported the Federal Trade Commission's claim that Meta dominates personal social networking services.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Baseball Fantasy Camp Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    With six baseball fantasy experiences under my belt, I've learned time and again that I didn't make the wrong career choice, but I've also learned that baseball lessons are life lessons, and I'm a better lawyer for my time at St. Louis Cardinals fantasy camp, says Scott Felder at Wiley.

  • DOJ Immigration Playbook May Take Cues From A 2017 Case

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    A record criminal resolution with a tree trimming company accused of knowingly employing unauthorized workers in 2017 may provide clues as to how the U.S. Department of Justice’s immigration crackdown will touch American companies, which should prepare now for potential enforcement actions, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Paul Atkins' Past Speeches Offer A Glimpse Into SEC's Future

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    Following Paul Atkins' Thursday Senate confirmation hearing, a look at his public remarks while serving as a commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission between 2002 and 2008 reveals eight possible structural and procedural changes the SEC may see once he likely takes over as chair, say attorneys at Covington.

  • McKernan-Led CFPB May Lead To Decentralized Enforcement

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    Though Jonathan McKernan’s confirmation as director would likely mean a less active Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the decreased federal oversight could lead to more state-led investigations, multistate regulatory actions and private lawsuits under consumer protection laws, says Jonathan Pompan at Venable.

  • How Fla. Is Floating A Raft Of Bills To Stem Insurance Woes

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    Proposed reforms that follow a report skewering Florida's insurance industry offer a step in the right direction in providing relief for property owners, despite some limitations, say attorneys at Farah & Farah.

  • Include State And Local Enforcers In Cartel Risk Evaluations

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    Any reassessment of enforcement risk following the federal designation of drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations should include applicable state and local enforcement authorities, which have powerful tools, such as grand jury subpoenas and search warrants, that businesses would be wise to consider, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From Fed. Prosecutor To BigLaw

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    Making the jump from government to private practice is no small feat, but, based on my experience transitioning to a business-driven environment after 15 years as an assistant U.S. attorney, it can be incredibly rewarding and help you become a more versatile lawyer, says Michael Beckwith at Dickinson Wright.

  • How Del. Supreme Court, Legislature Have Clarified 'Control'

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    The Delaware Supreme Court's January decision in In re: Oracle and the General Assembly's passage of amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law this week, when taken together, help make the controlling-stockholder analysis clearer and more predictable for companies with large stockholders, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • Service By Token Is Transforming Crypto Litigation Landscape

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    As the Trump administration advocates a new course of cryptocurrency regulation, courts in the U.S. and abroad are authorizing innovative methods of process service, including via nonfungible tokens and blockchain messaging, offering practical solutions for litigators grappling with the anonymity of cyber defendants, says Jose Ceide at Salazar Law.

  • What To Expect For Stem Cell Regulation Under Trump Admin

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    The new administration's push for deregulation, plus the post-Chevron legal landscape, and momentum from key political and industry players to facilitate stem cell innovation may create an opportune backdrop for a significant reduction in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's regulatory framework for stem cells, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Rebuttal

    6 Reasons Why Arbitration Offers Equitable Resolutions

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    Contrary to a recent Law360 guest article, arbitration provides numerous benefits to employees, consumers and businesses alike, ensuring fair and efficient dispute resolution without the excessive fees, costs and delays associated with traditional litigation, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Executive Orders Paving Way For New Era Of Crypto Banking

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    Recent executive orders have already significantly affected the day-to-day operations of financial institutions that have an interest in engaging with digital assets, and creating informed strategies now can support institutions as the crypto gates continue to open to the banking industry, say attorneys at Spencer Fane.

  • Opinion

    After Fires, Calif. Must Streamline Enviro Reviews For Housing

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    Recent waivers to the California Environmental Quality Act and other laws granted by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to expedite reconstruction of residential property damaged in the Los Angeles wildfires are laudable — but given the state's widespread housing shortage, policymakers should extend the same benefits to other communities, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • How Calif. Algorithmic Pricing Bills Could Affect Consumers

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    California's legislative efforts to regulate algorithmic pricing may address antitrust and fairness concerns, but could stop retailers from providing consumer discounts, says Alyssa Sones at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Jurisdiction Argument In USAID Dissent Is Up For Debate

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    A dissent refuting the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent order directing the U.S. Agency for International Development to pay $2 billion in frozen foreign aid argued that claims relating to already-completed government contract work belong in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims – answering an important question, but with a debatable conclusion, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

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