Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Public Policy
-
June 26, 2025
FTC OKs $1.6B Gas Station Deal, With Divestiture Of 35 Stores
The Federal Trade Commission announced Thursday an agreement resolving antitrust concerns regarding Alimentation Couche-Tard's proposed $1.57 billion acquisition of 270 fuel stations from grocery chain Giant Eagle, requiring the Canadian convenience store company to divest 35 gas stations.
-
June 26, 2025
Phillip Morris Moves To Arbitrate Rivals' Tobacco Deal Suit
Philip Morris USA is urging a Washington state judge to force arbitration in a dispute with R.J. Reynolds and other tobacco companies over deals delineating billions of dollars in annual payments owed to states under Big Tobacco's 1998 master settlement agreement.
-
June 26, 2025
DHS Releases Grant Funds After Chicago Suit Targets 'Pause'
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has released at least some of the counterterrorism grant fund reimbursements it had recently suspended for Chicago and certain other cities, but Chicago officials say the move isn't enough to end a lawsuit it launched over the allegedly unconstitutional pause.
-
June 26, 2025
Ex-NY Gov. Aide Hit With New PPE Fraud Scheme Charges
A federal grand jury Wednesday tacked on charges against a former top aide to two New York governors in a case accusing her of secretly acting as a Chinese government agent, alleging she illegally steered government contracts during the COVID-19 pandemic to businesses she was secretly connected to.
-
June 26, 2025
NY Court Suppresses Evidence Due To Cannabis Law Change
A man's guilty plea to possessing cocaine was vacated Thursday after a New York appeals court allowed suppression of evidence gleaned from a police search prompted by a cannabis smell, because the state barred this exact practice days after his indictment.
-
June 26, 2025
Calif. FAIR Plan Fire Policy Is Unlawful, Court Rules
Fire insurance offered by California's insurer of last resort does not meet the minimum coverage standards laid out in the state insurance code, a California state court ruled, finding the policy's definition of "direct physical loss" and its smoke damage provision to be unlawfully restrictive.
-
June 26, 2025
Judge Questions DOJ's Justification For $820M Grant Cuts
A D.C. federal judge on Thursday expressed frustration with the U.S. Department of Justice's scant explanation for canceling more than $820 million in public safety grants disbursed through the agency's Office of Justice Programs.
-
June 26, 2025
NY Looks To Snuff Out Pot Shop's Labor Peace Law Spat
New York cannabis regulators fought a dispensary operator's challenge to a state law making companies sign on to labor peace agreements with unions to have a license, telling a federal judge Thursday that the business can't show harm from the pact because it doesn't have employees.
-
June 26, 2025
EPA Illegally Ended Environmental Justice Grants, Groups Say
Environmental groups, a Native American village and other local governments have alleged in a proposed class action in D.C. federal court that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency unlawfully stopped a $3 billion climate grant program created by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
-
June 26, 2025
Cable Biz Wants Notice Before FCC Waives Top-4 Rule
The cable industry criticized the Federal Communications Commission's handling of a recent waiver of its rule blocking broadcasters from owning more than one top-four TV station in a single market, telling FCC officials they should ask for the public's views before making any exceptions.
-
June 26, 2025
CSBS Issues Money Transmitter Guidance on Virtual Currency
The Conference of State Bank Supervisors on Thursday released advisory guidance on how to consider virtual currency when calculating a licensee's tangible net worth under the Money Transmission Modernization Act, the first set of recommendations to be published under the CSBS board of directors' newly established process for issuing nonbinding, advisory guidance.
-
June 26, 2025
Immigrants Tell 1st Circ. DHS Can't Justify Parole Program Ax
A class of nearly 500,000 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela told the First Circuit on Wednesday that the Trump administration can't show that a Massachusetts federal judge abused her discretion in blocking the government's rescission of temporary Biden-era removal protections.
-
June 26, 2025
Ex-Trump Atty Chesebro Disbarred In NY For Fake Elector Plot
President Donald Trump's former attorney Kenneth Chesebro, the so-called "architect" in the plot to use fake electors to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results, has been disbarred from practicing law in the state of New York, according to a unanimous decision issued on Thursday.
-
June 26, 2025
Alaska Foster Kids Win Class Status In Child Welfare Suit
An Alaskan federal judge has ruled that foster children as a class can sue the director of the state's Department of Family and Community Services in her official capacity, finding merit in their claims that statewide practices put all kids in custody at serious risk of harm.
-
June 26, 2025
Mass. Court Lets Man Try Again To Escape Ankle Monitor
A convicted rapist in Massachusetts who spent nearly 16 years in prison will get a second shot at challenging how long he must wear a GPS monitor now that he's been released, after a state appellate court on Thursday ruled a lower court did not properly weigh his constitutional rights.
-
June 26, 2025
Wash. High Court Says State CBAs Are Private Until Funded
The agency that negotiates Washington state employees' union contracts can reject public records requests for bargaining-related documents until the contracts are finalized and funded, the Washington Supreme Court held in an 8-1 vote Thursday, upholding a Washington Court of Appeals decision.
-
June 26, 2025
Judge 'Cannot Justify' Ga.'s Social Media Age Limit Law
A federal judge on Thursday declared unconstitutional Georgia's new restrictions on minors' use of social media, halting enforcement of the measures on First Amendment grounds just weeks before they were to take effect.
-
June 26, 2025
5th Circ. Revives Biz Records Law, Citing Review Safeguard
The Fifth Circuit on Thursday tossed a permanent injunction blocking a Texas statute requiring businesses to immediately comply with the state's demand to examine business records, saying the Texas Supreme Court recently "harmonized" the law in a way that addresses Spirit AeroSystems Inc.'s constitutional challenge.
-
June 26, 2025
FCC Votes To Slash Rules At June Meeting
Most of what the Federal Communications Commission did at its monthly meeting Thursday was vote away rules that it no longer deems useful to keeping the agency and the various telecommunications sectors under its purview running smoothly.
-
June 26, 2025
Wireless Cos. Ask FCC To Overturn Subsidy Rulings
Two wireless companies have asked the Federal Communications Commission to reverse the Universal Service Administrative Co.'s decisions denying some of the federal subsidies the companies received for providing low-income households with broadband discounts.
-
June 26, 2025
Md. Judge Won't Rush Abrego Garcia's Bid To Avoid Removal
A federal judge declined Thursday to rule immediately on Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia's emergency request to bar the government from quickly deporting him once he's released from detention in his criminal case in Tennessee, expressing concern about her jurisdiction.
-
June 26, 2025
GOP Sens. Aim To Finalize Crypto Market Bill By Sept. 30
Republican senators pledged Thursday to finish their digital asset market structure legislation by the end of September, stressing the urgency of delivering on President Donald Trump's aim to make the U.S. the cryptocurrency capital of the world.
-
June 26, 2025
10 Years Later: Obergefell Attorneys, In Their Own Words
Marking the decade anniversary of the Obergefell opinion, Law360 asked the attorneys who argued the case at the Supreme Court what it was like being at the center of such a monumental case, how a ruling favoring same-sex marriage changed the legal landscape over the past decade, and the remaining legal appetite to overturn it.
-
June 26, 2025
No Work Needed For Military Leave Pay, Wash. Justices Say
Washington state public employees are entitled to paid military leave even if they are not scheduled to work because they are on active duty during an extended military leave of absence, the state's Supreme Court ruled Thursday, saying the state's paid military leave statute is unambiguous.
-
June 26, 2025
DOJ Puts U. Of California Diversity Plans Under Microscope
The U.S. Department of Justice's civil rights arm said Thursday it's launching an investigation into whether a University of California strategic plan prompted its campuses to discriminate against job applicants and employees based on their race and gender.
Expert Analysis
-
How NY's FAIR Act Mirrors CFPB State Recommendations
New York's proposed FAIR Business Practices Act, which targets predatory lending and junk fees, reflects the Rohit Chopra-era Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recommendations to states in a number of ways, including by defining "abusive" conduct and adding a new right to file class actions, says Christian Hancock at Bradley Arant.
-
Expect Eyes On Electronic Devices At US Entry Points
Electronic device searches are becoming common at U.S. border inspections, making it imperative for companies to familiarize themselves with what's allowed, and mandate specific precautions for employees to protect their privacy and sensitive information during international travel, say attorneys at Seyfarth.
-
Big Tech M&A Risk Under Trump May Resemble Biden Era
Merger review under the Trump administration may not differ substantially from merger review under the Biden administration, particularly in the Big Tech arena, in which case dealmakers and investors should shift the antitrust discount on M&A deals upward, says Jonathan Barnett at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law.
-
A Breakdown Of Trump's Order On Drug Pricing
The Trump administration may attempt to effectuate through rulemaking a recently issued executive order on lowering drug prices, which would likely have an adverse effect on stakeholders and trigger litigation, say attorneys at Debevoise.
-
FTC Focus: Interlocking Directorate Enforcement May Persist
Though the Federal Trade Commission under Chair Andrew Ferguson seems likely to adopt a pro-business approach to antitrust enforcement, his endorsement of broader liability for officers or directors who illegally sit on boards of competing corporations signals that businesses should not expect board-level antitrust scrutiny to slacken, says Timothy Burroughs at Proskauer.
-
Calif. Climate Superfund Bill Faces Legal, Technical Hurdles
California could soon join other states in sending the fossil fuel industry a massive bill for the costs of coping with climate change — but its pending climate Superfund legislation, if enacted, is certain to face legal pushback and daunting implementation challenges, says Donald Sobelman at Farella Braun.
-
How Cos. Can Navigate Risks Of New Cartel Terrorist Labels
The Trump administration’s recent designation of eight drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations gives rise to new criminal and civil liabilities for companies that are unwittingly exposed to cartel activity, but businesses can mitigate such risks in a few key ways, say attorneys at Steptoe.
-
Cosmetic Co. Considerations As More States Target PFAS
In the first quarter of the year, seven states introduced or passed legislation focused on banning the sale of cosmetics that contain PFAS, making it necessary for businesses to adjust their product testing and supply chain practices, product formulations, marketing strategies, and more, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
-
What We Lost After SEC Eliminated Regional Director Role
Former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Regional Director Marc Fagel discusses the recent wholesale elimination of the regional director position, the responsibilities of the job itself and why discarding this role highlights how the appearance of creating a more efficient agency may limit the SEC's effectiveness.
-
Mass. Suit Points To New Scrutiny For Home Equity Contracts
The Massachusetts attorney general’s recent charge that a lender sold unregulated reverse mortgages shows more regulators are scrutinizing mortgage alternatives like home equity contracts, but a similar case in the Ninth Circuit suggests more courts need to help develop a consensus on these products' legality, say attorneys at Weiner Brodsky.
-
Unpacking Copyright Office's AI Report Amid Admin Shakeups
Though recent firings have thrown the U.S. Copyright Office into turmoil, the latest entry in its report on artificial intelligence can serve as a road map for litigants, persuasive authority for courts and input on the legislative process, say attorneys at Epstein Becker.
-
Del. Bill Reflects Nat'l Tug-Of-War Between Cannabis, Alcohol
As Delaware's bill targeting hemp-derived THC beverages and ingestible products moves through the general assembly, it reads like a local regulatory fix — but in reality, it's a microcosm of a national power struggle playing out state-by-state across the cannabis frontier, says attorney Peter Murphy.
-
Perspectives
Reading Tea Leaves In High Court's Criminal Law Decisions
The criminal justice decisions the U.S. Supreme Court will announce in the coming weeks will reveal whether last term’s fractured decision-making has continued, an important data point as the justices’ alignment seems to correlate with who benefits from a case’s outcome, says Sharon Fairley at the University of Chicago Law School.
-
$38M Law Firm Settlement Highlights 'Unworthy Client' Perils
A recent settlement of claims against law firm Eckert Seamans for allegedly abetting a Ponzi scheme underscores the continuing threat of clients who seek to exploit their lawyers in perpetrating fraud, and the critical importance of preemptive measures to avoid these clients, say attorneys at Lockton Companies.
-
Hints Of Where Enforcement May Grow Under New CFPB
Though the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has significantly scaled back enforcement under the new administration, states remain able to pursue Consumer Financial Protection Act violators and the CFPB seems set to enhance its focus on predatory loans to military members and fraudulent debt collection and credit reporting practices, say attorneys at MoFo.