Public Policy

  • June 24, 2025

    E-Verify Restrictions Are Not Preempted, Illinois Argues

    The federal court handling the U.S. government's lawsuit targeting a recent Illinois statute restricting the use of electronic employment verification systems on prospective hires should reject the government's injunction request and dismiss the case instead, because the statute steers clear of federal immigration law, the state asserted.

  • June 24, 2025

    Ex-Inmate's Debit Fee Class Action Cleared For Trial

    A jury should decide if a former jail inmate was forced to accept a prepaid debit card and pay related fees when his money was returned to him upon release, a Washington federal magistrate judge said on Tuesday, advancing a class action against Central Bank of Kansas City.

  • June 24, 2025

    Mich. Pot Shops Cut Constitutional Claims In License Fee Suit

    A group of pot shops agreed Monday to drop their constitutional claims alleging Grand Rapids' marijuana licensure program imposes illegal fees, a few days after a Michigan federal judge said the case belongs in her court because the pot companies' claims had federal interest.

  • June 24, 2025

    5th Circ. Says EPA Ignored Cos. To Push Efficiency Testing Rule

    The Fifth Circuit has thrown out part of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule for determining measures for fuel efficiency, finding Tuesday that the agency used a faulty methodology to justify tightening standards and outright ignored comments when creating the rule.

  • June 24, 2025

    GOP Senators Unveil Crypto Market Framework Principles

    Senate Republicans on Tuesday morning released a set of principles to guide the development of digital asset market structure legislation, their latest push toward regulating the cryptocurrency space following their passage of stablecoin legislation last week.

  • June 24, 2025

    AST Seeks FCC OK For Big Expansion Of Satellite Fleet

    AST SpaceMobile is seeking permission to launch hundreds of low-earth orbit satellites by the end of July to roll out its space-based cellular broadband network, which it says will eliminate coverage gaps and connect to standard smartphones across the country.

  • June 24, 2025

    Submarine Cable Cos. Seek Cautious FCC Reg Approach

    Companies that run undersea telecommunications cables said they're worried the Federal Communications Commission might burden them with even more regulation than they already have to deal with, urging the agency to have a light touch when regulating the industry.

  • June 24, 2025

    4th Circ. Tosses Trans Man's Appeal Over Canceled Surgery

    The Fourth Circuit declined to revive a transgender man's constitutional claims against a religious hospital run by the University of Maryland Medical System over a canceled hysterectomy for gender dysphoria, concluding Tuesday that it couldn't grant further relief, and refused to consider a "late-breaking" argument for emotional distress damages.

  • June 24, 2025

    Motorola Fights Fintiv Memo Withdrawal At Fed. Circ.

    Motorola is urging the Federal Circuit to reverse the decision of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's acting leader to not have the Patent Trial and Appeal Board review the company's challenges to a series of Stellar Inc. patents on glasses equipped with cameras.

  • June 24, 2025

    NC Senate Backs $700M Boost For Hurricane Helene Recovery

    The North Carolina Senate has signed off on a proposal to allocate another $700 million to the state's Hurricane Helene Disaster Recovery Fund, including $75 million for road and bridge repairs and $70 million to meet Federal Emergency Management Agency's state matching requirements.

  • June 24, 2025

    8th Circ. Rolls Back Block On Arkansas Hemp Law

    An Eighth Circuit panel on Tuesday overturned a lower district judge's decision blocking enforcement of a new Arkansas policy restricting hemp-derived intoxicating products, delivering a blow to the hemp industry's campaign to challenge state-led efforts to rein in its wares.

  • June 24, 2025

    NTSB Flags Boeing Failures In 737 Max 9 Door Plug Blowout

    Poor training and persistent quality control lapses on Boeing's manufacturing and assembly lines, along with the Federal Aviation Administration's ineffective oversight of the plane-maker, led to the January 2024 door-plug blowout aboard a 737 Max 9 jet operated by Alaska Airlines, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday.

  • June 24, 2025

    Connecticut AG Seeks $7.7M Penalty For Ghost Gun Supplier

    A supplier of ghost gun parts that promised customers "extreme discretion" should pay nearly $7.7 million in penalties to Connecticut for continuous violations of the state's unfair trade practices law, the attorney general's office told a state court Tuesday.

  • June 24, 2025

    Key House Republican Calls For Telecom Law Reforms

    A top House Republican called Tuesday for reform of the 1992 Cable Act and for loosening the Federal Communications Commission's limits on broadcast media ownership, which he says would help modernize telecommunications law.

  • June 24, 2025

    NY Denies School District's Bid To Delay Mascot Ban

    The New York State Education Department denied a deadline extension request by a Long Island school district to comply with the state's ban on the use of Indigenous mascots, telling the district's superintendent that the district has shown no good cause toward the law's compliance.

  • June 24, 2025

    Medical Pot Backers Urge Neb. High Court To Scrap Challenge

    The campaign behind a successful effort to decriminalize and regulate medical marijuana in Nebraska is urging the state's highest court not to revive a legal challenge backed by state officials seeking to void the voter-approved legalization policies.

  • June 24, 2025

    Visa Can't Duck DOJ's Debit Card Monopoly Case

    A New York federal court has refused to throw out the U.S. Department of Justice's case accusing Visa of illegally maintaining a monopoly over debit card networks, rejecting arguments about the market at issue, discounts offered and the scope of deals with would-be competitors.

  • June 24, 2025

    Green Group Sues Forest Service Over NH Logging Project

    A green group on Monday asked a New Hampshire federal court to strike down the U.S. Forest Service's approval of a White Mountain National Forest logging project that the group said didn't get the proper environmental review.

  • June 24, 2025

    Judge Slams Feds' Grant Terms In Sanctuary Funding Fight

    A California federal judge said federal grants that condition funding on states' cooperation with the Trump administration's immigration crackdown flout a court order blocking the administration from withholding funds from so-called sanctuary jurisdictions that limit their cooperation with federal immigration officials.

  • June 24, 2025

    Texas Narrows Discovery Allowance In Property Tax Appeals

    Texas district courts can't order discovery in property tax cases unless the discovery is requested by the appealing party under a bill signed by Gov. Greg Abbott. 

  • June 24, 2025

    GOP Budget Would Protect US From OECD Taxes, Rep. Says

    Senate tax writers working on the $3.8 trillion budget reconciliation bill should support its international tax provisions intended to protect U.S. multinationals from paying higher taxes under the OECD's framework, a House Ways and Means Committee member said Tuesday.

  • June 24, 2025

    Bloomberg 2020 Staffers Say Campaign Broke Pay Pledge

    Former workers on Michael Bloomberg's 2020 presidential campaign said in a proposed class action filed in Massachusetts state court Tuesday that the media magnate and former New York City mayor reneged on a promise to keep them on the payroll through the general election.

  • June 24, 2025

    Judge Torn On Afghan, Cameroonian TPS Removal

    A Maryland federal judge appeared torn on how much — if anything — of the Trump administration's move to strip temporary protected status from Afghans and Cameroonians he could review Tuesday, with the government insisting that the termination was unreviewable and immigrant rights advocates claiming that the decision was arbitrary and capricious.

  • June 24, 2025

    Oakland County Prosecutor Jumps Into Michigan AG Race

    Karen McDonald, a county prosecutor best known for charging the parents of a teenage school shooter, is running for Michigan attorney general, according to a Tuesday campaign announcement.

  • June 24, 2025

    Apple Assails 'Fundamentally Unfair' App Order At 9th Circ.

    Apple urged the Ninth Circuit on Monday to nix a district court's "unduly punitive" mandate blocking it from charging any commission on iPhone app purchases made outside its systems, arguing an Epic Games injunction redux goes far beyond the original order and attacks conduct that's not illegal under California law.

Expert Analysis

  • Foreign Countries Have Strong Foundation To Fill FCPA Void

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    Though the U.S. has paused enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, liberal democracies across the globe are well equipped to reverse any setback in anti-corruption enforcement, potentially heightening prosecution risk for companies headquartered in the U.S., says Stephen Kohn at Kohn Kohn.

  • How Attys Can Use A Therapy Model To Help Triggered Clients

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    Attorneys can lean on key principles from a psychotherapeutic paradigm known as the "Internal Family Systems" model to help manage triggered clients and get settlement negotiations back on track, says Jennifer Gibbs at Zelle.

  • A Tale Of Two Admins: Parsing 1st Half Of SEC's FY 2025

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    The first half of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's fiscal year 2025, which ended March 31, was unusually eventful, marked by a flurry of enforcement actions in the last three months of former Chair Gary Gensler's tenure and a prompt pivot after Inauguration Day, say attorneys at Jones Day.

  • A Closer Look At Amendments To Virginia Noncompete Ban

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    Recently passed amendments in Virignia will prohibit noncompetes for all employees who are eligible for overtime pay under federal law, and though the changes could simplify employers’ analyses as to restrictive covenant enforceability, it may require them to reassess and potentially adjust their use of noncompetes with some workers, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

  • What Bank Regulator Consolidation Would Mean For Industry

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    Speculation over the Trump administration’s potential plans to consolidate financial service regulators is intensifying uncertainty, but no matter the outcome for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the industry should expect continued policy changes, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • Getting Ahead Of The SEC's Continued Focus On Cyber, AI

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is showing it will continue to scrutinize actions involving cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, but there are proactive measures that companies and financial institutions can take to avoid regulatory scrutiny going forward, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Navigating Florida's Bad Faith Reforms After Appellate Ruling

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    A Florida appellate court's recent decision is among the first to interpret two significant amendments to the state's insurance bad faith law, and its holding that one of the statutes could not apply retroactively may affect insurers' interpretation of the other statute, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • 3 Steps For In-House Counsel To Assess Litigation Claims

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    Before a potential economic downturn, in-house attorneys should investigate whether their company is sitting on hidden litigation claims that could unlock large recoveries to help the business withstand tough times, says Will Burgess at Hilgers Graben.

  • IRS And ICE Info Sharing Could Drive Payroll Tax Enforcement

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    Tax crimes are historically difficult to prosecute, but the Internal Revenue Services’ recent agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to share taxpayer records of non-U.S. citizens could be used to enhance payroll tax-related enforcement against their employers, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Breaking Down Ill. Bellwether Case For Bank Preemption

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    The banking industry's pending lawsuit against the state of Illinois stands to permanently enjoin state regulation of bank card processing, as well as clarify the outstanding and consequential issue of whether conflict preemption continues to cover third parties in certain circumstances, says Tom Witherspoon at Stinson.

  • Despite SEC Climate Pause, Cos. Must Still Heed State Regs

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    While businesses may have been given a reprieve from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's rules aimed at standardizing climate-related disclosures, they must still track evolving requirements in states including California, Illinois, New Jersey and New York that will soon require reporting of direct and indirect carbon emissions, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • A Primer On The Trading And Clearing Of Perpetual Contracts

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    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently released a request for comment on the trading and clearing of perpetual-style derivatives, most common in the cryptocurrency market, necessitating a deep look at how these contracts operate and their associated risks, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Series

    Teaching College Students Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Serving as an adjunct college professor has taught me the importance of building rapport, communicating effectively, and persuading individuals to critically analyze the difference between what they think and what they know — principles that have helped to improve my practice of law, says Sheria Clarke at Nelson Mullins.

  • 5 Areas Contractors Should Watch After 1st 100 Days

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    Federal agencies and contractors face challenges from staff reductions, contract terminations, pending regulatory reform and other actions from the second Trump administration's first 100 days, but other areas stand to become more efficient and cost-effective, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • Planning For Open Banking Despite CFPB Uncertainty

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    Though pending litigation or new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau leadership may reshape the Biden-era regulation governing access to consumer financial data, companies can use this uncertain period to take practical steps toward an open banking strategy that will work regardless of the rule’s ultimate form, says Adam Maarec at McGlinchey Stafford.

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