Public Policy

October 22, 2025
10th Circ. Won't Revive Ex-IHS Doc's Retaliation Suit

A doctor can't reinstate his suit alleging he was terminated from the U.S. Indian Health Service for complaining that his COVID-19 vaccine exemption request was rejected and that superiors failed to investigate sexual misconduct, the Tenth Circuit said, upholding a win for the IHS and a staffing company.
October 22, 2025
Kirkland Partner, Ex-Sen. Cornyn Counsel Tapped For US Atty

A Dallas-based Kirkland & Ellis LLP litigation partner who previously served as U.S. Sen. John Cornyn's chief counsel has been nominated as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas.
October 22, 2025
La. Justice Faces Questions On Campaigns At Nom Hearing

Two nominees for Louisiana federal court positions appeared before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, including a state Supreme Court justice who faced Democratic questions about the election process for his current role.
October 22, 2025
NC Biz Court Bulletin: COVID Coverage, A Suspect Signature

The North Carolina Business Court has rounded the corner into fall with insurance disputes over COVID-19 coverage at a chain of outlet malls and the theft of over $900,000 in legal THC reportedly stolen from a warehouse in the Southwest.
October 22, 2025
Broadcast Distributors Decry Blackout Of Nexstar Stations

Nexstar Media Group is coming under fire for using a looming blackout as "deal leverage" in negotiations with Verizon that will decide how much the TV station titan will receive in exchange for letting Verizon retransmit Nexstar's channels.
October 22, 2025
NY Bill Seeks Clean Energy Payment Exemption For Tax Caps

New York would exempt payments in lieu of taxes for renewable energy projects from local governments' property tax cap calculations under a bill introduced in the state Assembly.
October 22, 2025
DOJ Pushes To Pause DACA Health Suit Due To Shutdown

Pointing to the government shutdown, the U.S. Department of Justice asked a North Dakota federal judge to pause litigation over a regulation that allowed immigrants brought to the U.S. as children without authorization to access Affordable Care Act health coverage.
October 22, 2025
Ex-Conn. School Building Official Convicted Of Corruption

A federal jury on Wednesday convicted Connecticut's former school construction director on corruption charges, agreeing with prosecutors that Konstantinos "Kosta" Diamantis accepted bribes, committed extortion and lied to both the FBI and the IRS about payments he admitted accepting from two construction firms.
October 21, 2025
Ga. Justices Weigh City's Duty In $33M Fatal Crash Case

The Georgia Supreme Court considered Tuesday whether to overturn a state appellate court's ruling that a metro Atlanta city must pay a $33 million verdict awarded to the parents of a college student who died after crashing into a roadside planter.
October 21, 2025
Trump Special Counsel Pick Backs Out Over Lack Of Support

President Donald Trump's pick to lead the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, the independent agency tasked with safeguarding federal employees, on Tuesday announced he was withdrawing his nomination over a lack of Republican support, following a news report that he sent a series of racist text messages.
October 21, 2025
Apple Slams 'Fatally Broad' App Store Injunction At 9th Circ.

Apple urged the Ninth Circuit Tuesday to scrap a mandate blocking it from charging any commission on iPhone app purchases made outside its systems, slamming the district court's "fatally broad" injunction and arguing that the court's zero-commission rule is "the antithesis of a proper civil contempt remedy."
October 21, 2025
Novo Nordisk Says Officials Not Qualified To Doubt Drug Bills

Attorneys for Novo Nordisk Inc. on Tuesday sought to undercut witness testimony that Medicaid claims in Washington state for the company's hemophilia drug NovoSeven were shockingly high, leading one state auditor to suspect fraud.
October 21, 2025
Fed's Waller Floats 'Skinny' Master Accounts For Fintechs

Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller on Tuesday proposed allowing financial technology firms to connect to the central bank's payment rails through specialized, "skinny" master accounts, a move he said could support payment innovation while keeping risks to the Fed in check.
October 21, 2025
Patent Landscape Shifts As Squires Takes On Key PTAB Role

The announcement that U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires will now make all decisions on whether to institute America Invents Act patent reviews is expected to reshape litigation, by leading fewer accused companies to file challenges, attorneys say.
October 21, 2025
Feds Sued Over 'Harmful' Grazing On Wash. National Forest

A trio of environmental groups urged a Washington federal judge to order the U.S. Forest Service to revisit a management plan adopted for the Colville National Forest, alleging the agency failed to confront a longstanding practice of allowing "excessive and harmful" cattle grazing.
October 21, 2025
Gov't Says Texas Migrant Law 'Complements' Federal Law

The Trump administration threw its weight behind a Texas law that allows local law enforcement to arrest people suspected of crossing the border illegally, telling the Fifth Circuit the law "complements existing federal immigration law."
October 21, 2025
Wash. Tribe Fights State Over Cannabis Shop On School Land

A tribal group that calls itself a "self-governing dependent Indian community" has sued a Washington state court clerk in federal court, seeking to stop her from asserting jurisdiction over a dispute involving a cannabis operation on school lands in Indian Country.
October 21, 2025
Colo. Justices Weigh Self-Defense Exception In At-Will Firings

Counsel for a former Circle K store clerk fired after a confrontation with a robber argued to the Colorado Supreme Court Tuesday that the justices should recognize a public policy exception to the state's at-will employment doctrine, contending employers should generally not impose as workplace policy a duty to retreat.
October 21, 2025
Senate GOP Bill Would Hike AML Reporting Thresholds

U.S. Senate Republicans have unveiled a bill that would raise decades-old transaction reporting thresholds under the Bank Secrecy Act, seeking to overhaul key anti-money laundering requirements that they say have buried banks and credit unions in "red tape."
October 21, 2025
Senate Panel Clears Aviation Safety Bill After DCA Collision

A Senate committee advanced legislation Tuesday that would mandate aircraft-tracking technology in all aircraft, alongside fresh audits of Federal Aviation Administration and military procedures, a response to January's deadly midair collision between a U.S. Army helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet near Washington, D.C.
October 21, 2025
Foreign Robocall Task Force Bill Gets Through Sen. Committee

The Federal Communications Commission is one step closer to being directed to funnel funds toward reducing spam robocalls that originate overseas after the Senate commerce committee said yes to a bill with a handful of amendments Tuesday.
October 21, 2025
UK Enforcer Backs Private Immunity For Reporting Cartels

Britain's competition enforcer told the government Tuesday that leniency applicants who are the first to report cartel activity should be afforded full immunity from damages under the collective actions regime to help boost enforcement efforts.
October 21, 2025
Afghan Allies Sue After Families Are Barred From Entry Into US

Multiple Afghans who fought for the United States claim a Trump administration proclamation has kept their families in Afghanistan, saying in a Tuesday complaint that the administration's blanket denial of asylum for their families puts them at risk of persecution.
October 21, 2025
NTSB Member Urges DC Court To Nix Trump's 'Illegal' Firing

A National Safety Transportation Board member challenging his firing in May by President Donald Trump is urging a D.C. federal court to reinstate him, saying the board's removal protections are constitutional.
October 21, 2025
Shutdown Won't Pause Suit Over Migrant Parole Terminations

A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday denied the government's request to stay proceedings in a proposed class action brought on behalf of nearly a million migrants that alleges their legal status was illegally ended by the Trump administration via an app.

Editor's Picks

Trump's Legal Battles

States, federal employee unions, various advocacy groups and several individuals have filed over 220 lawsuits challenging the Trump administration's implementation of executive orders and other initiatives. Law360 has created a database of those lawsuits, separated into categories based on their subject matter.

Expert Analysis

What's At Stake In Justices' Merits Hearing Of FTC Firing

In December, the U.S. Supreme Court will review President Donald Trump's firing of Democratic Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, a decision that will implicate a 90-year-old precedent and, depending on its breadth, could have profound implications for presidential authority over independent agencies, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
Cybersecurity Rule For DOD Contractors Creates New Risks

A rule locking in the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification system for defense contractors increases False Claims Act and criminal enforcement risks by narrowing a key exemption and mandating affirmations of past compliance, which may discourage new companies from entering the defense contracting market, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.
Compliance Steps To Take As FCRA Enforcement Widens

As the Fair Credit Reporting Act receives renewed focus from both federal and state enforcers, regulatory and litigation risk is most acute in several core areas, which companies can address by implementing purpose processes and quick remediation of consumer complaints, among other steps, say attorneys at Wiley.
What EPA's Continued Defense Of PFAS Rule Means For Cos.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent decision to continue defending a Biden-era rule designating two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances as Superfund hazards may provide the EPA with significant authority over national PFAS cleanup policy — and spur further litigation by both government and private parties, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
6 Shifts In Trump Tax Law May Lend A Hand To M&A Strategy

Changes in the Trump administration's recent One Big Beautiful Bill Act stand to create a more favorable environment for mergers and acquisitions, including full bonus depreciation and an expanded code section, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
Trends In Post-Grant Practice Since USPTO Denial Guidance

Six months after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office updated its guidance on discretionary denial of inter partes review and post-grant review, noteworthy trends in denial statistics have emerged, warranting a reassessment of strategies for parallel proceedings, says Andrew Ramos at Bayes.
Examining The Quietest EEOC Enforcement Year In A Decade

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed the fewest merit lawsuits in a decade in fiscal year 2025, but recent litigation demonstrates its enforcement priorities, particularly surrounding the healthcare industry, the most active districts, and pregnancy- and religion-based claims, say attorneys at Seyfarth.
Transource Ruling Affirms FERC's Grid Planning Authority

The Third Circuit's recent decision in Transource Pennsylvania v. DeFrank, reversing a state agency's denial of an electric transmission facility permit, provides a check on states' ability to veto needed power projects, and is a resounding endorsement of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's regional transmission planning authority, say attorneys at Wilson Sonsini.
Assessing The Future Of The HIPAA Reproductive Health Rule

In light of a Texas federal court's recent decision to strike down a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rule aimed to protect the privacy of patients seeking abortions and gender-affirming care, entities are at least temporarily relieved from compliance obligations, but tensions are likely to continue for the foreseeable future, says Liz Heddleston at Wood Rogers.
State Paid Leave Laws Are Changing Employer Obligations

A wave of new and expanded state laws covering paid family, medical and sick leave will test multistate compliance systems, marking a fundamental operational shift for employers that requires proactive planning, system modernization and policy alignment to manage simultaneous state and federal obligations, says Madjeen Garcon-Bonneau at PrestigePEO.
How Crypto Embrace Will Affect Banks And Credit Unions

The second Trump administration has moved aggressively to promote crypto-friendly reforms and initiatives, and as the embrace of stablecoins and distributed ledger technology grows, community banks and credit unions should think strategically as to how they might use these innovations to best serve their customers, says Jay Spruill at Woods Rogers.
In NY, Long COVID (Tolling) Still Applies

A series of pandemic-era executive orders in New York tolling state statutes of limitations for 228 days mean that many causes of action that appear time-barred on their face may continue to apply, including in federal practice, for the foreseeable future, say attorneys at Sher Tremonte.
Navigating The SEC's Evolving Foreign Private Issuer Regime

As the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reevaluates foreign private issuer eligibility, FPIs face not only incremental compliance costs but also a potential reshaping of listing strategies, capital access, enforcement exposure and global regulatory coordination, potential unintended effects that deserve further exploration, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
New Conn. Real Estate Laws Will Reshape Housing Landscape

With new legislation tackling Connecticut's real estate landscape, introducing critical new requirements and legal ambiguities that demand careful interpretation, legal counsel will have to navigate a significantly altered and more complex regulatory environment, say attorneys at Harris Beach.
USPTO Under Squires: A Look At The First Month

New U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires' opening acts — substantive and symbolic — signal a posture that is more welcoming to technological improvements and focused on rebalancing the office's gatekeeping role, say attorneys at Seyfarth.