Public Policy

  • February 04, 2025

    5th Circ. Mulls If Green Orgs. Have Injury In Injection Well Case

    A Fifth Circuit panel pondered whether environmental groups will suffer an injury adequate to challenge underground injection wells in Louisiana, asking during oral arguments Tuesday whether the groups can bring a legal claim for an event 50 years down the road.

  • February 04, 2025

    Watchdog Says Site Selection For New FBI Building Flawed

    A U.S. General Services Administration watchdog found that the GSA's contentious process for determining the site for a new FBI headquarters involved several flaws that made it difficult for site selection officials to accurately decide between proposed locations.

  • February 04, 2025

    EPA, Interior Leaders Unveil Focus On US Energy Production

    The heads of the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency unveiled plans for their agencies that largely focus on bolstering President Donald Trump's U.S. energy dominance policy. 

  • February 04, 2025

    Sens. Hawley, Sanders Pitch 10% Cap On Credit Card Rate

    Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., introduced bipartisan legislation Tuesday that would hold President Donald Trump to his campaign promise of a 10% credit card interest rate cap.

  • February 04, 2025

    Sen. Mike Lee To Head Antitrust Subcommittee

    Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, a frequent critic of the Federal Trade Commission, will serve as chairman of the Senate subcommittee on antitrust and consumer protection issues, with Sen. Corey Booker, D-N.J., taking over the ranking member role.

  • February 04, 2025

    5th Circ. Asks Why EPA Stalled Denial Of Texas Ozone Plan

    A Fifth Circuit panel pushed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday to specify why it had dragged its feet before denying Texas' Clean Air Act implementation plans, asking during oral arguments how long the agency can "sit on" the plans.

  • February 04, 2025

    Senate Confirms Pam Bondi To Be AG

    The U.S. Senate voted 54-46 on Tuesday to confirm Pam Bondi to be attorney general.

  • February 04, 2025

    Calif. AG Gets $25M To Fund Legal Fights Against Trump

    The California Legislature greenlighted a $25 million cash infusion Monday for the state attorney general's office in a strategic effort to bolster the state's legal defenses against President Donald Trump's policy agenda, including anticipated challenges to immigration and environmental regulations.

  • February 04, 2025

    Colo. Hid Problems With Fiber-Optic Install Project, Suit Says

    A Colorado telecommunications contractor has sued the state Department of Transportation for allegedly hiding problems with a fiber-optic installation project that delayed completion for two summers, claiming the department has refused to properly compensate it for the hold-ups. 

  • February 04, 2025

    Pushing The Envelope In Climate Law: Murder Charges

    Climate change legal advocates are pointing to wildfires in Los Angeles, hurricanes in the Southeast and a regulation-averse presidential administration as evidence that local prosecutors should begin going after fossil fuel companies with criminal charges — up to and including homicide.

  • February 04, 2025

    Mich. Supreme Court Says City's Electricity Fee Is Illegal Tax

    A franchise fee added to East Lansing, Michigan, residents' energy bills is a disguised tax, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled Monday, saying the fee was used to raise revenue for the city without first being approved by voters.

  • February 04, 2025

    Trump Trans Care Order Usurps Congress' Power, Suit Says

    The Trump administration overstepped when it issued an executive order cutting off gender-affirming care for people under 19, a group of transgender adolescents, young adults and their families told a Maryland federal court Tuesday, arguing the president is trying to usurp Congressional authority by forcing federally funded hospitals to discriminate.

  • February 04, 2025

    4th Circ. Keeps NC Judge's Ballot Battle In State Court

    The Fourth Circuit will let a North Carolina state court decide the fate of a contested associate justice race that remains unresolved months after the election, but the panel left the door open for a district court to decide any leftover federal constitutional issues.

  • February 04, 2025

    5th Circ. Backs Biden's Gov't Contractor Wage Hike

    The Fifth Circuit upended on Tuesday a ruling that blocked an executive order increasing the minimum wage for federal contractors to $15 per hour, saying former President Joe Biden acted within his authority when he put forward the regulation because it was intended to promote economy and efficiency.

  • February 04, 2025

    11th Circ. Urged To Adopt 'Consensus' On Officers' Immunity

    A Georgia woman who was subjected to a strip and cavity search while visiting her husband in prison urged the full Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday to build on its prior ruling that her rights had been violated and to sweep away the prison officials' defenses of qualified immunity.

  • February 04, 2025

    External Revenue Service Could Help Solve Unpaid Duty Issue

    President Donald Trump's call for a new agency designed to collect trade revenue, billed as the External Revenue Service, may be more than a flashy concept and could tackle lingering inefficiencies associated with duty collection, experts say.

  • February 04, 2025

    Trump To Sign 'Keeping Men Out Of Women's Sports' Order

    President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Wednesday that will ban transgender female athletes from competing in women's sports, according to an announcement from Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C.

  • February 04, 2025

    NJ Wildlife Regulator Is Unconstitutional, Ex-Legislator Argues

    A former New Jersey state senator urged an appeals court Tuesday to revive his nonprofit company's suit challenging the constitutionality of the state's hunting and fishing regulatory agency, arguing it's the only policymaking body in the state controlled by a single private organization.

  • February 04, 2025

    Coinbase Taps BigLaw Firms In Bid To End Crypto 'Debanking'

    Crypto exchange Coinbase urged regulators Tuesday to clarify that banks can offer crypto custody and execution services, submitting a letter featuring a report from three BigLaw firms asserting that federal laws and regulations already allow banks to wade further into digital asset activities.

  • February 04, 2025

    Lawmakers Hit Replay On Bill For Singers' Radio Royalties

    Lawmakers in Congress have reintroduced legislation that would require radio broadcasters to pay artists when playing their music, a measure that would address what the recording industry has called a legal loophole in which songwriters and publishers get paid — but not performers and labels — when radio stations play their music.

  • February 04, 2025

    Don't Let Trump's Changes Touch Patent Office, IP Attys Urge

    U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order shake-ups have drawn the ire of intellectual property lawyers, who are complaining about how the prospect of mass resignations of federal workers, a hiring freeze and the end of telework policies will impact their work in front of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

  • February 04, 2025

    Auto Cos., Mass. AG Make Final Case In 'Right To Repair' Fight

    The stagnated four-year battle over a Massachusetts law requiring vehicle manufacturers to provide open access to vehicle telematics software saw its final salvos Tuesday as attorneys for an automotive industry group and the state clashed over the merits of the federal preemption case.

  • February 04, 2025

    White House Lacks Authority To Issue NEPA Regs, Judge Says

    The White House Council on Environmental Quality has no authority to issue binding National Environmental Policy Act regulations, a North Dakota judge has ruled, scrapping challenged regulations the Biden administration had enacted.

  • February 04, 2025

    Ex-NJ Mayor Gets Probation For Defying Public Office Ban

    The former mayor of the third-largest city in New Jersey has been sentenced to three years of probation for trying to retake the mayoral office in 2022, in violation of a 2017 judicial order banning him from running for or holding public office, the state attorney general and the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability announced Tuesday.

  • February 04, 2025

    NY Advocates Urge Pols To Enact Sentencing Reforms

    New York lawmakers on Tuesday joined former prisoners and families of incarcerated people in Albany to urge elected officials and Gov. Kathy Hochul to enact bills that would reshape state sentencing laws that critics say are both too harsh and ineffective in deterring crime.

Expert Analysis

  • Reviewing 2024's Evolving EdTech Privacy Regulations

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    Lawmakers are trying to keep up with the privacy and security risks of the increasingly prevalent education technology, with last year's developments including the Federal Trade Commission's proposed amendments to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, and the U.S. Senate passing two new children's privacy acts, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Opinion

    No, Litigation Funders Are Not 'Fleeing' The District Of Del.

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    A recent study claimed that litigation funders have “fled” Delaware federal court due to a standing order requiring disclosure of third-party financing, but responsible funders have no problem litigating in this jurisdiction, and many other factors could explain the decline in filings, say Will Freeman and Sarah Tsou at Omni Bridgeway.

  • Patent Policy Changes To Track Under New Gov't Leadership

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    The new federal government will likely bring pivotal shifts in U.S. patent policy through legislation and initiatives that reflect a renewed focus on strengthening intellectual property rights, fostering innovation and enhancing the nation's competitive edge, says PK Chakrabarti at Butzel Long.

  • How Trump Presidency May Influence NLRB's Next Phase

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    Attorneys at Paul Hastings discuss how last year’s key National Labor Relations Board developments may progress once President-elect Donald Trump takes office, including the wave of lawsuits challenging the board’s constitutionality and two landmark board decisions that upset decades of precedent.

  • Series

    Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4

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    Douglas Thompson at Snell & Wilmer highlights a number of recent and pending issues, actions and potentially pivotal federal regulatory and legislative developments on deck that will affect California banks and financial institutions.

  • Opinion

    Congress Should Finally Add Clarity To Section 101

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    With both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate introducing bills to provide guidance on what qualifies as patentable subject matter under the Patent Act, Congress will hopefully put an end at last to 10 years of uncertainty surrounding the question, says David Carstens at Carstens Allen.

  • Hydrogen Regs Will Provide More Certainty — If They Survive

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    Newly finalized regulations implementing the Section 45V clean hydrogen tax credit allow producers more flexibility, and should therefore help put the industry on more solid footing — but the incoming Trump administration and Republican Congress will have multiple options for overturning or altering the regulations, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • Top 10 Noncompete Developments Of 2024

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    Following an eventful year in noncompete law at both state and federal levels, employers can no longer rely on a court's willingness to blue-pencil overbroad agreements and are proceeding at their own peril if they do not thoughtfully review and carefully enforce such agreements, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • 5 E-Discovery Predictions For 2025 And Beyond

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    In the year to come, e-discovery will be shaped by new and emerging trends, from the adoption of artificial intelligence provisions in protective orders, to the proliferation of emojis as a source of evidence in contemporary litigation, say attorneys at Littler.

  • NY Plastic Pollution Verdict May Not Bode Well For Other Suits

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    The dismissal of New York state's public nuisance complaint against PepsiCo over pollution of the Buffalo River with the company's single use plastic bottles may not augur well for similar lawsuits filed by Baltimore and Los Angeles County, although tort law varies from state to state, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • Key Ethical Issues For Gov't Attys Moving To Private Practice

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    Transitioning from government service to private practice presents complex ethical challenges for attorneys, including navigating conflicts of interest, confidential information rules and post-employment restrictions, say attorneys at HWG.

  • Climate Disclosure Spotlight Shifts To 2 Calif. Laws

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    With Donald Trump's election spelling the all-but-certain demise of the proposed federal climate disclosure rules, new laws in California currently stand as the nation's only broadly applicable climate disclosure requirements — and their brevity is both a blessing and a curse, say attorneys at Davis Polk.

  • A Deep Dive Into DOJ's Proposed FARA Shake-Up

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recently published and long-awaited proposed amendments to the Foreign Agents Registration Act's implementing regulations, if adopted, would mark dramatic changes to the commercial exemption and new requirements for labeling informational materials, says Tessa Capeloto at Wiley.

  • Preparing For Mexican Drug Cartels' Terrorist Designation

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    In the event President-elect Donald Trump designates Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, businesses will need to consider how their particular industry is affected and evaluate previously legitimate practices given the cartels' involvement so many sectors of the economy, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • Final Hydrogen Tax Credit Regs Add Flexibility For Producers

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    The recently released final regulations implementing the Inflation Reduction Act's clean hydrogen production tax credit offer taxpayers greater flexibility, reducing risk and creating more certainty for investments in the industry, thus diminishing — but not eliminating — the risk of legal challenges to the regulations, say attorneys at Steptoe.

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