Public Policy

  • February 12, 2025

    Sidley Austin Litigator Tapped For Treasury GC Post

    President Donald Trump has nominated Sidley Austin LLP white collar partner Brian P. Morrissey to become the U.S. Treasury Department's top lawyer, which would mark a return to the department where he was previously the number two lawyer.

  • February 12, 2025

    States Can't Halt Funding Ban On Trans Care, DOJ Tells Court

    Washington, Minnesota and Oregon can't block a White House executive order that cuts off federal funding for gender-affirming care for minors, President Donald Trump's administration told a Washington federal judge, arguing that the states' suit is premature and that the president has acted within his powers.

  • February 12, 2025

    Trump Taps Oil Advocate, Ex Wyo. Official For Interior Posts

    President Donald Trump on Tuesday nominated Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance, and Brian Nesvik, a former Wyoming Fish and Game head, to lead the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management and Fish and Wildlife Service.

  • February 12, 2025

    Senate Confirms Gabbard As Intelligence Chief

    The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as the top U.S. intelligence official, over the objections of Democratic lawmakers who argued she lacked the necessary experience and judgment for the role.

  • February 12, 2025

    Trump's Picks For CFPB, OCC Chiefs Hailed By Industry

    President Donald Trump has tapped Jonathan McKernan, formerly of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau full time, part of a slate of top financial regulatory nominees that has many in industry breathing a sigh of relief.  

  • February 12, 2025

    EU Parliament Greenlights Changes To Digital VAT Rules

    The European Parliament approved a series of changes to the European Union's plans to reform the value-added tax rules of the economic bloc including fully digitalizing VAT reporting, making it harder to dodge the tax in EU jurisdictions, according to a statement Wednesday.

  • February 12, 2025

    Ga. House Bill Would Exclude Overtime Pay From Income Tax

    Georgia would exclude overtime compensation from state income taxes under a bill filed in the state House of Representatives.

  • February 12, 2025

    Ex-Ill. Speaker Madigan Guilty Of Bribery In Mixed Verdict

    A federal jury on Wednesday partially convicted the man who was once the most powerful politician in Illinois on federal corruption charges, finding former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan guilty of bribery conspiracy and wire fraud but deadlocking on the government's overarching racketeering charge.

  • February 12, 2025

    Trump Picks Crypto Policy Advocate Quintenz To Lead CFTC

    President Donald Trump has nominated Brian Quintenz, a former member of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and current head of policy for venture capital firm a16z's crypto fund, to lead the derivatives market regulator.

  • February 12, 2025

    8 Ousted Inspectors General Sue Over Firings

    Eight inspectors general fired by President Donald Trump sued the administration Wednesday, asking a D.C. federal judge to declare their terminations "legal nullities" and to order their reinstatement.

  • February 11, 2025

    ABA Calls Trump Admin Out For Questioning Judicial Review

    The American Bar Association expressed concerns Tuesday over recent remarks coming out of the Trump administration that raised questions on the judiciary's authority to keep the executive branch's power in check, saying that judicial review was among the "oldest and most revered precedent" in the nation's legal history.

  • February 11, 2025

    Calif.'s Insurance Safety Net Gets $1B Infusion For Fire Claims

    California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has signed off on $1 billion in additional funding for California's FAIR Plan, the state's insurer of last resort, to ensure the plan can keep paying consumer claims to survivors of the Southern California wildfires, according to an order issued Tuesday.

  • February 11, 2025

    DOGE, Treasury Accused Of 'Largest' US Data Breach

    Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management conducted the "largest" data and IT security breaches in U.S. history, illegally exposing millions of people's sensitive information, a data privacy watchdog and group of federal employees alleged this week.

  • February 11, 2025

    Ex-NY Gov. Aide And Husband Deny Foreign Agent Charges

    A former aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Linda Sun, and her husband on Tuesday pled not guilty to a superseding indictment that accuses her of secretly acting as an agent of China's government and adds new money laundering charges against her spouse.

  • February 11, 2025

    CFPB's Closure Not 'A Free Pass' For Financial Compliance

    Banks and other consumer lenders shouldn't let their compliance efforts around Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regulations go idle despite the uncertainty caused by the Trump administration's closure of the agency, experts say, as its rules are still on the books and other regulators may pick up the slack.

  • February 11, 2025

    Split 6th Circ. Backs Ex-Cincinnati Politician's Conviction

    A split Sixth Circuit ruled Tuesday that, although a close case, there was enough evidence to convict a former Cincinnati council member of bribery and attempted extortion in connection with a sports betting development project spearheaded by a former Cincinnati Bengals player.

  • February 11, 2025

    ​​​​​​​FCC's Subsidy Fund Like 'Bureaucrat's Dream,' Justices Told

    A free-market litigation group urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to overturn the Federal Communications Commission's fee system to support telecom subsidies, comparing the regime to an out-of-control IRS with unbridled taxing powers.

  • February 11, 2025

    GOP Reps. Reintroduce Litigation Funding Disclosures Bill

    Three House Republicans have reintroduced legislation that would require the disclosure of parties collecting payments in civil lawsuits, saying that transparency on so-called "third-party litigation funding" was crucial, especially in patent litigation.

  • February 11, 2025

    Kids Can't Save Reworked EPA Climate Suit, Judge Rules

    A California federal judge on Tuesday threw out, for good, children's amended allegations that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's climate policies violate their constitutional rights, ruling that they haven't shown that the alleged harms they've suffered in the midst of climate change can be traced to the policies.

  • February 11, 2025

    Billionaire Ira Rennert Says Justices Must Resolve Peru Fight

    A mining company controlled by billionaire Ira Rennert has repeated its bid for the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve whether the Eighth Circuit mistakenly denied dismissal of claims by more than 1,000 Peruvians over alleged pollution, saying the circuit court's opinion "distorted" international comity.

  • February 11, 2025

    Red States Tell 8th Circ. DACA Health Coverage Harms Them

    A coalition of 19 Republican-led states has told the Eighth Circuit they can challenge a federal rule expanding Affordable Care Act benefits to Dreamers, citing more than $624,000 in increased costs Idaho, Kentucky and Virginia will incur as a result.

  • February 11, 2025

    Justices Ponder If Colo. Climate Case Would Open Floodgates

    Colorado justices on Tuesday asked a city and county seeking damages against ExxonMobil and Suncor over the local impacts of climate change why such suits don't amount to an attempt to regulate the oil and gas industry, with one justice saying he has "practical concerns" about more municipalities bringing novel climate tort claims.

  • February 11, 2025

    Crypto Bills A 'Test Case' For AI Regs, GOP Senator Says

    A Republican U.S. senator who is leading the push for crypto industry regulation said Tuesday that Congress' actions in the digital asset space could determine whether there is a path forward for writing regulations governing the artificial intelligence industry.

  • February 11, 2025

    Couple's Chickens Are Pets, Not Poultry, NC Justices Told

    A North Carolina couple urged the state's highest court to back a state appeals court's ruling finding their 60-plus chickens are household pets, arguing that a jury was improperly instructed that chickens can't be pets under their neighborhood's restrictive covenant.

  • February 11, 2025

    5th Circ. Affirms Dismissal Of Jones Act Competition Suit

    A Fifth Circuit panel rejected a Houston company's challenge of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection determination regarding the extent to which domestic vessels compliant with the Jones Act must be tapped to haul rock used to protect the foundations of offshore wind facilities.

Expert Analysis

  • Takeaways From CFTC's Private Fund Rule Amendments

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    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's recently adopted amendments to Rule 4.7 of the Commodity Exchange Act ensure that investors in the complex derivatives markets receive relevant and comprehensive information, and further align suitability criteria for investors in private funds, says Rita Molesworth at Willkie.

  • National Bank Act Rulings Facilitate More Preemption Analysis

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    Two recent National Bank Act preemption decisions from an Illinois federal court and the Ninth Circuit provide the first applications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s May ruling in Cantero v. Bank of America, opening the potential for several circuit courts to address the issue this year, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Series

    Collecting Rare Books Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My collection of rare books includes several written or owned by prominent lawyers from early U.S. history, and immersing myself in their stories helps me feel a deeper connection to my legal practice and its purpose, says Douglas Brown at Manatt Health.

  • Emphasize Social Spaces During RE Project Public Review

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    As Boston continues to work through revisions to its public review process for real estate projects, developers attempting to balance impact mitigation and community improvements may benefit from emphasizing the ways in which development plans can facilitate open social exchange, says David Linhart at Goulston & Storrs.

  • What NHTSA's Autonomous Vehicle Proposal Means For Cos.

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    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's recently proposed framework for review and oversight of vehicles equipped with automated driving systems offers companies a more flexible, streamlined approach to regulatory approvals for AVs, including new exemption pathways, assessments by independent experts and other innovations, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Preparing For Stricter Anti-Boycott Enforcement Under Trump

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    Given the complexity of U.S. anti-boycott regulations and the likelihood of stepped-up enforcement under the new administration, companies should consider adopting risk-based anti-boycott compliance programs that include training employees to recognize and assess potential boycott requests, and to report them expeditiously when necessary, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Opinion

    New DOJ Leaders Should Curb Ill-Conceived Prosecutions

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    First-of-their-kind cases have seemingly led to a string of overly aggressive prosecutions in recent years, so newly sworn-in leaders of the U.S. Department of Justice should consider creating reporting channels to stop unwise prosecutions before they snowball, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Tips For Pharma-Biotech Overlap Reporting In New HSR Form

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    While there’s no secret recipe for reporting overlaps to the Federal Trade Commission in the new Hart-Scott-Rodino Act form, there are several layers of considerations for all pharma-biotech companies and counsel to reflect on internally before reporting on any deal, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.

  • Opinion

    Judge Should Not Have Been Reprimanded For Alito Essay

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    Senior U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor's New York Times essay critiquing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for potential ethical violations absolutely cannot be construed as conduct prejudicial to the administration of the business of the courts, says Ashley London at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University.

  • A Look At Drug Price Negotiation Program's Ongoing Impact

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    More than two years after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and the rapid implementation of the drug price negotiation program, attorneys at Ropes & Gray discuss how the IRA has influenced licensing strategies, and how maximum fair prices under the law have economically affected certain drugs.

  • Opinion

    Congress Must Consider Accurate Data About Patent Thickets

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    If Congress revisits a controversial bill this year aimed at limiting the number of patents pharmaceutical manufacturers could assert, it must make sure to act based on accurate reports — such as a recent U.S. Patent and Trademark Office study that found no evidence of patent thicketing, says David Kappos at the Council for Innovation Promotion.

  • Aviation Watch: Litigation Liabilities After DC Air Tragedy

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    While it will likely take at least a year before the National Transportation Safety Board determines a probable cause for the Jan. 29 collision between a helicopter and a jet over Washington, D.C., the facts so far suggest the government could face litigation claims, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

  • 5 Key Takeaways From Energy Secretary's Confirmation

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    The recent confirmation hearing for U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright highlighted several important themes, including his vision for transforming the DOE, his nuanced stance on renewables, and a renewed emphasis on energy abundance and affordability, says Connor McCulloch at Ankura Consulting Group.

  • What Day 1 Bondi Memos Mean For Corporate Compliance

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    After Attorney General Pam Bondi’s flurry of memos last week declaring new enforcement priorities on issues ranging from foreign bribery to diversity initiatives, companies must base their compliance programs on an understanding of their own core values and principles, says Hui Chen at CDE Advisors.

  • Lights, Camera, Ethics? TV Lawyers Tend To Set Bad Example

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    Though fictional movies and television shows portraying lawyers are fun to watch, Hollywood’s inaccurate depictions of legal ethics can desensitize attorneys to ethics violations and lead real-life clients to believe that good lawyers take a scorched-earth approach, says Nancy Rapoport at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

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