Public Policy

  • February 05, 2025

    NJ Supreme Court Will Review Immigrant's Wage Case

    The New Jersey Supreme Court said it will review rulings that denied a bid for unpaid wages by an immigrant living in the country without legal permission, which stemmed from an arrangement that had him performing tasks for a property management company in exchange for an apartment.

  • February 05, 2025

    SEC Moves Under Trump Risk 'Chilling' Staff, Grewal Says

    The reported scaling-back of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's crypto enforcement unit by the new Republican SEC majority could make staff at the agency more fearful of doing their jobs and put investors in jeopardy, former SEC enforcement director Gurbir Grewal said Wednesday.

  • February 05, 2025

    Dems Seek Further Review Of Treasury And DOGE

    Democrats are not satisfied with the answers they've received from the U.S. Department of Treasury on access granted to Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to the federal payment system and are looking at other avenues to scrutinize his activity.

  • February 05, 2025

    US Trade Deficit Up To $918B In 2024, Gov't Says

    The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services spiked 24% month over month in December to $98.4 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis said Wednesday, leading to the U.S. closing the year with a $918.4 billion deficit.

  • February 05, 2025

    11th Circ. Backs Navy Win In IT Worker's Promotion Bias Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit upheld the U.S. Navy's defeat of a civilian tech employee's suit claiming he was passed over for several promotions because he was Hispanic and in his 50s, saying he failed to show that supervisors considered his age or race when making decisions.

  • February 05, 2025

    FTC Tries To Plug Holes In Massive Merger Review Overhaul

    Antitrust practitioners call it a solution in search of a problem, but the Federal Trade Commission says an imminent overhaul to merger notification requirements will be a worthwhile front-loading of information necessary to plug gaps in its reviews.

  • February 05, 2025

    As Adams Case Teeters, A DOJ 'Ideal' Hangs In The Balance

    The public courtship between New York City Mayor Eric Adams and President Donald Trump is worrying some white collar legal experts, who say that Trump influencing the U.S. Department of Justice to drop Adams' corruption case would depart from over 40 years of policies aimed at keeping politics out of prosecutorial decisions.

  • February 05, 2025

    GOP Lawmakers Move To Scrap Methane Emissions Fee

    Republican lawmakers revived legislation seeking to block implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's methane emissions fee, as part of a broader effort to bolster the Trump administration's U.S. energy dominance policy.

  • February 05, 2025

    Pa. Dept.'s Switch On Abortion Funding Leaves Court Unsure

    A Pennsylvania appellate court struggled Wednesday with how to handle a challenge to the state's ban on using Medicaid funding for abortions, after the state's health regulator switched sides to agree with the suing providers and the commonwealth's justices stopped Republican lawmakers from defending the ban.

  • February 05, 2025

    Cleveland-Cliffs Wants 'Un-American' US Steel Suit Tossed

    Cleveland-Cliffs and its CEO have asked a Pennsylvania judge to toss a lawsuit filed against them by Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel, calling the suit "un-American" while claiming that the plaintiffs' "sputtering disapproval" of the defendants' statements doesn't hold up in court.

  • February 05, 2025

    Meta Can't Ask Mass. AG To Dig Up Docs From State Agencies

    The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office is not obligated to search for and turn over documents held by other state agencies that Meta Platforms is seeking in the state's lawsuit alleging Instagram is harming children and teens, a judge ordered.

  • February 05, 2025

    NY Mayor Adams Can't Get More Indictment Info, Judge Rules

    A Manhattan federal judge denied a request from New York City Mayor Eric Adams to get more details about the government's bribery and corruption case against him, saying his indictment suffices for now.

  • February 05, 2025

    Maryland Judge Blocks Trump Birthright Citizenship Order

    A Maryland federal judge on Wednesday issued a nationwide injunction blocking President Donald Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship.

  • February 05, 2025

    Lawmakers Vote To Advance Commerce Nominee Lutnick

    Senate lawmakers on Wednesday morning voted to advance Wall Street financier Howard Lutnick's nomination as secretary of commerce, moving the Cantor Fitzgerald CEO one step closer to helming the department that oversees international trade, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and other agencies.

  • February 05, 2025

    Women's Soccer League Will Pay $5M To Abused Players

    The National Women's Soccer League on Wednesday agreed to a $5 million settlement with a trio of attorneys general that had been investigating the league's widespread mistreatment of its players.

  • February 05, 2025

    Fired NLRB Member Sues In Test Of President's Power

    Fired NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox challenged her removal in federal court Wednesday, arguing in a test of 90-year-old Supreme Court precedent that the National Labor Relations Act blocked her ouster.

  • February 04, 2025

    Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action

    February is off to a rip-roaring start in several circuits, and there's plenty more action ahead, including a moment of truth for judiciary policymaking that has managed to anger both the defense and plaintiffs bars. We'll explore all that in this edition of Wheeling & Appealing, which also includes an appellate quiz pegged to recent presidential news.

  • February 04, 2025

    McKesson, Others Beat Indirect Drug Reseller Price-Fix Suit

    A Pennsylvania federal judge permanently tossed antitrust claims from indirect generic-drug resellers who alleged distributors like McKesson Corp. and AmerisourceBergen colluded with manufacturers to fix prices of many medications, writing Monday the plaintiffs fail to show the existence of such an agreement between drugmakers and distributors.

  • February 04, 2025

    Tribe's IHS Debt Suit Cut But Overcollection Claims Remain

    A Nebraska federal judge partly tossed a tribe's amended suit challenging the Indian Health Service's contention that it overpaid the tribe by $3.2 million due to an administrative oversight, finding the tribe waited too long to sue, but he allowed claims alleging overcollection of the debt to continue.

  • February 04, 2025

    Calif. Partly Beats Challenge To Climate Disclosure Laws

    A California federal judge has trimmed a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups over the state's corporate climate disclosure rules, finding the groups failed to state a claim with respect to two causes of action.

  • February 04, 2025

    Wells Fargo Clears 2 More Consent Orders Amid Rehab Efforts

    The Federal Reserve said Tuesday that Wells Fargo & Co. has exited a pair of mortgage-related consent orders from more than a decade ago, another step forward in the banking giant's regulatory rehabilitation efforts.

  • February 04, 2025

    Sen. Banking Chair Sets 100-Day Dash For Crypto Legislation

    Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., said Tuesday that he intends to pass crypto legislation out of his chamber in the first 100 days of the new administration with the help of a working group composed of committee chairs in both chambers of Congress.

  • February 04, 2025

    OpenAI Judge Rips Musk's 'Broad' Bid To Block For-Profit

    A California federal judge indicated Tuesday she'll likely deny Elon Musk's bid to preliminarily block OpenAI Inc. from transitioning into a for-profit enterprise, criticizing Musk's filings for being vague and broad and saying she'll toss some claims, while adding "something is going to trial in this case."

  • February 04, 2025

    Baltimore, Advocacy Groups Sue Trump Over Anti-DEI Orders

    The city of Baltimore and a coalition of academic and restaurant advocacy groups hit the Trump administration with a suit Monday in Maryland federal court over the president's push to curtail diversity, equity and inclusion programs, saying his executive orders are unlawfully vague and block Congress' constitutional power of the purse.

  • February 04, 2025

    FCC Floats $4.4M Robocall Fine Against Telecom Network

    The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday proposed a fine of more than $4.4 million against a Chicago-based telecom that the agency accused of allowing government impostor calls on its network.

Expert Analysis

  • LA Wildfires' Effect On Calif. Insurer Of Last Resort

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    Attorneys at Willkie discuss the background of California's insurer of last resort — known as the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan — and examine the process of assessing member insurers and relevant recent property insurance market developments in light of the destruction from the ongoing Los Angeles wildfires.

  • How PAGA Reform Can Inform Employer Strategies In 2025

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    While recent changes to California's Private Attorneys General Act will not significantly reduce PAGA claims, employers can use the new law to potentially limit their future exposure, by taking advantage of penalty reduction opportunities and more, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.

  • Takeaways From FDA's Updated Confirmatory Trial Guidance

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's latest draft guidance about accelerated drug approval indicates the FDA's intent to address the significant lag time between accelerated approval and full approval of drugs and may help motivate the industry to complete confirmatory trials, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Key Trends In PFAS Regulation And Litigation For 2025

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    The critical policy milestones for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances expected in 2025 will not only shape the trajectory of PFAS regulation, but also set key precedents for environmental accountability, potentially reshaping the corporate approach to these "forever chemicals" for decades to come, say attorneys at MG+M.

  • Inside New Commerce Tech Restrictions: Key Risk Takeaways

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    While there are a few limitations on the scope of a new final rule restricting certain foreign adversary products and technologies, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security retains sweeping authority to regulate an array of risk areas, says Peter Jeydel at Troutman.

  • The Most Important Schedule I Drug Regulatory Shifts Of 2024

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    In 2024, psychedelics and cannabis emerged as focal points in medical research, marking a pivotal year in their legal and regulatory journey, but these developments presented both opportunities and challenges within this evolving field, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell and Stephen Kim at Avicanna.

  • California's New Homeowner Law Could Hamper Foreclosures

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    While A.B. 2424, which took effect this month in California, gives homeowners in default additional protections, it also provides loopholes that can be used to delay foreclosure auctions, and the cost of these delays will likely be passed on to the borrower, says Stephen Britt at Severson & Werson.

  • Series

    Coaching Little League Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While coaching poorly played Little League Baseball early in the morning doesn't sound like a good time, I love it — and the experience has taught me valuable lessons about imperfection, compassion and acceptance that have helped me grow as a person and as a lawyer, says Alex Barnett at DiCello Levitt.

  • How Fintechs Can Respond To New CFPB Supervisory Rule

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    Even though a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule pulling large payment apps into supervision faces an uncertain fate in the new administration, providers should still examine the rule's definitions and prepare for increased compliance costs and more consumer-friendly practices, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • Ruling Shows High Court Willing To Limit Immigration Review

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Bouarfa v. Mayorkas is the latest demonstration of the court’s readiness to limit judicial review in the immigration space, a notable break from other recent decisions that expanded judicial review of agency decisions in other areas, says Mark Fleming at WilmerHale.

  • 5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2025

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    Lawyers and their clients must be prepared to navigate an evolving litigation funding market in 2025, made more complicated by a new administration and the increasing overall cost of litigation, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.

  • Despite Political Divide, FEC Found Common Ground In '24

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    The Federal Election Commission, although evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, reached consensus in consequential advisory opinions, enforcement actions and regulations last year, offering welcome clarity on some key questions facing campaigns, PACs and parties, say attorneys at Covington.

  • How FTC Sent A $5.6M Warning Against Jumping The Gun

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent record $5.6 million "gun jumping" action against Verdun Oil, for allegedly exerting control over EP Energy before the mandatory waiting period under U.S. antitrust law expired, warns companies that they must continue to operate independently during review, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • How Deregulation Could Undermine Trump's Anti-DEI Agenda

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    While rolling back federal agency power benefited conservative policies during the Biden administration, it will likely undermine President Donald Trump's ability to wield agencies like the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives beyond the federal workforce and into the private sector, says Ally Coll at the Purple Method.

  • Managing Litigation Side-Switching During 2nd Trump Admin

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    Now that the new presidential administration is in place, the government will likely switch positions in a number of pending cases, and stakeholders should employ strategies to protect their interests, say attorneys at Covington.

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