Public Policy

  • February 10, 2025

    Apple Pushes DC Circ. To Pause Google Search Case

    Apple told the D.C. Circuit on Monday it did not become clear that it needs to intervene in the government's search monopolization case against Google until enforcers proposed remedies that affected Apple's conduct too.

  • February 10, 2025

    FCC Ready To Lower The 'Boom' On Raucous Commercials

    The nation's telecommunications regulator will consider this month whether new rules are needed to cut the volume on blaring commercials that upset the relative calm of TV shows they accompany, according to a recent notice of proposed rulemaking.

  • February 10, 2025

    SpaceX Says It Has Been Harmed By Coastal Commission

    SpaceX has argued it should be allowed to move forward with its suit alleging the California Coastal Commission wrongly tried to block the company's rocket launches, saying it had been harmed by the commission's allegedly unconstitutional actions.

  • February 10, 2025

    EPA Asks 5th Circ. To Uphold Asbestos Ban Rule

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is defending a Biden-era rule strengthening its restrictions on the use of the most prevalent variety of asbestos, which are being challenged by industry, worker and green groups.

  • February 10, 2025

    Dallas Loses Bid To Reinstate Short-Term Rental Ban 

    A Texas appeals court has ruled that two Dallas ordinances criticized for effectively banning short-term rentals don't gel with property rights enshrined in the state's constitution, siding with landlords who do business on Airbnb and Vrbo. 

  • February 10, 2025

    NY Chief Judge: 'Our Criminal Justice System Isn't Working'

    New York State Chief Judge Rowan Wilson harshly criticized incarceration rates in the court system he oversees during his annual address Monday, suggested new laws are needed, and even invited people convicted of murder to join him at the podium and speak on the issue.

  • February 10, 2025

    Prison Phone Co. Tells FCC Rate Cap Rules Cost Too Much

    Prison phone company NCIC Correctional Services thinks the Federal Communications Commission messed up by preempting state and local laws to ban "site commissions," service provider-to-prison payments that critics call kickbacks.

  • February 10, 2025

    Harvard Immunity For Body Part Thefts 'Gnaws' At Justice

    A judge on Massachusetts' highest court said Monday it's "problematic" that a state law could shield Harvard Medical School from liability in a suit by family members of people whose remains were allegedly sold off in parts by a rogue mortician.

  • February 10, 2025

    UnitedHealth Unit Inks $20M Deal To End DOL Claims Row

    A UnitedHealth subsidiary will pay more than $20 million to settle the U.S. Department of Labor's suit claiming it violated federal benefits law and employer health plans' own policies when it summarily rejected claims for emergency room services and drug tests, according to filings in Wisconsin federal court.

  • February 10, 2025

    SEC Grants Short-Selling Disclosure Reprieve, CAT Relief

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is providing a temporary exemption in order to allow investment managers more time to comply with new rules requiring increased disclosure on short selling, and separately said it will no longer require certain personally identifiable information to be reported to the market database known as the Consolidated Audit Trail.

  • February 10, 2025

    Ill. House Bill Seeks Study Of Eliminating Property Tax System

    Illinois would direct its Department of Revenue and the governor's Office and Management and Budget to determine the possibility of eliminating the state's property tax system and replacing the revenue with income tax receipts under a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.

  • February 10, 2025

    Gun Owners Look To Revive Suit Over DC Metro Gun Law

    A group of D.C. and Virginia gun owners are asking the D.C. Circuit to revive their suit challenging a ban on guns in the region's Metro system, saying that the district judge who dismissed the case required that they get caught carrying on board to have standing.

  • February 10, 2025

    Experts Sound Alarm After Musk, Vance Float Ignoring Judges

    Attorneys and constitutional experts say the warning lights "are blinking red" after Vice President JD Vance and Trump confidante Elon Musk took to social media to attack the independence of the judiciary over the weekend.

  • February 10, 2025

    NM Judge Won't Let Feds Send 4 Venezuelans To Guantánamo

    A New Mexico federal judge barred the Trump administration from sending four Venezuelans being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Guantánamo after the detainees said they feared imminent transfer.

  • February 10, 2025

    Mass. Justices May Greenlight Ex-Court Atty's Firing Case

    Massachusetts' highest court on Monday hinted that it will allow a former ghostwriter for the state's intermediate appellate court to continue pursuing his wrongful firing claims against a former supervisor, but not necessarily against two higher-ups, in a challenge to the extent of common-law immunity for public officials.

  • February 10, 2025

    House Dems Form Rapid Response Litigation Working Group

    House Democrats announced on Monday a new litigation initiative to confront the Trump administration and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, which has been slashing federal funding, from stopping some government services and firing workers without Congressional approval.

  • February 10, 2025

    Mass. Judge Temporarily Blocks NIH Funding Cuts

    A Massachusetts federal judge issued a temporary hold Monday on a Trump administration plan to slash grant funding provided by the National Institutes of Health after 22 states sued to block the cuts.

  • February 10, 2025

    NC Gov. Sues To Take Back Power To Appoint Appeals Judges

    North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein is challenging a Republican-backed law that curbs his appointment powers for judicial vacancies in the state appellate courts, saying the maneuver tramples on the constitutionally protected separation of powers.

  • February 10, 2025

    Trump Admin Violating Order To Unfreeze Funds, Judge Says

    A Rhode Island federal judge ruled Monday the Trump administration is not complying with the court's temporary restraining order barring a freeze on funding for federal grants and programs, ordering the administration to immediately restore the frozen funds.

  • February 10, 2025

    NH Judge Latest To Block Trump's Birthright Citizenship Order

    A third federal district judge has blocked President Donald Trump's executive order limiting birthright citizenship, as a New Hampshire judge on Monday issued a preliminary injunction from the bench during an early morning hearing.

  • February 10, 2025

    Trump Administration Sued Over Passport Sex Designations

    A group of transgender and nonbinary people sued the Trump administration over an executive order that directed the U.S. Department of State to issue passports showing their sex assigned at birth, claiming the policy is one example of the administration's "longstanding animus against transgender people."

  • February 10, 2025

    Bannon To Plead Guilty In Border Wall Fraud Case, Avoid Jail

    Former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon plans to plead guilty as part of a deal with New York state prosecutors to resolve fraud charges connected to fundraising for a U.S. southern border wall, allowing him to avoid any prison time, one of his lawyers said Monday.

  • February 10, 2025

    'Stand Down': CFPB's Acting Chief Pulls Employees Off Job

    The Trump administration's acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Russell Vought told agency staff on Monday to "stand down" from doing any work, the latest in a series of rapid-fire moves that are sidelining the agency and prompting employees to sue.

  • February 09, 2025

    CFPB Suspends Activity, Closes HQ As New Chief Arrives

    The Trump administration escalated efforts over the weekend to power down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, canceling the agency's next funding draw, suspending its examination activity and ordering a closure of its main office.

  • February 07, 2025

    Fla. Gov. DeSantis Says State Officers Will Aid ICE Efforts

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday entered into an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that he said empowers the state's Highway Patrol to interrogate certain non-U.S. citizens on their immigration status and execute arrest warrants for immigration violations, among other immigration officer duties.

Expert Analysis

  • Foreign Trade Zones Can Help Cos. With Tariff Exposure

    Author Photo

    Companies navigating shifts in global trade — like the Trump administration’s newly levied tariffs on Chinese goods — should consider whether the U.S. Department of Commerce's poorly understood foreign trade zone program could help reduce their import costs, says James Grogan at FTI Consulting.

  • How FTC Consumer Protection May Fare Under Reg Freeze

    Author Photo

    Attorneys at Crowell & Moring consider how President Donald Trump's executive order directing agencies to freeze all pending rulemaking activity may frustrate any Federal Trade Commission efforts to change or eliminate rules that made it across the finish line before the inauguration.

  • Critical Steps For Navigating Intensified OFAC Enforcement

    Author Photo

    The largely overlooked SkyGeek settlement from the end of 2024 heralds the arrival of the Office of Foreign Assets Control's long anticipated enhanced enforcement posture and clearly demonstrates the sanctions-compliance benefits of immediately responding to blocked payments, says Jeremy Paner at Hughes Hubbard.

  • Unpacking HHS' Proposal To Amend HIPAA Security Rule

    Author Photo

    While the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' proposal to amend the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act's security rule could face scrutiny under the Trump administration, it reflects a clear concern over health data security and could push entities to implement operational changes, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Expect Scrutiny Of Banks To Persist, Even Under Trump

    Author Photo

    Although the change in administrations brings some measure of uncertainty as to the nature of bank compliance oversight, if regulators in Washington, D.C., attempt to dilute the vigilance of federal superintendence, the states are waiting in the wings to fill the void, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

  • Reg Waiver Eases Calif. Rebuilding, But Proceed With Care

    Author Photo

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom's executive order suspending some environmental review and permitting requirements for the reconstruction of homes and businesses damaged by recent wildfires may streamline rebuilding efforts, but will require careful navigation of the evolving regulatory landscape, says Gregory Berlin at Alston & Bird.

  • The Post-Macquarie Securities Fraud-By-Omission Landscape

    Author Photo

    While the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 opinion in Macquarie v. Moab distinguished inactionable "pure omissions" from actionable "half-truths," the line between the two concepts in practice is still unclear, presenting challenges for lower courts parsing statements that often fall within the gray area of "misleading by omission," say attorneys at Katten.

  • Trump's Energy Plans: Climate, Data Centers, LNG And More

    Author Photo

    With a host of executive orders addressing climate and emissions policies, expanded energy development, offshore and onshore projects, liquefied natural gas and more, the second Trump administration has already given energy companies much to consider, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • AI Will Soon Transform The E-Discovery Industrial Complex

    Author Photo

    Todd Itami at Covington discusses how generative artificial intelligence will reshape the current e-discovery paradigm, replacing the blunt instrument of data handling with a laser scalpel of fully integrated enterprise solutions — after first making e-discovery processes technically and legally harder.

  • What To Do When ICE Shows Up At The Hospital

    Author Photo

    In light of recent executive orders and changes to enforcement directives permitting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to enter sensitive locations like hospitals, healthcare providers should understand how to balance compliance with existing health laws and patient care obligations, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Unpacking The Legal Foundation Of Trump's New Trade War

    Author Photo

    President Donald Trump's recent executive orders and proclamations regarding emergencies at the U.S. border are based on statutory powers enabling a president to address extraordinary external threats — and could be used to fend off legal challenges to the tariffs levied on Mexican and Canadian goods, says Chris Zona at Mandelbaum Barrett.

  • A View Of The Shifting Insurance Regulatory Landscape

    Author Photo

    Attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland explore how the Federal Insurance Office's climate report, the new presidential administration and the California wildfires might affect the insurance regulatory landscape.

  • Trump's Energy Plans: Funding, Permits And Nuclear Power

    Author Photo

    In the wake of President Donald Trump's flurry of first-day executive orders focusing on the energy sector, attorneys at Gibson Dunn analyze what this presidency will mean for energy-related grants and loans, changes to permitting processes and developments in nuclear power.

  • When Innovation Overwhelms The Rule Of Law

    Author Photo

    In an era where technology is rapidly evolving and artificial intelligence is seemingly everywhere, it’s worth asking if the law — both substantive precedent and procedural rules — can keep up with the light speed of innovation, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • FTC Focus: Avoiding 'Gun Jumping' Violations

    Author Photo

    The Federal Trade Commission's recent record $5.6 million "gun jumping" enforcement action against XCL Resources, EP Energy and Verdun Oil sends a clear message about the seriousness of violations of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act's premerger requirements, and highlights compliance tips such as avoiding premature integration of operations, say attorneys at Proskauer.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Public Policy archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!