Public Policy

  • February 05, 2025

    Key IRS Workers Can't Do 'Resign' Deal Until After Tax Season

    Internal Revenue Service workers were notified Wednesday that employees working in positions considered necessary to the tax filing season can't accept President Donald Trump's resignation offer until mid-May.

  • February 05, 2025

    Judge Sides With DC In Telecom's School Network Suit

    A D.C. federal judge has ruled in favor of the Washington, D.C., government in a lawsuit accusing the district's public school system of improperly tapping one of its own agencies to provide network services over incumbent Allied Telecom's bid.

  • February 05, 2025

    Chicago's Climate Suit Belongs In Federal Court, Judge Hears

    The city of Chicago should not be allowed to take environmental deception claims against the nation's largest oil producers back to state court because the city's suit targets conduct performed largely for the federal government, a judge heard during a Wednesday hearing.

  • February 05, 2025

    FCC To Launch Spectrum Sale, Eyes More C-Band Use

    The FCC's new Republican chief said Wednesday the agency will kick off rules for a new spectrum sale authorized by Congress and consider a plan to eventually open more midband airwaves in the C-band for private sector use.

  • February 05, 2025

    RealPage Says Missing Market Power Dooms Antitrust Suit

    RealPage Inc. is making another effort to dodge antitrust allegations after the government expanded its case to rope in half a dozen residential landlords, arguing the amended pleading still falls short of showing the property management software company has enough market power to influence rent prices.

  • February 05, 2025

    Trade Groups Urge PBM Crackdown By Trump, Congress

    A coalition of industry trade groups sent letters Wednesday urging President Donald Trump and leaders in Congress to advance legislation reining in pharmacy benefit managers — which intermediate between drugmakers, insurers and pharmacies — in the next piece of federal government funding legislation.

  • February 05, 2025

    ACLU Warns Schools Should Hire Counsel Before ICE Raids

    The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio has called on Ohio school districts to hire counsel now to develop procedures to respond to the Trump administration's rescission of policy that limited U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions at schools, while noting that all children have a constitutional right to attend public schools.

  • February 05, 2025

    'Dreamers' Tell 8th Circ. ND Can't Challenge Health Coverage

    Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients have urged the Eighth Circuit to reverse an order blocking a Biden administration rule expanding their rights to Affordable Care Act health insurance coverage, arguing that a lower court erred in finding that North Dakota has standing to sue in the state.

  • February 05, 2025

    Judge Found 'Vertical' Mattress Deal Won't Hurt Competition

    U.S. District Judge Charles Eskridge rejected the Federal Trade Commission's bid to pause Tempur Sealy's planned $5 billion purchase of Mattress Firm after finding a merger of the mattress supplier and retail chain would likely increase competition, if it has any impact at all.

  • February 05, 2025

    Feds Say Jury Should Decide If Message Was Threat To Judge

    A federal prosecutor urged a Texas federal court Wednesday not to dismiss the indictment of a woman accused of threatening a federal judge by saying he should "watch his back," arguing her claim that the statement wasn't a "true threat" is a factual question for a jury to decide.

  • February 05, 2025

    Senate Panel Approves Car AM Radio, Rural Broadband Bills

    A key Senate panel signed off on legislation Wednesday to require the continued installment of AM radio capability in cars, as well as to more thoroughly vet broadband providers that want to participate in federally funded deployment programs.

  • February 05, 2025

    Cuts To Medicaid Will Devastate Tribal Healthcare, Experts Say

    As talks of big funding slashes to Medicaid loom among federal lawmakers, Indigenous communities say they will face devastating losses if any anticipated legislation passes, leading to cuts in Indian Country's healthcare workforce, a large gap in services for children and a rise in preventable illnesses.

  • February 05, 2025

    China Hits Trump Tariffs With Mostly Symbolic WTO Challenge

    The Chinese government has challenged the Trump administration's new 10% tariff at the World Trade Organization, alleging violations of key global trade rules, even as years of U.S.-led gridlock has rendered the Geneva body mostly defunct as a dispute resolution forum.

  • February 05, 2025

    US Bill Aims To Ax Tax Incentives For Multinational Cos.

    Congress should repeal and replace federal tax measures that allow multinational corporations to reduce taxable income in the United States, including by holding assets abroad, according to two Democratic lawmakers who reintroduced a bill to that effect Wednesday.

  • February 05, 2025

    6th Circ. Judge Unsure Of Jury Instruction In Bribery Case

    A Sixth Circuit judge seemed skeptical Wednesday of the bribery and racketeering conspiracy standards a jury used to convict former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and Republican lobbyist Matthew Borges in connection with the FirstEnergy bailout scandal, suggesting that all campaign contributions could be called bribery.

  • 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.

Expert Analysis

  • The Justices' Securities Rulings, Dismissals That Defined '24

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 securities rulings led to increased success for defendants' price impact arguments, but the justices' decisions not to weigh in on important issues relating to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act's pleading requirements may be just as significant, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • 10 Noteworthy CFPB Developments From 2024

    Author Photo

    In a banner year for consumer finance regulation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made significant strides in its efforts to rein in Big Tech and nonbank financial firms, including via rules regarding open banking, credit card late fees, and buy now, pay later products, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • What To Expect From EEOC Next Year After An Active 2024

    Author Photo

    While highlights this year for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission include its first-ever Pregnant Workers Fairness Act cases and comprehensive workplace harassment guidance, the question for 2025 is whether the commission will sustain its momentum or shift its focus in a new direction, says Shannon Kelly at GrayRobinson.

  • Series

    Fixing Up Cars Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    From problem-solving to patience and adaptability to organization, the skills developed working under the hood of a car directly translate to being a more effective lawyer, says Christopher Mdeway at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • 2024 Has Been A Momentous Year For ESG

    Author Photo

    Significant developments in the environmental, social and governance landscape this year include new legislation, evolving global frameworks, continued litigation and enforcement actions, and a U.S. Supreme Court decision that has already affected how lower courts have viewed some ESG challenges, say attorneys at Katten.

  • Opinion

    A New Tax On Employers Could Help Curb Illegal Immigration

    Author Photo

    To better enforce the law against hiring immigrants unauthorized to work in the U.S., Congress should enact a punitive excise tax on compensation paid to such immigrants and amend the False Claims Act to allow qui tam actions against employers for failure to pay such tax, says Ajay Gupta at Moore Tax Law Group.

  • Making The Pitch To Grow Your Company's Legal Team

    Author Photo

    In a compressed economy, convincing the C-suite to invest in additional legal talent can be a herculean task, but a convincing pitch — supported by metrics and cost analyses — may help in-house counsel justify the growth of their team, say Elizabeth Smith and Roger Garceau at Major Lindsey.

  • The Story Of 2024's Biggest Bank Regs, And Their Fate In 2025

    Author Photo

    U.S. federal bank regulators were very active in 2024 with initiatives ranging from antitrust and capital to proposals regarding controlling shareholders and incentive-based compensation, but many regulations face an uncertain future under the new administration, say attorneys at Latham.

  • Key Rulings On Sentencing Guidelines After Loper Bright

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision in Loper Bright v. Raimondo raised questions as to when and whether courts should defer to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines' commentary in disputes over the guidelines' meaning — but some recent appellate court rulings provide insights for defense counsel in this area, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • Data Privacy Landscape After Mass. Justices' Wiretap Ruling

    Author Photo

    In Vita v. New England Baptist Hospital, Massachusetts’ highest court recently ruled that the state’s wiretap law doesn’t prohibit all tracking of website user activity, but major financial and reputational risks remain for businesses that aren't transparent about customer’s web data, says Seth Berman at Nutter.

  • Ledbetter's Legacy Shines In 2024 Equal Pay Law Updates

    Author Photo

    The federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act turned 15 this year, and its namesake's legacy is likely to endure in 2025 and beyond, as demonstrated by 2024's state- and local-level progress on pay equity, as well as several rulings from federal appellate courts, say attorneys at Fisher Phillips.

  • The Future Of GLP-1 Policy After Drug Shortage Ends

    Author Photo

    If and when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration determines that GLP-1 RA drugs are no longer in short supply, regulators will face questions of how to balance access to GLP-1 RAs with statutory and policy considerations applicable to compounded drugs, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Gov't Scrutiny Of Workplace Chat Apps Set To Keep Growing

    Author Photo

    The incoming Trump administration and Republican majorities in Congress are poised to open numerous investigations that include increasing demands for entities to produce communications from workplace chat apps, so companies must evaluate their usage and retention policies, say attorneys at Orrick.

  • Del. Dispatch: The 2024 Corporate Cases You Need To Know

    Author Photo

    The Delaware Court of Chancery in 2024 issued several decisions that some viewed as upending long-standing corporate practices, leading to the amendment of the Delaware General Corporation Law and debates at some Delaware corporations about potentially reincorporating to another state, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • 2024 Regulatory Developments For Bank-Fintech Partnerships

    Author Photo

    Joseph Silvia at Duane Morris reviews a handful of particularly noteworthy 2024 updates regarding bank-fintech partnerships, including federal banking agencies issuing a number of important pieces of guidance that reiterate and update previous guidance in the area of third-party risk management.

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!