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Public Policy

  • July 29, 2025

    PTAB Will Now Decide All Grounds In AIA Reviews

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday ordered administrative patent judges to address all grounds raised in America Invents Act petitions when issuing their final decisions.

  • July 29, 2025

    BofA Accuses FDIC Of $250M Rate Flip-Flop In Premiums Suit

    Bank of America has accused the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. of making a "startling" about-face in their long-running deposit insurance dispute in Washington, D.C., federal court, claiming the agency is pushing to extract hundreds of millions in extra interest after the bank paid what it says was the full $657 million judgment owed.

  • July 29, 2025

    Miami Defends Election Delay, Cites State Law Supremacy

    The city of Miami on Tuesday defended its decision to push municipal elections back by a year via ordinance, telling a state appeals court that the move is authorized by three state laws that supersede the city and county charters.

  • July 29, 2025

    3rd Circ. Says DOL H-2A Case Should Have Been In Fed. Court

    A New Jersey farm was entitled to have a federal court weigh in on the U.S. Department of Labor's allegations that it flouted H-2A visa program requirements, the Third Circuit ruled Tuesday, finding the DOL improperly relied on in-house administrative proceedings to impose over $580,000 in fines.

  • July 29, 2025

    FDA Recommends Federal Restrictions On Kratom Extract

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it recommends placing federal restrictions on 7-Hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, an opioid-like alkaloid compound derived from the kratom leaf that the agency said had a strong potential for abuse.

  • July 29, 2025

    DOJ Drops Challenge Of Amex GBT's $570M Deal For CWT

    The U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday that enforcers have agreed to drop their case challenging American Express Global Business Travel Inc.'s planned $570 million purchase of corporate travel management rival CWT Holdings LLC.

  • July 29, 2025

    Sens. Introduce Aviation Safety Bill 6 Months After DCA Crash

    Republican senators introduced legislation Tuesday that would mandate aircraft-tracking technology in civilian and military aircraft, alongside fresh audits of Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. Army practices, six months after January's deadly midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet near Washington, D.C.

  • July 29, 2025

    Economists Decry Federal Budget's Looser Interest Deduction

    It's regrettable that Congress loosened rules allowing companies to deduct interest costs from tax liabilities in its latest budget, which as a whole is poised to worsen the country's fiscal trajectory while prompting higher interest rates, a panel of economists said Tuesday.

  • July 29, 2025

    EEOC Retreat On Trans Bias Enforcement Illegal, Suit Says

    A Maryland-based LGBTQ+ advocacy organization alleged in a lawsuit Tuesday that recent steps taken by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to walk back enforcement of protections against sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination violate federal civil rights law and the U.S. Constitution.

  • July 29, 2025

    Trump To Make Call On Further Delay Of Higher China Tariffs

    President Donald Trump will decide whether to extend a tariff delay another 90 days for Chinese imports after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met with Chinese officials to discuss trade matters, the officials told reporters Tuesday in Stockholm.

  • July 29, 2025

    4th Circ. Won't Block NC Vape Regs As Vape Cos. Appeal

    The Fourth Circuit won't issue an injunction blocking a North Carolina law that would prohibit the sale of vape products not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as vape interests appeal a lower court ruling denying an identical injunction.

  • July 29, 2025

    EPA Proposes Ditching GHG Danger Finding In Tailpipe Rule

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed repealing an Obama-era finding that greenhouse gases endanger people's health and all vehicle emissions standards that relied upon that finding.

  • July 29, 2025

    Tenn. Man Deemed Intellectually Disabled Fights Execution

    A Tennessee man convicted of a 1988 triple murder whom the state has since deemed intellectually disabled has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt his execution and fully review his case, his attorney confirmed Tuesday.

  • July 29, 2025

    Top Int'l Trade Policy To Watch In The 2nd Half Of 2025

    Pervasive uncertainty surrounds international trade policy as the U.S. takes mercurial swings at the world with tariffs, including a quelled-for-now quasi embargo of China, and while lasting economic fallout hasn't materialized at home, partners abroad are aiming to replace reliance on the American market. Here, ¼«ËÙÈü³µ looks ahead at international trade policy during the latter half of one of the most consequential years in the field's history.

  • July 29, 2025

    USDA Seeks End To Pa. Suit Over $13M Food Aid Cut

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture wants a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit filed by Pennsylvania's governor accusing the USDA of haphazardly cutting off $13 million in food aid that supports local farmers.

  • July 29, 2025

    Attys Blast 'Chilling Message' Of Judge Shopping Sanctions

    Three attorneys sanctioned for judge shopping while challenging an Alabama statute that criminalizes gender-affirming care have asked the Eleventh Circuit to clear their names, castigating the process that led to their censure as "so extraordinary as to approach unprecedented."

  • July 29, 2025

    22 States Sue To Block Defunding Of Planned Parenthood

    California and more than 20 other states on Tuesday launched their own legal challenge to budget legislation that halts federal Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, alleging the measure illegally targets the organization and violates its First Amendment rights.

  • July 29, 2025

    Congressman Asks Feds To Revisit Ga. Tribes' Recognition

    A Georgia congressman is urging the Interior Department and its Bureau of Indian Affairs to reconsider a decision to deny federal recognition to two of the state's tribes while calling on the BIA to reexamine its criteria for the status, arguing it often overlooks events that fractured Indigenous communities.

  • July 29, 2025

    Judge May Review Classified DOD Evidence In DJI Drone Case

    A D.C. federal judge said he might need to see the U.S. Department of Defense's classified reasoning for listing drone manufacturer SZ DJI Technology as a Chinese military company, suggesting the unredacted evidence might not include enough information to assess whether the listing is justified.

  • July 29, 2025

    Judge Breaks Up Review Of Challenge To New Jersey US Atty

    The chief judge for Pennsylvania's Middle District, who is overseeing a drug trafficking case in New Jersey, on Tuesday evening issued a directive bifurcating a challenge to acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba's authority in order to analyze whether the defendants are entitled to relief if she was illegally appointed.

  • July 29, 2025

    DOJ's Top Antitrust Deputy, Merger Chief Both Fired

    The U.S. Department of Justice has ousted two of its top Antitrust Division officials, citing insubordination amid growing signs of tension between merger enforcers and the wider Trump administration.

  • July 29, 2025

    Justices Can Fix Circuit Split On Compassionate Release

    The First Step Act drastically reduced the mandatory minimum sentences for certain federal crimes, but it will be up to the U.S. Supreme Court to settle a 6-4 circuit split over whether courts can consider those changes when weighing a prisoner's compassionate release, attorneys tell ¼«ËÙÈü³µ.

  • July 29, 2025

    Ga. Senators Accuse DA Of 'Stonewalling' In Testimony Fight

    A Georgia Senate committee investigating Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' prosecution of President Donald Trump and others in an election interference case told the state's Supreme Court that her bid to escape its subpoena for her to testify before the committee seeks "to reward her stonewalling" and "delay tactics."

  • July 29, 2025

    4th Circ. Rejects BofA's Claim Of Tax Offsets After Mergers

    Bank of America cannot use its tax overpayments to offset interest on tax underpayments by Merrill Lynch just because the two companies later merged, the Fourth Circuit affirmed Tuesday in a $163 million case that affects more than 20 years' worth of tax adjustments.

  • July 29, 2025

    Okla. Cannabis Attorney Sues State Bar Over Suspension

    An Oklahoma-based attorney specializing in First Amendment and cannabis law is suing the state's bar association and Supreme Court, alleging that he was wrongfully suspended last year in retaliation for criticizing the bodies.

Expert Analysis

  • Philly Law Initiates New Era Of Worker Protections

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    A new worker protection law in Philadelphia includes, among other measures, a private right of action and recordkeeping requirements that may amount to a lower evidentiary standard, introducing a new level of accountability and additional noncompliance risks for employers, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Series

    Volunteering At Schools Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Speaking to elementary school students about the importance of college and other opportunities after high school — especially students who may not see those paths reflected in their daily lives — not only taught me the importance of giving back, but also helped to sharpen several skills essential to a successful legal practice, says Guillermo Escobedo at Constangy.

  • 5 Open Questions About FDA's AI-Assisted Review Plans

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently touted the completion of a generative artificial intelligence program for scientific reviewers and plans for agencywide deployment to speed up reviews of premarket applications, but there is considerable uncertainty surrounding the tools' ability to protect trade secrets, avoid bias and more, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Jurisdiction, Price Range, Late-Is-Late

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    In this month's bid protest roundup, Thomas Lee at MoFo examines three May decisions from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims examining the court’s jurisdiction to rescind an executive order, the impact of agency error in establishing a competitive price range and application of the late-is-late rule to an electronic filing.

  • How Trump Administration's Antitrust Agenda Is Playing Out

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    Under the current antitrust agency leadership, the latest course in merger enforcement, regulatory approach and key sectors shows a marked shift from Biden-era practices and includes a return to remedies and the commitment to remain focused on the bounds of U.S. law, say attorneys at Wilson Sonsini.

  • Justices' Ruling Lowers Bar For Reverse Discrimination Suits

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous opinion in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, lowering the evidentiary burden for plaintiffs bringing so-called reverse discrimination claims, may lead to more claims brought by majority group employees — and open the door to legal challenges to employer diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, say attorneys at Ice Miller.

  • Fed's Crypto Guidance Yank Could Drive Innovation

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    The Federal Reserve Board's recent withdrawal of guidance letters brings regulatory consistency and broadens banks' ability to innovate in the crypto-asset space, but key distinctions remain between the Fed's policy on crypto liquidity and that of the other banking regulators, says Dan Hartman at Nutter.

  • DOE Grant Recipients Facing Termination Have Legal Options

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    Federal grant recipients whose awards have recently been rescinded by the U.S. Deparment of Energy have options for successfully challenging those terminations through litigation, say attorneys at Bracewell.

  • Attacks On Judicial Independence Tend To Manifest In 3 Ways

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    Attacks on judicial independence now run the gamut from gross (bald-faced interference) to systemic (structural changes) to insidious (efforts to undermine public trust), so lawyers, judges and the public must recognize the fateful moment in which we live and defend the rule of law every day, says Jim Moliterno at Washington and Lee University.

  • Loophole To Budget Bill's AI Rule May Complicate Tech Regs

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    An exception in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that could allow state and local governments to develop ostensibly technology-neutral laws that nonetheless circumvent the bill’s ban on state artificial intelligence regulation could unintentionally create a more complex regulatory environment for technologies beyond AI, says Pooya Shoghi at Lee & Hayes.

  • A Look At Texas Corp. Law Changes Aimed At Dethroning Del.

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    Seeking to displace Delaware as the preferred locale for incorporation, Texas recently significantly amended its business code, including changes like codifying the business judgment rule, restricting books and records demands, and giving greater protections for officers and directors in interested transactions, say attorneys at Fenwick.

  • Prior Art Ruling Highlights Importance Of Detailed Elaboration

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent decision in Ecto World v. RAI Strategic Holdings shows that when there is a possibility for discretionary denial, and the examiner has potentially overlooked prior art, patent owners should elaborate on as many of the denial factors as possible, says Frank Bernstein at Squire Patton.

  • Dissecting House And Senate's Differing No-Tax-On-Tips Bills

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    Employers should understand how the House and Senate versions of no-tax-on-tips bills differ — including in the scope of related deductions and reporting requirements — to meet any new compliance obligations and communicate with their employees, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.

  • OCC's Digital Embrace Delivers Risk, Opportunity For Banks

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    As the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency continues to release and seek more information on banks' participation in the crypto-asset arena, institutions may see greater opportunity to pursue digital asset and custody services, but must simultaneously educate themselves on transformations occurring throughout the industry, says Kirstin Kanski at Spencer Fane.

  • High Court Birthright Case Could Reshape Judicial Power

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    Recent arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in cases challenging President Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order primarily focused on federal judges’ power to issue nationwide injunctions and suggest that the upcoming decision may fundamentally change how federal courts operate, says Mauni Jalali at Quinn Emanuel.

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