Last fall, I blogged about the challenges of overturning an arbitrator’s award (check out that post here). That case illustrated the difficulties of vacating an award based on a purported erroneous ruling of law. But what if...more
As reported in our February 13, 2025, blog item, on January 17, 2025, the Biden U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a notice of appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit of the U.S. District Court...more
On May 6, 2026, a unanimous panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) rule preventing discrimination in consumer access to broadband services...more
On April 18, 2026, the United States District Court for the District of Oregon issued a sweeping opinion vacating the “Kennedy Declaration,” a directive issued by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in December 2025 without...more
A March 30, 2026, decision from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, in Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Department of the Interior, vacated key provisions of the Endangered Species Act...more
Last week, a deeply skeptical US Supreme Court heard oral argument in Jules v. Andre Balazs Properties, where the court was asked to decide whether a district court that compelled a lawsuit to arbitration still has...more
Attacking a final arbitration award in the United States is not an easy proposition, contrary to some popular beliefs. The grounds to challenge a final award are controlled and follow the narrow standards set forth in the...more
It has been a busy past week for the Endangered Species Act (ESA). On March 30, 2026, a United States District Court issued a summary judgment opinion invalidating four provisions of the current ESA Section 7 regulations and...more
On March 19, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated FinCEN’s rule requiring reporting for certain non-financed transfers of residential real estate to entities and trusts, holding that the agency...more
Within the past week, two Texas federal district courts entered orders vacating the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) 2024 regulation (the “2024 Fiduciary Rule”) re-defining the circumstances under which a person will be deemed...more
In a decision of first impression, the Supreme Court of Virginia in Garofalo v. Di Vincenzo, defined what “evident partiality” means under the Virginia Uniform Arbitration Act (VUAA). The court held that a party seeking to...more
On March 19, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated a previously effective final rule issued by FinCEN requiring reporting of any non-financed residential real estate transfers to entities or...more
The March Monthly Minute highlights the DOL’s restoration of the 1975 investment advice fiduciary rule as well as recent employer wins in tobacco surcharge and PBM litigation....more
On March 19, 2026, Judge Kasubhai of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon ruled from the bench granting Plaintiff States’ Motion for Summary Judgment and denying the Government’s Motion to Dismiss, announcing...more
On March 19, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, vacated the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations for Residential Real Estate Transfers (the “Reporting Rule”), issued by the Financial...more
On February 23, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the Eleventh Circuit's decision in Visionary Books + Café, LLC v. Bank OZK, which addresses the scope of judicial review of arbitral awards under Section...more
A federal district court has issued a significant decision vacating FinCEN’s residential real estate reporting rule, which had taken effect on March 1, 2026. This update summarizes the rule, the court’s ruling and the...more
March 19, 2026, the Fifth Circuit denied the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) petition for a stay pending the appeal of a District Court order vacating the current Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) premerger notification form (the...more
On March 19, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied the FTC’s motion for a stay pending appeal of the Eastern District of Texas’s decision vacating the 2024 HSR Final Rule....more
A critical issue for businesses and organizations that challenge federal agency action is brewing before the Supreme Court. It concerns the scope of relief available under the Administrative Procedure Act (the “APA”) and the...more
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated a district court’s preliminary injunction against portions of two of President Donald Trump’s executive orders (EOs) about diversity, equity, and...more
On February 19, 2026, the Fifth Circuit granted the FTC’s request for an administrative stay of the Eastern District of Texas decision vacating the 2024 HSR Final Rule, preserving the Rule until further order of the court....more
On February 12, 2026, Judge Jeremy Kernodle of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas struck down the Federal Trade Commission’s expanded Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act filing requirements that went...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently affirmed an arbitration award despite clear factual error, finding that the factual error was not so critical, obvious, or intentional that it amounted to manifestly...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has reversed a lower court’s order vacating the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua,...more