On December 28, 2025, media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, reported that the Department of Justice (DOJ) had begun investigating large private sector entities for their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices. Companies, including Alphabet’s Google and Verizon Communications, have reportedly received civil investigative demands (CIDs) from DOJ relating to DEI practices. To
Addressing an issue of first impression, the First Circuit has clarified the burden to satisfy the knowledge element required in False Claims Act (FCA) cases in the context of laboratory testing and Medicare fraud. The Medicare Act permits reimbursement of diagnostic laboratory tests only if they are “reasonable and necessary” for diagnosis or treatment of
On December 2, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York approved a settlement between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a broker-dealer for policy and procedure violations and a $2.5 million penalty. As part of the settlement, the SEC also abandoned negligence-based fraud claims against the broker-dealer and
In an announcement made earlier this month, the U.S. Treasury Department unveiled “a comprehensive audit of all contracts and task orders awarded under preference-based contracting, totaling approximately $9 billion in contract value across Treasury and its bureaus.” The Treasury Department added that “[t]he audit will examine potential misuse of the Small Business Administration’s [SBA] 8(a)
On October 22, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sweeping new sanctions targeting Russia’s energy sector, citing the Kremlin’s continued refusal to engage in good-faith negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. The action designates Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft Oil Company (Rosneft) and Lukoil OAO
On August 27, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an opinion highlighting that, when public companies disclose risks using hypothetical language, those disclosures may be deemed misleading if the risks have already materialized. See City of Hialeah Employees’ Ret. Sys. v. Peloton Interactive, Inc., — F.4th —, 2025 WL
Under federal law, government agents are authorized to “interrogate any alien or person believed to be an alien as to his right to be or to remain in the United States.” Under applicable regulations, the agents “may briefly detain” an individual “for questioning” if they have “a reasonable suspicion, based on specific articulable facts, that
On August 11, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought two settled administrative proceedings against a broker-dealer and one of its registered representatives for violations of Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI). Reg BI generally requires a broker-dealer, when making a recommendation of a securities transaction to a retail customer, to act in the
In United States v. Mims, No. 22-13215, 2025 WL 1934570 (11th Cir., July 15, 2025), the Eleventh Circuit addressed a relatively straightforward question of first impression: “whether a district court continues to have jurisdiction in a criminal case to order compliance with unsatisfied restitution obligations after the defendant completes her probationary sentence.” In
In May 2025, we summarized the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Enforcement activity during the first quarter of the new presidential administration. With the second quarter now concluded, and Paul S. Atkins hitting his stride as the new Chairman of the SEC, we summarize below the types of SEC enforcement