A Review Of Recent Whistleblower Developments

A federal district court in Oklahoma has departed from the previous consensus on the use of automated license plate reader (“ALPR”) technology by law enforcement, holding that a police officer violated the Fourth Amendment when he queried ALPR databases to obtain one month of a vehicle’s historical location records without a warrant.

On January 1st, Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Kelly Loeffler announced on X that the agency suspended "6,900 Minnesota borrowers" over suspected fraudulent activity regarding...

The Department of Justice's 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown charged 455 defendants in connection with $6.5 billion in alleged fraud schemes, marking an unprecedented scale of enforcement action. This whole-of-government approach leverages advanced data analytics and international cooperation to combat healthcare fraud across Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal programs. The enforcement action demonstrates heightened scrutiny of providers, aggressive asset forfeiture, and a focus on cases involvin

An INTERPOL Red Notice is one of the most powerful and most frequently misunderstood tools in international law enforcement cooperation. It is often described in the media as an "international arrest warrant," but that characterization is not accurate. A Red Notice is not a warrant and, by itself, does not automatically authorize an arrest in most jurisdictions.

The Department of Justice has implemented its first-ever Department-wide Corporate Enforcement Policy, fundamentally reshaping how companies navigate voluntary self-disclosure, cooperation, and remediation across all criminal matters. This comprehensive mid-year analysis examines the new three-path framework, explores critical enforcement developments in FCPA, export controls, trade fraud, and healthcare, and reveals how recent resolutions signal both opportunities and heightened risks for corporate complia

The Department of Justice's historic decision to reclassify cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act has triggered multiple legal challenges now consolidated before...

The rapid expansion of online prediction markets has created a regulatory gray area where consumers can effectively wager on sporting events even in states that prohibit traditional sports betting. As platforms like Kalshi, Polymarket, and Robinhood argue their services constitute futures trading rather than gambling, state attorneys general and the CFTC are locked in legal battles over jurisdiction and consumer protection.

Whistleblower protection has evolved significantly since the UN Convention Against Corruption in 2003, yet the scope of protections and rewards varies dramatically across jurisdictions. From the robust reward systems in the United States and South Korea to the EU's protection-focused directive and emerging programs in Ghana, countries have taken vastly different approaches to encouraging and safeguarding those who expose wrongdoing.

Designed for busy in-house counsel, compliance professionals, and anti-corruption lawyers, this newsletter summarizes some of the most important international anti-corruption law and enforcement...

Federal prosecutors and the SEC are intensifying scrutiny of the $3 trillion private credit market following the September 2025 bankruptcies of Tricolor Holdings and First Brands Group...

Governor Greg Abbott has ordered the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to immediately halt all environmental permits for data center projects, expanding a statewide regulatory freeze that now encompasses power, water, and environmental approvals. This directive establishes strict operational mandates requiring data centers to fully fund infrastructure costs, report all resource consumption...

California Governor Newsom signed seven data center bills into law on September 21, 2026, establishing a comprehensive regulatory framework that takes effect January 1, 2027. These bills create new tariff regimes administered by the California Public Utilities Commission, impose extensive reporting requirements on data center operators, and establish water disclosure mandates and CEQA treatment protocols.

As U.S. utilities commit record capital to grid expansion, equipment procurement has emerged as a critical constraint. Lead times for transformers now stretch beyond two years, while material scarcity, inflation, and labor shortages compound delays across conductor, switchgear, and substation components.

Texas has launched a sweeping investigation into hundreds of data center developments that failed to comply with mandatory water use surveys, marking the latest escalation in a seven-week regulatory crackdown. The state's actions have frozen permits, paused interconnection studies, and exposed projects to criminal and civil enforcement, all while the industry faces mounting scrutiny over its rapidly growing demands on electricity and water infrastructure. With multiple state agencies now coordinating enforc

Associated gas production in the Permian Basin continues to surge alongside oil drilling, but natural gas prices have diverged sharply from crude oil, creating significant challenges for contracts written under different price assumptions. With Henry Hub futures trading around $3 per million Btu while WTI crude hovers near $90 per barrel, operators and service companies face difficult questions about pricing mechanisms, curtailment rights, and minimum volume commitments that may no longer reflect current

Diesel prices have shattered records, hitting $6.529 per gallon nationally while distillate inventories plunge below five-year lows and are expected to remain there through most of 2027. With crack spreads exceeding $106 per barrel and global supply disruptions intensifying, fleet operators and oilfield services companies face mounting fuel costs that many existing contracts weren't designed to handle.

"Greenwashing" is the term for a company's exaggerated, misleading, or unsupported claims about its environmental practices.

Companies seeking to enter the United States medical device market must first determine whether their product qualifies as a medical device and define its intended use, which helps determine how the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will regulate and classify the product.

Louis Lehot is a legal professional at Foley & Lardner LLP, specializing in corporate and transactional matters. His practice focuses on advising clients across various business and legal challenges. Contact information and professional details are provided for those seeking his expertise.

Louis Lehot is a legal professional at Foley & Lardner LLP, specializing in corporate and transactional matters. His practice focuses on advising clients across various business and legal challenges. Contact information and professional details are provided for those seeking his expertise.