INSIDE COMPLIANCE – Page 8 – Loyola University Chicago School of Law

Circumventing the Salary Cap: The Regulatory Gaps within the NBA

October 16, 2025Contracts, Sports

In the National Basketball Association (NBA), competition is fierce and success is often decided by razor-thin margins. NBA franchises are consistently looking for ways to gain a competitive edge, prioritizing player acquisitions to increase ticket sales, sponsorships, and franchise value to ultimately improve their chances of winning a championship. Most teams aim to build their roster through the annual NBA draft or the annual NBA free agency period. However, with growing competitive pressure, the line between strategic edge and rule circumvention becomes increasingly blurred. In September 2025, allegations surfaced that the Los Angeles Clippers circumvented the NBA salary cap when reporter Pablo Torre asserted that star player Kawhi Leonard received a $28 million no-show endorsement from Aspiration, a company with financial ties to Clippers owner Steve Ballmer. These allegations have led to the increased examination of current NBA policies and raised questions as to whether the NBA can take a more proactive approach to compliance.

The “Fix” Feels Confusing: The USPTO’s New Bifurcated Process for Patent Reviews

October 8, 2025Intellectual Property

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently changed how it decides whether to move forward with patent challenges known as inter partes reviews (IPRs). Instead of a single panel deciding both discretionary and merit questions, Acting Director Coke Morgan Stewart (Stewart) created a bifurcated, two-step process. First, the Director decides whether to deny a case based on discretionary factors. If the case is approved, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) panel will then evaluate the merits.

Although designed to streamline review and manage workload, the new system has instead generated conflicting guidance and expanded discretion. Some of the new factors tend to favor patent owners, while others favor petitioners. Without clearer guidance, both sides are left uncertain: patent owners cannot reliably gauge whether their rights will hold, and petitioners cannot predict when their challenges will be heard. Clearer instruction should be given by the USPTO.

Who Owns the Airwaves? FCC Compliance and the Fight for Free Expression

October 5, 2025Antitrust, Regulation

The struggle to balance government oversight, corporate power, and free expression has placed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) at the heart of America’s media debate. The FCC plays a central role in U.S. media regulation, overseeing licensing, national ownership limits, and broadcasters’ statutory “public interest” obligations. The FCC’s national television ownership rule prevents any one company from controlling stations that reach more than 39% of U.S. households. This mandate was designed to ensure that no single corporation could dominate the public airwaves. Yet, as recent events surrounding FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, Nexstar Media Group’s proposed $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna Inc., and the temporary suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live reveal, these safeguards are under mounting pressure. What began as a technical question of regulatory compliance has evolved into a broader confrontation over free speech, political influence, and the fragility of democratic guardrails in American broadcasting.

FCCfree speechJournal of Regulatory ComplianceTrump Administration

America’s Fractured Approach to AI Regulation

October 3, 2025Artificial Intelligence, Regulation

Federal efforts to promote artificial intelligence (“AI”) innovation by avoiding comprehensive regulation has prompted state legislatures to fill the regulatory void, creating a fractured regulatory landscape. This threatens the very innovation AI was meant to create in a global race towards general AI. Today’s AI systems are examples of Artificial Narrow Intelligence, trained to perform specific tasks but are unable to operate outside their defined parameters. In contrast, Artificial General Intelligence, or Strong AI, is a theoretical form of AI capable of apply prior knowledge and skills to new contexts, enabling it to learn and perform any intellectual task a human can without additional human training of the underlying models. This pursuit has driven unprecedented investment, technology corporations have poured billions of dollars into AI capital expenditures with this number only continuing to rise. Compliance teams are left scrambling to manage an increasingly complex regulatory environment that is evolving faster than legal departments and regulators can effectively manage.

artificial intelligencefederal regulationJournal of Regulatory Compliancetechnology

Unbalanced Collisions: NFL Concussion Protocols and Ongoing Compliance Challenges

October 2, 2025Sports

The NFL season is back! Fans are buzzing about new uniforms, preseason rankings, and highlight-worthy plays, and there’s plenty to get excited about. Yet amid all the excitement, one issue continues to remain a pressing concern – the health and safety of the players. Football delivers thrills on the field, but the physical toll on athletes often lasts long after the final whistle. This season offers a chance to take a closer look at how far the NFL has come and how much work remains when it comes to protecting its players.

ConcussionsHead TraumaOSHAPlayer SafetyProtocol Compliance

Large Law Firms v. Small: A Two-Tier Professional Responsibility System

September 30, 2025Ethics

The legal profession has long emphasized a standard of professional responsibility. These rules have been “uniformly” applied to all licensed attorneys in the country. In practice, however, the realities of firm size can create what appears to be a two-tier system of professional responsibility. Large law firms operate under intense regulatory, reputational, and insurance oversight, while small firms and solo practitioners are often equipped with fewer resources which can expose them to disciplinary scrutiny more easily. These dynamics shape the ethical landscape of the legal profession.

ARDCJournal of Regulatory ComplianceProfessional Responsibility

More Life? Or More Death? How Abortion Regulation has Become the Angel of Death

September 30, 2025Journal of Regulatory Compliance, Uncategorized

A US Supreme Court decision that ignited national upheaval and stirred global reactions: the overturn of Roe v. Wade. On June 24, 2022, the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion and returned the power to regulate abortion to individual states. This ruling ended nearly 50 years of federal protection for abortion rights. Overnight, women and girls lost their right to choose, were stripped of the power to shape their own destinies and suddenly had fewer rights than their mothers before them. This ruling is one of the most fundamental infringes on one’s basic human rights.

abortionRoe v. Wade

The Regulation of Cosmetics in the U.S.: Where It’s Been and Now Is Headed

September 29, 2025FDA

The cosmetics industry in the U.S. has fallen behind in safety regulations compared to its European counterparts. The European Union has banned roughly 1,300 different ingredients in personal care products while the U.S. has banned merely 11. The last major update to regulations in the U.S. was in 2022 with the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act (MoCRA). However, there is still work that needs to be done to address the health and safety risks that the cosmetic industry poses. The “Safer Beauty Bill Package” is just one proposed regulation that would majorly alter how personal care products are regulated in the U.S.

beautycosmeticsFDA complianceFDA regulationssafety regulation

Continuity Across Administrations in Antitrust Law

September 26, 2025Antitrust

In April 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) decided to pursue an antitrust trial against Meta. This conflict was initiated back in 2020 during the Trump administration, which continued throughout Biden’s time in office, and is now being brought to fruition. This case involves the alleged monopoly of social networking services as a result of Meta’s acquisition of Instagram and, more recently, WhatsApp. Regardless of the administration, antitrust agencies remain committed to challenging harmful business practices in the tech sector.

Biden AdministrationDOJfinancial regulationFTCTrump Administration

The IPO of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Could Provide Instability to an Already Weak U.S. Housing Market

September 23, 2025Finance & Banking

Last month, the Trump Administration announced that it is pursuing an initial public offering (IPO) of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), both of which are currently under government conservatorship and overseen by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). While there is no guarantee that the deal will move forward, President Donald Trump, FHFA Director Bill Plute, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick believe the offering will take place soon, potentially later this year. While boasted as a great deal by the Trump Administration, given the size, risks, and the likely results that will follow the deals commencement, it is more likely to destabilize the mortgage market and further harm the currently sluggish U.S. housing market than to provide any benefit to U.S. citizens.