Between the Lines Blog
Trademark Scams: How to Spot Them and Protect Yourself
Trademark scams are on the rise, leading to confusion amongst trademark owners. In fact, in August 2025, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) took the extraordinary step of sanctioning a foreign filing firm and terminating over 52,000 trademark applications and registrations…
Understanding Patient Safety Organizations: A Practical Guide
If you work in the healthcare industry, you have likely heard about Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs) and the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (PSQIA). This article breaks down what these frameworks mean and how they can protect sensitive safety information from disclosure in…
Service Animals in Arkansas Schools: What Every Administrator Should Know - Part Two
In a prior installment of this blog post we outlined the law that all Arkansas school administrators should know about service animals. Now we turn to a slightly less clear issue that comes up quite frequently: the difference between service animals and emotional support animals. The Mitchell…
Service Animals in Arkansas Schools: What Every Administrator Should Know (Part 1)
Navigating the ADA, Reasonable Accommodations, and Safety in Practice If you’ve ever had a parent or visitor arrive at your school event with a dog, you’ve probably found yourself asking: What are my legal responsibilities? What questions am I allowed to ask? How do I balance access, safety, and…
National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Fall 2025 Meeting Summary
The Mitchell Williams Insurance Regulatory team of lawyers recently attended the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Fall 2025 National Meeting which was held in Hollywood, FL. This summary highlights issues that various NAIC groups addressed. What You Need to Know: …
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law Blog
Pollution Exclusion/Permitted Emissions: Federal Appellate Court Addresses Coverage Question Related to Ethylene Oxide
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (“Seventh Circuit”) addressed in a March 13th Opinion an insurance coverage question involving emissions of ethylene oxide. See GRIFFITH FOODS INTERNATIONAL INC., et al., v. NATIONAL UNION FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY OF PITTSBURGH, PA, Nos…
Arkansas Advisory Committee on Petroleum Storage Tanks: March Meeting Moved to April 1st
As noted in a previous blog post, Arkansas operates a petroleum storage tank trust fund that provides reimbursement for eligible storage tanks that suffer corrective action requirements and third-party damage claims due to a release of petroleum. The Advisory Committee on Petroleum Storage Tanks…
State of Clean Power in Q4 2025: Environmental Defense Funds/Atlas Public Policy Report
The Environmental Defense Fund and Atlas Public Policy (collectively, “EDF”) published a March 26th report titled: The State of Clean Power in Q4 2025 (“Report”). The Report lists as authors: Tom Taylor. Katherine Shok. The Report states that the United States saw a record amount of new clean…
Nationwide Permits/Clean Water Act: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Solicitation of Input on Potential Future Changes
The United States Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) published a March 16th Federal Register notice stating that it is seeking input on ways to increase the efficiency of the Clean Water Act nationwide permit (“NWP”) program. See 91 Fed. Reg. 1259. The Corps states it will consider such input in…
Gold Mining Operation/Clean Water Act: Earthworks Petition for Review Challenging Idaho Department of Environmental Quality NPDES Permit
Earthworks and three other environmental organizations filed a February 27th Petition for Review (“Petition”) before the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (“IDEQ”) challenging what is denominated the Stibnite Gold Project (“Project”). The Petition addresses the Idaho Pollution Discharge…