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State AG Insights

Foley Hoag’s State Attorney General Investigations lawyers offer their experience, insight and skill to help your business through the considerable challenges of an AG investigation or enforcement action.

State Attorneys General Bring Lawsuit Against Executive Order on Energy Emergency
Blog May 29, 2025
Following up on our previous posts on United States energy policy under the Trump Administration, we are writing with an update on recent State Attorney General (AG) action in response to the Trump Administration’s climate and energy-focused executive actions…
Will State AGs Fill the Gap in FCPA Enforcement?
Blog April 22, 2025
Since the start of President Trump’s second administration, some State Attorneys General (AGs) have actively responded to executive orders and policy directives, including by initiating legal challenges in federal courts…
An Impoundment By Any Other Name
Blog January 29, 2025
A Monday night memorandum issued by the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) ordered federal agencies to “temporarily pause” all federal funding and other agency activities that “may be implicated by” the slew of executive orders Trump issued last week…
State Attorneys General Take Actions on Ghost Guns
Blog May 16, 2024
While State Attorneys General are limited to enforcing laws within their respective states, their enforcement activities often implicate businesses located elsewhere but whose business activity crosses state lines. One area where we have seen a rising trend in enforcement, particularly among Democratic AGs, is concerning ghost guns…
State Attorneys General Weigh in Amidst Supreme Court Case That Could Restrict Access to Abortion Drug Mifepristone
Blog March 04, 2024
Attorneys general across the country have joined in litigation related to mifepristone, a drug used for medication abortions. A case currently before the Supreme Court, FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, could affect access to the drug by invalidating FDA guidelines from 2016 and 2021 that loosened restrictions on prescribing and administering mifepristone…
Losses Continue to Mount For ExxonMobil in its Fight to Prevent State Attorney General Climate Investigations
Blog April 07, 2022
On March 15, 2022, the Second Circuit rejected an appeal brought by ExxonMobil attempting to block investigations by the New York and Massachusetts Attorneys General into historical claims made by Exxon regarding climate change.  These cases have a long procedural history in both state and federal courts as Exxon has employed multiple procedural vehicles to attempt to halt the investigations.  Generally, both investigations relate to whether Exxon intentionally mislead investors and the……
New York Proposes Broad New Pre-Merger Notification Requirement
Blog February 10, 2022
The American Bar Association is hosting a panel discussion on New York's 21st Century Antitrust Act and the pre-merger regime it could create moderated by Austin A.B. Ownbey on March 4. For more information and to register please click here. The New York Attorney General would like to review your next transaction before you close. The 21st Century Antitrust Act has primarily been described as an effort to strengthen the anti-monopoly provisions of Section 340 of New York's General Business……
AGs Crackdown on COVID-19 Related Price Gouging
Blog March 16, 2020
Attorneys General across the United States are cracking down on individuals and businesses that are selling hand-sanitizer, face masks, disinfectants, and other products at a substantial mark-up, taking advantage of product shortages related to COVID-19. Over the weekend, a New York Times article, which was widely circulated across social media platforms, reported that two Tennessee men, Matt and Noah Colvin…
ExxonMobil's AG Claims Are Dismissed — What a Shock!
Blog March 30, 2018
Yesterday, Judge Valerie Caproni dismissed claims brought by ExxonMobil against New York Attorney General Schneiderman and Massachusetts Attorney General Healey.  Boiled down to their essence, ExxonMobil's claims were that investigations by Schneiderman and Healey into the possibility that ExxonMobil had committed fraud by misleading investors regarding the risks that climate change poses to ExxonMobil's business were politically motivated and in bad faith. The decision was not difficult…
Democratic State AGs Want Greater Power to Supervise Banking, Doubt Federal Efforts
Blog January 03, 2018
In the last week of December 2017, Democratic senators introduced the “Accountability for Wall Street Executives Act of 2017,” which would amend the National Banking Act to allow state AGs to request a wide variety of information from nationally-chartered banks.  As the Supreme Court explained in Cuomo v. Clearing House Ass'n, L.L.C., 557 U.S. 519 (2009), the National Banking Act distinguishes between “visitorial powers” – such as examination of a bank's accounts or inspection of its……
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ABOUT

Foley Hoag’s State Attorney General Investigations lawyers have the experience, the insight and the skill to guide your business through the considerable challenges of an AG investigation or enforcement action.

Our team knows firsthand how the AG and her line assistants approach investigations. Our legal team includes a former Massachusetts Attorney General, a former chief deputy attorney general, a former first assistant attorney general, a former deputy attorney general, a former chief of the business and labor bureau, a former deputy chief of the criminal bureau, and four partners who served as assistant United States attorneys.

Foley Hoag will work closely with you to develop and implement winning strategies to achieve your objectives and successfully resolve the investigation. And if there is no reasonable alternative but to litigate, our lawyers, including American College of Trial Lawyers fellows, have a record of substantial courtroom success. Whatever the path, we will fight to protect the reputation of your business and neutralize any adverse public relations implications arising from the AG action.