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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…
California AG Launches Investigation into Fossil Fuel and Petrochemical Industries for Plastic Pollution
Blog May 27, 2022
On April 28, 2022, the California Attorney General launched an investigation into the “fossil fuel and petrochemical industries for their role in causing and exacerbating the global plastics pollution crisis.”  As a first step, the CA AG issued a subpoena to ExxonMobil, “a major source of global plastic pollution, seeking information relating to the company's role in deceiving the public.”  The stated purpose of the investigation is to “target companies that have caused and exacerbated the……
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……
Attorneys General Continue to Battle the Trump Administration Over Environmental Regulations
Blog June 16, 2017
Democratic Attorneys General have continued their efforts to combat the Trump administration's attempts to roll back environmental regulations developed under the Obama administration in two recent actions. Thirteen AGs, including Massachusetts AG Maura Healey, sent a letter last week to Scott Pruitt, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, threatening legal action if the agency takes steps to weaken or delay the greenhouse gas emissions standards that were established in……
MA AG Joins with Other States to Defend Critical Aspect of ACA
Blog May 19, 2017
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced that her office would join with Attorneys General from 14 other states and D.C. in an attempt to intervene in House v. Price, now pending before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.  The motion was filed on May 18, 2017.  The lead states are California and New York. House v. Price concerns a lawsuit filed by House Republicans in 2014 that attempted to erode certain aspects of Obamacare…
State Attorneys General Send Requests for Information on Retailers' Use of On-Call Shifts
Blog April 22, 2016
In a continued effort to end the practice of using “on-call shifts,” several state attorneys general, including Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, sent letters last week to 15 national retailers requesting information about their use of “on-call shifts” to staff their businesses. As we reported last June, AG Schneiderman sent letters seeking similar information about the use of “on-call shifts” to 14 major retailers last year…

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.