Analysis

New Rule On Invoking Defendant's Past Convictions Hits Snag

By Phillip Bantz

A yearslong effort to make it harder for prosecutors to invoke a criminal defendant's past convictions appeared to be gaining traction — until the senior executive arm of the Judicial Conference recently intervened and the U.S. Department of Justice abruptly withdrew its support for the proposal.

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Albertsons Says It Offered $800M To Save Kroger Deal

By Jarek Rutz

Albertsons Cos. Inc.'s general counsel testified Tuesday that The Kroger Co. passed on proposed store divestitures that could have helped save their $24.6 billion merger, while Kroger's lawyers pointed to information shared with Albertsons and challenged its complaints about the process.

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Calif. Eyes Updating Pregnancy Leave, Workplace Protections

By Benjamin Morse

Pregnant workers in California could gain expanded protections for taking leave and receiving workplace accommodations, including remote work, under proposed regulations announced by the state's Civil Rights Council.

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Utah Sues Kalshi, Susquehanna For Violating Gambling Ban

By Sarah Jarvis

Utah sued Kalshi, its related entities and Susquehanna International Group in state court Tuesday over a "brazen pattern of unlawful conduct" by offering sports event contracts that allegedly violate the state's constitutional ban on gambling, after the Tenth Circuit declined to shield Kalshi from Utah gaming regulators last month.

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FCC Making 'Zero' Plans To Ease Political Robocall Rules

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday it does not intend to float changes to its anti-robocall rules to allow AI-generated political calls to consumers ahead of the midterm elections after a conservative group made the proposal in August.

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Analysis

CFPB's Debanking Push Puts Enforcement Reset To The Test

By Jon Hill

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is pledging to crack down on allegedly discriminatory debanking practices, but this enforcement initiative could put the agency on a collision course with both the limits of its authority and its commitment to avoiding "novel legal theories."

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CFTC's Selig Says Agency Is Building AI To Police Markets

By Jessica Corso

U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael Selig spoke to an audience in Washington, D.C., Tuesday about his agency's use of artificial intelligence, whether regulations adopted in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis had gone "too far" and how he is pressing ahead with crypto rules despite Congress' inability to pass regulations before the midterm elections.

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States' Suit Over Trump Energy EO Sparks Broader Questions

By Rachel Riley

A Washington federal judge considering the Trump administration's bid to dismiss a multistate challenge to an executive order declaring a national energy emergency said Tuesday that the case highlights a broader dilemma: how courts should handle litigation based on "a single executive directive that sets in motion hundreds of agency decisions."  

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California Moves To Protect 15,000 Acres Of Coastal Waters

By Gautama Mehta

California has begun the process of designating its first new marine protected areas in over a decade — and the first in which Native American tribes played a leadership role.

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Judge Rejects DOJ Bid To End NAACP Suit Over XAI Pollution

By Tom Lotshaw

The Trump administration can intervene in a NAACP citizen suit alleging X.AI Corp. unlawfully installed dozens of polluting gas turbines to power a data center, but cannot unilaterally dismiss the suit as it claimed, a Mississippi federal judge has ruled.

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Samoan Groups Challenge Planned Deep-Sea Mining Leases

By Crystal Owens

A Samoan council of chiefs and leaders from American Samoa's Manu'a Islands and two community groups are asking a Hawaiian federal court to block a plan to sell leases that will allow deep-sea mining of more than 31 million acres of seabed off the coast of American Samoa.

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Roundup

Conn. High Court Snapshot: Justices May Refine Anti-SLAPP

By Brian Steele

The Connecticut Supreme Court will hear cases in its new term that could change the procedure for winning a strategic lawsuit against public participation and clarify what it means to be "in custody" for the purposes of habeas jurisdiction.

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Polymarket Calls Ohio's Gaming Enforcement Unconstitutional

By Craig Clough

Polymarket has sued Ohio officials in federal court to stave off an enforcement action under the state's gambling laws, arguing its sports event contracts are under the exclusive jurisdiction of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and that the state's gaming regulations unlawfully discriminate against interstate commerce.

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Ohio Justices Say Moratorium Ends Data Center Site Plan

By Nate Beck

The Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously rejected a data center developer's call to force Lordstown, Ohio, to consider a plan for a project submitted days before the village council enacted a ban on the construction of any new data centers.

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Brief

REIT Says Narcan Dispenser Spiked Crime Near Apartments

By Carolyn Muyskens

A real estate investment trust sued a Boston suburb Tuesday, blaming drug activity near its 146-unit apartment building on a public health initiative to provide a vending machine nearby for the overdose treatment Narcan. 

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2nd Circ. Won't Block Connecticut Drug Price Cap

By Matthew Perlman

A Second Circuit panel affirmed a lower court's decision Tuesday, refusing to block Connecticut from enforcing a cap on generic and off-patent drug prices while a trade association for drug wholesalers challenges the statute.

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FBI, FTC Tip Sites Vulnerable To Spying, Sen. Wyden Warns

By Rae Ann Varona

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Trade Commission's online tip lines and other government websites are vulnerable to spying, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a letter urging the executive branch to upgrade security technology for the websites.

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Mass. High Court Backs Ban On Under-21s Carrying Guns

By Carolyn Muyskens

Massachusetts' highest court on Tuesday upheld a law prohibiting anyone under 21 from possessing guns, finding the restrictions are consistent with historical regulations on youth and firearms.

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Catholic Scholars, Ex-Nat'l Security Officials Back Anthropic

By Jared Foretek

Former CIA Director Leon Panetta, ex-national security officials and Catholic theologians on Tuesday all urged the full D.C. Circuit to rehear Anthropic's challenge to the Trump administration's decision to designate the company a supply chain risk, claiming that the company's position strengthens the U.S. government's global edge in artificial intelligence and conforms with Catholic teaching.

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Biz Says 50% Canadian Tariff Is Yet Another Illegal Regime

By Jack McLoone

President Donald Trump's retaliatory 50% tariffs against Canadian goods are the latest in a string of illegal trade actions and should be struck down, just like two previous regimes, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday at the U.S. Court of International Trade.

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EU Lawmakers Seek Stronger Coordination Against VAT Fraud

By Kevin Pinner

The European Parliament wants the European Union to step up coordination against value-added tax carousel fraud, including with binding information-sharing protocols, automatic interagency referrals and making more fraud cases count as EU criminal matters, according to a nonbinding resolution adopted Tuesday.

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Ore. Dept.'s Discovery Request Denied By Tax Court

By Sanjay Talwani

The Oregon Department of Revenue has not adequately explained the relevance of its discovery request for a couple's financial records in a dispute over expenses reported on their income tax return, the state tax court said.

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Split DC Circ. Revives Faith Groups' Challenge To ICE Raids

By Jared Foretek

A split D.C. Circuit panel ruled Tuesday that a collection of faith groups likely have standing to challenge the Trump administration's rescission of a decades-old policy shielding houses of worship from immigration raids, holding that the congregations face a "credible threat" of enforcement, enough to be heard in court.

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GOP States Back Trump Bid To Limit Immigrant Habeas

By Britain Eakin

Iowa and 21 other Republican-led states urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to grant the Trump administration's petition to review whether district courts have authority over habeas petitions from noncitizens challenging their detention.

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Retired Judges Say DOJ's Ethics Complaint Is Meritless

By Courtney Bublé

A coalition of 61 retired federal judges has admonished the U.S. Department of Justice for filing a complaint against federal judges in Minnesota for speaking to a newspaper about the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in their state.

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Florida Board Must Testify In Book Ban Suit, 11th Circ. Says

By Craig Clough

A split Eleventh Circuit panel held Monday that current and former Florida school board members cannot invoke legislative privilege to avoid testifying about why they removed specific library books, finding that the privilege protects their adoption of book removal policies but not the decisions applying those policies to particular titles.

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NY Plans To Let Schools Set Native Mascot Apparel Rules

By Crystal Owens

The New York State Board of Regents has put forth a recommendation to drop part of the state's ban on the use of Native American imagery in public schools, after a Second Circuit order vacated and remanded the dismissal of a Long Island school board member's First Amendment challenge.

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Rural Telecom Providers Worried Over IP Transition Costs

By Christopher Cole

Carriers serving rural areas told the Federal Communications Commission they support the changeover to all-internet phone systems but cannot disproportionately bear the cost burden while larger carriers reap the benefits.

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Sinclair Says 5G Broadcast Bid Rests On 'Speculation'

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

TV station chain Sinclair Inc. has opposed a petition before the Federal Communications Commission that would allow low-power TV stations to use the emerging 5G Broadcast standard, saying petitioners haven't provided evidence that would help the agency evaluate the technology's risk of potential interference. 

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FCC Urged To Maintain Radio Station Ownership Caps

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

Two organizations representing musical artists have asked the Federal Communications Commission to keep media ownership limits on radio station groups in place.

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LA Tells 9th Circ. DOJ Pot Shift Can't Revive License Appeal

By Sam Reisman

The city of Los Angeles is urging the Ninth Circuit to throw out a challenge to its social equity cannabis licensure program, saying the Constitution's dormant commerce clause doesn't apply to marijuana regardless of recent changes to federal cannabis policy.

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6th Circ. Spotlights Cannabis Contract Enforceability Risks

The Sixth Circuit's recent reversal of a $31.8 million jury verdict against a subsidiary of cannabis giant Curaleaf highlights that state licenses do not necessarily provide the legal foundation needed to enforce contracts in federal court, which is a pattern that appears across many sectors, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

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Dissecting Dodd's, Gensler's Prediction Market Amicus Briefs

Former Sen. Chris Dodd and former U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler's recent amicus briefs in support of New Jersey's petition for U.S. Supreme Court review of Kalshi v. Flaherty draw on legislative history to counter the CFTC's claim of federal preemption over the prediction markets, says Trace Schmeltz at Steptoe.

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AGs' Paramount Settlement Reflects States' Growing Influence

The recent California federal court approval of the California v. Paramount Skydance settlement illustrates how state attorneys general are gaining new independence and influence, and companies must account for state enforcement when assessing merger risks ahead of a deal's closing, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

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The Law360 Pulse Leaderboard: A Look At The Top Firms

By Rachel Reimer

What makes a firm stand out in the ever-changing legal landscape? Here's a peek at the 2026 Law360 Pulse Leaderboard — the firms that can demonstrate excellence on measures of prestige and the reach and capability of their legal practice.

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Watchdog Can Pursue Jackson Walker Fees, Judge Says

By Clara Geoghegan

The U.S. Trustee's Office has standing to pursue millions of dollars in fees paid to Jackson Walker LLP in cases assigned to a judge who was in an undisclosed romantic relationship with one of the firm's ex-partners, a Texas bankruptcy court has concluded.

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6th Circ.'s Sutton Floats Class Action Limits At Judiciary Panel

By Jeff Overley

An influential federal judge is proposing new restrictions on class actions that aim to broadly block government policies, judiciary advisers heard at a Wednesday gathering, which also explored transparency ideas affecting legal finance and hard-to-access court records in the red-hot realm of immigration litigation.

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Ex-Employee Of Seyfarth Client Drops Suit Over Data Breach

By Craig Clough

A Texas woman who filed a proposed class action against Seyfarth Shaw LLP over a data hack voluntarily dropped the claims Tuesday without prejudice, according to a filing in Illinois federal court. 

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DOJ Moves To Remove Minn. Judges From Immigration Cases

By Britain Eakin

A top U.S. Department of Justice official has moved to disqualify two Minnesota federal judges from immigration cases, arguing that interviews they gave to The New York Times about the Trump administration's immigration enforcement efforts suggest they can't be impartial.

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FBI Says Fired Agents Acted in Politicized Manner

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

Lawyers for the government argued in a Washington, D.C., federal court Wednesday that an unfair firing suit from two former FBI agents should be tossed because they worked in a politicized manner on the "Arctic Frost" investigation into President Donald Trump's attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss.

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Sen. Blackburn Clears Path For Trump's Tenn. Court Nominee

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., has returned her blue slip for a judicial nominee for the Eastern District of Tennessee after an apparent delay.

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​​​​​​​Mamdani Taps Top Judicial Adviser Amid New Ethics Reforms

By Andrea Keckley

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Tuesday that he has appointed a lawyer from the New York University School of Law's Brennan Center for Justice to lead his judicial advisory committee as the mayor's office unveils new reforms to the city's judicial selection process.

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McCarter Beats Estate's Bid To Start $9.75M Interest Clock

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut state court judge has blocked a mall developer's family from filing a formal offer to settle a malpractice suit against McCarter & English LLP for $9.75 million, standing by a November 2025 decision to pause the case while similar litigation proceeds to trial.

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