US Pays Energy Co. $765M To Give Up Offshore Wind Leases

By Dorothy Atkins

The Trump administration has agreed to pay Invenergy $765 million to voluntarily give up its affiliates' four offshore wind leases in the New York Bight, California's central coast and the Gulf of Maine in exchange for funneling cash into U.S. oil and gas development, according to a joint announcement Wednesday.

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DC Judge Halts Prison Bureau's 'Near Total' Trans Care Ban

By Gina Kim

A Washington, D.C., federal judge blocked the Bureau of Prisons from enforcing a "near total ban" on gender-affirming care for trans incarcerated people, ruling Wednesday the policy was "reverse engineered" to fit the Trump administration's directive barring funding of such care in prisons, violating the Administrative Procedure Act. 

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Trump Halts Clayton Director Hearing Over Blue-Slip Dispute

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump directed Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, not to appear for his confirmation hearing Wednesday on his nomination to be director of national intelligence, in part over a blue-slip issue.

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Trump Admin Says GSA Was Free To Ditch Greenbelt Site

By Jared Foretek

Attorneys for the Trump administration argued Congress never meant for the General Services Administration's choice of a new FBI headquarters site to be final when it instructed the agency to choose between three proposed sites, defending the agency's sudden shift in choosing to convert the Ronald Reagan Building instead Wednesday.

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Trump Says Colo. Can't Stop US Space Command HQ Move

By Rachel Konieczny

The Trump administration asked a Colorado federal judge Wednesday to toss the state's challenge to the administration's decision to move U.S. Space Command's headquarters from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama, saying Colorado has no veto power over the administration's implementation of federal law.

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Trump Seeks Emergency Stay On Discovery In Jan. 6 Suits

By Jared Foretek

President Donald Trump is asking the D.C. Circuit to halt proceedings in one of eight consolidated Jan. 6 lawsuits, arguing in an emergency stay motion Tuesday that a district judge erred by letting discovery against co-defendants continue while claims against Trump himself are paused.

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Brief

Del. House Backs Ban On Corporate Voting In Local Elections

By Jarek Rutz

Delaware lawmakers approved a proposed constitutional amendment Tuesday that would prohibit corporations, limited liability companies, trusts and other non-human entities from voting in elections anywhere in the state, including in municipal contests.

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Brief

Ga. Justices Take Up Fight Over Fulton Board Seats

By Kelcey Caulder

The Georgia Supreme Court will hear an appeal of a ruling that Fulton County, Georgia's commission did not have to appoint two Republicans to the county's five-member elections board.

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Judge OKs Deal Ending Halkbank Iran Sanctions Prosecution

By Stewart Bishop

A New York federal judge Wednesday officially approved a no-fine deal ending the long-running criminal prosecution of Turkey's Halkbank, in which the feds accused the state-backed Turkish lender of scheming to launder billions of dollars in sanctioned Iranian oil proceeds.

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OCC Warns Charter Hopefuls Against Incomplete Applications

By Jon Hill

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said Wednesday that it will send back incomplete regulatory applications without a review and will start publishing its denial decisions, putting bank charter hopefuls and other corporate filers on notice.

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Colo. Says It's Clear: EPA Rebuffed Haze Plan To Prop Up Coal

By Craig Clough

Colorado on Tuesday urged the Tenth Circuit to vacate the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rejection of the state's plan to limit regional haze, calling the agency's argument that closing a coal-fired power plant might be unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment a "pretext for propping up" the industry.

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Feds Turn Over List Of Exhibits Pulled From National Parks

By Carolyn Muyskens

The Trump administration on Wednesday turned over to a federal judge in Boston a list of at least 50 signs, exhibits and other materials that have been removed from U.S. national parks and historic sites under a presidential directive to cull items that "inappropriately disparage Americans past or living."

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NC County Liable For Highest PFAS Levels In State, Suit Says

By Abigail Harrison

A grassroots environmental group asked a North Carolina federal court to prohibit a county from polluting local waters with forever chemicals, contending that the county knows that thousands of residents are imperiling their health by drinking PFAS-laden water but has refused to do anything about it.

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Aquarion Cleared To Borrow $214M, Some For PFAS Work

By Aaron Keller

Aquarion Water Co. of Connecticut can take on nearly $214 million in new debt, including $200 million through unsecured bonds and nearly $14 million in safe drinking water loans, some of which are earmarked for PFAS "forever chemical" treatment and mitigation systems, Connecticut's Public Utilities Regulatory Authority decided Wednesday.

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Recycler Says City's Wrongful License Suspension Cost $10M  

By George Woolston

The operator of a metal recycling scrapyard in Camden, New Jersey, currently facing two lawsuits over its handling of the facility has filed its own lawsuit in state court, alleging the city acted beyond its statutory authority in suspending the operator's license.

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HHS Urges DC Court To Toss AbbVie 340B Audit Challenge

By Gianna Ferrarin

A D.C. federal court should toss a suit by AbbVie challenging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' interpretation of who qualifies as a "patient" for audits under the federal 340B drug discount program, HHS said in a motion, arguing the court lacks jurisdiction.

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FTC Claims Trans Health Org. Lied About Medical Consensus

By Spencer Brewer

The Federal Trade Commission and several Republican-led states sued the World Professional Association for Transgender Health on Wednesday, telling a Texas federal court that the organization falsely touted a "medical consensus" while advocating for transgender healthcare for children.

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NC Clinic, School District Must Face COVID Vax Challenge

By Abigail Harrison

A North Carolina state appeals panel issued its second opinion in a lawsuit from the mother of a teenager who alleged he was vaccinated for COVID against his will, finding Wednesday that she adequately put forward constitutional claims and can pursue allegations against a school district and medical society clinic in trial court.

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Justices Asked To Review 'Headscratching' Copyright Ruling

By Ivan Moreno

A group of major music publishers has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to rein in a "headscratching" Fifth Circuit ruling that the music publishers say transformed U.S. copyright termination rights into a worldwide reset button for ownership of foreign copyrights.

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Sen. Committee Clears Drug Disclosure, Biosimilar Bills

By Dani Kass

The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Wednesday cleared two bills for full Senate review, tackling the gap between health and patent oversight agencies, and the need for more interchangeable biosimilars.

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Kentucky AG Says Kalshi And Polymarket Offerings Are Illegal

By Rae Ann Varona

Kentucky's attorney general on Wednesday lodged three lawsuits accusing prediction market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket, and online casino platform VGW, of violating the state's consumer protection and gambling laws by offering unlicensed sports wagering in the state, and running illegal and addictive sweepstakes casino websites.

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Mich. Judge Opens Door For Prediction Market Enforcement

By Alex Lawson

Polymarket and Robinhood may soon face enforcement efforts from Michigan regulators after a federal judge ruled Wednesday that he saw little difference between the prediction market platforms' sports contract offerings and conventional sports betting.

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Fla. Creates Special District With Power To Levy Property Tax

By Zak Kostro

Florida established an independent special district in Hillsborough County that may impose taxes, including property taxes if approved by voters in a referendum, under a bill signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

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Pa. Land Trust's Exemption Must Be Revisited, Court Rules

By Jaqueline McCool

A Pennsylvania trial court must reconsider the charitable use of land owned by a trust under an analysis provided by the appellate Commonwealth Court and reevaluate whether the land is eligible for a charitable tax exemption, the appellate court ruled Wednesday.

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Wash. Hydro Workers Sue Feds To Save Collective Bargaining

By Rachel Riley

United Power Trades Organization, which represents hundreds of hydropower dam workers employed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, launched a lawsuit in Seattle federal court Tuesday seeking to preserve its collective bargaining rights after the Trump administration ended its union contract pursuant to a March 2025 executive order.

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DOJ Deal Bars OhioHealth From Blocking Patient Steering

By Bryan Koenig

OhioHealth swore off contract language inhibiting the ability of insurers to steer patients to cheaper healthcare providers, in a settlement resolving one of two U.S. Department of Justice antitrust lawsuits targeting alleged hospital network efforts to force insurers to cover their hospitals in all plans.

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Panel Says No Ban On Concealed Guns For Those Under 21

By David Minsky

A Florida appellate panel on Wednesday ruled against a state law prohibiting 18- to 20-year-olds from carrying concealed firearms, saying the ban is unconstitutional. 

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Ga. Justices Probe Savannah's Immunity In Tourist Fall Suit

By Kelcey Caulder

Georgia's justices Wednesday questioned how much immunity property owners should enjoy under a state law designed to limit liability during recreational activities as it considered whether to revive a woman's trip-and-fall suit against the city of Savannah.

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Calif., Ore. Cities Likely To Win Block On Federal Grant Limits

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge said Wednesday he's inclined to block at least three federal agencies from conditioning certain grants to California and Oregon municipalities on compliance with Trump administration priorities — including immigration enforcement and anti-diversity, equity and inclusion restrictions — saying they'd established harm when it comes to grants for which they'd applied.

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G7 Leaders Pledge To Secure Critical Mineral Supply Chains

By Dylan Moroses

The Group of Seven issued a joint statement Wednesday that indicated the countries would commit to working together in several policy areas related to securing critical mineral supply chains, and included a pledge to coordinate a response if access to those resources is restricted.

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Full Fed. Circ. To Hear Immigration Judges' Firing Challenge

By Ganesh Setty

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday agreed to conduct en banc review over the firing of two immigration judges, after the Merit Systems Protection Board ruled that they constituted inferior officers who are subject to at-will removal by the president.

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Broadview Immigration Activists Seek DOJ Misconduct Probe

By Lauraann Wood

Immigration activists whose claims of prosecutorial misconduct led Chicago's top federal prosecutor to drop a criminal conspiracy case against them are now asking their judge to appoint special counsel and conduct an evidentiary sanctions hearing to determine the full extent of the misconduct and "ensuing cover-up."

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Mexican Woman Says ICE Traumatized Her Kids During Raid

By Mike Curley

A Mexico-born woman who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last year is suing the government in Connecticut federal court, saying the agents violated agency guidelines and the Constitution when they arrested her in front of her young children while they were on the way to school.

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No Discipline For DOJ Atty's 'Lapse Of Judgment' In ICE Case

By Emily Sawicki

A Rhode Island federal prosecutor who knowingly withheld information about a detainee's criminal history at the behest of immigration enforcement, leading to an "unfounded attack" against a federal judge by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the detainee's release, violated his duty of candor but will not face discipline, the district's chief judge determined.

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FTX Exec's Wife Must Face Campaign Finance Charges

By Hailey Konnath

A New York federal judge Wednesday refused to throw out an indictment accusing crypto lobbyist Michelle Bond of campaign finance crimes, rejecting her argument that prosecutors previously promised her husband, a former FTX executive, that his guilty plea would mean she's in the clear.

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Bipartisan Sens. Condemn Bankman-Fried's Pardon Bid

By Aislinn Keely

The top members of a cryptocurrency-focused Senate subcommittee on Wednesday introduced a bipartisan resolution condemning Sam Bankman-Fried's bid for a presidential pardon, saying that "under no circumstances" should the convicted FTX founder receive executive clemency.

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Fla. Panel Backs Prison Time For Luxury Car Theft Kid

By Elizabeth Daley

A man found guilty of stealing luxury cars worth millions as a juvenile cannot have his 15-year prison sentence revoked, a Florida appeals court said Wednesday, finding that his youthful offender community control status was correctly rescinded after he failed to complete boot camp and committed a new crime.

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FCC Gives California More Time To Weigh In On Copper Lines

By Nadia Dreid

The FCC has granted the California Public Utilities Commission extra time to respond to a petition from AT&T after the state agency told the federal one that the telecom titan hadn't been upfront about the reason California has declined to retire AT&T's copper network in the state.

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Goodyear Seeks FCC Waiver For Tire Safety System

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Federal Communications Commission is asking for public input on Goodyear's request to use its tire-mounted sensor system on unlicensed telecommunications devices so it can collect critical tire safety data more quickly.

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Advocates Worry FCC Poised To Float E-Rate Phaseout

By Christopher Cole

School and library funding advocates are increasingly worried about a potential effort to wind down the E-rate subsidy as the Federal Communications Commission reexamines the program's future.

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Brief

Auger Device Maker Granted Ultra-Wideband Rule Waiver

By Christopher Cole

A company making devices that scan the ground for utility lines before digging has been granted an exemption from the Federal Communications Commission's rules for ultra-wideband transmission.

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Tribe Can Take Cannabis Raid Loss To 9th Circ. After Judgment

By Jonathan Capriel

A California federal court has cleared the way for the Round Valley Indian Tribes and three tribal members to immediately appeal to the Ninth Circuit the dismissal of their claims that two counties' cannabis enforcement raids on their reservation violated federal law.

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DOJ's Pot Shift Leaves Key Questions For Cannabis Industry

By Sam Reisman

The Trump administration's recent moves to relax federal restrictions on marijuana through the administrative process will have unclear ramifications for all industry players unless Congress steps in to rewrite cannabis law, attorneys heard Wednesday.

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Mich. Township Says Pot Shop Missed Permit Deadlines

By Susan Smiley

A west Michigan township has told a federal judge that a local cannabis business alleging the township improperly refused to issue it a permit and prevented it from opening in fact missed the deadline for the permit in question.

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Trump's AI Order Is Strategic, Not Merely Deregulatory

Although the framework presented in President Donald Trump’s recent executive order on artificial intelligence is styled as voluntary and innovation-friendly, it creates a new soft-power mechanism for bringing the most capable AI systems into closer alignment with federal security priorities, says Jesse Lemon at The Beckage Firm.

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The Banking Issue Hiding In Justices' Freight Broker Ruling

While the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent liability preemption ruling in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport was front-page news for the transportation industry, the banking industry seems to have missed that the decision exposes freight broker lenders to credit, documentation and litigation issues, say attorneys at Barack Ferrazzano.

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A New Wave Of Prediction Market Risk Is About To Break

The convergence of three potential new risks — shareholder derivative suits, evolving disclosure requirements and congressional investigations — means that prediction market exposure has graduated from an interesting hypothetical to a company's audit committee agenda item, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

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Using NY Lawsuit Loan Law, Ruling Against Shady Injury Suits

The combination of a New York state appellate ruling that exposes litigation lenders in potentially fraudulent personal injury cases to discovery and a new law limiting predatory loans to plaintiffs provides defense counsel a powerful new toolkit for confronting suspicious claims, say attorneys at Stradley Ronon.

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HHS Enforcement Restructuring Signals Compliance Risks

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' recent restructuring of its Office for Civil Rights suggests that, while Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act enforcement remains central, its priorities have expanded to encompass civil rights, conscience and religious freedom, and data and cybersecurity issues, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

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Opinion

Rule Of Law Requires Gov't Engagement With Bar, Not Retreat

A federal agency's absence from national and local bar conferences, most recently illustrated by the U.S. Department of Justice's withdrawal from a New York City Bar Association white collar conference, disserves the bar, the government lawyers themselves and, ultimately, the administration of justice, says Muhammad Faridi at Linklaters.

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Judiciary Cites AI Deepfakes In Opposing Courtroom Cameras

By Courtney Bublé

Two bipartisan bills to bring cameras into federal courtrooms advanced Thursday, but the policymaking body for the federal judiciary continues to oppose them and raised the issue of deepfakes in the age of artificial intelligence.

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NJ Tax Court Protects Taxpayer Methodology Ahead Of Trial

By Jaqueline McCool

A New Jersey tenant appealing the property tax assessment of a legacy data center is not required to provide the township with a detailed methodology of its assessment challenge prior to the case's trial, the state Tax Court ruled.

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Trump Lawyer Advances In Senate Judiciary Noms Vote

By Courtney Bublé

The nomination of Matthew Schwartz to be a judge on the Second Circuit advanced out of committee Thursday.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

General counsel may cringe at the news, but their chief financial officers will rejoice over a new study that shows the average spending by legal departments dropped to a six-year low in 2026. And two in-house Cigna lawyers are at the center of a finding of "improperly asserted privilege" over key company documents related to a payment lawsuit brought by three labs.

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Gibson Dunn Hires Ropes & Gray Health Regulatory Atty In DC

By Jack Rodgers

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP has hired a former Ropes & Gray LLP partner who works on a myriad of health regulatory and drug pricing matters, advising pharmaceutical manufacturers, investors and other entities on those issues, the firm announced Thursday.

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Calif. Moves On Proposal To Allow Legal Aid By Nonlawyers

By Lynn LaRowe

The California Supreme Court has directed the state bar to solicit public comments on a proposed community justice worker program that would allow nonlawyers to provide limited legal assistance under the supervision of qualified legal aid organizations, according to a Thursday announcement.

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Analysis

Law Students Undeterred Under Trump's Immigration Climate

By Britain Eakin

In a climate where immigration lawyers are coming under the Trump administration’s scrutiny to tamp down on asylum fraud, law students are being ignited to enter the workforce early and rectify the injustices they see.

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'Mortified' Atty Takes Blame For Fake Quotes In Taco TM Fight

By Ivan Moreno

A Connecticut attorney facing possible sanctions over fake case quotations in a taco restaurant trademark fight told a federal judge Thursday that he takes "full and unqualified responsibility" for the flawed filings, saying he is "mortified" and acknowledging that his verification process for AI-assisted legal work fell far short.

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Ford Says 'Lemon Law' Firm Faked Bills Using Overseas Staff

By Linda Chiem

Ford Motor Co. on Thursday accused California personal injury firm Quill & Arrow LLP of defrauding it out of more than $25 million in high-priced legal bills for work actually handled by virtual assistants overseas and non-lawyers in scores of product liability cases against the automaker.

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Israeli Atty Gets 15 Months For Role In Ponzi Scheme

By George Woolston

An Israeli attorney whose participation in a fraud scheme led by convicted Ponzi schemer Eliyahu "Eli" Weinstein gave the plan an "air of legitimacy" was sentenced on Thursday to one year and three months in federal prison.

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