Analysis

One And Done? Patent Examiner Interviews Now Hard To Get

By Theresa Schliep

In the months since the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office changed how patent examiners are credited for applicant interviews, which can be the difference between prosecution stalemates and progress, attorneys say the interviews are getting harder to come by — and they've changed tactics as a result.

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5th Circ. Rejects Gov't Bid To Revisit Home Distilling Ban

By Kat Lucero

The Fifth Circuit denied the U.S. government's request for the full court to review a three-judge panel's April opinion finding the tax code's ban on distilling whiskey at home unconstitutional after another appeals court's opposite conclusion affirmed the ban.

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Judge Tells DOJ Not To 'Play Possum' On Trump Fund

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday declined to block the Trump administration's proposed $1.8 billion "lawfare" fund, crediting statements from Attorney General Todd Blanche and other U.S. Department of Justice lawyers last week that the fund was dead.

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DOT Scrubs Disparate Impact From Discrimination Regs

By Linda Chiem

The U.S. Department of Transportation on Wednesday eliminated disparate impact from its regulations governing discrimination, as part of the Trump administration's sweeping rejection of the theory of liability premised on seemingly neutral policies having discriminatory effects.

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Judicial Noms Say Biden Won, But Critics Fault Their Caveats

By Courtney Bublé

Three district court nominees on Wednesday said President Joe Biden won the 2020 election, a departure from other judicial nominees in the second Trump administration, but court watchers on the left took issue with how they couched those statements.

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Ga. Federal Judge Faces 2nd Set Of Impeachment Articles

By Kelcey Caulder

A Georgia congressman has filed articles of impeachment against a federal judge who was reprimanded for having sex with a police officer in her Atlanta chambers within earshot of staff, the second lawmaker this week to do so. 

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Trump Picks Bank Exec, Ex-BigLaw Partner For CFPB Director

By Jon Hill

President Donald Trump on Wednesday tapped former BigLaw partner Brian Johnson for director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a move that comes as White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought's time as interim head of the agency approaches its expiration date.

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Warren Asks SEC To Delay SpaceX IPO Over 'Troubling' Risks

By Dorothy Atkins

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren called on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to delay SpaceX's anticipated $75 billion initial public offering until steps are taken to protect investors and market integrity, expressing concerns that the company's books contain "troubling gaps," and the IPO poses "unique and precedent-setting" risk.

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Debt Co. Says Conn. Can't 'Second Guess' Law Firm Work

By Aaron Keller

An Illinois servicing company for a debt adjustment law firm has filed a new challenge to the Connecticut Department of Banking's attempts to regulate its conduct, asking a state judge to block an enforcement action seeking $100,000 for each alleged violation of state licensing rules.

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NC GOP Official Accused Of Duping Lenders, Hiding Assets

By Abigail Harrison

A lender accused a North Carolina Republican Party official and furniture heir in federal court on Tuesday of using his family name and its political legacy to influence him into lending over $6.2 million only to let payments fall months in arrears while hiding assets in his father's trust.

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SBA Aims To Replace 8(a) Program's Social Disadvantage Test

By Madeline Lyskawa

The U.S. Small Business Administration released a proposal on Wednesday that would make it possible for small business owners to qualify for the 8(a) business development program by claiming they've been harmed by a company's DEI policies or a university's affirmative action programs.

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SpaceX Rocket Base Ruining Wildlife Habitat, Green Groups Say

By Spencer Brewer

Environmental advocacy organizations told a D.C. federal district court Wednesday that Space Exploration Technologies Corp.'s use of formerly protected land near the Texas coast would endanger vulnerable wildlife, saying SpaceX's occasional rocket explosions spew debris directly into protected habitat.

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Feds Say Species Exemption Suits Belong In Appeals Court

By Ganesh Setty

The "God Squad" that waived Endangered Species Act requirements for oil and gas activities in the Gulf of Mexico urged a Washington, D.C., federal district court to toss conservation groups' legal challenges over the move, arguing they've chosen the wrong forum.

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Brief

Bistate Agency, NJ Comptroller Agree To Settle Subpoena Rift

By George Woolston

The Delaware River Port Authority and the New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller have reached a deal to resolve the bistate agency's suit claiming that the independent watchdog unlawfully attempted to force it to comply with two investigative subpoenas.

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FDA Rule For Nicotine Pouches Likely Flawed, Judge Says

By Jonathan Capriel

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration can't stop companies from selling ZEO Universe synthetic nicotine pouches, a Florida federal court has ruled, saying the agency likely acted illegally when it imposed costly new testing requirements without analyzing their economic effect on small businesses.

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Analysis

IP Notebook: Cox's Reach, 'Top Gun' Appeal, 'Lazy' Videos

By Ivan Moreno

This round of Law360's review of emerging copyright and trademark issues looks at the ripple effects from the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on secondary copyright liability and highlights looming high court bids over "Top Gun" and Roberto Clemente's likeness on commemorative license plates.

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CFTC Plans To OK Sports Betting On Prediction Markets

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission proposed a rule Wednesday that could govern the way the agency oversees the prediction markets, indicating that trading platforms will be allowed to continue accepting bets on the outcome of professional and college-level sports.

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Athletes Say NCAA Deal Illegally Limited NIL Opportunities

By Elaine Briseño

Two California college football players challenged the NCAA's recent historic settlement related to athlete compensation, alleging the $20.5 million cap unlawfully limits how much athletes can earn and restrains competition.

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Ariz. Judge Backs Homebuilders, Voids Water Surplus Rule

By Nate Beck

An Arizona state judge has rejected a rule from state regulators requiring housing subdivision developers in the Phoenix area to arrange 25% more water than a project actually needs in order to win approvals, in a policy that a trade group argued amounted to a water tax.

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San Diego Vacancy Tax Ballot Measure Heading For Defeat

By Sanjay Talwani

A ballot measure in San Diego to tax vacant homes, with an additional cost for empty homes owned by corporations, appeared headed for defeat with most ballots counted.

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Mass. Town Sues Over Affordable Housing Plan

By Julie Manganis

A Boston suburb is challenging the state's designation of 45 acres of land on a college campus as surplus to make way for a 180-unit housing development, saying the 2-year-old law allowing the plan is being misapplied.

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Colo. Sober Home Co. Says City Can't Escape Zoning Suit

By MJ Koo

A Colorado sober living home operator has urged a federal court to reject a city's bid to dismiss its lawsuit, arguing that the city's zoning code unlawfully singles out people in recovery from addiction for land use approval requirements that other residents are not subjected to.

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Judge Won't Certify Class Of Health Workers In No-Poach Suit

By Hailey Konnath

An Illinois federal judge on Wednesday refused to certify a class of former healthcare employees claiming that their wages were suppressed by alleged no-poach agreements among DaVita, UnitedHealth Group's Surgical Care Affiliates and Tenet Healthcare Corp. unit United Surgical Partners International, ruling that the proposed class is too diverse.

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Union May Tap Surety For Unpaid Benefits, Mass. Court Says

By Julie Manganis

A labor union's benefits fund is entitled to pursue a claim against a general contractor's surety bond after two subcontractors failed to make contractually obligated contributions, the Massachusetts intermediate appellate court ruled Wednesday in reversing a lower court.

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Feds Immune From Atty's Suit Over Lake Debris Impalement

By Rachel Riley

A Washington federal judge has thrown out an attorney's lawsuit blaming the federal government after he was gravely injured when he jumped off a dock at a National Park Service campground and landed on wooden debris in Lake Chelan, concluding Tuesday the stick was natural and unknown to the government.

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NJ High Court Says Nonprofit Hospital Gets Limited Immunity

By Gianna Ferrarin

The New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously concluded Wednesday that a nonprofit federally qualified health center isn't immune from a patient's negligence suit under a statute shielding nonprofits organized "exclusively" for charitable or educational purposes, reversing a lower court's finding to the contrary.

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States Say Trump's DEI Rule For Contractors Is Unclear, Illegal

By Ben Adlin

Attorneys general from 19 states and Washington, D.C., on Wednesday sued numerous federal officials and agencies in an attempt to block the Trump administration's March 26 executive order prohibiting government contractors — including states — from engaging in "racially discriminatory" activity around diversity, equity and inclusion.

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DOJ Says Student Borrowers' Suit Is Moot After Rule's Vacatur

By Jared Foretek

The Trump administration is urging a D.C. federal judge to toss a lawsuit seeking to revive the Biden-era SAVE student loan repayment rule, arguing that the case is moot because there is no rule left to enforce after the Eighth Circuit ordered the plan vacated in March.

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Calif., Others Sue Ed Dept. Over Special Education Grant Cuts

By Gina Kim

California and other states sued the U.S. Department of Education in federal court Tuesday alleging it canceled special education service grants supporting students with disabilities for "political reasons," and rejected their applications for using "equity-related language" that complies with the General Education Provisions Act requiring proposals to ensure equitable access.

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EU, African Countries Reach First-Of-Its-Kind Trade Deal

By Jack McLoone

The European Union and four African countries have reached a deal on the bloc's first free trade agreement with sub-Saharan African nations in the hopes of mutual economic benefits, the European Commission said Wednesday.

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Analysis

4 Key Questions Surrounding US Forced Labor Tariff Rates

By Dylan Moroses

New proposed U.S. tariffs meant to address goods tied to forced labor are likely to create new administrative burdens for importers, from new compliance hurdles domestically to the potential for retaliatory measures by trading partners on U.S. goods shipped abroad, attorneys told Law360.

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Tenn. Remittance Tax Is Unconstitutional, Fintech Group Says

By Jon Hill

A top fintech industry organization sued Wednesday to block an impending new Tennessee tax on outgoing international money transfers, challenging what the trade group contends is an unconstitutional toll on the billions of dollars sent abroad from the state each year.

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Pa. Country Clubs' Dues Are Tax-Exempt, Panel Affirms

By Jaqueline McCool

A Pennsylvania township's business privilege tax cannot apply to the dues, fees and assessments collected by two country clubs because the tax can apply only to for-profit businesses, a panel for the Commonwealth Court ruled Wednesday.

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RI Adopts Rule Taxing Second Homes Valued Above $1M

By Zak Kostro

Rhode Island will implement a tax on non-owner-occupied residential properties with assessed values of $1 million or more under a regulation issued by the state Division of Taxation.

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9th Circ. Grants Family Stay On Removal Amid Policy Conflict

By Ganesh Setty

A divided Ninth Circuit en banc panel has issued a stay protecting a Peruvian family from deportation amid their appeal of a removal order, finding that further en banc briefing and oral argument made clear that such relief is warranted.

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Transcripts Show Missteps, Tension In ICE Protest Grand Jury

By Celeste Bott

Newly unsealed grand jury transcripts reveal jurors repeatedly challenged Illinois federal prosecutors' push for the indictment of protesters accused of impeding a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent's vehicle, with one juror calling the case "a crock of shit" and others questioning if a felony conspiracy charge was a stretch.

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DHS Wants Out Of Warrantless Immigration Arrest Suit In NC

By Abigail Harrison

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security told a North Carolina federal court that a proposed class action accusing its agents of conducting a violent and warrantless immigration dragnet operation can't proceed, as the residents failed to show future and imminent harm.

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ACLU Demands DHS Info On Filming Feds' Retaliation Policies

By Hailey Konnath

The American Civil Liberties Union and MacArthur Justice Center Wednesday accused the U.S. Department of Homeland Security of unlawfully withholding documents related to the government's practice of targeting and retaliating against people who film federal agents in public, according to a suit filed in California federal court.

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Feds Say NYC Pol's ICE Views 'Irrelevant' To Obstruction Case

By Pete Brush

Former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander's efforts to monitor U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for possible violations of migrants' rights at a federal building are "irrelevant" to an obstruction charge against him, prosecutors told a federal judge Wednesday.

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GEO Says ICE, Not Contractor, Blocked Wash. Facility Access

By Ben Adlin

Private prison operator The GEO Group Inc. on Tuesday urged a federal judge to throw out counterclaims from Washington state officials who allege they were wrongfully denied access to an immigration processing center, arguing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, not The GEO Group, controls entry to the facility.

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2nd Circuit Rejects Nadine Menendez's Bail Bid During Appeal

By Phillip Bantz

A Second Circuit panel rejected Nadine Menendez's request for bail pending an appeal of her conviction in a bribery scheme involving her husband, former U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, concluding the legal questions raised were not substantial enough to delay the start of her four-and-a-half-year prison term.

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Chickasaw Nation Gov. To Retire After 40 Years In Office

By Joyce Hanson

Chickasaw Nation Gov. Bill Anoatubby has announced his plans to retire as the federally recognized tribe's leader, saying that after serving nearly 40 years it's time to pass the torch to the next generation of tribal stewards.

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Family Seeks Full Fed. Circ. Review In Utah Tribal Death

By Crystal Owens

A Utah tribal member's family is asking the full Federal Circuit to reconsider a decision that the federal government isn't liable for his shooting death, arguing that the U.S. can't prevail on arguments that two previous rulings in the dispute were based on inaccurate Fourth Amendment analysis.

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FCC Grants ISP Biz Waiver On Router Hardware For 1 Year

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission has come through and granted NCTA — The Internet & Television Association members a waiver allowing them to make changes to foreign-made routers after granting similar permission to telecom titan AT&T.

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FCC Says Chinese Lab Falsified Reports Via Copy-Paste Ploy

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission has started the process of pulling U.S. certification from an equipment testing lab based in China that the agency claims submitted false test reports for devices by copying other reports.

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Use 'Great Care' In Covered List Changes, Rural ISPs Tell FCC

By Christopher Cole

Rural internet service providers want the Federal Communications Commission to make sure only companies posing known risks are barred from interconnecting high-speed networks as the FCC looks to expand a national security program.

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DC Circ. Asked To Freeze DOJ's Medical Pot Rescheduling

By Sam Reisman

A trade association for drug-testing companies and a biopharma firm developing marijuana-derived drugs have urged the D.C. Circuit to hit pause on a U.S. Department of Justice rule rescheduling state-sanctioned medical pot while their challenge to the policy change plays out.

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Utah Urges Court To Reject Bid To Halt Kratom Ban

By Jonathan Capriel

Utah officials are urging a federal judge to reject a bid to halt the enforcement of a state law reining in psychoactive products derived from the kratom leaf, saying that the "void-for-vagueness" argument brought by the kratom interests opposing the law is unfounded.

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Former Sen. Tim Scott Staffer Joins K&L Gates In DC

By Jack Rodgers

A former committee staff director for U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., has been hired at K&L Gates LLP, the firm announced Wednesday, following her time as a senior vice president with a bipartisan government relations and lobbying firm.

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Weighing Trade-Offs Of SEC's Semiannual Reporting Proposal

Though public companies could benefit from a recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposal that would allow them to file earnings reports just twice a year, widespread adoption could also increase market volatility, complicate capital raising and fragment disclosure standards to the detriment of issuers and investors, say attorneys at Seward & Kissel.

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Opinion

Agentic AI And Securities Law: Steps Congress Should Take

Agentic artificial intelligence technology doesn't fit comfortably into the existing securities regulatory landscape, so Congress should avoid repeating the mistakes that led to the legal uncertainty crypto companies and investors have faced over the past decade-plus by providing a legislative framework before AI fully matures, says Joseph A. Hall at Davis Polk.

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How Trump's Nuclear EO Has Transformed The NRC

In the year since President Donald Trump issued Executive Order No. 14300, directing sweeping reforms of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency has revised key oversight programs and proposed major rulemakings and new licensing frameworks — but the NRC must continue to center transparency and trust as key values, says Brooke Clark at Morgan Lewis.

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Unpacking The Take It Down Act's Compliance Ambiguities

The Federal Trade Commission’s recent guidance concerning the Take It Down Act suggests that covered platforms should build removal systems immediately and prioritize compliance, but until courts or regulators provide additional clarity, companies will be navigating a statutory framework that is urgent and uncertain, says Laura-Kate Bernstein at ZwillGen.

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NY's UCC Updates Spell Change In Digital Asset Lending

Given the state’s role as a preferred jurisdiction for financing transactions, New York’s recent enactment of Uniform Commercial Code amendments, which establish control as a central concept for determining who has rights to a digital asset, will encourage nationwide growth toward a more technology-neutral approach to secured transactions, say attorneys at Manatt.

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Protecting AI-Driven Innovation In Life Sciences IP

Recent developments, including the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's evolving inventorship standards, and the impact of artificial intelligence on the "person of ordinary skill in the art" standard demand that life sciences companies elevate AI patent strategy to a top priority, says Sandra Haberny at Quinn Emanuel.

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The 2026 Law360 400

By Daniela Porat

Law360 is pleased to announce its list of the 400 largest U.S. firms by headcount.

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Widow Sues Podhurst Orseck Over $4M 737 Max Settlement

By Mike Curley

An Indonesian widow is suing Podhurst Orseck PA and one of its attorneys in Illinois federal court, alleging they failed to keep her informed or get her all the money she was entitled to in a $4 million settlement with Boeing over the fatal crash of Lion Air Flight 610.

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Kellogg Hansen Bests Susman Godfrey's Associate Pay Hikes

By Andrea Keckley

More litigation boutiques are joining the growing number of firms raising their base salaries for associates, with Kellogg Hansen Todd Figel & Frederick PLLC exceeding the scale Susman Godfrey LLP set earlier this week.

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Mass. Attys Ding Watchdog's 'Myopic' Public Defense Report

By Julie Manganis

The leader of a group of Massachusetts attorneys who stopped taking court-appointed cases last year over what they say are inadequate hourly rates on Thursday slammed a state inspector general's highly critical report on the state's indigent defense system as "myopic."

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Ex-Trump Atty Chesebro Gets Fla. Law License Back

By Madison Arnold

The Florida Supreme Court has reinstated the law license of former Trump campaign attorney Kenneth Chesebro after his conviction in Georgia's election interference racketeering case was eventually cleared by a court order invalidating the charge.

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SDNY US Atty Jay Clayton Picked For DNI After Pulte Pushback

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump announced on Thursday he's nominating Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, to be director of national intelligence.

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Immigration Firm Says Attys Fraudulently Poached Clients

By Britain Eakin

A law firm recently accused of running a volume-driven immigration filing mill claimed in a new lawsuit in Ohio federal court that three attorneys and a TikTok personality orchestrated a social media campaign falsely accusing it of visa fraud as a way to poach its clients.

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Mich. Judge Bullied Staff, Disciplinary Adjudicator Finds

By Melanie Dorsey

A suburban Detroit district judge violated court rules by withholding a court-ordered psychological evaluation report and repeatedly mistreating court staff, a retired judge serving as a neutral in disciplinary proceedings found, while rejecting several other claims of misconduct.

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Mich. Judge Denies Law Firm's Bid To Toss Data Breach Suit

By Susan Smiley

A Michigan law firm's bid to toss a proposed class action alleging that it allowed a cybersecurity breach that exposed its clients' personal and medical information was denied Thursday by a federal judge who also granted the lead plaintiff's request to amend his complaint.

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