Analysis

Trump Foreign Equipment Order Perplexes Power Cos.

By Keith Goldberg

The U.S. power industry is scrambling to make sense of President Donald Trump's sweeping executive order restricting imports of equipment used for the electricity grid, and attorneys say complying with the directive could ultimately make projects more expensive and take them longer to build.

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Analysis

FCC Staff Are Making Big Decisions, But The Tactic Isn't New

By Christopher Cole

When an arm of the Federal Communications Commission that deals with broadcast competition waived one of the country's signature media ownership rules without a full FCC vote this year, it wasn't the first time agency staff had been entrusted with a major decision by the FCC's politically appointed chair.

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DOJ Ad Tech Judge Won't Break Up Google's Biz

By Bryan Koenig

A Virginia federal judge on Wednesday refused to break up Google's advertising placement technology business, opting instead to grant the U.S. Department of Justice a litany of behavioral fixes aimed at limiting the search giant's ability to boost itself and the ads running through its own servers over ads from rival ad tech providers.

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Trump's Latest Birthright Order Flouts High Court, Judge Says

By Rae Ann Varona

A Maryland federal judge ruled Wednesday that President Donald Trump's latest attempt to curtail birthright citizenship cannot be applied to a certified class of children, saying the U.S. Supreme Court already decided that the children were citizens once born.

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Split 9th Circ. Curbs Foreign Asset Forfeiture Without Control

By Hailey Konnath

A split Ninth Circuit panel Wednesday held that courts must determine that they have, at the very least, constructive control over a foreign defendant's property to establish jurisdiction in a forfeiture case, pointing to the Fifth Amendment's due process clause.

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Judge Tosses Feds' Sanctuary Policy Fight Against Rochester

By Ganesh Setty

A New York federal court tossed a lawsuit from the Trump administration challenging the city of Rochester's sanctuary immigration policies, finding the policies do not unlawfully regulate or discriminate against the federal government and are not preempted under federal law.

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DOJ Says Trump's Jan. 6 Speech Was An Official Act

By Jared Foretek

The U.S. Department of Justice argued Tuesday that President Donald Trump was carrying out one of his office's "most important functions" when he urged protesters to head to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and "fight like hell," so the D.C. Circuit should deem his speech official conduct.

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House Rejects Amendment To Fix Court At 9 Justices

By Courtney Bublé

The House failed to pass a proposed constitutional amendment on Wednesday that would keep the number of U.S. Supreme Court justices at nine.

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Brief

Mass. Woman Admits Assault On Agents Detaining Immigrants

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts woman pled guilty in federal court on Wednesday to assaulting and threatening to kill federal agents outside a courthouse where they were attempting to detain immigrants, prosecutors said.

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Localities Say DHS Can't Tie Grant Funds To Election Process

By Elaine Briseño

Governments in Tennessee, Texas and Ohio have asked a D.C. federal court to grant them a win against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, arguing Congress did not condition receipt of counterterrorism grants on the way localities administer elections.

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GOP Bill Would Alter CFPB Funding, Curb Enforcement

By Sarah Jarvis

Two high-ranking Republican U.S. representatives have formally introduced legislation that would put the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau through the regular congressional appropriations process and establish a dedicated inspector general, among other changes.

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NOAA Fisheries Lays Out Priorities For Trump Seafood Order

By Tom Lotshaw

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's fisheries division announced several dozen priorities to boost the U.S. seafood industry Wednesday, prompting one environmental group to call it a "depraved laundry list" of ways the Trump administration is willing to sacrifice ocean life.

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Groups Push To Revive Challenges To Trump Monument Cuts

By Tom Lotshaw

Coalitions of conservation groups on Wednesday asked a Washington, D.C., federal judge to reopen a series of stayed cases to try to overturn President Donald Trump's removal of millions of acres of land from the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah.

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States Sue To Block Medicaid Ban On Youth Gender Care

By Dan McKay

Twenty state attorneys general on Wednesday challenged the Trump administration's plan to halt Medicaid funding for minors' gender-affirming care, alleging the move would violate federal law and usurp congressional power over government spending.

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Colo. Exits Pharma Group's Challenge Of Drug Discount Law

By MJ Koo

A Colorado federal court has thrown out a pharmaceutical industry trade group's challenge of a state law requiring drug manufacturers to sell discounted drugs through contracted pharmacies, finding the group failed to show the law conflicts with federal law or controls business activity beyond Colorado's borders.

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Analysis

Online Embedders May Like 5th Circ.'s Pivot On Server Test

By Ivan Moreno

The Fifth Circuit last week rejected a 2007 copyright test that publishers have long criticized, but attorneys say the court's replacement may still leave news aggregators and apps that embed third-party content in a strong position while putting more pressure on rights holders to restrict content they don't want embedded elsewhere.

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USPTO Policies Spur Reps To Float Conditions On Fee Power

By Ryan Davis

Several lawmakers expressed concern at a hearing Wednesday about recent U.S. Patent and Trademark Office policies, including increased denials of patent reviews, and questioned if Congress should respond by putting conditions on the office's power to set its own fees.

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DOJ Backs OpenAI, Microsoft Fair Use Defense In NYT IP Case

By Bonnie Eslinger

The federal government is weighing in on the sprawling copyright litigation against OpenAI Inc. and Microsoft Corp. in New York federal court brought by The New York Times and others, telling the judge that using copyrighted texts to train generative tools shouldn't expose developers to broad infringement liability.

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VLSI Presses Court For Full Anonymous Report In Intel Row

By Theresa Schliep

VLSI has urged a D.C. federal court to force the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to release an unredacted version of a report alleging a connection between Intel and a company that successfully challenged a VLSI patent at issue in a multibillion-dollar infringement case.

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Calif. Bill Regulating Atty AI Use Heads To Newsom's Desk

By Emily Sawicki

A bill regulating attorneys' and arbitrators' use of generative artificial intelligence has unanimously passed the California State Legislature and is headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk.

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Public Access Gets Win In Ex-Fla. GOP Chair's Records Case

By David Minsky

A Florida appellate court ruled Wednesday in favor of public access to investigative records involving the former chairman of the Sunshine State's Republican Party, finding that only legislators can create exemptions under the state's Public Records Act. 

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Calif. Beats DOJ's Challenge To State Trans Athlete Policy

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge tossed Monday the government's challenge to Golden State policies allowing transgender students to compete on sports teams that aligned with their gender identity, finding a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling doesn't bar such policies and the government failed to notify the state of its funding restrictions.

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Insurers Needn't Cover Retailer In 'Ghost Gun' Sale Suit

By Hope Patti

Two insurers have no duty to defend or indemnify a Missouri-based firearm retailer accused of contributing to gun violence by selling "ghost gun" kits, a New York federal court ruled, saying the underlying claims did not allege harm caused by an accident.

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Mich. City Says New Rules Moot Developer's Data Center Suit

By Charlie Innis

The city of Wixom said in Michigan federal court Tuesday that a developer's exclusionary zoning and due process claims over its recently enacted data center moratorium and subsequent denial of a waiver are not viable because they focus on an unapproved site plan under old rules.

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DC Says AC Outage Among 'Shocking' Conditions At Complex

By Nate Beck

Washington, D.C., said Wednesday that it has sued the landlord of an affordable housing complex where residents have dealt with "shocking" conditions such as a summertime air conditioning outage, unrepaired fire damage and pest infestations.

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2nd Circ. Faults NLRB's Dress Code Test In Starbucks Appeal

By Braden Campbell

The Second Circuit faulted the test the National Labor Relations Board applies to neutral dress codes that restrict workers' displays of union insignia, tossing Wednesday a ruling that Starbucks illegally barred workers at a Manhattan shop from wearing pro-union shirts. 

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UMich Says Student Banned From Campus Can't Show Bias

By Susan Smiley

The University of Michigan and several of its officials on Wednesday asked a federal judge to dismiss a civil rights suit brought by a student and former university employee, saying his claims that he was barred from a campus area for expressing pro-Palestinian views fail and arguing the university was simply enforcing its standard trespass policy.

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Kroger, Costco, Major Grocers Added To DOJ Beef Price Probe

By Lauren Berg

The U.S. Department of Justice expanded its investigation into potential anticompetitive conduct in the American beef industry to include The Kroger Co., Walmart, Costco Wholesale Corp. and five other major grocers.

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Optics Co.'s £346M Sale Not Stopped By Antitrust Authorities

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Optics technology provider Gooch & Housego, advised by Burges Salmon LLP, said Wednesday that it cleared a regulatory hurdle in its proposed acquisition by Kirkland & Ellis LLP-led private equity shop Arlington Capital, as the antitrust waiting period for the £346 million ($470 million) deal has expired.

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Crypto Mine Noise Suit Belongs In State Court, Neighbors Say

By Hayley Fowler

Residents of a North Carolina town suing over allegedly excessive noise coming from a nearby cryptocurrency mining and AI data center want their lawsuit bumped back down to state court, arguing the damages they're seeking fall short of the threshold required for federal jurisdiction.

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Dems Call Subpoenas' Secrecy Request 'Abuse Of Authority'

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

Democratic lawmakers Sen. Ron Wyden, Ore., and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Wash., have called for an investigation into subpoenas issued from federal law enforcement to private companies that contain nondisclosure provisions and carry threats of legal consequences for noncompliance.

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5th Circ. Presses ATF On Out-Of-State Handgun Sales

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit panel pressed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to explain the scope of a law barring citizens from purchasing handguns outside their state of residence, asking Wednesday what problems the government would face from the law's revocation.

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Colo. Says Semiautomatic Gun Law Is Constitutional

By Rachel Konieczny

Colorado officials urged a federal judge to not block the enforcement of a new state law restricting ownership of certain semiautomatic firearms, contending the law is constitutional and complies with recent Supreme Court precedent.

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Lutnick Says Semiconductor Tariffs Are Coming, With Carveouts

By Jack McLoone

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Wednesday said the U.S. is looking to issue a broad tariff on semiconductors, though he also said it would be structured such that companies that commit to U.S. manufacturing would be exempt.

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Imported Feed Additive Is An Antibiotic, Trade Court Rules

By Jack McLoone

An animal health company's imports of a powdered feed additive should have entered the U.S. as a duty-free antibiotic, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled Wednesday, undoing its previous classification as a preparation for animal feed from China that carried a 25% tariff.

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Brief

Austrian Oil Pipe Imports Facing Possible Countervailing Duty

By Jack McLoone

Imports of certain pipes known as oil country tubular goods from Austria are in line for a possible countervailing duty after the U.S. Department of Commerce found Monday that they are benefiting from government subsidies.

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11th Circ. OKs Refusal Of $1.5M Offer To End $140M Tax Debt

By Kat Lucero

The Eleventh Circuit rebuffed a software company founder's $1.5 million offer to settle his $140 million tax debt from 1999, ruling Wednesday that the IRS properly rejected the lowball offer in a case tied to sham arrangements.

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No Tax Break For SC Homeowner With Nonresident Wife

By Sanjay Talwani

A South Carolina homeowner was correctly denied a property tax rate for owner-occupied primary residences because his spouse was a resident of another state at the time, an administrative law judge ruled.

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DOJ Opinion Broadens States' Duty To Report To DHS

By Britain Eakin

All state agencies in states participating in federal welfare programs must notify federal immigration officials about the presence of unauthorized immigrants, according to an opinion released Wednesday by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel.

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Migrant Advocates Can't Revive El Salvador Deal Challenge

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge once again shot down a challenge to the Trump administration's agreement with El Salvador that sent hundreds of detained noncitizens to the CECOT terror prison, ruling that the immigrant advocates challenging the deal had failed to show how their requested relief could redress the alleged harms.

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Miami College Officials Claim Immunity In ICE Protest Suit

By David Minsky

Miami college administrators urged a Florida federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by students who said they were unjustly disciplined for protesting against a U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement contract, saying immunity bars the complaint against them. 

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Tribal Students Achieve A Win In Financial Aid Policy Suit

By Joyce Hanson

A New York federal judge has ruled in favor of two Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe students in their suit against the U.S. Department of Education over its policy requiring documentation from Indigenous students of permanent residency in the United States to be eligible for financial aid.

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AT&T Asks To Cut Copper-Based VoIP Service In 20 States

By Nadia Dreid

AT&T is continuing with its plans to end its legacy copper-line telephone service across the United States, asking the Federal Communications Commission for permission to cut services that rely on copper wires in certain areas in 20 states.

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FCC Backs Alaska Telecom GCI's Plan To Serve 10K More

By Nadia Dreid

Improvements in broadband infrastructure mean that Alaskan telecom GCI Holdings will be able to provide hybrid fiber-cellular service to 10,000 more people in the state, the telecom has told the Federal Communications Commission.

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FCC Floats 'Scorecard' To Deal With Robocall Deluge

By Christopher Cole

As the flood of robocalls continues, Federal Communications Commission leaders are considering a "scorecard" to let consumers rate their voice service providers as to how effectively they are blocking unwanted calls.

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GAO Says FCC Needs To Ease Broadband Map Issues

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

A U.S. Government Accountability Office report to congressional committees is recommending that the Federal Communications Commission work with smaller communities and providers in completing the challenge process to determine the accuracy of its mapping data.

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Wireless Provider Claims Utility Slowing Idaho Projects

By Christopher Cole

A wireless services provider claims a Washington-based public utility is slowing down its Idaho broadband deployments and charging excessive fees, asking the Federal Communications Commission to step in.

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Brief

14 Cos. Banned From US Networks Over Robocall Violations

By Nadia Dreid

More than a dozen voice service providers have been booted from U.S. networks after failing to follow Federal Communications Commission rules aimed at staunching the barrage of robocalls that assault Americans' phones every day.

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11th Circ. Revives Some Of Pot Co.'s License Bias Claims

By David Aaro

The Eleventh Circuit revived Wednesday a cannabis company's suit against Georgia regulators over a denied production license, saying the company showed it suffered an injury from the state's "pay to play" system and had the right to bring a lawsuit despite cannabis being federally illegal.

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10th Circ. Says Vape Shops Fumbled Utah Flavor Ban Appeal

By Jonathan Capriel

The Tenth Circuit dismissed an appeal brought by vape businesses challenging Utah's flavored e-cigarette ban, ruling that the companies picked the wrong order to bring to it on appeal.

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Scope Issues For Cos. To Consider Ahead Of Cyber Rules

As the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency finalizes its proposed Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act rules, organizations can take steps to navigate the uncertainty that stems from inconsistent critical infrastructure sector definitions and overlapping sector boundaries, say attorneys at Wiley.

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How Jackson Walker Settlement Will Affect Conflict Checks

Jackson Walker's recently filed $15 million settlement with the U.S. Trustee is effectively a contract between one firm and the government that will nevertheless serve as a template of conflict disclosure practices for all firms practicing in the bankruptcy courts, says attorney Ken Rosen.

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BIA Ruling Calls For Analyzing Advance Parole Travel's Risks

The Board of Immigration Appeals’ recent policy reversal, holding that a temporary trip abroad pursuant to advance parole counts as a departure under the Immigration and Nationality Act, means counsel should assess their clients' immigration history and potential risks of travel before they depart, says attorney Richard Herman.

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Illinois BNPL Law Casts Wide Net Over Loan Providers

A new Illinois law's broad definition of buy now, pay later providers under its new dedicated licensing and supervisory regime notably imposes conduct standards similar to other consumer credit regimes and aggressively looks through a wide range of business activities and arrangements, say attorneys at Ashurst Perkins.

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What Cos. Should Know About DOE Energy Dominance Loans

With the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Dominance Financing set to become a vital resource for funding U.S. energy and critical minerals projects, interested companies must understand the terms of potential loans and take into account the applicable financial, technical, legal and regulatory requirements, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

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Quinn Emanuel, McDermott Hit By Data Breaches

By Lauren Berg

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP and McDermott Will & Schulte LLP both recently suffered data breaches, adding to the dozens of cybersecurity incidents law firms in the U.S. have suffered in 2026.

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Analysis

Boutique Firms Emerge As Trump Admin's 'Achilles' Heel'

By Phillip Bantz

Less fearful of retribution than some of their BigLaw counterparts, small law firms are taking on an outsize role handling cases seen as adversarial to the Trump administration.

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Interview

Federal Judge Warns Threats Imperil Judicial Independence

By Carolina Bolado

U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom of the Southern District of Florida told Law360 that judges and members of the bar need to educate the public on the judiciary's important role in American democracy to combat increasing threats, speaking following the release of two reports this week that warn of safety concerns for judges and that defiance of court orders is undermining the federal judiciary's independence.

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Husch Blackwell Gets Early Win In Ex-Partner's 401(k) Suit

By Andrea Keckley

A Missouri federal court granted Husch Blackwell LLP an early win over a former employee's proposed class action alleging the firm illegally withheld retirement contributions and mismanaged its employee 401(k) plan, finding the ex-partner couldn't prove violations of federal benefits law.

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Former Girardi Keese CFO Drops Appeal Of 5-Year Fraud Term

By Emily Sawicki

The Seventh Circuit has granted onetime Girardi Keese financial chief Christopher Kamon's request to drop the appeal he lodged fighting an Illinois federal judge's order adding five concurrent years onto the 10 he is already serving for his role helping Tom Girardi, the head of the firm, steal millions from plane crash clients who settled cases in Chicago.

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Pirro Urges House Ethics Panel To Refer Crime Claims To DOJ

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro has told the House Ethics Committee that as cases involving criminal misconduct come before it, her office should be involved too.

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Fox Rothschild Says Adult Day Care Suit Rehashes Claims

By Rose Krebs

Fox Rothschild LLP is urging a New Jersey state court to toss claims against the firm and one of its attorneys in a complaint related to the firm's prosecution of a fraudulent loan lawsuit that led to a $65,000 sanction against the firm.

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