5th Circ. Appears Skeptical Of La. Abortion Pill Suit

By Dan McKay

Louisiana's solicitor general faced tough questions Wednesday from a Fifth Circuit panel about the state's standing to challenge federal regulations that allow abortion medication to be mailed to patients in the state.

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9th Circ. Deems NCAA's 5-Year Rule Injunction Appeals Moot

By Rachel Riley

A Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday tossed the NCAA's appeals of court orders barring it from enforcing its five-year rule to sideline two football players from the 2025 season, finding the cases are moot because the "clock has run out" on the season and the athletes' collegiate careers have wrapped.

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DC Circ. Denies Bid To Force FCC Action On News Policy

By Craig Clough

A D.C. Circuit panel declined Wednesday to compel the Federal Communications Commission to respond to a petition seeking a repeal of its news distortion policy, saying the petitioners failed to establish that they have no other adequate means to seek relief.

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Judiciary OKs Law Firm Stipends For Judges' Student Interns

By Emily Sawicki

The federal judiciary's ethics arm has approved a policy allowing law firms to pay judicial interns during their volunteer work in the public sector, as long as the payments are not directly related to their work for the courts.

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Justices Call For Early Response Over Paramount Merger

By Matthew Perlman

The U.S. Supreme Court is giving California and other state enforcers that are challenging Paramount Skydance Corp.'s planned $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. until later this month to respond to Iowa and Montana's bid to block the merger challenge.

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Del. High Court Upholds Under-21 Handgun Restrictions

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Supreme Court has reversed a lower court ruling against a state law restricting handgun access for most 18- to 20-year-olds, finding the measure did not violate the Delaware Constitution's right to keep and bear arms.

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Trump Admin Floats Barring Many Noncitizens From Census

By Rae Ann Varona

The Trump administration on Wednesday proposed changes to how people will be counted in the 2030 census to exclude noncitizens who don't have green cards from the headcount and remove questions on race, ethnicity and sexual orientation.

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Mo. Voters Ask High Court To Sort Out 'Irreconcilable' Rulings

By Katie Buehler

Voters opposed to Missouri's newly drawn congressional map that favors Republicans in the midterms asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to lift a federal judge's order requiring state election officials to use the challenged map, which the Missouri Supreme Court deemed invalid without voter approval.

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States, Amici Ask Justices To Keep Mail Ballot Rules On Ice

By Katie Buehler

Nearly half of the states and the District of Columbia urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to leave in place a federal judge's order blocking the U.S. Postal Service from enforcing new mail-in ballot regulations in this year's midterms, arguing the changes are a major political decision USPS had no authority to make. 

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Crypto Org. Taps Prelogar To Back CFTC's Side In Perps Fight

By Aislinn Keely

A crypto policy group advocating for perpetual derivatives markets hired former U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar to pen a brief backing the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's approval of bitcoin perpetual contracts as the agency fights a challenge from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

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Trump Trust Gets Doc Review In Fla. Debanking Suit

By David Minsky

A Florida federal judge ruled Wednesday that the court can review banking records before they are released to the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust in a lawsuit alleging its Capital One accounts were closed for political reasons, saying there is no regulation preventing the examination of Bank Secrecy Act-related documents.

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3rd Circ. Vacates Approval For NJ Pipeline Project

By Carla Baranauckas

The Third Circuit has vacated New Jersey's approval of a water quality certification for Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC's proposed Northeast Supply Enhancement project, ruling that the state unlawfully deferred requirements for monitoring and corrective action and failed to explain how the project would meet water quality standards.

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Enviro Groups Challenge BLM's Colo., Wyo. Oil Lease Sales

By Rachel Konieczny

Two environmental advocacy nonprofits accused the Bureau of Land Management and related agencies of flouting federal law by authorizing the leasing of "environmentally sensitive public lands" in Colorado and Wyoming for oil and gas development, according to a lawsuit filed in Colorado federal court.

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21 States Want Changes To Endangered Species Act Blocked

By Hailey Konnath

California, Massachusetts, Washington and 18 other states on Wednesday filed a pair of suits challenging the Trump administration's recent changes to how the Endangered Species Act is implemented, claiming that the rules drastically weaken safeguards for the most vulnerable species and were rolled out unlawfully.

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Mich. To Revisit Line 5 Tunnel Permits After High Court Ruling

By Melanie Dorsey

Michigan environmental regulators will reconsider permits issued in July for Enbridge Energy LP's proposed Line 5 tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac after the Michigan Supreme Court found earlier this year that a separate state approval of the project relied on an improperly narrow environmental review, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Wednesday. 

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Conn. Regulator GC Admonished To Abide By Records Law

By Brian Steele

The Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission admonished the general counsel for the state's utility regulator on Wednesday, warning attorney Scott Muska to properly handle public records requests according to state law.

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2 House Democrats Say Trump Can't Fire Copyright Chief

By Adam Lidgett

Two senior House Democrats have urged the D.C. Circuit to reject the Trump administration's claimed authority to remove Shira Perlmutter as the head of the U.S. Copyright Office, arguing that only the librarian of Congress can fire the agency's leader.

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Ford Says DOT Concern Over China Tech 'Wrongheaded'

By Jack McLoone

Ford Motor Co. pushed back on U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's "profound concern" over what he said was too close of a relationship between it and a Chinese battery manufacturer, saying the claims are unfounded and don't mesh with other administration stances.

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Mackinac Island Says Ferry Operators Created Discovery Fight

By Melanie Dorsey

A northern Michigan island resort community has urged a federal court to reject ferry operators' bid to compel testimony from a city representative, arguing that the companies created the discovery dispute by refusing to narrow sweeping deposition topics covering as much as 16 years.

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Mass. Justices Probe $8M Waterfront Sale To Audubon Group

By Carolyn Muyskens

A justice on Massachusetts' top court asked Wednesday whether a court-appointed receiver had a duty to investigate more lucrative offers before selling an 18-acre abandoned industrial site to a nonprofit that intends to turn the property into a wildlife sanctuary.

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Unions, Feds Reach Deal In Gov't Shutdown Layoffs Suit

By Tim Ryan

A coalition of unions has reached a settlement in principle with the Trump administration resolving litigation in California federal court challenging layoffs at federal agencies during the 2025 government shutdown, pending approval from the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Paramount Doubles Down On $1.9B Bond Bid In Merger Suit

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

Paramount has insisted the Writers Guild of America and state attorneys general cannot avoid putting up a roughly $1.9 billion bond as they challenge the media company's $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, saying their arguments against its bond bid fail under the Clayton Act.

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Sugar Buyers Want Paul Weiss DQ'd From Price-Fixing MDL

By Dorothy Atkins

Hershey, J.M. Smucker and other food makers urged a Minnesota federal judge Tuesday to disqualify Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP from representing Domino Foods in sugar price-fixing multidistrict litigation, arguing the firm is conflicted out because it saw their confidential sugar-purchasing data when it was being considered as plaintiffs' counsel.

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Agencies Warn Of Chinese AI Cos. Targeting US Models

By Elliot Weld

The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, National Security Administration and FBI have released a report claiming Chinese artificial intelligence companies were extracting proprietary capabilities from U.S. AI models through a process known as "distillation."

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Fla. AG Sues Netflix Over 'Bait-And-Switch' Data Harvesting

By Allison Grande

Florida has become the second state to sue Netflix over its purported harvesting of personal data from children and families, alleging that the streaming provider engaged in a "bait-and-switch" when it leveraged subscribers' personal information to fuel its advertising despite promising to be a "safe respite" from these practices. 

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NM Again Hauls Meta To Trial, This Time Over Privacy

By Cara Salvatore

The state of New Mexico told a jury Wednesday that Facebook flagrantly misrepresented its privacy practices, including the one that let Cambridge Analytica harvest the data of 87 million mostly nonconsenting users, as the state goes to trial against the company for the third time in seven months.

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NJ Tech Chief Seeks To Avoid TikTok Depo In AG's Fraud Suit

By Carla Baranauckas

New Jersey Chief Technology Officer Kevin Dehmer has asked a state court judge to block TikTok from deposing him in the attorney general's consumer fraud lawsuit, arguing that he has no firsthand knowledge of the allegations and that forcing a high-ranking state official to testify is unwarranted.

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FTC Chucks Biden-Era Health App Breach Notification Rule

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Federal Trade Commission, as part of its regulatory streamlining, has rescinded a Biden-era policy requiring health applications and smart devices that collect information to warn users when their medical data has been breached.

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NC Justices Probe TikTok's State Contacts In Addiction Case

By Hayley Fowler

The North Carolina Supreme Court grappled Wednesday with whether TikTok and its parent company should have to face the attorney general's suit alleging the app is addictive to young users, with TikTok arguing its general national business practices do not create ties to the Tar Heel State sufficient to be dragged into court there.

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Brief

West Point Faculty Speech Policy Blocked As Unconstitutional

By Elaine Briseño

A New York federal judge permanently barred West Point from enforcing a policy that prohibited professors from expressing opinions about the subject matters they were teaching their students, finding the directive unconstitutional.

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US Bans Canadian Alcohol, Motorcycles After Tariff Retaliation

By Jack McLoone

President Donald Trump continued the U.S. trade offensive against Canada after its northern neighbor's retaliatory tariffs went into effect, announcing a ban on Canadian imports of certain alcohol, dairy products and motorcycles starting this month.

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Economists Tell Fed. Circ. Float Rates Bar Temporary Tariff

By Dylan Moroses

President Donald Trump's temporary global tariff lacked legal justification in the current international monetary system, a group of economists, including former U.S. Treasury secretary and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, told the Federal Circuit on Wednesday in a brief supporting challenges to the duties.

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Brief

Cambodia Joins WTO Appeal Arbitration Arrangement

By Jack McLoone

Cambodia has joined a World Trade Organization appeal arbitration agreement designed as an alternative to the WTO's main appellate body, bringing the total number of participants to 62 and covering over 60% of global trade, the European Commission said Wednesday.

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HMRC Launches New Tax Registration Service

By Josh White

Britain's tax authority announced Wednesday the launch of a registration service for self-employed individuals filing self-assessment tax returns that are due in January.

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Texas Justices Won't Hear Pastureland Values Protest

By Michael Nunes

The Texas Supreme Court said Wednesday it won't take up a local school district's challenge to the state comptroller's assessment values of pastureland, keeping in place a lower court ruling that the local appraisal district failed to justify a reduction.

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Ohio Bill Would Limit Tax Breaks For Institutional Investors

By Paul Williams

Ohio would limit interest and depreciation tax deductions for institutional investors who own single-family or two-family properties under a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.

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Great Britain To Briefly Cancel VAT On Domestic Electricity

By Kevin Pinner

The United Kingdom will cancel value-added tax on electricity for domestic purposes in Great Britain from October through March, according to HM Revenue & Customs.

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HMRC To Make Non-UK VAT Group Members Claim Refunds

By Kevin Pinner

Businesses outside the U.K. that are members of a value-added tax group will need to submit their own VAT refund claims under a new scheme aimed at addressing "an unintended consequence" of exiting the European Union, HM Revenue & Customs said in a policy paper.

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Pa. Ch. 7 Judge Pans NJ AG In Remanding 'Ghost Gun' Suit

By Matthew Santoni

A Pennsylvania federal bankruptcy judge says an alleged seller of "ghost gun" kits improperly tried to remove a civil suit filed by the New Jersey Attorney General's office to his court, but chided the AG for assuming that her lawsuit was immune from the automatic bankruptcy stay.

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Calif. Judge Seeks Clearer Limits On ICE Use Of Medicaid Data

By Tom Lotshaw

A California federal judge ordered 22 states and the Trump administration to reach an agreement on the proper scope of his injunction limiting Medicaid data use for immigration enforcement, saying he's unsure how it should apply to people with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status.

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State Dept. Starts Reprocessing 43K Paused Visa Applications

By Elaine Briseño

The State Department said it has taken steps to start reprocessing visa applications related to the agency's now vacated 75-country visa pause, saying 43,000 applications are subject to a New York federal court's recent order.

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States Say DOT's Driver Data Demand Is Immigration Pretext

By Jared Foretek

The Democratic-led states asking a Virginia federal judge to stop the Trump administration from accessing the Social Security numbers of commercial drivers nationwide for immigration enforcement backed up their request for an injunction Wednesday, saying the federal government is using post hoc rationalizations to defend its data demands.

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Texas Court Finds Most Of O'Rourke Fundraising Appeal Moot

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas appellate court in a split decision found that onetime presidential hopeful Beto O'Rourke's challenge to a court order blocking fundraising for state Democrats is moot and separately ruled that a Tarrant County, Texas, court has jurisdiction over the case.

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Two Men Cop To Bribing Ex-NYC Buildings Commissioner

By Frank G. Runyeon

Two men on Wednesday pled guilty to bribing former New York City Buildings Commissioner Eric Ulrich just weeks before the longtime city official is slated to stand trial in New York state court.

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California Judge Ends Tribe's Challenge Over Village Site

By Crystal Owens

A federal magistrate judge has ended a dispute between two California tribes over the management of an Indigenous coastal village site, determining that the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria is an indispensable party in the litigation that is protected by sovereign immunity.

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FCC To Consider 911 Reliability, Robocall Consent Regs

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission this month will consider studying 911 reliability to ensure the service is always available even as legacy copper-based networks go by the wayside.

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'Weird Space Stuff' To Get Boost Under FCC Spectrum Plan

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission plans to vote Sept. 30 on a "spectrum abundance" plan meant to fuel a variety of space-based industries by opening up the airwaves across two spectrum bands.

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Software Group Says FCC Should Narrow Covered List Focus

By Nadia Dreid

The software industry thinks the Federal Communications Commission might want to take a more "narrow" view when it comes to its continued expansion of the covered list of telecommunications equipment that the agency deems to be a national security risk.

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DC Circ. Declines To Halt DOJ's Cannabis Rescheduling

By Sam Reisman

The D.C. Circuit on Wednesday rejected a bid to freeze a final U.S. Department of Justice rule rescheduling medical marijuana while opponents challenge the policy in the appellate court.

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Conn. Farmers Can't Point To Hemp Law Injury, Judge Says

By Jonathan Capriel

Connecticut hemp farmers and processors failed to overturn state laws that cracked down on the sale of intoxicating hemp products, after a federal judge ruled that they failed to show how they were concretely harmed by statutes that do not directly regulate cultivation.

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Planning For The Impact Of FinCEN's CTA Rollback

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recent rollback of Corporate Transparency Act reporting obligations should reduce compliance costs, but its plans to revisit customer due diligence rules should prompt companies and financial institutions to reassess state beneficial ownership programs, say attorneys at Sidley.

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The Future Of DOL Judge Removal Challenges After Slaughter

The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Trump v. Slaughter calls into question whether U.S. Department of Labor administrative law judges exercising significant governmental authority remain insulated from presidential removal, but the answer depends on the governing statute, its severability provisions and other factors, says Mark Ishu at Conn Maciel.

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How 'Swap' Fight Underpins Prediction Market Enforcement

As courts around the country grapple with whether, and under what circumstances, event contracts qualify as swaps, federal enforcement authority hangs in the balance, with implications for companies that need to manage compliance risks during this period of legal uncertainty, say attorneys at Debevoise.

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Opinion

Md. Court Got Ad Tax Similarity Analysis Wrong

Decisions striking Maryland’s digital advertising tax are fundamentally flawed because the Maryland Tax Court found similarity between digital ads and other ads without considering deep market distinctions, says Darien Shanske at UC Davis School of Law.

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DOJ Executive Privilege Opinion Portends 3rd-Party Dilemmas

The recent opinion from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel concluding that executive privilege can shield the president's communications with private advisers may lead to interbranch disputes, and companies must come up with a response plan now before they’re caught in the middle, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

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Unpacking Texas' New Grid Reliability Rules For Data Centers

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas’ recently effective technical and compliance obligations, designed to prevent data centers and other large energy customers from causing cascading outages when they go offline, will challenge facilities to develop equipment and protocols to help protect the grid, says Casey Bell at Balch & Bingham.

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Opinion

NC Litigation Funding Ban Sets Model For Other States

States worried about rising liability costs and the commercialization of their courts should treat North Carolina's recently enacted litigation funding ban as a model because a prohibition adequately addresses the distortion that disclosure only documents, say attorneys at McAngus Goudelock.

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DOJ Says Berkeley Law Is Racially Biased In Admissions

By Craig Clough

The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education said Wednesday that the University of California, Berkeley School of Law discriminated against white and Asian applicants in its 2024 and 2025 admissions cycles by preferring Black applicants because of their race, violating federal civil rights law and recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

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Murdaugh Murder Retrial Venue Shift Fueled By Bias Concern

By Emily Sawicki

A South Carolina trial court has approved a request to move Alex Murdaugh's murder retrial to a different county, finding the disgraced attorney could not expect a fair trial in Colleton County, where his wife and son were killed and where he was previously convicted for the crimes.

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Virginia Law Prof Says He'll Take USPTO General Counsel Job

By Jack Rodgers

A University of Virginia School of Law professor who has taught tort, administrative, patent and international intellectual property law there for more than 15 years recently said he plans to become the new general counsel of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

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Hogan Lovells Partner Tapped For Mass. Judgeship

By Julie Manganis

A Hogan Lovells Cadwalader senior partner has been nominated to a seat as an associate justice on the Massachusetts Superior Court, the governor's office announced Wednesday.

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Kilpatrick Atty Tapped For Yakima County Bench In Wash.

By Ben Adlin

Washington's governor appointed Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP litigator Bree R. Black Horse to the Yakima County Superior Court bench on Wednesday, filling the first new position added to that court in nearly three decades.

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