Analysis

EPA's Policy Repeals May Spell Exit From Climate Regulation

By Keith Goldberg

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's latest move to undo Biden-era greenhouse gas emissions rules lays legal groundwork for the agency to completely abandon climate change regulation, though it remains to be seen whether courts will endorse a full-blown retreat.

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Analysis

6th Circ. Ruling Puts Cannabis Deals In Question

By Sam Reisman

The Sixth Circuit's decision reversing a $31.8 million jury judgment against cannabis giant Curaleaf on the grounds that marijuana is federally illegal is bound to have ramifications for industry players who seek redress in federal courts, attorneys told Law360.

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1st Circ. Hints Trump Admin Sought To Skirt Review Of Cuts

By Julie Manganis

The First Circuit on Wednesday repeatedly suggested that the Trump administration had sought to evade court review by intentionally failing to issue written guidance before it began shuttering federal programs targeted by the president in an executive order last year.

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Newman Saga Prompts Bill To Limit Judicial Suspensions

By Courtney Bublé

The long-running saga over Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman's fitness to remain on the court has exposed "major flaws" in the judicial accountability system, according to a Republican member of the House who introduced a bill Wednesday to reform it.

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Pa. Justices Ask When Canes, Hot Dogs Become Crime Tools

By Matthew Santoni

Pennsylvania's justices contemplated pummeling one another with canes, gavels and hot dogs as they grappled with what transforms a mundane object into an "instrument of crime" during arguments Wednesday.

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Del. Defends Absentee Voting Law At State High Court

By Jarek Rutz

Two Delaware Senate candidates urged the Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday to strike down the state's permanent absentee voting system as unconstitutional, while state election officials defended the law as a valid way to administer absentee voting for people who remain eligible over multiple elections.

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Brief

Senate Panel Weighs 6 Trump Judicial Picks From Red States

By Courtney Bublé

Six nominees for U.S. district judge appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday for their nomination hearing.

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SEC Floats Eliminating Shareholder Proposal Rule

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday proposed a number of changes to the way publicly traded companies seek shareholder input, including by promising to eliminate one of the pathways shareholders can use to place their own proposals on corporate ballots. 

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State Bank Supervisor Group Issues AI Exam Framework

By Jon Hill

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors on Wednesday unveiled a new oversight framework for artificial intelligence at financial firms, rolling out resources aimed at giving state examiners a common roadmap for reviewing how their regulated institutions are deploying the technology.

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5th Circ. Says EPA Went Too Far With Chemical Ban

By Mike Curley

The Fifth Circuit has sided with a group of chemical companies and vacated a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule that banned nearly all uses of methylene chloride, saying the agency went too far in evaluating the substance as a whole instead of its uses.

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10th Circ. Clears The Way To Fill Denver's Expanded Reservoir

By Elaine Briseño

The Tenth Circuit has cleared the way for Denver Water to begin filling an expanded reservoir that holds the city's water supply, finding the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not err when approving a permit for the project.

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Conn. Agency Rejects Avangrid Units' Bids For Higher Rates

By Tom Lotshaw

Connecticut's Public Utilities Regulatory Authority decreased rates for Avangrid Inc. subsidiaries Connecticut Natural Gas Corp. and Southern Connecticut Gas in a pair of decisions issued after a state judge remanded prior decisions on their rate amendment applications for additional proceedings.

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CFTC Probing Carbon Credit Markets, Enforcement Chief Says

By Aislinn Keely

U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Enforcement Director David Miller said Wednesday that the division is investigating carbon credit markets as part of his agency's commitment to policing fraud in emerging markets.

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80 Hospitals End Suit Over Now Vacated HHS Payment Rule

By Matthew Santoni

A group of 80 hospitals has voluntarily ended a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over denied Medicare payment appeals after a D.C. federal court vacated a 2023 rule affecting how those payments were calculated.

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Okla. Mothers Contest Abortion Ban In Fatal Fetal Cases

By Gianna Ferrarin

A pair of mothers urged an Oklahoma state court Wednesday to bar the state from criminalizing abortion care for pregnant individuals who learn their fetus won't survive birth, arguing that doing so violates fundamental rights under Oklahoma's constitution.

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Tenn. Must Face Adult-Entertainment Groups' Age-Check Suit

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

A federal judge in Tennessee has ruled that the state must face a suit from free speech advocates, an individual adult-content creator and adult-entertainment industry groups claiming a state law requiring age checks violates their First Amendment rights.

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Senate Committee OKs Free Speech Bill Despite AI Worries

By Nadia Dreid

A bipartisan bill aimed at preventing the government from leaning on media companies to suppress the speech of third parties made it through committee Wednesday morning, but not until the leadership of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee went head-to-head with each other on the matter.

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Calif. AI Law Requires Ads To Disclose 'Synthetic Performers'

By Rae Ann Varona

Advertisements shown in California that feature artificial intelligence-generated actors must explicitly disclose that such "synthetic performers" were used under a new SAG-AFTRA-backed bill that California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Wednesday.

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AP Sues Courts Over Rule Blocking Habeas Records Access

By Jared Foretek

The Associated Press, in a new lawsuit, is fighting the federal courts for digital access to habeas filings, arguing that a rule curtailing electronic access to the records is unconstitutional and has hampered coverage of the tens of thousands of such cases filed since President Donald Trump's second term began.

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Philly Says DraftKings Suit Seeks To Block Consumer Probe

By Bonnie Eslinger

Philadelphia has urged a Pennsylvania federal judge to throw out DraftKings' suit challenging the city's consumer protection ordinance, telling the court that although it's investigating how the online betting platform markets its product to residents, the complaint is premature since the city hasn't taken any enforcement action.

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Underdog Sues To Stop Conn. Crackdown On Event Contracts

By Brian Steele

The prediction market operator Underdog has joined a growing legal fracas with Connecticut officials who are trying to shut down alleged online sports betting in the state, arguing in a new federal lawsuit that only the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has jurisdiction over such companies.

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State Farm Plans Calif. Return For Fire-Hardened Homes

By Hope Patti

More than three years after announcing it would no longer sell new homeowners insurance policies in California, State Farm has filed plans to begin writing new policies for Golden State homeowners who have made their properties more resilient to wildfire, according to news releases issued Wednesday.

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Zillow Must Arbitrate MLS Claims, Compass Claims Paused

By Matthew Perlman

An Illinois federal court has refused Zillow's request for an injunction in its case accusing a Chicago-area multiple listing service of working with Compass to block access to home listings and sent the claims against the MLS to arbitration.

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DTE Faces Suit Alleging Retaliation Over Fermi 2 Safety Data

By Susan Smiley

A longtime employee of utility DTE Electric Co.'s Fermi 2 nuclear energy plant has said he was forced out of his job because he reported safety data discrepancies to upper management and human resources, accusing the company of retaliation in Michigan federal court.

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FTC Deal Bars Gunmakers From Overlapping Board Members

By Bryan Koenig

Beretta Holding SA is swearing off putting any of its own executives on fellow gunmaker Ruger's board under a Federal Trade Commission settlement announced Wednesday addressing competitive overlap concerns from a more than $100 million deal that will increase Beretta's stake in the company from 9.95% to up to 25%.

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Kroger Faces Skepticism In Bid To Slash Wash. AG's Fee Win

By Rachel Riley

A Washington appellate judge expressed skepticism Wednesday at Kroger's bid to dismiss or reduce the state's $28.4 million fee award for successfully challenging the proposed merger with Albertsons, saying Kroger doesn't know how the Washington State Attorney General's Office split the work with the lead law firm that handled the bench trial.

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DOJ Fights Acquittal Motion Following Okla. Bid-Fixing Verdict

By Ganesh Setty

The U.S. Department of Justice is urging an Oklahoma federal court to reject an acquittal bid from a man convicted of participating in an erosion control company's bid-rigging conspiracy that allegedly affected over $100 million in publicly funded transportation construction contracts.

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States Say DOJ's RealPage Deal Doesn't Affect Their Claims

By Isaac Monterose

A group of states told a North Carolina federal court to reject property management software company RealPage Inc.'s argument that its rent price-fixing settlement with the federal government moots the states' antitrust claims.

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Post-Cambridge Analytica Investigation Unserious, Jury Told

By Cara Salvatore

New Mexico jurors heard testimony Wednesday from a former Facebook employee that the social media giant's investigation of third-party app developers after the Cambridge Analytica scandal was weakened by executive anger over the cost and pressure for it to wrap up, among other things.

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Express Scripts Seeks To Exit AIDS Group's Drug Rate Suit

By Rachel Riley

Express Scripts called on a Washington federal judge to toss a lawsuit accusing it of using its market power to bully the AIDS Healthcare Foundation into accepting lower reimbursement rates for life-saving drugs, contending Tuesday that the case rehashes allegations a Missouri federal court has already rejected twice.

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Texas Justices Press Mall Owner On Mass Shooting Liability

By Spencer Brewer

The Texas Supreme Court justices wanted the owner of an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, that saw a devastating mass shooting to explain why a case brought by the victims should be tossed, saying Wednesday that dismissal might remove incentives for businesses to protect customers.

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Conn. Judge Trims Claims In 3M Firefighter PFAS Suit

By Katherine Smith

A Connecticut federal judge has dismissed some "forever chemicals" allegations lodged against 3M Co. by state firefighter unions and firefighters in a Minnesota multidistrict litigation concerning municipalities that purchased firefighting turnout gear, ruling that the unions lack associational standing over certain claims in the case.

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WSU Says It Had No Duty To Stop Idaho Murders

By Ben Adlin

Washington State University urged a federal judge Tuesday to dismiss a lawsuit from families of four University of Idaho students killed by a WSU teaching assistant, arguing that the university had no obligation to stop Bryan Kohberger from committing the murders while he was off duty and across state lines.

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BofA Settles Suit Over Maryland Pandemic Benefits Cards

By Katryna Perera

Bank of America on Wednesday agreed to settle a proposed class action alleging it mismanaged Maryland's unemployment benefits debit cards during the pandemic.

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War In Iran Has Cost Pentagon $38B, CBO Report Says

By Madeline Lyskawa

The Congressional Budget Office said in a report that the ongoing armed conflict between the United States and Iran has cost the U.S. Department of Defense an estimated $38 billion and contributed to inflation in the first half of 2026.

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Trade Court OKs Korean Pipe Duties In Decade-Long Dispute

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. Court of International Trade backed the latest U.S. Department of Commerce determination in a long-running challenge to antidumping duties on imports of South Korean pipes that first started in 2016, finding the department properly used a new pricing test.

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EU Eyes Canada As First Associate Member Amid Rift With US

By Dylan Moroses

The European Union may take steps to include Canada as its first associate member in the wake of growing U.S. trade uncertainty, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday.

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House Clears Russia Sanctions Bill With New Tariff Powers

By Dylan Moroses

The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation Wednesday that would enhance President Donald Trump's economic tools to pressure Russia and Iran, including new tariff authorities to impose duties on imports from countries found to economically support Russia, sending the bill to his desk.

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NGOs Petition Burnham For Wealth Tax Ahead Of Budget

By Josh White

Prime Minister Andy Burnham should introduce a tax to target "extreme wealth" in the upcoming autumn budget, a coalition said Wednesday.

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House Panel Advances Digital Asset Tax Framework

By Asha Glover

Congress would create parity between the tax treatment of digital assets and traditional financial assets, as well as institute safeguards against abuse, under a bipartisan digital asset tax framework package passed by the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday.

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Minn. Court Drops $22M From Wells Fargo Tower's Tax Value

By Sanjay Talwani

A Wells Fargo office tower in Minneapolis was overvalued by $22 million by the local assessor, the Minnesota Tax Court said, looking at the sales prices of the building itself and applying calculations that it called for in a previous order.

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ICE Blocked From Threatening Critic Who Sent Scathing Email

By Dorothy Atkins

A D.C. federal judge on Tuesday blocked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from threatening to prosecute a critic who sent a scathing email comparing then-acting Director Todd Lyons to a Nazi, saying the "warning notice" ICE agents issued on the Rochester man's doorstep likely violates his free speech rights. 

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Judge Extends Supervision Over Migrant Teen Detention

By Ganesh Setty

A D.C. federal court has said it'll continue to supervise the federal government after finding it repeatedly failed to make individualized determinations on whether certain migrant teenagers should be placed in a less restrictive alternative to adult immigration detention upon turning 18.

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Protesters Say Feds' Fight Shows Need For Misconduct Probe

By Lauraann Wood

The U.S. government's opposition to a special investigation of prosecutorial misconduct that "poisoned" a now-dismissed criminal conspiracy case suggests Chicago prosecutors are still shielding critical details regarding the extent of official communications preceding the prosecution, underscoring the probe's necessity, protesters argued Tuesday.

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DOJ Says Groups Can't Halt Rule Skipping Asylum Interviews

By Britain Eakin

The Trump administration told a D.C. federal judge that immigrant legal service providers lack standing to challenge a rule permitting asylum officers to skip interviews if someone is ineligible for asylum and send those cases straight to immigration court.

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FIU Students Say Administrators Knew About Protest Rights

By Carolina Bolado

Florida International University administrators aren't immune from claims they violated student's speech rights by disciplining them for protesting against federal immigration enforcement tactics because they were well aware of U.S. Supreme Court precedent protecting students' speech rights, the students said Tuesday.

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9th Circ. Greenlights Blocking Kalshi Contracts On Tribal Land

By Dorothy Atkins

The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday reversed an order denying California tribes' request for a preliminary injunction seeking to block Kalshi and Robinhood from offering sports-event contracts on tribal lands, finding the tribes will likely win their Indian Gaming Regulatory Act claims, and "this is the 'stuff' of sports betting."

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Utah Tribe Loses Repeated Bids To End Water Suit In Its Favor

By Joyce Hanson

A Utah federal court has denied a Native American tribe's motion for default judgment and motion for entry of default against a group of farm companies in a water-use lawsuit, ruling the tribe's separate bid for summary judgment conflicts with the other two motions.

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Va. DOT Warns FCC Deadlines For Permits May Be Too Short

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Virginia Department of Transportation has warned the Federal Communications Commission that a plan to limit state and local telecom permit reviews to 120 days might not offer enough time, especially if service providers' applications are faulty.

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FCC Members See Progress On Opening Gov't Spectrum

By Christopher Cole

Federal Communications Commission leaders on Wednesday touted progress toward the government's goal of transitioning unused federally held airwaves to the private sector to spur wireless industry growth.

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Cannabis Venture Says Township Caved To Public Pressure

By Sam Reisman

A pair of companies alleged in a federal lawsuit Tuesday that the planning board of a New Jersey township unlawfully torpedoed their plan to open a marijuana cultivation facility because of community hostility to the plan.

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What State AI Election Laws Mean For The 2026 Midterms

In the absence of federal rules governing artificial intelligence in elections and no consensus emerging across state laws, campaigns, their vendors and AI developers must address the risks associated with outdated rules written for other problems, says Matthew Shapanka at Covington.

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4 Words In A 1980 Law Could Redraw Bank Lending

The Tenth Circuit's interpretation of a single phrase in the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act could reshape interstate bank lending, requiring banks and fintechs to document loan-making functions, monitor repayment triggers, and reassess true lender and contractual risks, say attorneys at Sheppard.

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Illinois Domestic Violence Law Expands Employer Obligations

With a new Illinois law expanding domestic violence protections by redefining harassment for the digital age and making protective orders more accessible, employers should review their policies and training programs as they will likely encounter more orders and a wider range of workplace restrictions, say attorneys at Nixon Peabody.

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Draft Biosolids Guidance Illuminates EPA's Approach To PFAS

Recent draft guidance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on mitigating risks from two "forever chemicals" in sewage sludge is not legally binding, but its recommendations may help wastewater treatment plants operators, landowners, farmers, water agencies and the public understand the agency's current thinking, says Ayodeji Ayolola at Gordon Rees.

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Why Pa. Push For Brownfield Renewables May Not Be Enough

A recent executive order from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro directed state regulators to expedite siting of clean energy development on former industrial sites — but additional reforms may be needed to effectively eliminate barriers to these types of projects, says Louis Dodge at Langsam Stevens.

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Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Cultivating Good Judgment

Law schools generally overlook the role that solid judgment skills play in real-world practice, but attorneys can bridge the gap by strengthening their abilities to assess a case’s strengths and weaknesses, develop and execute effective strategies, and provide clear recommendations to clients, says Manny Caixeiro at Venable.

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Burford Exec, Holland & Knight Adviser Open AI-Native Firm

By Andrea Keckley

Two veterans of the legal industry announced on Wednesday that they have teamed up to launch FairPlay Law, an AI-native firm based in Manhattan and focused on representing employees.

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Michael Best Combines With NY-Based Kane Kessler

By Kevin Penton

Michael Best & Friedrich LLP announced Wednesday that it is combining with New York-based firm Kane Kessler PC, adding 36 attorneys and a Big Apple presence to a firm that ranked 143rd on Law360's list of the nation's largest law firms.

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Apple Backs Its $132K Fee Ask Over 'Bad Faith' Subpoenas

By Bonnie Eslinger

Apple has urged a California federal magistrate judge to grant its $132,700 attorney fee request as a sanction against plaintiff consumers' lead lawyer in antitrust litigation claiming Google muscles out rival search engines, but said Apple's counsel doesn't want to disclose their "highly and competitively sensitive" negotiated legal rates.

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