Public Policy

  • March 31, 2026

    Ariz. Seeks Pause In Voter ID Fight Pending High Court Order

    Arizona and its top lawmakers are asking a district court to stay a dispute on remand from the Ninth Circuit over state legislation that allows for ineligible voter roll purges until the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on the overall litigation.

  • March 31, 2026

    IRS Can Collect $371M From Convicted Ex-Atty, 7th Circ. Says

    The Internal Revenue Service can assess and collect restitution against a former attorney who served prison time in connection with $7 billion in tax fraud, making the amount immediately due and payable, the Seventh Circuit ruled, saying it was the first circuit court to address the issue.

  • March 31, 2026

    Sanctions Nixed In Suit Over Calif. County's Hemp Destruction

    A California federal judge has vacated sanctions imposed on Kern County's attorney in a suit alleging the county and state law enforcement illegally destroyed 500 acres of legal hemp owned by Apothio LLC, saying a magistrate judge didn't follow the proper rules in imposing those sanctions.

  • March 31, 2026

    Pa. Restitution Pay Can't Be Docked For Unpaid Fines, Costs

    A Pennsylvania court can't withhold or redirect restitution owed to a victim in a criminal case to cover fines and court costs the victim owes in other cases, a state appellate court ruled Tuesday.

  • March 31, 2026

    Ex-FirstEnergy Execs' Bribe Trial Ends After Jury Hits Impasse

    An Ohio judge on Tuesday dismissed a jury weighing charges that two former FirstEnergy Corp. executives bribed a utility regulator to help secure a controversial $1.3 billion bailout for two of the company's nuclear plants, after the jury reported an impasse following more than a week of deliberations.

  • March 31, 2026

    Justices Reject Colorado's LGBTQ+ 'Conversion' Ban

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a Colorado ban on therapy intended to change a minor's sexual orientation or gender identity amounts to viewpoint discrimination against a Christian therapist, a finding that split the court's liberal wing and crossed ideological lines.

  • March 30, 2026

    Newsom Tightens AI Contract Rules Over Safety Fears

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday ordered state agencies to strengthen guardrails for all contracts connected to generative AI tools, highlighting what he sees as risks to free speech, voting rights and mass surveillance, and at the same time encouraging statewide adoption of safe forms of the technology. 

  • March 30, 2026

    HPE Seeks Fix After States Expose Confidential Bidding Info

    Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. urged a California federal judge to order a dozen states and Washington, D.C., to take corrective measures after they publicly filed thousands of pages of confidential documents related to the company's $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks Inc.

  • March 30, 2026

    FTC's Meador Eyeing Platform Design In Kids' Safety Reviews

    While the Federal Trade Commission isn't interested in "telling companies how to run their businesses," the agency will continue to police online hazards facing children and adults, including those that may be caused by the way that websites are designed, and could impose more "extreme" remedies when necessary, Republican Commissioner Mark Meador said Monday.

  • March 30, 2026

    Feds Urge 9th Circ. To Pause Immigration Bond Ruling

    The Trump administration Monday urged the Ninth Circuit to pause a lower court's declaration that immigration judges have the authority to hear detained immigrants' bond requests, slamming the ruling as a "frontal assault" on the government's authority to detain immigrants and arguing it's creating "judicial chaos" across the country.

  • March 30, 2026

    Trump, Biden Changes To Endangered Species Regs Vacated

    A California federal judge on Monday threw out Endangered Species Act regulation changes from the first Trump administration and Biden administration for being unlawful, saying the regulations contradicted the animal and habitat conservation law, including by paring back federal agency duties and narrowing the scope of the law's protection.

  • March 30, 2026

    Forest Service Beats Suit Over Timber Targets

    A D.C. federal judge on Monday ruled against environmental groups challenging the U.S. Forest Service's timber harvesting program, holding that annual timber targets aren't discrete agency actions for purposes of judicial review, and that the government sufficiently assessed the environmental impact of logging projects.

  • March 30, 2026

    New Bills Would Refresh USDA Broadband Programs

    A bipartisan duo of legislators has teamed up to introduce a quartet of bills they say would make the U.S. Department of Agriculture's broadband programs better at connecting rural communities.

  • March 30, 2026

    FinCEN Cautions On Benefits Fraud, Floats Tipster Award Plan

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury's illicit finance watchdog called Monday for banks to step up monitoring for Medicare and Medicaid fraud, issuing new guidance on flagging suspicious activity, which came as officials also moved to incentivize financial crime reporting with new draft rules to offer tipster rewards.

  • March 30, 2026

    Dems Press CFTC To Curb Gov't Employees' Event Trading

    Democrats across both chambers of Congress are demanding that the agencies overseeing prediction markets and the ethics of government workers tell federal employees they can't trade on events if their jobs give them an edge.

  • March 30, 2026

    Digital Equity Suit May Be Delayed During Climate Case

    A D.C. federal judge will consider delaying arguments in a suit against the Trump administration for gutting the Digital Equity Act while a D.C. Circuit challenge to cuts to environmental grant programs plays out.

  • March 30, 2026

    Calif. Judge Puts Nexstar-Tegna Merger On Ice During Review

    A California federal judge has blocked broadcast giants Nexstar and Tegna from combining operations in their $6.2 billion merger while a legal challenge from DirecTV moves forward, saying the satellite TV company showed irreparable harm could occur from the deal.

  • March 30, 2026

    Product Liability Q1 Regulatory Roundup

    In the first three months of 2026, executive orders and other regulatory actions by the Trump administration have taken on products with "Made in America" labeling, called for the increased manufacture of the herbicide ingredient glyphosate, and addressed what e-cigarette flavors could receive the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval, among others.

  • March 30, 2026

    FINRA Sanctions Upheld At 6th Circ. Against Unregistered CEO

    The Sixth Circuit won't reverse Financial Industry Regulatory Authority sanctions against the owner of a consulting company who argued he'd been unfairly ruled against by a self-regulatory organization he never joined, though the judges stopped short of weighing the petitioner's constitutional challenges to the FINRA findings.

  • March 30, 2026

    SEC Workers Cite Concern Job Cuts Left Knowledge Gaps

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's headcount hit a decade low in fiscal year 2025, and some who remain are concerned that key institutional knowledge may have been lost, according to a new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

  • March 30, 2026

    Wash. Will Tax Incomes Above $1 Million By Almost 10%

    Washington state will put a nearly 10% tax on the income of residents who earn more than $1 million under a bill signed Monday by Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson.

  • March 30, 2026

    Fla. Gov. OKs Land Use Bill Despite Miami Beach Resort Fight

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that imposes a variety of preemptions over local governments' land use review powers, potentially teeing up a fight with Miami Beach over a contentious proposal that could pave the way for a resort water park project that faces steep opposition. 

  • March 30, 2026

    Michigan Overtaxes Marijuana Sales, Industry Group Claims

    Michigan's new tax on marijuana sales has resulted in an effective tax rate that's higher than the constitution permits, a group representing the cannabis industry claimed in a new lawsuit Monday.

  • March 30, 2026

    Ex-City Council Member's Daughter Admits To COVID Fraud

    The daughter of a former city council member in Charlotte, North Carolina, has copped to filing bogus small-business loan applications for COVID-19 relief funds with her mother and sister, making her the second in the family to reach a plea deal with prosecutors.

  • March 30, 2026

    Immigration Fee Hikes Voided Over Legal Aid Impact

    A D.C. federal judge on Monday vacated six immigration court fee increases unveiled in 2020, finding the Executive Office for Immigration Review failed to consider how the fee spikes would affect the legal services providers like the ones that sued to block them.

Expert Analysis

  • How To Wield The Clarity Act As A Litigation Defense Tool

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    The Clarity Act is being discussed as a future compliance statute, but for litigators it can be used as a present-day defense tool to strengthen fair‑notice framing, argue for forward‑looking remedies rather than punitive ones and reprice settlement leverage as statutory clarity approaches, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: The Human Element

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    Law school teaches you to quickly apply intellect and logic when handling a legal issue, but every fact pattern also involves a person, making the ability to balance expertise with empathy critical to the growth of relationships with clients, colleagues and adversaries, says Rachel Adcox at Adcox Strategies.

  • As Justices Mull Suncor, Cos. Face New Climate Suit Realities

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    Following the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to hear Suncor Energy v. Boulder County — its first case analyzing the litigation impact of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rescission of its 2009 greenhouse gas endangerment finding — companies must consider new preemption questions surrounding climate lawsuits after the rescission, say attorneys at Hollingsworth.

  • 7 Steps For Gov't Contractors In Post-IEEPA Tariff Landscape

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    In response to U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to strike down tariffs issued by the Trump administration under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, there are several actions federal contractors should take to preserve their place in any refund waterfall, and to manage audit, overpayment and False Claims Act risk, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • How DExit, Mandatory Arbitration Could Alter IPO Outlook

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    As companies continue to leave Delaware and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission begins allowing companies to implement mandatory arbitration provisions, these developments could have a major impact on the initial public offering, securities class action, and directors and officers insurance landscapes, says Walker Newell at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

  • How High Court Recast State Sovereign Immunity In Galette

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in Galette v. New Jersey Transit, asserting that the state-chartered transit agency has independent corporate personhood and sole obligation to pay judgments against it, turned on substance rather than form — and its analysis should be carefully reviewed in courthouses and statehouses, say attorneys at McCarter & English.

  • Get Smart: Navigating The Genius Act's Regulatory Gaps

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    While some recent Genius Act rulemaking has covered consumer protection issues within the stablecoin market, the context is generally narrow and the final outcome remains uncertain for financial institutions or companies in the evolving landscape, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • Opinion

    Ga. HOA Reform Bills Risk Undermining Local Governance

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    Lawmakers considering several bills in Georgia that would centralize regulation of homeowners associations should acknowledge that effective reform needs to protect homeowners’ rights while preserving the financial and governance structures that allow communities to function, says Julie Howard at NowackHoward.

  • Why Prediction Market Regulation Is At Major Inflection Point

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    As prediction markets experience tremendous growth and rapid mainstream adoption, regulators have begun to exercise enforcement authority to ensure market integrity and protect participants, though forthcoming guidance will shed light on how aggressively the agencies will police the fast-changing landscape, say attorneys at Latham.

  • How Cos. Should Prepare For NY RAISE Act Compliance

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    With the New York Responsible AI Safety and Education Act taking effect March 19, state regulators will expect subject artificial intelligence governance policies to understand whether appropriate safeguards and protocols are in place to prevent or mitigate discriminatory or adverse outcomes by frontier models, says Michael Paulino at Gordon Rees.

  • Compliance Takeaways Amid Increased Auto Finance Scrutiny

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    Recent supervisory focus on consumer protection in auto finance by agencies such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. provides meaningful signals regarding areas of heightened regulatory scrutiny for lenders, including data accuracy, AI risk management and vendor oversight, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

  • The Benefits Of Choosing A Niche Practice In The AI Age

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    As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly accessible, lawyers with a niche practice may stand out as clients seek specialized judgment that automation cannot replicate, but it is important to choose a niche that is durable, engaging and a good personal fit, says Daniel Borneman at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • How PBMs Can Adapt To Plan Sponsors' Disclosure Demands

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    As federal reforms, growing state regulation and litigation threats push plan sponsors to expect visibility into revenue streams, pharmacy benefit managers should leverage transparency strategically, including by simplifying how they get paid, offering clients audit-ready data and co-designing contracts that are easy for fiduciaries to explain and defend, says Kristie Blase at Frazer + Blase.

  • Section 122 Tariffs Show Shift In Strategy, Not Trade Policy

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    By imposing temporary tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act as a stopgap measure while it pivots to less transitory statutory authorities, the Trump administration sent a clear message that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Learning Resources v. Trump, invalidating duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, will not precipitate a change in policy direction, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

  • What New Animal Welfare Enforcement Push Means For Cos.

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    The Trump administration's recently announced multiagency focus on violations of the Animal Welfare Act and related laws will likely lead to broader enforcement actions across industries, heightened scrutiny of compliance standards and a need for businesses to adopt effective risk management practices, says Shennie Patel at Crowell & Moring.

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