Public Policy

  • February 18, 2026

    No Jurisdiction In Judicial Privacy Law Suits, NJ Court Told

    Five data companies said Wednesday that a New Jersey federal court should toss suits alleging they violated the Garden State's judicial privacy law, arguing that they have no presence in the state and do not have enough contacts with it.

  • February 18, 2026

    Nicotine Pouch Co. Says FDA Unfairly Applies Tobacco Regs

    A nicotine oral pouch maker is suing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in D.C. federal court, saying the agency is arbitrarily requiring it to perform the same health studies for premarket authorization as tobacco products, despite acknowledging that its products have fewer health risks than cigarettes or other tobacco products.

  • February 18, 2026

    States, Unions Urge DC Circ. To Block Haiti TPS Termination

    California-led states and a coalition of unions urged the D.C. Circuit to deny the Trump administration's push to end temporary protected status for Haiti during an ongoing legal challenge, arguing it would harm families, communities and the economy.

  • February 18, 2026

    Anti-Abortion Clinics Lose Free Speech Suit Over Mass. Ads

    A Massachusetts federal judge has tossed a lawsuit over a state-funded ad campaign warning consumers about potentially misleading or inaccurate information provided by a group of anti-abortion pregnancy resource centers, finding that the state hadn't prohibited the clinics from operating — and that the public officials have the same free speech rights as the clinics.

  • February 18, 2026

    Mass. Police Union Head, Lobbyist Get Prison For Kickbacks

    A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced the former head of the Massachusetts State Police union and a Boston lobbyist to two years and 15 months in prison, respectively, after the pair were convicted of orchestrating a kickback scheme.

  • February 18, 2026

    US Could Hit Russian Palladium With Triple-Digit Duties

    Russian palladium entering the U.S. is being sold at less than fair value, which could result in triple-digit antidumping duties on the imports, the U.S. Department of Commerce said Wednesday.

  • February 17, 2026

    Democrats Fight Asylum Turn-Back Policy At Supreme Court

    A group of 26 congressional Democrats urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to find that a currently rescinded policy to physically block asylum-seekers at the southern border violates federal immigration law, arguing Congress never intended such a statutory interpretation.

  • February 17, 2026

    Fulton County Slams 'Unjustified' Election Records Raid

    Fulton County on Tuesday again asked a Georgia federal court to order the federal government to return property that it contends was "improperly seized" by the FBI in a raid of its elections operations center last month, arguing that the federal government omitted "numerous material facts" in seeking a search warrant.

  • February 17, 2026

    Md. Judge Bars ICE From Redetaining Kilmar Ábrego García

    A Maryland federal judge Tuesday barred the Trump administration from again taking Kilmar Ábrego García into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, saying the administration could not "rewrite the history" of the case in pushing for his redetention.

  • February 17, 2026

    Dismissal Of FTC Merger Rule Shows Nothing 'Broken' To 'Fix'

    Some antitrust practitioners see vindication in last week's Texas federal court decision throwing out the Federal Trade Commission's premerger reporting overhaul, saying it gives credence to arguments that U.S. antitrust enforcers were trying to plug holes in merger review where there were none.

  • February 17, 2026

    6th Circ. Refuses To Pause CDC's Puppy Import Requirements

    The Sixth Circuit has refused to block a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rule requiring dogs to be at least six months old and microchipped before they can be imported, holding that a hunting and fishing alliance likely won't be able to show that the CDC lacked the authority to issue the rule.

  • February 17, 2026

    NC Town Files Latest PFAS Suit Against 3M, DuPont

    A Tar Heel State municipality has accused 3M, DuPont, Chemours and more than a dozen other chemical and firefighting‑foam manufacturers of concealing risks and environmental contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS)‑laden foam used at the town's fire training facility in a lawsuit filed in North Carolina state court. 

  • February 17, 2026

    Goldstein Tax Trial Heads To Closing Args As Defense Rests

    Jurors in SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein's tax fraud trial will hear closing arguments Wednesday, after the final two witnesses in the monthlong proceeding took the stand, and new emails regarding Goldstein's efforts to conceal poker debts came to light Tuesday.

  • February 17, 2026

    States Hit Discovery Roadblocks In HPE Merger Fight With DOJ

    A California federal judge mostly sided with the Justice Department on Tuesday on the latest discovery disputes in state attorneys general's challenge to a DOJ settlement greenlighting Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $14 billion Juniper acquisition, ruling that HPE doesn’t need to reveal who's bidding for divested assets, and refusing to delay deadlines.

  • February 17, 2026

    Okla. Officials Look To Toss Creek Nation's Hunting Suit

    A special prosecutor for Oklahoma's governor and the state's wildlife conservation director have asked a federal court judge to throw out the Muscogee Creek Nation's hunting rights lawsuit, saying the tribe has gone along with state hunting regulations for more than a century.

  • February 17, 2026

    Waste Co. Republic Sued Over Alleged Seattle River Pollution

    Waste management company Republic Services was hit with a Clean Water Act lawsuit in Washington federal court Friday by an environmental watchdog group for allegedly releasing polluted water from an industrial site near Seattle's Duwamish River.

  • February 17, 2026

    AI's Needs Outpace Broadband Infrastructure, Report Says

    The "artificial intelligence boom" is going to mean slower internet speeds for consumers if Congress doesn't do something to make commercial spectrum less scarce, according to a new report from a conservative-leaning policy group.

  • February 17, 2026

    OCC Floats New Appeals Board To Hear Bank Exam Disputes

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is moving to overhaul its internal appeals process for banks, pitching a new review board and other changes that could make challenges to examiner findings more common and more likely to succeed.

  • February 17, 2026

    CFTC Backs Prediction Markets In 9th Circ. Fight With Nevada

    U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael Selig told state gaming regulators Tuesday that he intends to defend his agency's "exclusive jurisdiction" over prediction markets, starting with a brief to the Ninth Circuit backing Crypto.com in an ongoing brawl with Nevada regulators over its sports wagers.

  • February 17, 2026

    Colo. Utility Advocates Dispute Energy Financing Program

    The Colorado Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate, or UCA, claimed in Colorado state court Friday that a recent decision to approve a tariffed on-bill financing program to help customers purchase energy efficiency upgrades violates state law.

  • February 17, 2026

    FCC Investigating Possible Lifeline Fraud In Calif., Beyond

    Lifeline providers in states that were allowed to opt out of the federal verification process might soon find themselves in the hot seat, as the Federal Communications Commission revealed Tuesday it has launched investigations into certain providers from three states.

  • February 17, 2026

    Wash. Governor Demands Changes To Millionaires' Tax Bill

    A proposal for a nearly 10% tax on income above $1 million that has passed the Washington state Senate is a good start, but it needs significant changes before it gets his signature, Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson said Tuesday.

  • February 17, 2026

    No Need To Reopen Asbestos Suit, Insurance Exchange Says

    An insurance exchange for the trucking industry has told a California federal judge he does not need to reopen its case against a group of reinsurers as the parties battle whether to remove a "side-switching" arbitrator, explaining that a New York state court will likely rule soon on the issue.

  • February 17, 2026

    Judge Trims Moderna's Defenses In COVID Patent Suit

    A federal judge sitting in Delaware on Tuesday ruled that Moderna could not use obviousness to defend itself from patent claims brought by a rival vaccine developer since it already used that as a defense in related Patent Trial and Review Board proceedings, saying that Moderna had offered expert opinions to support a defense that the patents don't sufficiently teach about the claimed invention.

  • February 17, 2026

    Harvard Beats Suit By Prof Denied Tenure After Viral Incident

    Harvard University scored a pretrial win Tuesday in a Massachusetts state court suit brought by a professor who said the school wrongly denied him tenure after several incidents, including emails to a Chinese restaurant over a $4 overcharge that went viral.

Expert Analysis

  • Utah's AI Prescription Renewal Pilot Could Inform Policy

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    Utah recently became the first state to approve an artificial intelligence system for autonomously renewing certain prescription medicines, providing a test case for how regulators may be able to draw boundaries between administrative automation and medical judgment, say Jashaswi Ghosh at Holon Law Partners and Bryant Godfrey at Foley Hoag.

  • Radiation Standard Shift Might Add Complications For Cos.

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    In keeping with the Trump administration's focus on nuclear energy, the U.S. Department of Energy recently announced that it will eliminate the "as low as reasonably achievable" radiation protection standard for agency practices and regulations — but it is far from clear that this change will benefit the nuclear power industry, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Bipartisan Enforcement Is Rising In Consumer Finance

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    Activity over the past year suggests a bipartisan state enforcement wave is rippling across the consumer finance industry, which follows a blueprint set out by former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra, who notably now leads a Democratic Attorneys General Association working group, say attorneys at Hudson Cook.

  • How Attorneys Can Navigate Shifts In Financing Landscape

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    Direct government investment in companies in strategic sectors is expected to continue this year, with legal practitioners facing increased demands to navigate hybrid capital structures, evolving regulatory considerations and the alignment of financing terms with long-term business and strategic objectives, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • A Primer On Law Enforcement Self-Defense Doctrine

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    In the wake of several shootings by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, misconceptions persist about what the laws governing police use of force actually permit, and it’s essential for legal practitioners to understand the contours of the underlying constitutional doctrine, says Markus Funk at White & Case.

  • Ramped Up Psychedelic Production Carries Opportunity, Risk

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    Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell discusses the key legal implications of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's recent dramatic increases in the production quotas for a range of psychedelic substances, offering guidance on compliance, risk management and strategic opportunities for practitioners navigating this rapidly evolving landscape.

  • Series

    Teaching Logic Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Teaching middle and high school students the skills to untangle complicated arguments and identify faulty reasoning has made me reacquaint myself with the defined structure of thought, reminding me why logic should remain foundational in the practice of law, says Tom Barrow at Woods Rogers.

  • New Biotech Nat'l Security Controls May Have Blunted Impact

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    While the newly enacted federal prohibition against contracting with certain biotechnology providers associated with countries of concern may have consequences on U.S. companies' ability to develop drugs, the restrictions may prove to be less problematic for the industry than the significant publicity around their passage would suggest, say attorneys at Wilson Sonsini.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practicing Resilience

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    Resilience is a skill acquired through daily practices that focus on learning from missteps, recovering quickly without internalizing defeat and moving forward with intention, says Nicholas Meza at Quarles & Brady.

  • Takeaways From The DOJ Fraud Section's 2025 Year In Review

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    Former acting Principal Deputy Chief Sean Tonolli of the U.S. Department of Justice's Fraud Section, now at Cahill Gordon, analyzes key findings from the section’s annual report — including the changes implemented to adapt to the new administration’s priorities — and lays out what to watch for this year.

  • New State Regs On PFAS In Products Complicate Compliance

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    The new year brought new bans and reporting requirements for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in half a dozen states — in many cases, targeting specific consumer product categories — so manufacturers, distributors and retailers must not only monitor their own supply chains, but also coordinate to ensure compliance, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Bid Protest Data Contradicts Claims That System Is Inefficient

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    Recently released data debunks the narrative that the federal procurement system is overwhelmed by excessive or meritless bid protests, revealing instead that the process is healthy and functioning as intended, says Joshua Duvall at Duvy Law.

  • Opinion

    Congress Should Lead On AI Policy, Not The States

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    There needs to be some limits on how far federal agencies go in regulating artificial intelligence systems, but Congress must not abdicate its responsibility and cede control over this interstate market to state and local officials, say Kevin Frazier at the University of Texas School of Law and Adam Thierer at the R Street Institute.

  • Breaking Down Expense Allocation In Mixed-Use Properties

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    Rapid increases in condominium fees and special assessments, driven by multiple factors such as rising insurance costs and expanded safety requirements, are contributing to increased litigation, so equitable expense allocation in mixed-use properties requires adherence to the governing documents, says Mike Walden at FTI Consulting.

  • Opinion

    Minn. Can Still Bring State Charges In Absence Of Fed Action

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    After two fatal shootings by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota's role isn't waiting to see if the federal government brings criminal charges, but independently weighing state homicide charges and allowing the judiciary to decide whether the subject conduct falls within the narrow protections of supremacy clause immunity, says Sheila Tendy at Tendy Law.

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