Public Policy

  • March 25, 2026

    Judge Lets NY Cannabis Licensing Challenge Proceed

    Following a recent Second Circuit ruling that the dormant commerce clause applies to marijuana, a New York federal judge Wednesday rejected state cannabis regulators' bid to dismiss a constitutional challenge to their licensure program.

  • March 25, 2026

    FSOC Seeks To Rein In Too-Big-To-Fail Labels In Latest Pivot

    Federal regulators moved Wednesday to curb their authority to subject large asset managers, insurers and other nonbank firms to heightened, bank-like supervision, proposing guidelines that would reinstitute tougher standards for these too-big-to-fail designations.

  • March 25, 2026

    After Overhaul Nixed, FTC, DOJ Mull New Merger Rulemaking

    The Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice are not giving up on attempting to overhaul the "insufficient" half-century-old merger notification form after its replacement was just struck down by a Texas federal judge, with the agencies now seeking public comment as they mull "a new rulemaking process."

  • March 25, 2026

    DOE Worker Who Took Buyout Admits To Attempted Bribery

    An ex-U.S. Department of Energy employee who accepted the Trump administration's "fork in the road" deferred resignation offer last year pled guilty Wednesday to trying to bribe a former co-worker to steer contracts to his new company, federal prosecutors announced.

  • March 25, 2026

    Trade Court Nom Regrets Past Tweets Critical Of GOP Sens.

    Kara Westercamp, associate counsel to the president, who was nominated for the U.S. Court of International Trade, said Wednesday she regretted her past social media posts critical of Republican senators.

  • March 25, 2026

    FBT Gibbons Lands Public Finance Pros From BigLaw Firms

    FBT Gibbons LLP has added two public finance partners, one from Bracewell LLP in Houston and another from Barnes & Thornburg LLP in Columbus, Ohio.

  • March 25, 2026

    Mass. High Court Clarifies Anti-SLAPP Standard, Atty Fees

    The top appellate court in Massachusetts on Wednesday in separate opinions clarified the standard under which suits can be dismissed under the state's anti-strategic lawsuit against public participation or anti-SLAPP laws and reversed a lower court's decision to cut an attorney fee award in an anti-SLAPP case.

  • March 25, 2026

    Groups Say Miner, Nonprofit Forum Shop In Chuckwalla Suit

    A group of California tribes and conservation nonprofits is accusing a Michigan miner and the BlueRibbon Coalition of venue shopping in their challenge to the establishment of the Chuckwalla National Monument, arguing that the case should be transferred to a district "with an actual stake in the suit."

  • March 25, 2026

    DOJ Created 'Rocket Docket' For Somali Removals, Suit Says

    A Minnesota law firm and a human rights group have accused the Trump administration of unlawfully fast-tracking removal proceedings for nondetained Somali immigrants, making it "monumentally more difficult," if not nearly impossible, to defend their rights in immigration courts.

  • March 25, 2026

    Fired MSPB Member Urges Justices To Review Case

    Former Merit Systems Protection Board member Cathy Harris has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review a D.C. Circuit decision upholding her firing from the agency, arguing that the decision "muddled" the differences between the board and other federal agencies.

  • March 25, 2026

    Murky Video Leads 7th Circ. To Reverse Officer Immunity

    A man arrested during an early morning methamphetamine search at a rural Wisconsin property in 2018 may continue his battle against a police officer he says deliberately hit him in the head with a rifle, using excessive force, a Seventh Circuit panel has said in a reversal.

  • March 25, 2026

    Utah Expands Unrelated Biz Income Definition For Corp. Tax

    Utah will expand its definition of corporate income to include income allocated to the state under a bill signed by the state's governor.

  • March 25, 2026

    Defense Dept. Can't Shut Down Ex-Worker's Pay Bias Suit

    The U.S. Department of Defense narrowed but failed to escape a lawsuit alleging it unlawfully refused to bump a female civilian employee to a higher pay grade, with a D.C. federal judge ruling the worker provided "just enough information" to suggest she was paid less because of her gender.

  • March 25, 2026

    Idaho Expands Retail Developer Sales Tax Rebate

    Idaho expanded a sales tax rebate to reimburse developers of retail complexes for eligible transportation project expenses under a bill signed by the governor.

  • March 25, 2026

    Md. Tells 4th Circ. Not To Revive Pot Licensing Suit

    Maryland cannabis regulators are urging the Fourth Circuit to leave dismissed a California entrepreneur's suit alleging that its social equity licensing program discriminates against out-of-state operators, saying her complaint fails to establish any real harm.

  • March 25, 2026

    11th Circ. Seems Open To Reviving Botched FBI Raid Suit

    An Eleventh Circuit judge appeared inclined Wednesday to revive a Georgia woman's suit over an FBI raid mistakenly carried out at her home after the U.S. Supreme Court examined the case last year and barred the federal government from invoking the U.S. Constitution's supremacy clause as a defense.

  • March 25, 2026

    Chinese Sugar Alcohol Imports Harming US Industry, ITC Says

    The U.S. International Trade Commission on Wednesday found that imports of the sweetener erythritol from China are materially harming U.S. industry, making Chinese producers and exporters subject to antidumping and countervailing duties.

  • March 25, 2026

    High Court Reverses Music Piracy Liability Ruling Against Cox

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday said the Fourth Circuit incorrectly affirmed a jury verdict that found Cox Communications liable for its customers' music piracy, concluding there is a legal distinction between mere knowledge of infringement and intent to promote it.

  • March 25, 2026

    Justices Reject Tolling For Supervised Release Absconders

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the fugitive tolling doctrine, which prevents criminal defendants from earning credits to reduce prison sentences while they are not behind bars, cannot also be used to automatically penalize defendants who abscond from supervised release.

  • March 24, 2026

    Pentagon 'Punishing' Anthropic Would Be Illegal, Judge Says

    A California federal judge considering Anthropic's request to block the U.S. Department of Defense from labeling it a supply chain national security risk said Tuesday that it looks like the government is "punishing" Anthropic for bringing public attention to their contract fight, a move that would violate the First Amendment.

  • March 24, 2026

    'Bowling Ball' Tips Scale To FERC In Gas Project, Judge Says

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requirement to strongly presume that projects like the liquefied gas export terminal it recently approved in Louisiana are in the public interest sits like a "bowling ball" on one side of the scales against environmental groups worried about pollution, said a D.C. Circuit judge.

  • March 24, 2026

    Trump Admin Settles Suit Over Biden Social Media Collabs

    The Trump administration on Tuesday agreed to bar three federal agencies from interfering with social media companies' content moderation, resolving a high-profile challenge to the Biden administration's efforts to combat the spread of misinformation in a case that went up to the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • March 24, 2026

    NY Regulator's Fintech Unit Chief Is Ex-BigLaw, CFPB Analyst

    New York's financial services regulator announced Tuesday it has promoted one of its own to permanently head up its division responsible for licensing crypto firms and regulating fintech, a job formerly held by the agency's current acting Superintendent Kaitlin Asrow.

  • March 24, 2026

    Nicotine Pouch Maker To Refile FDA Suit In DC After Transfer

    The maker and seller of Zone nicotine pouches on Tuesday dismissed its own lawsuit accusing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of unfairly holding up a market application for its product, promising to refile in D.C. federal court after a Texas federal court transferred it to South Carolina federal court.

  • March 24, 2026

    Nevada Tribe, Green Group Join Fight To Save Rare Toad

    A D.C. federal judge has granted bids by a Native American tribe and an environmental group to intervene in a Nevada geothermal company's suit challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's listing of the Dixie Valley toad as an endangered species.

Expert Analysis

  • What's Changed In Army Corps' Reissued Nationwide Permits

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    The final rule recently issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, renewing and revising nationwide permits for projects covered by Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, makes measured adjustments rather than sweeping revisions, addressing key operational and compliance concerns while maintaining the existing framework, say attorneys at Spencer Fane.

  • What Kalshi Cases Reveal About State Authority, Regulation

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    Prediction markets like Kalshi have ignited complex legal battles that get to the heart of how novel financial products intersect with traditional state enforcement authority, and courts are already beginning to divide over whether federal law preempts state enforcement authority restricting these offerings, say attorneys at Holtzman Vogel.

  • Parsing Clarifications On Foreign Entity Rules For Tax Credits

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    Recent U.S. Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department guidance answers taxpayer questions on several key foreign entity rules under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but questions remain over transactions with companies that have ties to covered nations such as Iran, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • What US Arms Sales Reforms Mean For Defense Industry

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    A recent executive order with the goal of increasing U.S. arms sales transparency, speed and government-industry collaboration carries both promise and risk for the defense industry as the government seeks to leverage the private sector and use commercial products for defense purposes, say attorneys at Fluet.

  • Prepping For The Future Of No Surprises Act Enforcement

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    This year is expected to be a transition point for the No Surprises Act framework from regulatory delay to operational enforcement, so stakeholders should use this time to stress-test systems, clean up processes and prepare for enforcement, say attorneys at Akerman.

  • A Tale Of 2 Self-Disclosure Policies: How SDNY, DOJ Differ

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    Though the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York’s recently announced corporate enforcement and voluntary self-disclosure policy shares many similarities with that of the U.S. Department of Justice, the two programs differ in meaningful ways, including subject matter scope and timeline to declination, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • Aligning Microsoft Tools With NYC Bar AI Recording Guidance

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    The New York City Bar Association’s recently issued formal opinion, providing ethical guidance on artificial intelligence-assisted recording, transcription and summarization, raises immediate questions about data governance and e-discovery for companies that use Microsoft 365 and Copilot, say Staci Kaliner, Martin Tully and John Collins at Redgrave.

  • What Employers Should Know About Calif. PAGA Proposal

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    Recently proposed regulations concerning the Private Attorneys General Act evidence an intent by California's Labor and Workforce Development Agency to play a greater role in the prosecution of PAGA actions, including more oversight over the exhaustion notices and settlement process, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • FTC Focus: Antitrust Spotlight On 'Acqui-Hires,' Noncompetes

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    A recent Federal Trade Commission focus on labor issues, like 'acqui-hire' deals, in which only a company's workforce is acquired, and noncompetes, shows that the agency is scrutinizing these issues on a case-by-case basis, necessitating a meaningful look at these transactions, particularly in the technology and artificial intelligence industries, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • FDA's Biosimilarity Guidance Holds Uncertain Implications

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's new draft guidance aimed at simplifying the biosimilarity demonstration process may not be enough to overcome the barriers that have historically constrained biosimilar competition, and could affect biosimilar access in unexpected ways, say analysts at Analysis Group.

  • Unpacking Key Themes From NY's New Healthcare Strategy

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    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's 2026 State of the State agenda, read together with the state's fiscal year 2027 executive budget, reflect a clear framework to utilize Medicaid as the state's operating platform for healthcare reform, say attorneys at Sheppard.

  • A Single DOJ Corporate Enforcement Policy Raises Questions

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's soon-to-be-released uniform corporate criminal enforcement policy could address the challenges raised by the current decentralized approach, but it will need to answer a number of potential questions amid scant details, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • WTO Most‑Favored‑Nation Reform May Hold Promise

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    When the World Trade Organization meets this month, it is expected to debate changing the most-favored-nation rule, a carefully calibrated loosening of which may be justified if it enables deeper liberalization and regulatory cooperation, says Alan Yanovich at Akin.

  • Navigating Exclusion Decisions After SEC's No-Action Change

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    Following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's November changes to the Rule 14a-8 no-action letter process, shareholder proponents have turned to litigation if companies excluded their proposals under the new framework, with three recent cases offering useful lessons for companies navigating exclusion decisions this proxy season, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • 5 Different AI Systems Raise Distinct Privilege Issues

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    A New York federal court’s recent U.S. v. Heppner decision, holding that a defendant’s use of Claude was not privileged, only addressed one narrow artificial intelligence system, but lawyers must recognize that the spectrum of AI tools raises different confidentiality and privilege questions, says Heidi Nadel at HP.

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