Public Policy

  • April 17, 2026

    American Airlines Shuts Down United Merger Rumors

    American Airlines on Friday shut down speculation of a potential combination with United Airlines, saying it's not currently engaged in any merger talks with the Chicago-based carrier.

  • April 17, 2026

    DC Judge Doubts Standing Of Cannabis Shops Alliance

    A D.C. federal judge told lawyers for an association of marijuana "gifting" shops either to drop their lawsuit challenging the district's new dispensary enforcement scheme or have their members join as parties, after the attorneys conceded that the association had only been formed to bring the litigation.

  • April 17, 2026

    States Seek Win To Restore DOE's Diversity Grant Cuts

    Eight states have asked a Massachusetts federal judge to restore $160 million to federal programs providing professional development to new teachers cut by the U.S. Department of Education last year, which the states said were unlawfully targeted by the Trump administration as diversity initiatives.

  • April 17, 2026

    Federal Judge Blocks DOJ's DEI, Citizenship Grant Conditions

    A Rhode Island federal judge has temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Justice from imposing new conditions related to diversity, equity and inclusion activities and immigration status on domestic violence assistance grants, finding a nonprofit coalition likely to succeed in a legal challenge.

  • April 17, 2026

    RI Pot Regulators Sees No Easy Fix For License Injunction

    Rhode Island's Cannabis Control Commission said Friday it's looking at every possible option to undo a federal court's order that has stopped it from awarding recreational cannabis licenses, telling concerned industry leaders that the "extremely volatile and constantly evolving legal landscape" means there is no easy fix.

  • April 17, 2026

    PTAB Petitions Continue To Plummet As Reexams Surge

    The number of America Invents Act petitions continued to crater as the volume of reexamination requests skyrocketed in the first quarter of 2026 as policies by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires settled in, according to a new report from Unified Patents.

  • April 17, 2026

    Plea Change Hearing Set For Former Conn. Budget Official

    A change of plea hearing has been scheduled for Monday afternoon for Konstantinos M. Diamantis, a former Connecticut budget official, elected politician and attorney facing an impending federal corruption trial for allegedly pocketing bribes while helping end a state Medicaid audit of an optometry practice operated by his friend's fiancée.

  • April 17, 2026

    4 Firms Lead Kraken's $550M Buy Of Crypto Derivatives Biz

    Four firms including Haynes Boone and Jones Day guided Kraken's $550 million acquisition of regulated crypto derivatives exchange Bitnomial, according to a Friday announcement from Kraken.

  • April 17, 2026

    DOJ's NFL Probe May Reshape Sports Broadcasting Law

    Though antitrust charges are in play in the U.S. Department of Justice's investigation into the NFL's deals with services like Amazon Prime and Netflix, experts say they don't see a strong federal case against the league's broadcasting practices, as focus may shift to updating a decades-old law governing how sports leagues negotiate television deals.

  • April 17, 2026

    CFPB Could Soon Issue Overhauled Small-Biz Loan Data Rule

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is awaiting White House clearance to publish a final rule that would complete its revamp of small-business lender reporting requirements issued during the Biden administration, according to a new regulatory notice.

  • April 17, 2026

    Groups Say EPA Used Faulty Math In GHG Finding Repeal

    Sixteen health and environmental groups said this week that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must reconsider its February repeal of the scientific finding allowing the agency to regulate greenhouse gases, because the final rule relied on error-filled technical analyses that weren't included in the proposed version.

  • April 17, 2026

    California Is Latest Battleground In Defining Access To Justice

    A pair of dueling California ballot initiatives both purport to increase consumers' access to justice — a righteous cause, most would say. If only the initiatives' backers agreed on what that means.

  • April 17, 2026

    Too Mentally Ill To Stand In Court, Texas Inmate Fights On

    A Texas death row prisoner who gouged out both of his eyes and suffers from schizoaffective disorder is fighting efforts to move forward with his execution, arguing that his severe psychosis leaves him unable to rationally understand why the state wants to kill him. His case highlights a broader debate over whether the Constitution should bar the execution of people with severe mental illness, even when they technically know they are on death row.

  • April 17, 2026

    Judge Says USCIS Can't Keep Delaying Iranians' Work Permits

    A California federal judge ordered U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to unfreeze its processing of work permit applications for several dozen Iranians and a Sudanese national, finding the agency likely violated federal administrative law by indefinitely delaying decisions.

  • April 17, 2026

    Up Next At High Court: SEC And FCC Enforcement Authority

    The U.S. Supreme Court's final argument session of this term kicks off Monday, when the justices will consider the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's authority to seek disgorgement orders against alleged wrongdoers without proving investors were harmed. Here, Law360 breaks down the week's oral arguments.

  • April 17, 2026

    DOT Immigrant License Crackdown's Effects On Trucking

    New lawsuits and a tricky compliance landscape have besieged a trucking industry navigating the Trump administration's aggressive enforcement of restrictions on immigrant commercial truck drivers, as motor carriers, freight brokers and other ground-based shippers worry about escalating rates, driver turnover and service disruptions.

  • April 17, 2026

    Exxon Rips Mass. AG For Greenwash 'Fishing Expedition'

    ExxonMobil said Massachusetts' attorney general is proposing a "massive fishing expedition" in the state's long-pending "greenwashing" lawsuit by seeking to question witnesses about hundreds of topics, some dating back nearly 50 years, in a motion seeking to limit the scope of upcoming depositions.

  • April 17, 2026

    Texas Justices Back Enviro Agency In Deadline Dispute

    The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that Texas' environmental regulator timely requested input from the office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton before having to potentially disclose thousands of documents sought by the Sierra Club, finding its 10-business-day deadline didn't lapse.

  • April 17, 2026

    3 Key Questions On Trump's Pharma Tariffs

    President Donald Trump recently announced 100% tariffs on certain imported pharmaceutical products, with opportunities for drug companies to lower their tariff rates to zero, but questions remain about the requirements for preferential treatment and abilities to administer the regime. Here, Law360 examines three open questions surrounding pharmaceutical tariffs' implementation.

  • April 17, 2026

    Workers At 3 NJ Colleges Eligible For Union As Non-Managers

    A New Jersey state appeals court on Friday upheld a state labor agency's finding that dozens of employees at three public colleges are eligible for union membership, rejecting the state's argument that the workers fall within a statutory carveout for managers.

  • April 17, 2026

    EEOC Says Halting Penn Subpoena Would Compromise Probe

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission argued in a federal court filing Friday that allowing the University of Pennsylvania to freeze the agency's subpoena for information on the school's Jewish employees would undercut its investigation into antisemitism on campus.

  • April 17, 2026

    Ex-FERC Chair Backs Pa. AG's Intervention In Grid Fight

    Former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chairman Mark Christie voiced support for Pennsylvania's efforts to block a power grid project along its southern border in a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court Friday, asking the high court to allow the state's attorney general to challenge an appellate ruling that held federal law governed the project.

  • April 17, 2026

    Penn State Beats Claims In Ex-Trustee's Suit Over His Ousting

    A federal judge threw out most of a former Pennsylvania State University trustee's lawsuit against the university and its board Friday, but let his First Amendment claims continue so that the court could consider whether he was acting as a public employee, a private citizen or an elected official.

  • April 17, 2026

    Bill Floated To Nix Medical Residency Antitrust Exemption

    U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, has introduced legislation to repeal an antitrust exemption given to the medical residency matching program by Congress two decades ago, over concerns about wages and a bottleneck of medical school graduates.

  • April 17, 2026

    Aramark Joins NJ Insulin Pricing Suits Against PBMs

    Aramark Services Inc. joined multidistrict litigation accusing CVS and pharmacy benefit managers of colluding to inflate the price of insulin.

Expert Analysis

  • Justices' Ruling Stresses Quick Action Against Absconders

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    Following the U.S. Supreme Court's recent holding in Rico v. U.S. that a supervised release term is not automatically extended when a defendant absconds, probation officers and prosecutors risk being unable to address later violations if they don't act promptly to secure warrants, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • New DOD Framework Offers Key Guidance On PFAS Disposal

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    The U.S. Department of Defense's recently updated guidance on disposal of materials containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances ends its moratorium on incineration of PFAS-containing waste, but contractors must be ready to demonstrate stringent compliance with the department's new permitting system, operational controls and data practices, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • How Cos. Can Navigate The Patchwork Of AI Safety Bills

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    In the first few months of 2026, state and federal lawmakers introduced hundreds of bills to address the perceived safety risks of artificial intelligence, so companies should assess whether existing or planned services could be scoped into AI safety legislation across jurisdictions, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • Unpacking FCC's Proposed Rules For Offshore Call Centers

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    The Federal Communications Commission recently proposed rules that would restrict the use of offshore customer service operations, citing consumer frustration, data security risks and fraud as core reasons for the sweeping regulatory move, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • Series

    Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1

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    As usual, California remained a hub for financial services activity in the first quarter of 2026, with key developments including the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation's eye on consumer issues, a bill targeting "pig butchering" schemes, and jam-packed courts, say attorneys at Joseph Cohen.

  • Series

    Ultramarathons Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Completing a 100-mile ultramarathon was tougher, more humbling and more rewarding than I ever imagined, and the experience highlighted how long-distance running has sharpened my ability to adapt to the evolving nature of antitrust law and strengthened my resolve to handle demanding, unforeseen challenges, says Dan Oakes at Axinn.

  • Key Takeaways From The 2026 ABA Antitrust Spring Meeting

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    Last week's American Bar Association Spring Meeting revealed an antitrust landscape defined by heightened friction and tension — between federal and state enforcers, domestic and international regimes, competing political visions, and traditional enforcement tools and novel challenges, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • State FARA Laws Pose Unique Constitutional Challenges

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    Several states have recently enacted foreign agent registration and disclosure regimes that were modeled after the Foreign Agents Registration Act, but these state laws raise several constitutional questions, including concerns about preemption, speech and petition, and vagueness, says Alexandra Langton at Covington.

  • Series

    Pa. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1

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    The first quarter of 2026 brought several consequential developments for Pennsylvania financial institutions, including the state banking department's first assessment overhaul in 10 years, a bill prohibiting interchange fees on card transaction sales taxes and a federal appeals court's upholding of a $52 million enforcement action, say attorneys at Gross McGinley.

  • Informal Announcements Are Reshaping FDA Regulations

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recent shift toward using press releases, podcasts and other informal channels to announce major policy changes reflects a valid desire to modernize and accelerate regulatory efforts, but it could lead to diminished transparency, increased industry burden and reduced policy durability, says Rachel Turow at Skadden.

  • Motorola Case Shows Reach Of NLRA Dishonesty Protections

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    A recent National Labor Relations Board case, involving a Motorola employee who was terminated for lying about discussing wages, illustrates the broad reach of National Labor Relations Act protections for concerted activity, which may take on new significance as the agency shifts toward more restrained enforcement, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • In First For DOJ, Action Signals New CFIUS Enforcement Era

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    The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking judicial enforcement of a divestment order, an unprecedented action for the agency that ushers in a new phase for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, one in which judicial proceedings complement administrative oversight and presidential divestment orders may be enforced through litigation, says attorney Sohan Dasgupta.

  • Berk May Spur More Pushback Against Med Mal Gatekeeping

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Berk v. Choy may appear to be a run-of-the-mill reminder that a federal procedural rule trumps its state counterpart, but it could inspire more challenges to state-created prerequisites to filing medical malpractice lawsuits, say attorneys at Decof Mega.

  • Getting The Most Out Of Learning And Development Programs

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Junior associates can better develop the legal, business and interpersonal skills they need for long-term success by approaching their firms’ learning and development programs armed with five tips for getting the most out of these resources, says Lauren Hakala at Reed Smith.

  • OhioHealth Suit Signals Higher Antitrust Heat On Hospitals

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    The recent antitrust lawsuit against OhioHealth by the U.S. Justice Department and Ohio attorney general shows that federal and state enforcers are closely examining the competition issues in the healthcare sector, including restrictive contracts and antisteering practices, say attorneys at Freshfields.

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