Public Policy

  • January 30, 2026

    Baltimore Sues Payday Lender Dave Over 'Usurious' Loans

    The city of Baltimore sued Los Angeles-based lender Dave Inc. in state circuit court Friday, alleging that the financial technology company disguises high-interest payday loans as "overdraft services," while charging "astounding, usurious" annual percentage rates exceeding 2,500%, which is far above Maryland's 33% legal limit.

  • January 30, 2026

    FTC Taps Goodwin Atty For Consumer Protection Deputy Role

    A veteran of Goodwin Procter LLP has been tapped to serve as deputy director of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection, the regulator announced.

  • January 30, 2026

    Real Estate Attys 'Not Going In Blind' Amid Data Center Boom

    The explosion of artificial intelligence has created a sharp demand for new data centers with no signs of slowing down, posing challenges that have some real estate attorneys turning to well-worn playbooks from other industries.

  • January 30, 2026

    'I Will Not Stop Now': Don Lemon Defiant After Arrest

    A Los Angeles federal judge released journalist Don Lemon from custody Friday afternoon, rejecting a prosecutor's request that his travel be restricted after he was arrested Thursday on charges related to his coverage of a protest inside a Minnesota church. 

  • January 30, 2026

    Live Nation Plaintiff States Fight Plan To Stay Antitrust Claims

    Nearly three dozen states accusing Live Nation of stifling competition in the live entertainment industry urged a New York federal judge not to pause their state-law claims in order to focus on federal law, arguing that handling all claims at once "will be the most efficient approach."

  • January 30, 2026

    SEC Appoints New PCAOB Chair, Board Members

    A new chairman and three new board members have been appointed to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, according to an announcement from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

  • January 30, 2026

    CBD Cos. Say They're Wrong Defendants In Kratom Suit

    Shaman Botanicals LLC and CBD American Shaman LLC are urging a California federal judge to throw out claims that they mislead consumers by failing to warn them that Soma Kratom products are dangerous and addictive, saying they're not affiliated with Soma Kratom in the first place.

  • January 30, 2026

    Planned Parenthood Drops Medicaid Fight After 1st Circ. Loss

    Planned Parenthood abandoned a legal challenge to a ban on Medicaid reimbursements for its clinics Friday, following a loss at the First Circuit, which upheld the ban in December.

  • January 30, 2026

    UP, Norfolk Southern Rip Rival BNSF's Merger Docs Demands

    Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have accused rival railroad BNSF Railway of trying to delay the regulatory review for their proposed $85 billion mega-merger by demanding that they share thousands more documents, emails and other operational details in what they called a "fishing expedition."

  • January 30, 2026

    Trump Says Court Can't Review Rule Delay For Chemical Cos.

    The Trump administration has urged a D.C. federal judge to nix a lawsuit by green groups that claim it violated the Clean Air Act by postponing emission standard compliance deadlines for 50 chemical manufacturing facilities, arguing they lack standing since they fail to sufficiently allege injury from all facilities that received exemption.

  • January 30, 2026

    Russian Skier's Appeal For Olympic Berth Too Late, CAS Says

    The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Thursday that it could not entertain Russian cross-country skier Alexander Bolshunov's bid to compete in the Winter Olympic Games as an individual neutral athlete.

  • January 30, 2026

    Mich. Can't Shake Residents' Water Suit Based On Timeliness

    A Michigan appellate court has allowed lead contamination claims from Benton Harbor residents to proceed, affirming that state officials did not make clear the level of danger in the city's water system for purposes of starting the clock on the statute of limitations.

  • January 30, 2026

    7th Circ. Grills Trump Admin Atty Over Definition Of Illegal DEI

    Seventh Circuit judges on Friday pushed an attorney for the Trump administration to define what kind of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives it deems illegal in requiring grant recipients to certify they don't promote DEI programs that violate anti-discrimination law, with one judge saying the unanswered question has caused "frustration" in litigation over the requirement.

  • January 30, 2026

    The Message From Delaware Courts: Change Is Coming

    Delaware's Supreme Court delivered a reminder to the state's corporation law ecosystem recently with a reversal of a Court of Chancery decision invalidating a 7-year-old stockholder agreement that granted broad corporate powers to investment bank Moelis & Co.'s founder.

  • January 30, 2026

    Okla. Gov. Challenges AG's Tribal Hunting Policy Opinion

    Oklahoma's governor and wildlife department have urged the Oklahoma Supreme Court to give them control over hunting and fishing rights on tribal reservation lands so they can issue state-managed permits, arguing that an opinion by the state's attorney general wrongly says federal law prohibits such permitting.

  • January 30, 2026

    DOL Adds More H-2B Visas For Imperiled Employers

    The U.S. Department of Labor issued a temporary rule Friday making another 64,716 H-2B visas for seasonal, non-agricultural workers available for fiscal year 2026, but only to employers facing severe financial hardship.

  • January 30, 2026

    Labor Dept. Recovered $1.4B For Benefit Plans In Fiscal '25

    The U.S. Department of Labor reported $1.4 billion in recoveries for employee benefit plans in its latest enforcement report on Friday, an amount equal to what the agency has reported for the previous three fiscal years, although it had a significant uptick in funds recovered from abandoned plans.

  • January 30, 2026

    Ex-Mass. Pol Gets Extra Month In Prison For Obstruction

    A former Massachusetts state senator who was two weeks from being released from prison on unemployment and tax fraud charges will spend an additional month in custody for misleading investigators, a federal judge ordered on Friday with "some misgivings."

  • January 30, 2026

    Ex-NC City Council Member Cops To COVID Fraud In Plea Deal

    A former Charlotte City Council member reached a plea deal Friday in her North Carolina federal wire fraud case in which she admits to stealing COVID-19 business relief funds by submitting bogus applications to obtain money she later used to throw herself a birthday party.

  • January 30, 2026

    FCC Urges Cos. To Tamp Down Ransomware Risks

    The Federal Communications Commission called on companies to take tough measures against ransomware attacks and report data breaches and outages from cybersecurity incidents.

  • January 30, 2026

    Bill Regulating Attorney AI Use Passes California Senate

    A proposed California law that would regulate attorneys and arbitrators' use of generative artificial intelligence statewide has headed to the Assembly after the state Senate unanimously approved the measure.

  • January 30, 2026

    Ex-Fla. Rep. Says Prosecutor Has 'Personal Animus' In DQ Bid

    A former Florida congressman and a lobbyist charged with failing to register as foreign agents for Venezuela urged a federal court to disqualify an assistant U.S. attorney in the case, saying Friday that the prosecutor has a conflict of interest and "personal animus" toward defense counsel.

  • January 30, 2026

    US Rebukes WTO Siding With China On Energy Tax Credits

    The U.S. Trade Representative condemned the World Trade Organization's decision to side with China in a dispute over energy tax credits passed during former President Joe Biden's term Friday, calling the global body's dispute resolution mechanism inadequate.

  • January 30, 2026

    Undersea Cable Cos. Seek Slash In FCC License Paperwork

    Submarine cable providers want the Federal Communications Commission to replace its current "ad hoc" procedure for approving license applications with one that's more streamlined and clearly spelled out in FCC rules.

  • January 30, 2026

    FTC Requires Facility Sales For $835M Healthcare Deal

    The Federal Trade Commission reached an agreement Friday allowing Sevita Health to move ahead with an $835 million deal for BrightSpring Health Services Inc.'s community living business, conditioned on the sale of more than 100 facilities.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Nature Photography Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Nature photography reminds me to focus on what is in front of me and to slow down to achieve success, and, in embracing the value of viewing situations through different lenses, offers skills transferable to the practice of law, says Brian Willett at Saul Ewing.

  • 2025 Brought A New Paradigm For Federal Banking Regulation

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    A series of thematic shifts defined banking regulation in 2025, including a fundamental reform of prudential supervision, a strategic easing of capital constraints, steps to streamline merger reviews, and a new framework for fair access and entrants seeking to offer banking services, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • What 2025 Transpo And Logistics Legal Trends Mean For 2026

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    2025 was challenging for the transportation and logistics sector, with emergent trends including dramatic federal policy shifts, developments in tort risk, and a host of mergers and acquisitions — but a review of these themes offers a useful playbook for where the industry is headed in 2026, says Jonathan Todd at Benesch.

  • How Cos. Can Roll With NY's New Algorithmic Pricing Rules

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    Despite uncertainty from New York’s new ban on artificial intelligence and computer algorithms for setting rents, and efforts to further restrict individualizing prices based on consumers' personal data, property managers, software providers and merchants can take several steps to stay compliant, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • 2025 State AI Laws Expand Liability, Raise Insurance Risks

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    As 2025 nears its end, claims professionals should be aware of trends in state legislation addressing artificial intelligence use, as insurance claims based on some of these liability-expanding statutes are a certainty, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practical Problem Solving

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    Issue-spotting skills are well honed in law school, but practicing attorneys must also identify clients’ problems and true goals, and then be able to provide solutions, says Mary Kate Hogan at Quarles & Brady.

  • Crypto In 2025: From Federal Deregulation To State Action

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    The cryptocurrency enforcement landscape evolved in 2025, marked by federal deregulatory trends and active state attorney general enforcement, creating both opportunity and risk for businesses navigating the digital asset market, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • How CFTC Enforcement Shifted In 2025 And What's Next

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    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission pivoted sharply under acting Chairman Caroline Pham in 2025, resulting in a pared-back enforcement docket, sweeping policy changes intended to provide greater transparency, and a renewed focus on fraud prevention and maintaining market integrity for the CFTC's core markets, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Learning From 2025 FCA Trends Targeting PE In Healthcare

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    False Claims Act enforcement trends and legislative developments from this year signal intensifying state and federal scrutiny of private equity's growing footprint in healthcare, and the urgency of compliance, says Lisa Re at Arnold & Porter.

  • Reviewing 2025's State And Federal AI Regulations

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    In light of increasing state and federal action to oversee the use of artificial intelligence, companies that develop or deploy the technology should keep abreast of current and forthcoming AI laws and consider their applicability to their business activities, says Jessica Brigman at Spencer Fane.

  • Software Patents May Face New Eligibility Scrutiny

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    November guidance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, along with recent litigation trends from the Federal Circuit, may encourage new challenges in the USPTO and district courts to artificial intelligence and software patents that rely on generic computing functions without concrete details, say attorneys at Venable.

  • What Trump Order Limiting State AI Regs Means For Insurers

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    Last week's executive order seeking to preclude states from regulating artificial intelligence will likely have minimal impact on insurers, but the order and related congressional activities may portend a federal expectation of consistent state oversight of insurers' AI use, says Kathleen Birrane at DLA Piper.

  • Opinion

    A Uniform Federal Rule Would Curb Gen AI Missteps In Court

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    To address the patchwork of courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence, curbing abuses and relieving the burden on judges, the federal judiciary should consider amending its civil procedure rules to require litigants to certify they’ve reviewed legal filings for accuracy, say attorneys at Shook Hardy.

  • Investment Advisers Should Stay Apprised Of New AI Risks

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently issued annual examination priorities reiterate a host of regulatory implications for investment advisers using artificial intelligence tools, highlighting that meaningful ongoing due diligence can help mitigate both operational and regulatory surprises amid AI's rapid evolution, says Christopher Mills at Sidley.

  • New Rule Shows NRC Willing To Move Fast To Reform Regs

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    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s decision to forgo public comment and immediately rescind certain rules governing adjudicatory procedures, federal tort claims and disclosure of licensee information signals the agency's intent to accelerate the regulatory streamlining efforts ordered by the president this spring, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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