Public Policy

  • April 24, 2026

    Musk Trial To Test Limits Of OpenAI's Nonprofit Promises

    Billionaire Elon Musk is set to face off against OpenAI Inc. and Microsoft Corp. in a high-stakes legal battle going to a California federal jury trial Monday over Musk's challenge to OpenAI's conversion to a for-profit entity, which experts say may shake up the artificial intelligence industry.

  • April 24, 2026

    Hikvision Lacks Standing In FCC Fight, DC Circ. Told

    Hikvision doesn't have the standing to take the Federal Communications Commission to court over its decision to place modular transmitters on the so-called covered list, a list of equipment deemed to pose a national security risk, the agency told the D.C. Circuit.

  • April 24, 2026

    Groups Agree To Drop, And Refile, Pipeline Permit Suit

    A coalition of five environmental groups agreed to drop its challenge to the 2021 reissuance of a federal permit that authorizes truncated environmental reviews for oil and gas companies, with plans to sue anew over the permit's 2026 iteration.

  • April 24, 2026

    10th Circ. Revives Challenge To Colo. Ghost Gun Ban

    A Tenth Circuit panel partially revived a challenge to a Colorado law prohibiting the possession, sale and manufacture of unserialized guns and gun parts from gun rights advocacy groups, finding in a partial split decision that the plaintiffs have standing to challenge the Colorado law.

  • April 24, 2026

    Up Last At High Court: TPS, Geofence, Skinny Labels

    The U.S. Supreme Court will close out its oral argument portion of the 2025 October term by hearing a panoply of disputes over the constitutionality of geofence warrants, the existence of aiding and abetting torture claims, and the rescission of temporary protected status for hundreds of thousands of immigrants.

  • April 24, 2026

    Texas Justices Toss Trans Youth Probe Suit As Moot

    Texas officials were freed from court orders blocking them from launching probes on parents thought to have provided certain gender-affirming care to their children, with the state high court on Friday calling the underlying litigation moot after the state closed the investigations and the teenagers became adults.

  • April 24, 2026

    DOL Joint Employer Rule Expands Risk For H-2 Employers

    A proposed rule clarifying when multiple employers are jointly liable for wage violations could reshape the risk landscape for employers that rely on contractors to supply temporary foreign workers, potentially making them joint employers by default.

  • April 24, 2026

    MV Realty To Pay $4.5M To End NC Suit Over 40-Year Contracts

    Embattled Florida real estate company MV Realty agreed to pay $4.5 million to end a lawsuit from the North Carolina attorney general accusing it of using shady business practices to lock homeowners into decades-long listing agreements with predatory rates, according to a consent judgment.

  • April 24, 2026

    NY Asks 2nd Circ. To Bring Back $74M In Highway Funding

    New York and its Department of Motor Vehicles urged the Second Circuit on Friday to order the U.S. Department of Transportation to restore a $73.5 million highway funding package that the federal government canceled because the state provided commercial driver's licenses to immigrants.

  • April 24, 2026

    Mass. Judge Tells Feds Not To Deport Harvard Researcher

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Friday ordered the government to act on a Harvard researcher's request to renew her expiring J-1 visa and to not take any steps toward deporting her while a criminal smuggling case is pending.

  • April 24, 2026

    Bankers Endorse FCC Fines For 'Know Your Customer' Regs

    Bankers are pleased that the Federal Communications Commission is floating the idea of imposing "know your customer" rules on originating telecom providers and finding those that don't comply, since bank numbers are often among those most "spoofed" by bad actors.

  • April 24, 2026

    Dem PAC's Ad Didn't Defame Roy Moore, 11th Circ. Says

    The Eleventh Circuit tossed on Friday an $8.2 million defamation verdict awarded to former Alabama judge Roy Moore over claims that a Democratic PAC's ad suggested he solicited a minor for sex, revising the court's standard for defamation suits and ruling he failed to meet it.

  • April 24, 2026

    LA Fitness Fights Uphill To Toss FTC's Gym Cancellation Suit

    LA Fitness urged a California federal judge to reconsider his tentative order refusing to dismiss the Federal Trade Commission's suit challenging its cancellation policies advising members to send forms through certified or registered mail, arguing Friday the gym only recommended, but never required cancellation notices be sent in that fashion.

  • April 24, 2026

    Feds Fight Ex-Rep.'s Acquittal Bid In Venezuela FARA Case

    Federal prosecutors urged a Florida U.S. district judge to reject an attempt by politician David Rivera and a political consultant to escape charges for allegedly failing to register as foreign agents while secretly representing Venezuela's state-owned oil company, saying the charges aren't too late.

  • April 24, 2026

    Calif.'s High Court Seeks Stronger Rules On False Statements

    California's Supreme Court has rejected the State Bar's proposed rule changes in response to threats and violence against the judiciary — asking for a redraft saying lawyers who make false and reckless statements against judges and judicial officers may be disciplined even if the lawyer "reasonably disagrees with a ruling."

  • April 24, 2026

    Tatneft Calls Stay Order In $173M Suit 'Checkmate'

    One of Russia's largest oil companies has urged the D.C. Circuit to expedite its appeal of a lower court decision refusing to lift a stay order as PAO Tatneft looks to enforce a $173 million arbitral award against Ukraine, calling the order "checkmate with no way out."

  • April 24, 2026

    Judge Shields More Colleges From Admissions Data Survey

    A Boston federal judge on Friday blocked enforcement of the federal government's demand for seven years' worth of college admissions data from dozens of universities, following an earlier ruling enjoining the U.S. Department of Education survey for the public colleges of 17 states.

  • April 24, 2026

    States Seek Early Win In Challenge To Trump Mail-In Ballot EO

    A coalition of Democrat-led states is asking a Massachusetts federal judge to permanently block core provisions of President Donald Trump's executive order limiting mail-in voting, arguing the directive unlawfully encroaches on states' authority over elections and violates the Constitution's separation of powers.

  • April 24, 2026

    9th Circ. Won't Renew Wash. Developer's Suit Against County

    A Ninth Circuit panel declined Friday to resurrect a Washington developer's lawsuit accusing Whatcom County officials of violating its constitutional rights by scaling back a housing development plan, concluding that the firm hasn't shown a protected stake in the property that it offloaded during Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

  • April 24, 2026

    Pa. Beats Challenge To Rule Keeping Voter Records Offline

    Pennsylvania's procedures for requesting copies of its voter rolls comply with the National Voter Registration Act, but so does a state rule preventing a national group from publishing that information on the internet in its hunt for voter fraud, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

  • April 24, 2026

    One Certainty As Tariff Refunds Start: 'There Will Be Litigation'

    The launch of the refund process for tariffs struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court marks the start of lengthy and multifaceted court battles as companies fight with consumers — and amongst themselves — about who gets a slice of the $166 billion pie, experts told Law360.

  • April 24, 2026

    Press And Watchdog Groups Sue Over Presidential Records

    Two press freedom and oversight watchdog groups are suing the Trump administration over its decision to stop complying with the Presidential Records Act, arguing that an opinion published by the U.S. Department of Justice declaring the law unconstitutional is threatening permanent destruction of important White House records.

  • April 24, 2026

    Feds Say Species Suit Is Moot After Gulf Drilling Exemption

    The Trump administration has said that a federal committee's recent exemption of oil and gas activities in the Gulf of Mexico from Endangered Species Act requirements moots a lawsuit challenging federal evaluations of offshore drilling's effects on endangered species.

  • April 24, 2026

    Scores Of Orgs. Oppose FCC's Effort To Redo E-Rate Program

    The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition already raised the alarm earlier this month about the FCC's plan to consolidate E-rate program bids into a single portal, but now it's back with dozens of education and library organizations that also think the portal is a bad idea.

  • April 24, 2026

    Bank Asks 2nd Circ. To OK Fed-Blocked Mortgage Program

    Canandaigua National Corp. has urged the Second Circuit to overturn a Federal Reserve Board decision that denied the community bank's request to introduce a cash guarantee program for homebuyers, arguing the agency wrongly treated the plan as off-limits under what the company called an outdated legal view that banks should not own real estate.

Expert Analysis

  • FDA Guidance May Move Goalposts For Form 483 Responses

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    New draft guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration provides formal insight on how drug manufacturers are expected to respond to Form 483s, raising some concerns about the agency's timelines and expectations, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Understanding The SEC's Consequential Crypto Guidance

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent interpretive release — its most comprehensive statement ever on the application of the federal securities laws to crypto-assets — reimagines the Howey test to resolve long-standing questions over what is a security, but leaves many issues unresolved, say attorneys at Cahill.

  • Ohio Case Reflects States' Aggressive Criminal Antitrust Turn

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    The Ohio Attorney General's Office’s recent bid-rigging indictment of an online auctioneer is the latest signal that states, through attorneys general pursuing more kickback cases and legislators expanding the reach of antitrust laws, are shedding their historical reluctance to wield their criminal antitrust enforcement powers, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Justices' Geofence Ruling May Test 4th Amendment's Future

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    When the U.S. Supreme Court decides in Chatrie v. U.S. whether law enforcement may use geofence warrants to compel Google to disclose location history data, the ruling is likely to become an important statement about the future of Fourth Amendment law in data-driven investigations, says Duncan Levin at Levin & Associates.

  • Series

    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1

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    In the first quarter of 2026, New York's banking developments were headlined by initiatives to expand oversight of financial institutions and strengthen consumer protection laws, including a new framework for buy now, pay later lenders, a sweeping debt collection rule and a revised corporate self-disclosure program for financial crimes, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Seeking A Policy Fix As Merger Reporting Fight Continues

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    A recently announced request by the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice for public comment on the Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger reporting requirements, as litigation challenging the commission's updated requirements continues, suggests the government's willingness to address how best to support modern merger enforcement without unduly burdening filing parties, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • What New Fla. Citizens Bill Means For Surplus Lines Insurers

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    A Florida bill recently passed by the Legislature as part of a continued effort to depopulate Citizens Property Insurance, the state's insurer of last resort, creates an additional pathway for commercial policies to be written by surplus lines insurers, but also presents concerns of unnecessary regulation, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • What Voluntary Calif. Carbon Reports Show About Compliance

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    While the enforcement of California's S.B. 261 is currently paused due to a Ninth Circuit injunction, more than 130 companies have nonetheless chosen to voluntarily publish climate-related financial risk disclosures, providing a useful snapshot of how the market is interpreting the law's requirements in practice, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • PTAB Memo Recenters Discretion On US Manufacturing

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    Read alongside recent Federal Circuit decisions, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires' memo on patent denial considerations emphasizes domestic manufacturing in a way that the International Trade Commission does not require, says Brandon Theiss at Volpe Koenig.

  • Why MDLs Slow Down — And How To Speed Them Up

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    Multidistrict litigation has become central to mass tort practice, but as MDLs grow in size and complexity, so do delays and costs — so tools like the new federal rule governing MDLs, targeted use of special masters and strategically deployed Lone Pine orders are more essential than ever, say attorneys at Ice Miller.

  • What A Court Doc Audit Reveals About Erroneous Filings

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    My audit of 1,522 court documents from last month found that over 95% contained at least one verifiable error, with fewer than 1% showing clear indicators of artificial intelligence use — highlighting above all else that lawyers may want to focus most on strengthening their review processes, says Elliott Ash at ETH Zurich.

  • Regulators' Basel Pitch May Bring Banks Capital Relief

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    The prudential banking agencies' new proposals to implement the so-called Basel III endgame rules — which would modify the approach to risk-based capital, among other notable changes — represent a fundamental directional shift in bank capital requirements aimed at increasing lending capacity, says Chen Xu at Debevoise.

  • How SEC And CFTC Are Attempting To End Their 'Turf War'

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    Through coordinated examinations and a shared aim to end duplicative regulation, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's recent memorandum of understanding could represent a significant shift in the regulatory landscape for market participants subject to the jurisdiction of both agencies, say attorneys at Jenner.

  • FTC Focus: Growing Emphasis On Competition In AI

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    The Federal Trade Commission's leadership has continued to highlight that competitive risks in artificial intelligence markets may arise at multiple levels simultaneously, considering not only who controls the resources necessary to build AI systems, but also how those systems function and yield outputs, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • What's Missing From Latest Gov't Claims Against Harvard

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    The most interesting thing about the Trump administration’s recent civil rights enforcement efforts targeting Harvard University is its decision not to assert violations of the False Claims Act when given the opportunity, despite signals that its enforcement efforts will include use of the federal FCA, say attorneys at Bass Berry.

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