Public Policy

  • March 19, 2026

    Detroit Clinic Zones Impede Free Speech, Protesters Say

    Anti-abortion advocates sued the city of Detroit, claiming an ordinance creating speech-restriction zones around healthcare facilities unlawfully blocks peaceful counseling outside an abortion clinic on the city's west side.

  • March 19, 2026

    Minn. House Bill Seeks $4B Property Tax Refund

    Minnesota would allow eligible taxpayers to claim a refund for a portion of property taxes paid in 2026 under a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives. 

  • March 19, 2026

    More Discovery Allowed On USPTO Patent Quality Program

    A Washington, D.C., federal magistrate judge has reopened discovery into whether the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office covertly revived a now-defunct program for flagging "sensitive" patent applications for extra review.

  • March 19, 2026

    Sitting Judges Take Stand Over Threats Growing 'Ordinary'

    On the heels of an ethics opinion giving them wider latitude to speak publicly, sitting federal judges brought attention Thursday to the increasing threats against them and their family members, warning about the dangers of such threats becoming "ordinary."

  • March 19, 2026

    Ex-Top Cop Charged With Gambling Dept. Funds Faces Judge

    The former police chief of New Haven, Connecticut, appeared for the first time Thursday before a serious felony docket judge after being charged with embezzling $85,500 from two city funds while wagering nearly $4.5 million on the online gambling apps DraftKings and FanDuel.

  • March 19, 2026

    Judges Scrutinize DOD's Claim Of Hesai's China Military Ties

    A D.C. Circuit panel on Thursday raised serious questions about the U.S. Department of Defense's broad interpretation of a law used to designate companies as "contributors" to the Chinese military-industrial base, pressing a government attorney on the basis for finding links between Shanghai LiDAR-maker Hesai and the Chinese military.

  • March 19, 2026

    EU Trade Committee Approves US Trade Deal With Conditions

    The European Parliament's trade committee approved major tariff cuts Thursday to implement the bloc's U.S. trade deal, but made the cuts contingent on President Donald Trump respecting a 15% cap on rates, lowering steel and aluminum tariffs and not imposing tariffs over foreign policy concerns.

  • March 19, 2026

    NJ Judicial Privacy Law Suits Survive Venue Challenge

    Seven out of eight data collection companies that claimed Garden State federal courts lack jurisdiction over them in suits alleging they violated the state's judicial privacy law purposefully availed themselves of the market in New Jersey, a federal judge ruled.

  • March 19, 2026

    Civil Rights Groups Back Creek Freedmen's Citizenship Battle

    Civil rights groups are looking to back two members of the Muscogee Creek Freedmen Band in their bid to postpone a May 30 special tribal election until they're approved for citizenship, arguing that the delay in processing their applications is legally indefensible and risks invalidating the results of the election itself.

  • March 19, 2026

    Insurance Execs Ask 11th Circ. To Review Coverage Suit Toss

    Insurance executives accused of sabotaging their former company as they prepared to start a rival firm will ask the Eleventh Circuit to review a lower court ruling that Berkley Assurance Co. did not have to pay for their defense in now-dismissed litigation filed by their ex-employer.

  • March 19, 2026

    Live Nation CEO Says He Can't Recall 'Market Power' Remark

    Live Nation's longtime CEO sparred Thursday with states that say the $36 billion entertainment giant engages in monopolization, telling a Manhattan federal jury the business is a "better mousetrap" than rivals and saying he couldn't recall telling investors the company has "incredible market power."  

  • March 19, 2026

    Dem. Rep. Raskin Questions USPTO's 'Board Of Peace' Filings

    The ranking Democrat on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee is demanding answers from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office over its trademark applications for President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace," questioning their legality and warning that they may help conceal foreign funding connected to the newly formed entity.

  • March 19, 2026

    Judge Tosses Bias Suit Over Boston School Admissions

    Three elite public schools in Boston dodged a challenge to their competitive admissions process Thursday, with a federal judge saying white students' theory of discrimination has been rejected by the courts before.

  • March 19, 2026

    EU Official Says Tax Simplification Requires Trade-Offs

    A top tax official in the European Union's executive body said Thursday that EU countries must be prepared to make some trade-offs, for instance on information exchange and information technology investment, if they want to achieve tax simplification.

  • March 19, 2026

    Commerce Investigating Chinese, Indian Graphite Electrodes

    The U.S. Department of Commerce on Thursday said it will open probes into imported Chinese and Indian electrodes used for smelting to determine whether those goods have been subsidized or sold at less than fair value, joining an ongoing U.S. International Trade Commission investigation.

  • March 19, 2026

    Nomination For New DOJ Fraud Chief Heads To Senate Floor

    The nomination of Colin McDonald for the new position of assistant attorney general for fraud was sent to the full Senate on Thursday, after the Judiciary Committee voted 12-10 along party lines to advance his nomination.

  • March 19, 2026

    Feds' Capital Rule Overhaul Would Give Break To Banks

    Federal regulators moved Thursday to launch a comprehensive overhaul of U.S. bank capital rules, rolling out a long-awaited package of proposed changes that are expected to shave billions off the aggregate amount of capital required for banks of all size ranges.

  • March 19, 2026

    Mullin's Nomination To Be DHS Secretary Goes To Full Senate

    Sen. Markwayne Mullin's nomination to be secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was sent to the full Senate on Thursday.

  • March 18, 2026

    Senator Unveils Draft AI Bill Intended To Wipe Out State Regs

    Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., on Wednesday released a draft of proposed legislation that would override a "patchwork" of state artificial intelligence regulations, touting the proposal as protecting "children, creators, conservatives and communities" and slamming the state regulations as hindering "AI innovation."

  • March 18, 2026

    Meta Smart Glasses Pose Mass Surveillance Risk, Sens. Warn

    Three U.S. senators Wednesday warned in a letter to Meta that the tech giant's plans to integrate facial recognition technology into its smart glasses risk "normalizing mass surveillance" at a time the federal government is using similar tech to "intimidate protesters and chill speech."

  • March 18, 2026

    Immigrants' Suit Over Courthouse Arrests Proceeds, For Now

    A D.C. federal judge largely allowed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's practice of fast-tracking deportations and arresting immigrants at immigration courthouses to proceed, tossing only individual immigrants' claims objecting to alleged government policies allowing oral motions to dismiss removal proceedings.

  • March 18, 2026

    Southwest Board Beats Suit In First Texas Corporate Law Test

    A Texas federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a derivative suit claiming that Southwest Airlines Co.'s board of directors breached their fiduciary duties by abandoning the airline's famous "Bags Fly Free" policy, ending a significant challenge to the state's new corporate reform law. 

  • March 18, 2026

    13 State AGs Urge EPA To Walk Back 'Compliance First' Memo

    Attorneys general for New York, Massachusetts, Washington and 10 other states have called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to rescind a December memo unveiling a "compliance first" approach to enforcement, arguing the strategy sidelines staff expertise and creates "bureaucratic bottlenecks" that will ultimately enable polluters.

  • March 18, 2026

    EPA Pushes For Win In Solar Grant Fight

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency told a Washington federal judge it reasonably terminated billions of dollars in grants for solar energy projects after Congress passed the 2025 federal budget bill, so a coalition of states can't challenge its decision.

  • March 18, 2026

    With Warrants, Good Faith Worth More Than Legality: DC Circ.

    It doesn't matter if the warrant that a D.C. magistrate judge issued to pinpoint the location of a man who was later convicted on drug trafficking and firearms charges was legal because law enforcement thought that it was, the D.C. Circuit has ruled.

Expert Analysis

  • How Leveraged Lending Pivot May Alter Bank Risk Oversight

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    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's recent withdrawal of leveraged lending guidance introduces several principles that may allow banks to better apply enterprisewide risk management programs and potentially create additional competition in the private credit loan market, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • Pros And Cons Of FDA's Push For Nonprescription Drugs

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recent moves to shift more prescription drugs to over-the-counter status could increase access to important medications, but also bring potential safety risks and other trade-offs for drug companies, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • Why SDNY May Be Dusting Off The Financial Kingpin Statute

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    The Southern District of New York’s recent fraud indictments against executives of bankrupt companies Tricolor and First Brands have seemingly revived the Continuing Financial Crimes Enterprise statute, and if the cases succeed, prosecutors across the country will have ample reason to reach for this long-dormant tool, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • 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.

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