Public Policy

  • April 21, 2026

    Copyright Head Touts 6,000 Registrations Of Human-AI Works

    The U.S. Copyright Office has issued more than 6,000 registrations for works that incorporate artificial intelligence-generated materials and follow the agency's guidance for combined human-made and AI-created works, U.S. Copyright Office leader Shira Perlmutter said Tuesday.

  • April 21, 2026

    Fla. AG Backs Bal Harbour Shops Owner In Live Local Dispute

    Florida's Office of the Attorney General has asked a state court for permission to file an amicus brief supporting developer Bal Harbour Shops LLC's suit against a municipality that rejected the developer's application for a mixed-use project that would have included homes, a hotel and a retail area.

  • April 21, 2026

    Arkansas' Second Attempt At Age Verification Law Blocked

    Tech trade group NetChoice has won another battle in its war against age verification laws, convincing an Arkansas federal court to again block a state law that would restrict minors' ability to use social media.

  • April 21, 2026

    Congress Rallies More For Bills On Copyrights Than Patents

    There have been more intellectual property bills floated in Congress that are supportive of copyright rights than patent rights, according to a new report looking at how lawmakers treat the IP system.

  • April 21, 2026

    US Lawmakers Float Path For Fintech Fed Accounts

    Two federal lawmakers from California introduced a bipartisan bill on Tuesday that would create a path for nonbank fintechs to directly access the Federal Reserve's payment rails in the hopes of reducing bank fees and delays for consumers using payment apps.

  • April 21, 2026

    Board Says Opposition To Gangs Not Enough For Asylum

    Disapproval of criminal gangs or opposition to them is not enough to establish a protected political opinion for asylum purposes, the Board of Immigration Appeals ruled on Tuesday, affirming an immigration judge's denial of an El Salvadoran woman's application.

  • April 21, 2026

    Feds Say Arctic Lease Sale For Oil Drilling Begins In June

    The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management has announced that it will hold an oil and gas lease sale on the 1.56-million-acre Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, saying the bid opening for tracts will take place June 5.

  • April 21, 2026

    Watchdog Says Ex-Fla. Rep Used Straw Donors For Campaign

    A Washington, D.C.-based watchdog organization accused former Florida Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of improperly funding her 2022 reelection bid to the U.S. House of Representatives, saying she orchestrated a complex straw donor scheme to funnel $725,000 in Haitian "dark money" into her campaign. 

  • April 21, 2026

    NM Couple Plead Guilty To Selling Vietnam Jewelry As Navajo

    A New Mexico husband and wife have admitted in North Carolina federal court to importing counterfeit Native American jewelry from Vietnam and marketing it to U.S. buyers as genuine handmade Navajo pieces, according to federal prosecutors and court documents.

  • April 21, 2026

    Squires Hints At New 'Holistic' Decision On PTAB Discretion

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires previewed at a conference Tuesday an imminent "comprehensive decision" that will articulate current policy on discretionary factors that inform the viability of Patent Trial and Appeal Board challenges, saying he's seeking "predictability" for the PTAB.

  • April 21, 2026

    Bills Sinking 'Texas Two-Step' Ch. 11 Cases Reintroduced

    Members of Congress have reintroduced bipartisan legislation meant to deter so-called Texas two-step Chapter 11s, a controversial maneuver companies have used to address mass tort liabilities in bankruptcy.

  • April 21, 2026

    Defendant Says Rx Software Was Guide For Docs, Not Fraud

    A man accused of swindling Medicare out of nearly half a billion dollars was simply trying to make it easier for doctors to navigate labyrinthine Medicare regulations to get orthotic braces approved for their patients, his attorney told jurors in Florida federal court Tuesday.

  • April 21, 2026

    Pesticide Study Admin Says Ex-Worker's Suit Is A 'Do-Over'

    Counsel for a former administrative adviser in a national pesticide safety study organization named in an ex-worker's wrongful firing lawsuit urged a North Carolina federal court Tuesday to dismiss the matter, arguing the adviser is immune from constitutional claims that have already been litigated elsewhere.

  • April 21, 2026

    Colo. Judge Narrowly Expands ICE Subpoena Block

    A Colorado state judge narrowly expanded a June order that enjoined Colorado's governor from directing the state's Labor Department employees to respond to federal immigration enforcement subpoenas, ruling Tuesday that the order includes a March 13 subpoena by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

  • April 21, 2026

    Judge Backs Release Of Family Held After Colo. Protest Attack

    A Texas federal judge has recommended that the wife and children of an Egyptian man accused of attacking pro-Israel demonstrators be released from immigration detention, finding that their more than 10-month detention has violated the family's due process rights.

  • April 21, 2026

    Feds Say They Don't Control Immigration Center Conditions

    Immigration officials said a California federal court should toss a proposed class action from inmates alleging intolerable living conditions in a Mojave Desert processing center because the plaintiffs have sued the wrong defendants.

  • April 21, 2026

    Colo. Republicans Say Late Ruling Forces Semi-Open Primary

    The Colorado Republican Party has asked a federal judge to issue an emergency temporary restraining order allowing the party to ban unaffiliated voters from participating in its upcoming primary election after the court last month found a supermajority requirement to opt out of the primary was unconstitutional.

  • April 21, 2026

    11th Circ. Says Builders Can't Block Biden-Era Labor Mandate

    An association of builders failed to show it would succeed on its claims challenging a Biden-era executive order requiring labor agreements for all federal contracts exceeding $35 million, the Eleventh Circuit ruled, affirming a federal court's decision rejecting the group's request for an injunction.

  • April 21, 2026

    House Panel Votes To Gut Corporate Transparency Act

    A House finance committee advanced a bill Tuesday that would defang the Corporate Transparency Act by exempting all domestically owned companies from compliance, codifying a limitation already implemented by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

  • April 21, 2026

    Feds Say Pot Foes Lack Standing To Stop CMS Hemp Program

    Federal health regulators have told a D.C. federal judge that anti-pot advocates' attempt to block a program to ease access for Medicare beneficiaries to federally legal hemp products that have small amounts of THC was not bolstered by the addition of a pharmaceutical company as a co-plaintiff.

  • April 21, 2026

    Calif. Says City Skirted Duties After Tribal Remains Found At Site

    California has accused a southern city in the state of failing to conduct further environmental review after Native American remains were discovered at a luxury home development site, saying the city improperly let certain construction activities continue.

  • April 21, 2026

    Suit Says DOJ Voter Data Checks Could Trigger Purges

    Voting rights advocates sued the U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday over its bid to acquire states' unredacted voter information to cross-check voter rolls against immigration databases, warning that the effort could enable purges of naturalized citizens who are eligible to vote.

  • April 21, 2026

    11th Circ. Mulls Septic Permit Ban In Fla. Manatee Dispute

    The Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday considered vacating an injunction requiring Florida environmental regulators to temporarily stop issuing new septic tank permits over concerns for the well-being of manatees, with one judge appearing concerned that the ban didn't do enough to address pollution.

  • April 21, 2026

    2nd Circ. Chilly To Additional Discovery In Cigna Pension Suit

    The Second Circuit on Tuesday seemed reluctant to restart proceedings in a long-running suit against Cigna from retirees who challenged changes to their pensions, appearing unwilling to upend a decision to turn down post-judgment discovery in the class action.

  • April 21, 2026

    Ruger Says Colo. Law Applies In Conn. Mass Shooting Suits

    Sturm Ruger & Co. Inc. is asking a Connecticut state court to find that Colorado, not Connecticut, law applies to a pair of suits from families of the victims of a 2021 Boulder mass shooting, saying Connecticut has little to no connection with the company's alleged wrongdoing.

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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