Public Policy

  • January 16, 2026

    Rail Regulator Tells UP, Norfolk Southern To Redo Merger Bid

    A rail regulator said Friday that Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern still haven't shared crucial details or projected revenue and traffic numbers related to their proposed mega-merger, so their application must be rejected for now as "incomplete."

  • January 16, 2026

    PBMs Seek Exit From Philly's Suit Over Opioid Crisis

    CVS Health Corp. and other pharmacy benefit managers asked a Pennsylvania federal judge to let them out of the city of Philadelphia's lawsuit claiming they contributed to the opioid epidemic in the city, arguing that the city waited too long to file its suit and lacked standing to sue the companies.

  • January 16, 2026

    Calif. AG Orders xAI To Stop Enabling Sexualized Deepfakes

    California's attorney general on Friday sent xAI a cease and desist letter demanding the artificial intelligence company immediately stop the creation and distribution of nonconsensual, sexualized deepfakes, days after U.S. senators announced they had demanded that leading tech companies disclose how they are preventing such images on their platforms.

  • January 16, 2026

    Judge Says Okla. DAs Must Face Tribal Jurisdiction Lawsuits

    Two Oklahoma district attorneys can't escape lawsuits that look to block them from prosecuting tribal citizens for crimes committed in Indian Country, a federal district court judge determined, saying arguments that the Indigenous nations have not suffered an injury are meritless.

  • January 16, 2026

    College Gambling Busts Show That Getting Caught Is Easy

    The evidence against the college basketball players indicted Thursday on federal sports gambling charges, and the alleged fixers involved in enticing and paying the players, appears strong enough for the NCAA to focus on preventing future scandals rather than on denying the problem existed, sports law experts say.

  • January 16, 2026

    Planned Parenthood Can Challenge Heartbeat Act, Court Says

    A Texas appeals court on Friday found that Planned Parenthood has standing to challenge the state law that empowers ordinary citizens to prosecute abortion providers, saying Planned Parenthood has done enough to launch a pre-enforcement challenge to the law.

  • January 16, 2026

    White House Backs State Govs In Push For PJM Changes

    The Trump administration on Friday joined an effort by 13 state governors to force the nation's largest regional grid operator, PJM Interconnection, to fix the issue of escalating power prices amid data center-fueled increases in electricity demand.

  • January 16, 2026

    In First Year, Trump Lost Most Cases But Often Won Appeals

    In the first year of President Donald Trump's second term, his administration lost in court nearly twice as often as it won, but its success rate increased when it appealed, according to a Law360 review of more than 400 lawsuits.

  • January 16, 2026

    Cannabis Cos. Say Mich. Township Blocked Retail Permits

    Two Michigan cannabis companies allege in a new federal lawsuit Friday that a Michigan township prevented them from opening their doors after the locality's voters approved a ballot measure to ban pot stores.

  • January 16, 2026

    Judicial Candidate Nixed From Ballot Over Text To Rival

    A Texas judge ruled a candidate for a state judicial seat in Houston ineligible for the March primary election, finding the candidate violated the state's Election Code by trying to coerce her opponent into withdrawing from the race.

  • January 16, 2026

    Treasury's Rule Pace Unchanged After Loper Bright, Atty Says

    The U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 landmark decision limiting federal agencies' deference in interpreting ambiguous statutes has not significantly altered the pace and volume of the U.S. Department of the Treasury's rulemaking workload, a Treasury attorney said Friday.

  • January 16, 2026

    Squires Ends Chinese Chip Co. IPRs In Informative Order

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has stopped Yangtze Memory Technologies Co.'s challenges to two Micron Technology Inc.-owned patents, saying the Chinese chipmaker did not address concerns over its precise identity.

  • January 16, 2026

    Pension Withdrawal Liability Math Gets High Court Spotlight

    The U.S. Supreme Court will zero in Tuesday on the methodology for assessing the liability of companies that pull out of multiemployer pension plans, hearing arguments in a case attorneys say could have costly implications for employers.

  • January 16, 2026

    Wash. House Bill Seeks Changes To Cannabis Excise Tax

    Washington would make changes to its cannabis excise tax, which is charged in addition to sales and use tax on adult-use cannabis purchases, under a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.

  • January 16, 2026

    IRS Rightly Withheld Worker Tax Credit FOIA Docs, Court Says

    The Internal Revenue Service properly invoked two Freedom of Information Act exemptions to withhold portions of internal directives about the employee retention tax credit requested by an attorney who represents taxpayers in disputes with the agency, an Alabama federal court said.

  • January 16, 2026

    Localism Requirement Dooms Low-Power Station Requests

    Four proposed low-power FM stations in Texas and one in Nevada can't get building permits from the Federal Communications Commission because their paperwork doesn't indicate they would be run by local organizations under federal rules, the FCC said Friday.

  • January 16, 2026

    CFPB Confirms Its Fed Funding Has Been Replenished

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has received the $145 million in new funding it recently requested from the Federal Reserve after a Washington, D.C., federal judge ruled the Trump administration could not let the consumer agency run out of cash.

  • January 16, 2026

    Pinnacle Ch. 11 Buyer's Repair Pledge Enough For Sale OK

    A New York bankruptcy judge approved the $451 million sale of 93 properties in the Chapter 11 case of real estate entities affiliated with Pinnacle Group, saying the buyer's plan to invest $30 million in repairs and maintenance for the buildings is enough to adequately assure residents it will perform its management obligations.

  • January 16, 2026

    Offshore Wind's Winning Streak Hits 3 With Dominion Restart

    A federal judge on Friday allowed Dominion Energy to resume work on a wind farm off the Virginia coast, handing the Trump administration its third defeat in five days over its efforts to halt offshore wind projects under construction.

  • January 16, 2026

    Dems Balk At FCC Drive For Simpler Broadband Labels

    The Federal Communications Commission wants to move toward broadband "nutrition" labels that it thinks consumers could more easily navigate, even if that means taking out a separate line about early termination fees for high-speed plans, the FCC chair said this week.

  • January 16, 2026

    Washington Pot Co.'s Discrimination Suit Filed Too Late

    A Washington federal judge has dismissed with prejudice a suit by a would-be cannabis dispensary alleging that the state's licensing agency discriminates against minority owners, saying the claims are outside the federal and state statutes of limitations.

  • January 16, 2026

    9th Circ. Upholds County Fines For Illegal Short-Term Rentals

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday refused to stop a Nevada county from enforcing ordinances that don't allow unlicensed short-term rentals to operate, ruling that the lower court rightfully sided against a local company by determining that the related county fines weren't unconstitutionally excessive.

  • January 16, 2026

    Maurene Comey Fights DOJ Bid To Toss Firing Suit

    Former Manhattan federal prosecutor Maurene Comey has urged a New York federal court to reject the U.S. Department of Justice's bid to dismiss her firing suit, arguing her claims belong before the district court and not under the jurisdiction of a non-independent board now controlled by the president.

  • January 16, 2026

    Watchdog Urges Blanche To Exit Trump Records Role

    A watchdog organization is calling on Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to step aside as President Donald Trump's proxy for records from his first term as they become available next week, saying he has a conflict of interest.

  • January 16, 2026

    Law Grad's Malpractice Claims Are Time-Barred, Atty Says

    A Vanderbilt Law School graduate who said that as a teenager his lawyer bungled his criminal defense by convincing him to plead guilty to a crime he did not commit cannot pursue legal malpractice claims, according to a Connecticut lawyer, who told the federal court the suit was filed too late.

Expert Analysis

  • Breaking Down Article 12 Of The Uniform Commercial Code

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    Thirty-two states and the District of Columbia have enacted Article 12 of the Uniform Commercial Code, providing the alternative to perfection by control of assets like cryptocurrency and nonfungible tokens, but before accepting these assets as collateral, lenders and creditors should consider how to best maintain priority, say attorneys at Miller Nash.

  • Why Foreign Cos. Should Prep For Increased SEC Oversight

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    With the recent trading suspensions of 10 foreign-based issuers listed on the Nasdaq, an enforcement action against a U.K. security-based swap dealer and the announcement of a cross-border task force, it's clear that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will expand oversight on foreign companies participating in the U.S. capital markets, says Tejal Shah at Cooley.

  • How Litigating Antitrust Fix Helped GTCR Prevail In Court

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    An Illinois federal judge's recent denial of the Federal Trade Commission's injunction request in the GTCR acquisition of Surmodics joins a developing series of cases in which deal parties have prevailed against government antitrust challenges by proposing a post-complaint fix and litigating the as-amended deal, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

  • What Narrower FinCEN Reporting Spells For Industry

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    As compliance costs soar, the potential slimming down of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism regime is welcome news for banks, and would allow a shift in resources to ever-evolving cybercrime threats, say attorneys at Quarles & Brady.

  • Revisiting Jury Trial Right May Upend State Regulatory Power

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    Justice Neil Gorsuch’s recent use of a denial of certiorari to call for the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit whether the Seventh Amendment jury trial right extends to states, building off last year's Jarkesy ruling, could foretell a profound change in state regulators' ability to enforce penalties against regulated companies, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • How Nasdaq, SEC Proposals May Transform Listing Standards

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    Both Nasdaq and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have increasingly focused their recent regulatory efforts on small and foreign issuers, particularly those from China, reflecting an intention to strengthen the overall quality of companies accessing U.S. markets, but also potentially introducing a chilling effect on certain issuers, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • New NCAA Betting Policy Fits Trend Of Eased Restrictions

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    Allowing NCAA student-athletes to bet on professional sports fits into a decade-long trend of treating college athletes more like adults in a commercial system, but decreasing player restrictions translates to increased compliance burdens for schools, say attorneys at Robins Kaplan.

  • Series

    Building With Lego Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Building with Lego has taught me to follow directions and adapt to unexpected challenges, and in pairing discipline with imagination, allows me to stay grounded while finding new ways to make complex deals come together, says Paul Levin at Venable.

  • How Banks Can Safely Handle Payments For Gambling Biz

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    As the betting market continues to expand, it's crucial for banks and fintechs to track historical developments in wagering and ongoing prediction markets litigation that can factor into a risk analysis for payment processing with respect to gambling operators, says Laura D'Angelo at Jones Walker.

  • Wading Into NY Wetland Regs' 2025 Changes And Challenges

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    Solar developers in New York should keep a weather eye on litigation challenging the New York Department of Environmental Conservation’s recently expanded authority to regulate wetlands and waterways, which could erode the impact of a new permitting process meant to streamline solar development on protected wetlands, say attorneys at Foley Hoag.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Networking 101

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    Cultivating a network isn't part of the law school curriculum, but learning the soft skills needed to do so may be the key to establishing a solid professional reputation, nurturing client relationships and building business, says Sharon Crane at Practising Law Institute.

  • Defeating Estoppel-Based Claims In Legal Malpractice Actions

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    State supreme court cases from recent years have addressed whether positions taken by attorneys in an underlying lawsuit can be used against them in a subsequent legal malpractice action, providing a foundation to defeat ex-clients’ estoppel claims, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin and Lodgen.

  • Takeaways As Justices Let 5th Circ. Pollution Ruling Stand

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent certiorari denial leaves intact a Fifth Circuit ruling that environmental justice organizations have standing to pursue a civil rights challenge to a parish's land-use practice, underscoring the importance of local governments proactively engaging with communities to address cumulative impacts of development, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • AI's Role In Google Antitrust Suit May Reshape Tech Markets

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    The evolution of AI in retail has reshaped the U.S.' antitrust case against Google, which could both benefit small business innovators and consumers, and fundamentally alter future antitrust cases, including the Federal Trade Commission's lawsuit against Amazon, says Graham Dufault at ACT.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: How It Works In Massachusetts

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    Since its founding in 2000, the Massachusetts Business Litigation Session's expertise, procedural flexibility and litigant-friendly case management practices have contributed to the development of a robust body of commercial jurisprudence, say James Donnelly at Mirick O’Connell, Felicia Ellsworth at WilmerHale and Lisa Wood at Foley Hoag.

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