Public Policy

  • July 27, 2026

    10th Circ. Upholds Colo.'s $3-A-Day Rental Car Fee

    The Tenth Circuit upheld Colorado's up-to-$3-a-day congestion impact fee on short-term vehicle rentals Monday, ruling that the charge falls on consumers rather than airport rental car companies.

  • July 27, 2026

    Hemp Co. Says DEA Defied Farm Bill By Banning HHC

    A North Carolina hemp company challenging the legality of a recent U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration rule designating a psychoactive hemp-derived compound as a Schedule I substance has told the Fourth Circuit that the agency defied Congress when it issued the rule.

  • July 27, 2026

    Bus Co. Settles Bid-Rigging Claims For $2.4M

    A national student transportation company will pay $2.4 million to settle allegations that two Massachusetts subsidiaries colluded with another bus company to allocate contracts in three Greater Boston communities, the state attorney general's office announced Monday.

  • July 27, 2026

    Mass. Board Won't Lower $2.1M Property Value

    A Massachusetts homeowner failed to lower the tax valuation of her $2.1 million home after the state tax board decided Monday that purported sewer issues and an easement didn't warrant a reduction in its assessment.

  • July 27, 2026

    Trade Court Orders Redo Of Mexican Steel Duty Rate

    The U.S. Department of Commerce must recalculate the antidumping duty rate for corrosion-resistant steel products produced by a Mexican company without applying certain adverse facts, the U.S. Court of International Trade said, calling the previous calculation "unreasonable."

  • July 27, 2026

    Cannabis In The Courts: A Midyear Litigation Review

    In the first half of 2026, lawsuits taking aim at recent federal shifts in cannabis policy, a federal ban on marijuana users owning firearms and purported residency criteria in state cannabis licensure programs were argued in multiple courts across the country.

  • July 27, 2026

    Utilities Org. Urges FCC Not To Preempt Wash. Pole Regs

    A group representing 27 consumer-owned public utility districts in Washington state has told the Federal Communications Commission not to preempt the state's process to resolve issues stemming from mobile or internet service providers wanting to attach equipment to utility poles.

  • July 27, 2026

    Trump Admin Appeals Partial Block On Mail Ballot Order

    The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in after the First Circuit declined on Saturday to lift a lower court's order prohibiting the administration from enforcing restrictions on mail-in balloting in 23 states and the District of Columbia in this year's general election.

  • July 27, 2026

    Comey Says Seashell Post No Threat To Trump

    Former FBI Director James Comey urged a North Carolina federal court Monday to dismiss an indictment stemming from a social media post he made last year, arguing the post doesn't constitute a "true threat" to President Donald Trump.

  • July 27, 2026

    Commerce Orders Duties On Korean Chemical Imports

    Certain monomers and oligomers imported into the U.S. from South Korea will be tagged with antidumping duties following an order by the U.S. Department of Commerce on Monday.

  • July 27, 2026

    Pa. Felony Murder Bill Deadline Expires With No New Rules

    The deadline for Pennsylvania lawmakers to pass new sentencing rules for second-degree murder has passed, after the state Supreme Court didn't act Friday on a request to extend the delay on their ruling that mandatory life sentences for second-degree murder are unconstitutional.

  • July 24, 2026

    Data Privacy & AI Issues To Watch For The Rest Of 2026

    Federal and state lawmakers are expected in the coming months to keep pressing efforts for companies to do more to keep children safe online and rein in potentially harmful uses of emerging artificial intelligence systems, while the California Legislature ponders a measure that's aimed at easing the explosion of wiretap litigation under a decades-old state law.

  • July 24, 2026

    Illinois Blocked From Giving Tuition Aid To Immigrants

    A federal judge Friday permanently barred Illinois from providing benefits such as in-state tuition and education scholarships to unauthorized immigrants, agreeing with the Trump administration's argument that the offerings run afoul of federal law by discriminating against U.S. citizens.

  • July 24, 2026

    IP Cases In The Spotlight As ITC Adds 5 New Commissioners

    The Senate's confirmation of five new commissioners at the International Trade Commission, including two who were staffers on the intellectual property committees in Congress, could lead to a greater focus on IP cases at the commission and efforts to speed them up, attorneys say.

  • July 24, 2026

    5th Circ. Partly Upholds Block On Texas Content Filtering Law

    A Fifth Circuit panel on Friday affirmed in part a lower court's injunction blocking Texas' new law forcing companies to filter content for underage users, though it said other portions of the law, including an age-verification requirement, were permissible.

  • July 24, 2026

    Va. Court Orders FDA To Reconsider Mifepristone Restrictions

    A Virginia federal judge held that a 2023 regulation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration unlawfully placed prescribing restrictions on the abortion drug mifepristone, agreeing with a group of abortion providers that the agency inadequately addressed burdens on the healthcare system.

  • July 24, 2026

    Conservative Groups Say No To Broadcast Renewal Updates

    Fourteen conservative and free-market organizations urged Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr to preserve broadcast license renewals as "routine and presumptive."

  • July 24, 2026

    DOD Says Boat Strike Videos Sought By NYT Are Classified

    The U.S. Department of Defense told a New York federal judge that while it did share on social media video clips from military strikes on boats in the Pacific and Caribbean, it properly withheld from The New York Times the full-length videos because they contain classified details.

  • July 24, 2026

    FCC Adopts New Rules To Close 'Covered List' Loophole

    The Federal Communications Commission closed a loophole that allowed the sale of products containing "smart" components despite their manufacturers' inclusion on the agency's list of national security threats.

  • July 24, 2026

    CFTC Warns Platforms Against Broad Event Contract Filings

    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Friday told prediction market platforms that it won't wave through "broad, template" filings seeking to certify a variety of event contracts at once.

  • July 24, 2026

    Illinois Judge Tosses Suit Aimed At High School Speed Zone

    An Illinois federal judge has tossed a Chicago driver's proposed class lawsuit challenging two speeding tickets she received in a high school safety zone, adding that one claim requires administrative adjudication before it returns to court.

  • July 24, 2026

    11th Circ. Revives Challenge To Ga. Gun Carry Age Limits

    The Eleventh Circuit revived a challenge to a Georgia statute that prohibits adults under the age of 21 from obtaining weapons carry licenses and carrying handguns in public on Friday, sending the case back to a lower court to consider it in light of recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

  • July 24, 2026

    Fixed-Stay Student Visas May Add Burdens For Employers

    The Trump administration's new fixed-admission framework for foreign students has U.S. employers and universities thinking through new compliance obligations, with some companies contemplating tracking students' visa expiration dates and taking on their extension paperwork, attorneys tell Law360.

  • July 24, 2026

    2 Conservative Airbnb Investors Drop Proxy Bias Suit

    Two right-leaning institutional investors that accused Airbnb of wrongly excluding their shareholder proposals from proxy materials have been allowed to quietly drop their lawsuit against the short-term rental business.

  • July 24, 2026

    Ex-Immigration Judge Says Firing Is Part Of Biased Anti-DEI Push

    A former immigration judge has sued the U.S. Department of Justice in California federal court claiming she was pushed off the bench because she is Black and female, and previously advocated for immigrant clients as an attorney — and saying dozens of similarly situated judges were also fired or denied permanent positions.

Expert Analysis

  • Justices Stand On Statutory Specifics In Cisco And Landor

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    With its June 23 decisions in Cisco Systems Inc. v. Doe and Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety, the U.S. Supreme Court doubled down on the critical point that the statute invoked in a federal claim must authorize a private lawsuit and the remedy sought, says Patrick Judd at Phelps Dunbar.

  • Immigration Ruling Maps Alternative To Universal Injunctions

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    A Rhode Island federal court's decision in Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island v. USCIS vacating policies that froze key immigration adjudications for nationals of 39 countries, and paused asylum applications altogether, suggests how practitioners might press for the Administrative Procedure Act's bad faith exception to record review and seek vacatur as a viable alternative to universal injunctions, says Kemal Hepsen at Mandamus Lawyers.

  • New Va. Finance Laws Signal Consumer Protection Push

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    Virginia's 2026 legislative session produced several noteworthy developments for financial institutions, including garnishment reforms, mortgage assumption requirements and debt collection reforms, signaling broader trends toward increased consumer protection, enhanced fraud prevention obligations and greater accountability in financial services operations, says Jay Spruill at Woods Rogers.

  • How Montgomery Ruling Will Affect Cos. Across Supply Chain

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    Since the U.S. Supreme Court's May 14 decision in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, the immediate focus has been on freight brokers and negligent carrier-selection claims, but the ripple effects may extend to shippers, logistics providers, insurers, transportation managers and other participants in the supply chain, say attorneys at Quintairos Prieto.

  • High Court's FCC Fine Ruling Reframes Agency Enforcement

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Federal Communications Commission v. AT&T sweeps aside uncertainty about what kinds of regulatory enforcement trigger a Seventh Amendment right, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • How Maine's Expanded Health Deal Reviews Complicate M&A

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    A pair of recently approved Maine competition laws establish notice and approval requirements for certain healthcare transactions and expand state antitrust oversight, creating new hurdles for dealmakers as states take a more aggressive role in policing healthcare consolidation, especially involving private equity, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Opinion

    Congress Must Resolve Growing Subchapter V Uncertainty

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    Congress must pass a bill to permanently restore the Subchapter V debt limit and clarify several other key points of the law to prevent a practical restructuring tool from becoming a costly procedural morass, says Ted Gavin at Gavin Solmonese.

  • CFTC Policy Substantially Expands Self-Reporting Incentives

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    A recent U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission policy moves from a mitigation-centered model to prioritizing declination for early self-reporting and full cooperation, reflecting a deliberate effort to harmonize voluntary self-disclosure incentives across the federal enforcement authorities, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • Opinion

    Exxon Shareholders Were Right To Save New Voting Program

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    Following Exxon shareholders’ recent vote that rejected a bid to dismantle the company’s new retail voting program, other companies should replicate it as a way to lower the friction for shareholders who already vote with the board to keep doing so without wrestling a ballot every spring, says J.W. Verret at the Antonin Scalia Law School.

  • Series

    Choral Singing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Singing in the New York City Bar Chorus — a hobby partly inspired by the late U.S. District Judge Richard Owen, who infused my clerkship year with opera music — has improved my legal career by refining my abilities to listen, exude confidence and develop emotional intelligence, says Bonnie Baker at Friedman Kaplan.

  • What Ratings Overhaul May Mean For Banking Industry

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    Proposed revisions to the bank rating system commonly known as CAMELS could constrain examiner discretion and tie supervisory outcomes more closely to measurable financial risk, potentially saving compliance costs, reducing the frequency of ratings downgrades and spurring a more growth-oriented banking system, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Series

    Illinois Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The last three months were particularly consequential for Illinois banking law, with a federal court ruling reshaping the Interchange Fee Prohibition Act, the state filling enforcement gaps, significant legislative activity and a revision to the community bank leverage ratio, say attorneys at Riley Safer.

  • Attorney Mental Health Is An Ethical Obligation In The AI Era

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    As attorneys cope with the increasing unpredictability that artificial intelligence and constant policy changes have created, particularly in practice areas where they carry the emotional weight of clients’ most consequential life events, otherwise soft discussions about self-care are a matter of professional competence, says attorney Jack Jrada.

  • Md. Ruling Reflects Classic Administrative Law Principle

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    A Maryland federal court's recent decision in Columbus v. Kennedy significantly limits how far the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services can go in reshaping the Affordable Care Act through regulation, highlighting a principle that will likely be applied in similar Administrative Procedure Act challenges, says Michael King at Brownstein Hyatt.

  • DOJ China Container Indictments Signal Global Cartel Risk

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recent announcement that it had indicted Chinese manufacturers for conspiring to drive up the price of shipping containers sold in the U.S. illustrates the Antitrust Division's interest in pursuing overseas cartel conduct, especially in China, signaling that multinational companies with employees abroad should strengthen antitrust compliance to avoid running afoul of U.S. national security policy, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

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