Public Policy

  • August 05, 2026

    Defense Dept. Was 'Ostrich Burying His Head', Judge Says

    A Massachusetts federal judge Wednesday compared the U.S. Department of Defense's since struck-down reimbursement limit for grant-funded research to an "ostrich burying his head in the sand," awarding attorney fees to the academic organization that successfully challenged the policy.

  • August 05, 2026

    Senate Version Of Kids' Online Safety Legislation Clears Panel

    A key U.S. Senate committee Wednesday advanced four legislative proposals designed to shield children from online harms presented by addictive design features and artificial intelligence-powered chatbots, setting up a clash with a package of digital safety bills that has already passed the House but that several senators have blasted as "toothless."

  • August 05, 2026

    Wash. Landlords' COVID-19 Eviction Moratorium Suit Tossed

    A Seattle federal judge has thrown out a group of landlords' proposed class action challenging COVID-19-era eviction bans imposed by Washington cities and the state, saying Wednesday that appellate courts have recognized that landlord-tenant regulations generally do not qualify as physical takings of private property.

  • August 05, 2026

    Senate Dems Grill Trump's Judge Picks For 5th Circ., Alabama

    Senate Democrats on Wednesday dug into two judges nominated by the president to serve in Alabama district court and on the Fifth Circuit over their careful answers about who won the 2020 election and one's history of advocating against a ban on forced arbitration for workplace sexual harassment and assault claims.

  • August 05, 2026

    How Plaintiffs Won A $604M Verdict Against CH Robinson

    Roland Christensen of Arnold & Itkin LLP said that for the life of him, he couldn't understand why C.H. Robinson didn't cut a deal offered by the families of victims who burned to death following an 18-wheeler crash.

  • August 05, 2026

    5th Circ. Wary Again Of FCC's Control Over Subsidy Program

    A panel of Fifth Circuit judges on Wednesday raised new questions about the Federal Communications Commission's oversight of the country's $9 billion annual telecom subsidy program after a U.S. Supreme Court decision kept the fund intact last summer.

  • August 05, 2026

    Fed. Gov't Held In Contempt By Judge Over ICE Phone Data

    A California district judge held the federal government in contempt in litigation over immigration arrest tactics for not complying with a discovery order requiring forensic imaging of phones used by agents during their operations, imposing a fine of $500 per day until the government complies with the order.

  • August 05, 2026

    Incumbent Wash. Justices On Top In Early Primary Results

    Three incumbent Washington State Supreme Court justices — including two governor appointees — led their respective primary races Wednesday, as a state trial judge edged ahead in the race for another open seat on the high court, according to preliminary election results.

  • August 05, 2026

    Soldier Wants To Fight DOJ, CFTC Maduro Bet Cases At Once

    The U.S. Army soldier accused of reaping prediction market profits with his knowledge of the January operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro wants to fight parallel actions from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the U.S. Justice Department at once, and contends the government can't use his case as an "experiment" for how to police trading on platforms like Polymarket.

  • August 05, 2026

    Stewart Says Patent System 'Crisis' Fueled USPTO Changes

    Coke Morgan Stewart, the deputy director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office who left the agency last week, said in an interview with Law360 this week that new limits on patent challenges and other policy changes she helped lead were driven by a sense that the patent system was in "a pretty significant crisis."

  • August 05, 2026

    Kalshi To Block Wash. Betting But Said Pause Is Overbroad

    Kalshi agreed to implement geofencing restrictions by Aug. 26 to prevent people in Washington from making bets on the platform in accordance with a state judge's preliminary injunction, but the prediction market is still at odds with state officials over the scope of the court order.

  • August 05, 2026

    Kansas Judge Permanently Blocks Abortion Care Restrictions

    A Kansas state court has permanently enjoined a slew of restrictions on abortion care, including requirements that providers disclose patients' reasons for seeking an abortion to the state and inform patients about abortion pill "reversal" treatments the court said were "unlikely to be biologically plausible."

  • August 05, 2026

    DHS Wants To Hire Debt-Tracer To Track Down Deportees

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection is seeking bids for a contract to hire a private company to track down immigrants in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras who left voluntarily or were deported from the U.S. before paying off immigration-related fines.

  • August 05, 2026

    NYC's Food Apps Data Law Goes Too Far, 2nd Circ. Says

    A New York City law that would require DoorDash, GrubHub and other delivery apps to share customer data with the restaurants fulfilling food orders violates the First Amendment, the Second Circuit ruled Wednesday.

  • August 05, 2026

    FCC Returns $881M In Unused TV Broadcaster 'Repack' Funds

    The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday that it has returned $881 million that went unused in the TV Broadcaster Relocation Fund.

  • August 05, 2026

    Ill. Feds Fight Contempt Proceedings In ICE Protest Case

    Federal prosecutors urged an Illinois federal judge Tuesday to reject further hearings and a special prosecutor over grand jury misconduct in a dismissed case against anti-ICE activists, arguing that the dismissal of the charges, the payout of their attorney fees, "substantial" internal reforms and a pending ethics probe render criminal contempt proceedings unnecessary.

  • August 05, 2026

    Trade Group Seeks Injunction Over Colo. Recycling Law

    A trade group made up of about 35,000 wholesale distribution companies asked a Colorado federal judge Wednesday to issue an injunction preventing the state from enforcing a new recycling law, arguing that the law is unconstitutional.

  • August 05, 2026

    Texas Governor Calls For Data Center Audit

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to audit any data centers that are going through ERCOT's electric grid interconnection process, saying that an audit is needed because the demand from data centers seeking to connect to Texas' electric grid could overwhelm it.

  • August 05, 2026

    Mass. City Must Refund $2.4M In Cannabis 'Impact' Fees

    A Massachusetts state court judge has ordered a Boston suburb to refund $2.4 million in fees it collected from cannabis retailers, saying the city of Newton failed to show the fees were tethered to the costs of hosting the businesses.

  • August 05, 2026

    Texas Cos., Others Urge Cruz, Cornyn To Block Rio Barriers

    More than 140 river outfitters, local businesses and recreation groups have urged Texas' two U.S. senators and Gov. Greg Abbott to intervene and stop planned border barrier construction in and around Big Bend National Park, warning the project would devastate the region's recreation economy and cut off public access to the Rio Grande.

  • August 05, 2026

    Judge Says Firearms Act Can't Stand After Gun Taxes Zeroed

    A Texas federal court ruled Wednesday that the National Firearms Act and its enforcement of registration and transfer requirements are unconstitutional in light of the 2025 federal budget bill's elimination of taxes on certain firearms, handing a win to several gun rights advocacy groups.

  • August 05, 2026

    Utah Can Enforce Gambling Laws Against Kalshi, Judge Says

    A Utah federal judge has allowed the state's gambling regulators to crack down on Kalshi's sports event contracts, rejecting the prediction market giant's argument that it should be shielded by federal law.

  • August 05, 2026

    Senate Panel Presses DOJ Antitrust Pick On Independence

    President Donald Trump's pick to lead the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, Adam Candeub, faced tough questions Wednesday during a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing, where several Democrats challenged his independence.

  • August 05, 2026

    Convicted Tax-Offender Atty Rebuffed In Bid To Have Firearm

    A Connecticut attorney who served prison time for tax offenses cannot proceed with most of a suit that seeks the restoration of his right to possess a firearm, a federal judge said in a ruling Wednesday.

  • August 05, 2026

    These Firms Are Picking Up The Most PTAB Work

    Intellectual property heavyweight Fish & Richardson PC remains the busiest firm in front of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, as it again secured the top spot on a list of firms with the most PTAB trials over the past three years.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Shareholder Derivative Litigation Needs A Better Framework

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    Uncoordinated, multiforum shareholder derivative litigation is a growing issue for corporate defendants that have little to no recourse for organizing and consolidating actions, but several commonsense steps should be utilized to preempt such disputes, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • How Justices' TPS Ruling Affects Workforce Planning

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent holding in Mullin v. Doe that courts lack jurisdiction to review temporary protected status determinations greenlights the end of TPS for thousands of Syrian and Haitian nationals, and means employers must reevaluate TPS-designees' employability while avoiding discriminatory document practices, says attorney Richard Herman.

  • How State, Local Rules Are Expanding Debt Collection Reach

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    Consumer protection rules recently enacted by several states signal that the rules of debt collection are being rewritten at a pace that should command the attention of every creditor, servicer, debt buyer, collection agency and collection law firm operating across state lines, says Weldianne Scales at Reed Smith.

  • How Nixing Trade-Through Rule Would Alter Equity Markets

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent proposal to rescind the trade-through rule and the locked-and-crossed-markets prohibition represents one of the most significant potential changes to U.S. equity market structure in two decades, affecting exchanges, broker-dealers, and institutional and retail investors alike, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Reviving Prize Law Would Reshape Maritime Seizure Risks

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    Recent U.S. maritime interdictions of sanctioned tankers and shadow fleet vessels raise urgent questions about whether civil forfeiture or prize law — a framework that has not been meaningfully tested since the Spanish-American War — governs and the potential impacts on vessel owners, charterers and insurers, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • The Nuance Between The Atkins, Gensler SEC Strategic Plans

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    U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins' recent draft strategic plan is a marked departure from that of former Chair Gary Gensler, portraying an intention to leave decisions to the market rather than steering corporate behavior through expansive disclosure mandates and regulatory enforcement, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • Future Of Fed Independence Shaky After Justices' Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Trump v. Cook preserved the Federal Reserve's formal independence but could invite the president to remove board members with just modest protections, leaving the central bank's autonomy uncertain and potentially setting up fresh clashes over other agencies, says Steven Schwinn at the University of Chicago.

  • Series

    Mich. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The second quarter brought several notable financial services law developments to Michigan, including a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on state tax foreclosures, progress on a money transmission modernization bill package, and continued legislative momentum on cryptocurrency and mortgage lending, say attorneys at Dykema.

  • How New FERC Orders Are Prepping Grid For Large Loads

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    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's recent show-cause orders to grid operators to justify how their rates and regulations account for the interconnection of large and colocated loads like data centers may be just the first step in FERC's efforts to address anticipated reliability and affordability challenges in the coming years, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.

  • FDA Moves Leave Peptides In A Legal Gray Zone

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    While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has taken a concrete step forward on reclassifying certain peptides, the practical consequence of their interim status cannot be overstated — these substances are no longer designated as posing a significant safety risk, but they have not been affirmatively authorized for compounding, say attorneys at Sheppard.

  • Series

    Bass Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Landing a trophy striped bass and closing a big deal both require cultivating the patience to finesse — not force — your way to desired outcomes, changing course when your old approach isn’t working and learning from the ones that got away, says Jon Ruiss at Alston & Bird.

  • What Consent Decree Trends Mean For Deal Clearances

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    With merger remedies back on the table under the current administration, an analysis of recent Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice consent decrees reveals that prior approval and prior notice provisions are no longer a foregone conclusion, and companies may be able to negotiate narrowly tailored obligations, say attorneys at Weil.

  • Series

    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The year's second quarter brought several notable banking law developments to New York, including a proposal to align state stablecoin rules with the federal Genius Act, fresh fair lending and cybersecurity guidance from state regulators, and a significant Second Circuit holding on preemption, say attorneys at Ashurst Perkins Coie.

  • How Reincorporating In Texas May Alter Earnout Disputes

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    While the DExit debate has focused on shareholder suits, far less attention has been paid to what reincorporating in Texas means for M&A disputes, making it particularly important to understand the nuances between Delaware and Texas earnout jurisprudence, say attorneys at Selendy Gay.

  • What To Know If DOL Raises Overtime Salary Floor

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    With the U.S. Department of Labor recently rescinding a 2024 rule that increased the minimum salary for the Fair Labor Standards Act's overtime exemptions, employers should assess how a future increase would affect their workforce, paying particular attention to job duties requirements and state laws, says James Coleman at Constangy.

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