Public Policy

  • August 11, 2026

    Feds Say Snapper Suit Moot After Permits Were Nixed

    A lawsuit challenging expanded recreational red snapper fishing permits the National Marine Fisheries Service issued to four states is "dead in the water" now that the permits have been canceled, the U.S. Department of Commerce told a D.C. federal judge.

  • August 11, 2026

    Virginia Says Hemp Cos. Can't Block New THC Limits

    The day before a court hearing on a motion for a temporary restraining order, Virginia officials are urging a federal judge not to halt enforcement of the state's new THC potency caps, saying the hemp businesses' request to do so "rests on a distorted premise."

  • August 11, 2026

    DOJ Says Executive Privilege May Apply To Private Advisers

    The president's communications with outside advisers may be shielded by executive privilege, so long as they are confidential and relate to official decision-making, the U.S. Department of Justice said in its latest advisory opinion.

  • August 11, 2026

    911 Providers Push FCC For Uniform Next-Gen Framework

    Emergency response organizations are urging the FCC to let 911 authorities drive interoperability between state systems rather than impose stand-alone federal testing mandates.

  • August 11, 2026

    Ohio Justices Advance Possible Ashville Data Center Vote

    An emergency resolution the village of Ashville passed to support a data center project failed to spell out any actual emergency justification for the measure, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled, clearing a path for a possible voter referendum.

  • August 11, 2026

    Blue States Say OCC Overstepped On Escrow Interest Rules

    An Oregon-led coalition of nearly a dozen states sued Tuesday to overturn the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's recent rules that exempt national banks from state laws requiring the payment of interest on homeowners' escrow account funds.

  • August 11, 2026

    Hemp Co. Vireo Aims To Toss Ownership Contract Claims

    Hemp and THC beverage maker Vireo Growth Inc. and its affiliates are asking a Minnesota federal court to toss the bulk of a suit alleging that Vireo failed to deliver on a partnership and interest contract, saying the plaintiffs' claims are largely based on a contract that was never signed or executed.

  • August 11, 2026

    Trump's Capital One Suit Tests Vast Debanking Powers

    President Donald Trump's lawsuit against Capital One NA is a high-profile test of a bank's broad powers to unilaterally close accounts, an issue that has been "devastating" for companies, law firms and others booted from banks based on opaque compliance concerns, experts say.

  • August 11, 2026

    Ga. Justices Revive Personal Injury Suit Against City

    Georgia's justices revived a woman's trip-and-fall suit against the city of Savannah on Tuesday, saying an intermediate appellate court misapplied the test for determining whether a property owner is immune from liability under the state's Recreational Property Act and must reconsider the case.

  • August 10, 2026

    Spa Fights 9th Circ.'s 'Swinging Dicks' Order At High Court

    The Ninth Circuit's rejection of a spa's religious objections to serving transgender customers is incompatible with several major precedents, according to a U.S. Supreme Court petition filed Monday in litigation that soared in prominence when dozens of circuit judges decried a salacious dissent.

  • August 10, 2026

    HHS Denies Existence Of $150M Deal With Texas Firm To Rep Migrant Kids

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Monday that a small law firm in Houston had not yet been tapped for a sole-source grant worth up to $150 million to provide legal services to unaccompanied migrant children in government custody.

  • August 10, 2026

    Calif. Unveils Novel AI Cyber Defense Plan For Critical Assets

    California's governor on Monday rolled out a first-of-its-kind initiative to help state agencies, local governments and critical infrastructure providers use artificial intelligence to detect and respond to increasingly sophisticated cyberthreats and be better prepared for incidents fueled by emerging AI technologies.

  • August 10, 2026

    DOJ Says Revealing Epstein Survivor IDs Wasn't Intentional

    The U.S. Department of Justice, Google and xAI have all urged a California federal court to throw out claims the Justice Department published the identifying information of more than 100 survivors of Jeffrey Epstein, information that continues to be republished by Google and xAI, arguing that disclosure wasn't willful.

  • August 10, 2026

    Mass. Data Center's Expansion Paused For Now

    A Massachusetts state judge temporarily blocked a data center's expansion plans in Lowell on Monday, finding opponents of the project may be poised to succeed on the basis that they weren't given a full opportunity to be heard.

  • August 10, 2026

    Trump Revives Push To Reduce Kids' Vaccine Schedule

    Responding to a legal setback, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday recommending fewer vaccines for most children and calling on parents and doctors to space out the vaccines they do give.

  • August 10, 2026

    9th Circ. Won't Revisit Kids' Suit Over Trump's Energy EOs

    The full Ninth Circuit on Monday declined to rehear a group of youths' legal challenge of President Donald Trump's executive orders spurring the use of fossil fuels to meet the country's energy needs.

  • August 10, 2026

    9th Circ. Backs City Of Tacoma In Pension Liability Rate Fight

    A Ninth Circuit panel sided with the city of Tacoma, Washington, in a pension fund dispute Monday, holding that a lower court correctly upheld an arbitrator's reassessment of the city's liability after it withdrew from the Western Metal Industry Pension Fund following the expiration of underlying collective bargaining agreements.

  • August 10, 2026

    OCC Takes Swipe At BofA In Post-Jan. 6 Data Sharing Suit

    A top U.S. banking regulator has waded into a proposed class action accusing Bank of America NA of unlawfully sharing customer information with law enforcement after the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack, arguing the bank can't use a key regulatory safe harbor to exit the case.

  • August 10, 2026

    Trump Pick Confirmed To NCUA As Hauptman Joins PCAOB

    The National Credit Union Administration is poised for new leadership after senators on Friday confirmed Trump nominee John Crews to its board, whose acting Chairman Kyle Hauptman has departed for a seat on the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

  • August 10, 2026

    Clinics' Suit Over Fund Use Ballot Measure Gets Tossed

    A California federal judge tossed a suit that federally designated community health clinics filed to block the placement of an expenditure transparency reporting initiative on the November ballot, saying the clinics' claims aren't ripe for court review.

  • August 10, 2026

    AbbVie, Novartis Seek To Block Ill. 340B Drug Discount Law

    AbbVie Inc. and Novartis Pharmaceuticals are urging an Illinois federal court to block a state law that took effect Friday barring pharmaceutical manufacturers from trying to impose restrictions on 340B contract pharmacy arrangements, arguing in a pair of suits that the law is unconstitutional.

  • August 10, 2026

    Conn. Town Wins Cop's Medical Marijuana, Discrimination Suit

    A Connecticut town has prevailed against a former police officer's discrimination claims tied to a training injury, comments by colleagues, a pension application and subsequent medical marijuana use, with a state judge issuing wins as a matter of law to the municipality and its officials on all four counts alleged.

  • August 10, 2026

    FCC Urged To Tighten 'Covered List' Regs

    A foreign policy think tank has asked the Federal Communications Commission to adopt a more comprehensive set of regulations to bar devices containing parts that are made by entities on the agency's Covered List, which identifies equipment and services deemed national security risks.

  • August 10, 2026

    Michel, Startups Back Injunction Bid In Samsung Patent Case

    Former Chief Federal Circuit Judge Paul Michel, patent law professors and a group of startup companies on Monday backed Collision Communications Inc.'s bid for a permanent injunction on Samsung products found to infringe its patents, saying courts have misread U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

  • August 10, 2026

    Team Telecom Probing T-Mobile's Plan To Buy Fiber Co. Stake

    T-Mobile has a $2 billion plan to acquire a 50% stake in a joint venture that seeks to combine two fiber companies, but the FCC won't say yea or nay to the deal until Team Telecom — a multiagency group that vets transactions involving foreign individuals and U.S. telecom companies — finishes looking into the matter.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • More Cos. Will Copy SpaceX's Shareholder Proposal Opt-Out

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    For more than 80 years, the shareholder proposal looked like a federal right guaranteed to all public company investors, but after SpaceX opted out before its recent initial public offering, other companies are likely to follow, says Mohsen Manesh at the University of Oregon School of Law.

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