Public Policy

  • August 14, 2026

    Colo. Taxpayer Says $490M Court Project Violates TABOR

    A Colorado county's decision to build a half-billion-dollar judicial center required voter approval under the state's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, a county council member said in a suit, attempting to halt the project.

  • August 14, 2026

    1st Circ. Becomes 7th To Reject Trump's No-Bond Policy

    The First Circuit became the seventh appellate court to reject the Trump administration's argument that noncitizens arrested in the interior U.S. can be detained without bond, ruling that immigrants who entered the country unlawfully years earlier can seek release on bond.

  • August 14, 2026

    USPTO Wants Input On Southwest Outreach Office

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is looking to increase its community outreach in the Southwest and is asking for public input on where it should set up offices in the six-state region.

  • August 14, 2026

    Law Student's Race Bias Claim Survives In Kirk Discipline Suit

    A Texas federal judge on Friday allowed a former Texas Tech law student to proceed with her claim that the university board was discriminatory in disciplining her over comments she made allegedly celebrating the death of Charlie Kirk because non-Black students who spoke about the assassination weren't investigated.

  • August 14, 2026

    Chicago Auto Lease Tax Is Unconstitutional, Suit Says

    A Chicago tax applied monthly to leased vehicles violates the state's constitution, a taxpayer told a state court, arguing the levy flouts the uniformity clause.

  • August 14, 2026

    IRS Expands Carbon Capture Tax Credit's Safe Harbor

    A safe harbor for the carbon sequestration tax credit's reporting requirements will apply to a method that uses carbon oxide used as a tertiary injectant in qualified oil and gas extraction projects, the IRS announced Friday, expanding earlier guidance for the incentive.

  • August 14, 2026

    White House, BigLaw Atty Picked For Tenn. Federal Bench

    President Donald Trump announced Friday that he is nominating a White House attorney and former BigLaw associate to serve as a Tennessee federal judge.

  • August 14, 2026

    Trump Hits Imported Drones With Up To 100% Tariffs

    Large drones and those with certain capabilities "that are particularly sensitive for national security purposes" and their components will face a 100% ad valorem tariff starting in September, President Donald Trump ordered, with smaller drones and other components facing a 25% tariff.

  • August 14, 2026

    Trump Asks Justices To Raze Block On Ballroom Construction

    President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to lift a ban on construction of a new White House ballroom, arguing a federal judge who ordered the work to stop overstepped his authority by vetoing national security officials' determinations that the ballroom is "vitally required." 

  • August 14, 2026

    UN Seeks Input On Draft Tax Convention And Protocols

    The United Nations is seeking input on a draft version of its proposed framework international tax convention, a protocol on taxing cross-border services and conventions on dispute prevention and resolution, the body's Department of Economic and Social Affairs said Friday.

  • August 14, 2026

    CFPB Will No Longer Post Narratives In Complaint Database

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Friday it will stop publishing consumer complaint narratives and data visualizations, a move consumer advocates warn will limit public visibility into patterns of alleged financial company misconduct.

  • August 14, 2026

    NRA Sues Denver Over Gun Carry Ban For Visitors

    The National Rifle Association and two out-of-state gun owners have sued Denver and Colorado state officials in federal court, arguing that the combined effect of the state's residency requirement for concealed carry permits and the city's ban on open carry leaves nonresident visitors with no lawful means to carry a handgun for self-defense.

  • August 13, 2026

    Full 5th Circ. Moots Challenge Of Trump's Use Of Enemies Act

    The full Fifth Circuit Thursday tossed three Venezuelan nationals' lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump's use of a 1798 wartime law to try to deport them and other Venezuelans, saying the proposed class case was now moot after the government deported them without invoking the law.

  • August 13, 2026

    Fed Shouldn't Have State Banking 'Veto,' High Court Told

    Custodia Bank has received support from a pair of current and former senators and two other digital asset organizations in its fight with the Federal Reserve pending before the U.S. Supreme Court over a "master account."

  • August 13, 2026

    5th Circ. Restores Parts Of Hotly Contested Texas Voter Law

    The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday reversed a lower court ruling that blocked several provisions of Texas' 2021 election law on the grounds they make voting harder for those with disabilities, holding the plaintiffs had failed to establish standing for most of their claims and rejecting the remaining claim on the merits.

  • August 13, 2026

    Supreme Court's Apple App Store Pause Lifted After 24 Hours

    Following the expiration of a roughly 24-hour pause on the App Store dispute between Apple and Epic Games, Apple put a 15% commission on the table Thursday to try to comply with a mandate forcing it to dramatically cut what it charges for App Store sales.

  • August 13, 2026

    CFTC Flags Lapses In Event Contract Filings On Incentives

    U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission staff have said they've noticed an uptick in deficiencies in applications for incentive programs on event contracts and have laid out steps it believes exchanges or platforms must fulfill when self-certifying such programs.

  • August 13, 2026

    Del. Water Supplier Sues 9 Cos. Over PFAS

    A Delaware water supplier hit nine companies with a suit in state court alleging that they released forever chemicals into the watersheds that supply water to tens of thousands of residents, seeking to recoup at least $34.6 million for the cost of ensuring safe drinking water.

  • August 13, 2026

    9th Circ. Says U. Of Wash. Is Immune From Vax Firing Suit

    A Ninth Circuit panel declined on Thursday to reinstate former University of Washington employees' claims that they were wrongfully fired after refusing the COVID-19 vaccination on religious grounds, concluding the university qualifies as an arm of the state that cannot be sued for civil rights violations under the relevant federal law.  

  • August 13, 2026

    ICE Again Ordered To Fix 'Inhumane' Adelanto Detention Site

    A California federal judge on Wednesday once again ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to improve conditions at its Adelanto detention facility in the Mojave Desert, pointing to "severe and inhumane deficiencies" in necessities including access to safe food and water and sanitary living conditions.

  • August 13, 2026

    9th Circ. Revives $140M Robo-Surgery Antitrust Case

    The Ninth Circuit on Thursday revived a surgical instrument repair company's antitrust suit accusing the makers of the da Vinci surgical robot of illegally blocking third parties from repairing its instruments, ruling that a district judge erred in applying the U.S. Supreme Court's Kodak factors to the dispute.

  • August 13, 2026

    8th Circ. Partially Revives Iowa Adjuster Law Challenge

    The Eighth Circuit has revived a residential contractor's claim that its First Amendment rights were violated when the Iowa Insurance Division issued warning notices pursuant to the state's public adjuster laws, while affirming that the statutes are not unconstitutional on their face and not void for vagueness.

  • August 13, 2026

    5th Circ. Nixes Fed Approval For Offshore Oil Export Port

    A Fifth Circuit panel overturned a license approval for a deepwater port off Texas, ruling that the Trump administration failed to properly consider how a pipeline serving the offshore crude oil export facility would intersect a pipeline for another approved port.

  • August 13, 2026

    Warehouse Owner Faces Manslaughter Charge In Blast Death

    For the second time, a Michigan warehouse owner on Thursday saw a judge say involuntary manslaughter charges against him should move forward, in a case over a March 2024 explosion where shrapnel struck and killed a 19-year-old man.

  • August 13, 2026

    Wash. Halts Conversion Therapy Ban For Therapist Amid Suit

    Washington state has agreed not to enforce its ban on a practice commonly known as conversion therapy against a therapist while his First Amendment challenge to the prohibition plays out in federal court, according to a stipulation entered Thursday.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Roundup

    The Most Talked-About Supreme Court Decisions Of 2026

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    This term, 11 U.S. Supreme Court decisions quickly became hot topics among Law360's guest writers.

  • Structuring Space Nuclear Deals For Regulatory Risk

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    With the White House's recent focus on space nuclear power, a highly important question for companies that want to build orbital reactors, lunar surface systems or critical components is whether the transaction documents can handle foreign investment constraints, export controls and treaty-linked liability, says Kristie Blase at Frazer + Blase.

  • Proof, Not Just Timing, Will Decide Clean Energy Credits

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    For wind and solar projects that sprinted to begin construction before the accelerated placed-in-service deadline of July 4, project owners must now assemble and maintain documentation to qualify the project and defend against a potential clean energy credit audit, says Peter Lowy at Nelson Mullins.

  • Coordinating Life Sciences IP Strategies In The US And EU

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    As postgrant practice for life sciences patents is restructured in the U.S. and European Union simultaneously, patent owners will need to implement transatlantic coordination that treats international proceedings as components of a single intellectual property risk architecture, says Paul Calvo at Sterne Kessler.

  • Texas Business Court Rulings Show Deal Terms Paramount

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    As the courts within the Texas Business Court system have begun reaching the substantive merits of the cases before them, they are persuasively demonstrating they will not only enforce the terms of transactions as written, but will also embrace a holistic approach to complex transaction documentation interpretation, says Christopher Pace at Winston Taylor.

  • Series

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

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    The year's second quarter brought several noteworthy financial services developments to California, including activity around a commercial finance oversight bill, the former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau head's appointment to lead a new consumer agency, and a ruling reinforcing viable bank-fintech partnerships, say attorneys at Manatt.

  • Trademark Law As A Tool To Bolster NIL Rights Against AI

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    The meteoric rise of artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes is prompting high-profile celebrities to protect their name, image and likeness rights using federal trademark law — a powerful yet limited supplement to traditional NIL claims, says Susan Natland at BakerHostetler.

  • What Ex-CFPB Head's Calif. Role May Foretell For Oversight

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    California Gov. Gavin Newsom's selection of former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra to lead a new consumer agency signals tougher state financial services oversight, especially for fintechs, as well as heightened enforcement activity and larger penalties, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Why SEC Climate Rule Rescission Wouldn't End Disclosure

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    If the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent proposal to rescind its 2024 climate-related disclosure rules is adopted, companies would no longer need to prepare for the rules' specific governance, emissions, attestation, financial statement and tagging requirements, but several important constraints would remain, say attorneys at Venable.

  • New Colo. Retainage Bonds Shift Construction Power Balance

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    A new Colorado law that can force property owners and developers to accept bonds from contractors in lieu of traditional cash retainage means owners’ practical leverage now derives from administering a risk-transfer mechanism, not from controlling cash, but key questions remain about who may assert a claim and how enforcing a bond actually works, say attorneys at Akerman.

  • 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.

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