Public Policy

  • August 14, 2026

    Colo. Resident Says Energy Panel Dodged Open Meeting Law

    An advisory group created by the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission is barring the public from attending meetings and refusing to turn over public records, a Denver resident has claimed in Colorado state court.

  • August 14, 2026

    Dem Says FCC Ignores Affordability In New Broadband Report

    In the latest turn in a yearslong debate at the Federal Communications Commission, the agency's lone Democrat on Friday criticized a report spearheaded by the GOP majority touting robust broadband deployment, saying the Republicans gave short shrift to affordability issues.

  • August 14, 2026

    ICE Says FOIA Redactions Protect Ankle Monitor Protocols

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has urged a North Carolina federal judge to end a lawsuit brought by two immigrant legal groups seeking records about a reported directive requiring ankle monitoring, arguing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has produced every nonexempt document and properly applied redactions.

  • August 14, 2026

    NY AG Says 2nd Circ. Ruling Doesn't Back Pricing Law Case

    The New York Attorney General's Office has pushed back after RealPage Inc. told a New York federal court that a recent Second Circuit ruling supports the company's challenge to a state law prohibiting landlords from using software to share information and set residential rental rates.

  • August 14, 2026

    9th Circ. Denies Ex-Cop's Asylum Bid, But Calls For Better Test

    A Ninth Circuit panel affirmed the denial of asylum for a former El Salvador police officer targeted by the MS-13 gang, but urged the full court to revisit precedent that directed it to only consider mistreatment incurred after the man left the force.

  • August 14, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Overrules Precedent On Veteran Hiring Protections

    The Federal Circuit on Friday revived a disabled veteran's challenge to the U.S. Navy's handling of his promotion application, which the agency rejected after mistakenly finding he didn't submit certain documents, and then reviewed only after giving the job to someone else. 

  • August 14, 2026

    Charter-Cox Tie-Up Gets Last Needed OK With Calif. Approval

    California regulators have approved the $34.5 billion merger of major cable providers Charter and Cox, providing the last needed regulatory green light but also imposing conditions meant to help consumers.

  • August 14, 2026

    Feds Seek To Undo ADA Win In Fla. After DOJ Guidance Shift

    The federal government asked the Eleventh Circuit on Thursday to vacate a recent ruling upholding an injunction that found Florida's institutionalization of children with complex medical conditions violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, in light of a change in directives from the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • August 14, 2026

    Court Clears RI Pot Licensing After Law Drops Residency Rule

    A Rhode Island federal judge on Friday dissolved a court order blocking the state's social equity and adult-use cannabis licensing program, saying recent changes to state law mooted the reasons for enjoining the program in the first place.

  • August 14, 2026

    4th Circ. Altria Decision Spotlights Risks From ERISA Docs

    A recent Fourth Circuit decision in a retirement plan dispute between tobacco giant Altria and an ex-worker underscored how service provider contracts can introduce snags in litigation, with benefits attorneys warning that employers may want to review documents with the potential for disclosure in mind.

  • August 14, 2026

    Trump Aims To Rebuild US Maritime Industrial Base

    President Donald Trump signed a memorandum aimed at addressing backlogs in U.S. Navy shipbuilding by directing the Pentagon to pursue direct investments in the U.S. maritime industrial base from foreign suppliers to boost competition. 

  • August 14, 2026

    Trump-Backed Crypto Co. Gets Initial OK For Bank Charter

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Friday preliminarily approved a closely watched charter application from World Liberty Financial, moving the Trump family-tied cryptocurrency venture closer to launching a federally regulated trust bank.

  • August 14, 2026

    4 Questions On Excess Manufacturing Capacity Tariffs

    Stakeholders anticipate new tariffs on key trading partners stemming from allegations that excess manufacturing capacity is causing harm to U.S. businesses, but several open questions remain about the extent to which duty burdens will increase and whether countries will retaliate in response. Here, Law360 considers four such questions.

  • August 14, 2026

    6th Circ. Says Cops Forcing Man To Pee In His Yard Unlawful

    A Michigan man who was forced to urinate on his front lawn because police, who were conducting a search of his home, would not allow him to use his own bathroom had his Fourth Amendment rights violated, a Sixth Circuit panel determined on Thursday.

  • August 14, 2026

    Mich. Panel Gives Dog New Chance In Euthanasia Fight

    A Michigan appeals court has overturned an order requiring a Port Huron woman to euthanize her dog after he bit off a guest's nose, ruling that a lower court applied the wrong standard when deciding whether the guest provoked the dog by putting her face inches away from the dog's face.

  • August 14, 2026

    10th Circ. Backs $5M Verdict In Fight Over Toll Lanes Contract

    The Tenth Circuit on Friday unanimously upheld a Denver federal jury's award of $5.25 million to construction design firm Aecom, wholly rejecting a contractor's request for a new trial in a contract dispute over a Colorado toll lanes project.

  • August 14, 2026

    Conn. City Settles Wrongful Conviction Suits For $30.5M

    After the mayor of New Haven, Connecticut, publicly announced a $30.5 million settlement, a federal judge dismissed two lawsuits accusing the city of civil rights violations tied to two wrongful murder convictions, for which each plaintiff spent nearly 20 years in prison.

  • August 14, 2026

    SEC Staff Halt Responses To Proxy Proposal Exclusion Bids

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Friday made permanent a previous decision to step back from responding to companies' bids to exclude shareholder proposals from their ballots, following comments from the agency's chairman that the most recent proxy season saw none of the "dire predictions" some had forecast after the retreat.

  • August 14, 2026

    Idaho Abortion Ban Needs Health Exceptions, Judge Finds

    An Idaho federal judge barred the state from criminalizing abortions in cases where continuing a pregnancy puts a patient at risk of lasting harm or death via self-harm, finding that the 14th Amendment establishes a fundamental right to health- and life-preserving abortion care.

  • August 14, 2026

    Calif. Tribe Failed To Show Harm Over 40-Acre Land Transfer

    A California tribe can't block the U.S. Department of the Interior from transferring 40 acres into trust for a fellow tribe's casino project, a D.C. district court judge has determined, saying action on the contested land isn't imminent and there's no demonstrable irreparable harm.

  • August 14, 2026

    Can Texas, Nevada Replicate Delaware's Corporate Edge?

    Texas and Nevada have spent the past few years rewriting corporate laws and building specialized business courts in an effort to challenge Delaware's long-standing dominance as the preferred home for U.S. companies. While a handful of high-profile corporations have already made the move, corporate law experts say creating another Delaware will require far more than new statutes and judges.

  • 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.

Expert Analysis

  • What 'Good Faith' Means In Calif.'s 1st Climate Reporting Year

    Author Photo

    Initial submissions to California's corporate greenhouse gas emissions reporting program are due this month — and for regulated businesses, the first-year issue is not whether CARB has answered every implementation question, but how a company can make its good faith compliance efforts provable later, says Thierry Montoya at FBT Gibbons.

  • How New Counter-Drone Rule Will Reshape Event Security

    Author Photo

    A new interim final rule on counter-unmanned aircraft systems creates one of the most structured regulatory frameworks yet adopted for mitigating unauthorized drone activity, with implications for law enforcement, airport and stadium operators, drone companies, and public event organizers, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • How Home Infusion Providers Can Adapt To Enrollment Pause

    Author Photo

    Recent Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services moratoria on new enrollments of home health agencies, medical equipment companies and hospices make home infusion providers' compliance obligations more complex and ambiguous, requiring new careful consideration of specific enrollment requirements and limitations, say attorneys at Quarles & Brady.

  • Opinion

    Birthright Citizenship Dissents Belie Originalist Interpretation

    Author Photo

    The three dissents in the U.S. Supreme Court's recent birthright citizenship decision clashed with originalist readings of the Constitution, applying the 14th Amendment more narrowly than its drafters, and by applying contemporary and living document approaches to constitutional interpretation, says Ediberto Roman at Florida International University.

  • NYDFS Swedbank Order Offers Lessons On Candor

    Author Photo

    The New York State Department of Financial Services' consent order with Swedbank reflects the department's broad view of its investigative authority, emphasizes transparency, and underscores the risks of intrusive investigations that can occur if a regulator believes that it was misled, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • 3 Rulings Show High Court's Transnational Litigation Stance

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's most recent term closed with three consequential decisions for transnational litigation that illustrate the court's readiness to enforce a Congress-created cause of action for overseas conduct and unwillingness to create this liability itself, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Managing Data Center Power Issues, Public Pushback

    Author Photo

    The many risks associated with data center construction include power availability, government regulations and public opinion, and contractual disputes — but these can be mitigated with careful project controls, planning and targeted contract drafting, say Randa Adra and Lily Geyer at Crowell & Moring, and Natasha Dahl at Ankura.

  • California FAIR Plan Is Outgrowing Last-Resort Role

    Author Photo

    With a recent rate increase, a litigation win and pending legislation to reshape operations, the California FAIR Plan is being regulated and reinforced as an apparent fixture of California's insurance market, rather than the temporary safety net originally intended, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Data Center Risks Include Schedules, Supply Chain, Labor

    Author Photo

    Managing the dynamic technical and legal risks related to data center development requires sophisticated strategies for dealing with compressed schedules and liquidated damages, supply chain and long-lead equipment challenges, and labor shortages and productivity issues, say Randa Adra and Lily Geyer at Crowell & Moring, and Natasha Dahl at Ankura.

  • How 'Markedly Different' Test Shapes Patent Eligibility Debate

    Author Photo

    Following last month's U.S. Senate hearing on the proposed Patent Eligibility Restoration Act, it is important to examine how courts and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office have applied the 46-year-old "markedly different characteristics" framework to determine eligibility of composition-of-matter claims, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • 5 Antitrust Lessons On Bundled Discounts After Medtronic

    Author Photo

    The recent California federal court decision upholding a $381.7 million verdict against Medtronic offers practitioners a clearer road map for navigating bundled discount claims under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, and the practical implications are substantial, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • Calif. OppFi Suit Outlines Key Criteria For Bank Partnerships

    Author Photo

    A California state court's recent ruling in OppFi v. Hewlett offers fintech-bank partnerships a blueprint for structuring lending programs to withstand future true lender challenges, while signaling that enforcement theories may face added scrutiny under the state's ban on underground regulations, say attorneys at Womble Bond.

  • AG Watch: Va. Auto Renewal Law Clears Enforcement Path

    Author Photo

    The most consequential aspect of recent amendments to Virginia's automatic renewal law is the enforcement authority it creates, giving the attorney general a clear statutory pathway to pursue cases involving subscription-related compliance failures under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act, says Chuck Slemp at Cozen O'Connor.

  • A New Era Of Scrutiny For China-Linked Pharma Deals

    Author Photo

    As Congress considers bipartisan legislation that would heighten regulatory scrutiny for life sciences deals involving Chinese biotech entities, companies should reassess the risks and due diligence requirements that will come with using heavily China-dependent pipelines, says Jen Maki at Ankura.

  • Justices' FTC Ruling Weakens Qui Tam's Constitutional Base

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in Trump v. Slaughter, expanding presidential control over those exercising executive power, suggests that courts may be receptive to arguments challenging the constitutional foundations of the False Claims Act’s qui tam mechanism, says Daniel Passeser at Wiggin.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Public Policy archive.