Public Policy

  • July 17, 2026

    Pipeline Worker Engaged In Interstate Commerce, Court Says

    A Texas appeals court ruled that Energy Transfer LP cannot compel the family of a man who died in a pipeline explosion to arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act, finding Thursday that the FAA did not apply to his employment contract because he engaged in interstate commerce.

  • July 17, 2026

    Reexam Denial On Ex-BlackBerry Patent Cites Pre-Order Filing

    Pointing to a paper filed by patent owner Malikie Innovations Ltd. under a new policy put in place this spring, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has rejected Unified Patents LLC's request for reexamination of a video coding patent originally issued to BlackBerry Ltd.

  • July 17, 2026

    Ex-Ga. Deputies Seek Immunity In 2017 Stun Gun Death Suit

    Three former Washington County, Georgia, sheriff's deputies asked a federal court to free them from a lawsuit filed by the sister of a man who died after being shot with a stun gun in a widely publicized July 2017 confrontation with police, citing qualified immunity.

  • July 17, 2026

    New Public Charge Rule Leaves Immigration Attys Guessing

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's new public charge rule will give immigration officers wide discretion to decide who will become dependent on government assistance, replacing clearly defined guidelines with a system attorneys say has no guardrails or objective standards.

  • July 17, 2026

    Mass. Court Tosses Evidence After Bodycams Show Coercion

    Massachusetts' highest court on Friday said a gun and drugs found in a car after police repeatedly searched and pressured the driver for the key must be thrown out as evidence in a case that one of the justices, in a concurrence, says highlights the value of police-worn body cameras.

  • July 17, 2026

    Generative AI Patents Booming Globally, World IP Org. Reports

    The number of patent families for generative artificial intelligence inventions more than doubled between 2024 and 2025, with mostly Chinese companies leading the pack, according to a report from a United Nations intellectual property agency.

  • July 17, 2026

    Judge Open To TRO Blocking Paramount-Warner Bros. Deal

    A California federal judge appeared open Friday to granting a group of states' bid for a temporary restraining order blocking Paramount Skydance's $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, saying it appears the tie-up's anticipated market share presumptively violates the Clayton Act under U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

  • July 17, 2026

    9th Circ. Rekindles Idaho Logging Review Dispute

    The Ninth Circuit revived a conservation group's suit against the U.S. Forest Service over an environmental review of an Idaho logging project, ruling that the group should have been allowed to raise an argument it had not raised during an earlier administrative process.

  • July 17, 2026

    Md. Judge Stays Reforms Set To Shrink ACA Coverage Pool

    A Maryland federal judge stayed a set of Affordable Care Act marketplace reforms that were set to take effect Monday, finding several cities and groups representing doctors and small businesses were likely to succeed in their Administrative Procedure Act challenge against them.

  • July 17, 2026

    Drug Buyers' $62M Generic-Pricing Deal Gets Final OK

    A federal judge granted final approval to wholesalers on settlements worth a total of at least $62 million with Glenmark Pharmaceutical Inc., Pfizer Inc. and Pfizer subsidiary Greenstone LLC over claims the companies colluded with others to keep generic drug prices high, according to court orders.

  • July 17, 2026

    Conn. Says Reach Of Law Can't Stop $7.7M Ghost Gun Penalty

    Connecticut is again asking a state court to issue a $7.7 million civil penalty against an out-of-state seller of "ghost guns," arguing that the court needn't consider the geographical scope of Connecticut's unfair trade practices law, but that even if it does, the state can reach the seller, and the penalty is appropriate.

  • July 17, 2026

    Eye On ERISA: Jerry Schlichter Talks 401(k) Litigation, Theory

    Plaintiff-side litigation veteran Jerry Schlichter, founding and co-managing partner of Schlichter Bogard LLP, told Law360 that highlights among the firm's recent legal victories include a reported settlement to end 401(k) investment litigation against ADP, as well as a $150 million settlement in a toxic lead emissions case.

  • July 17, 2026

    6th Circ. Won't Rehear Mark Cuban-Backed FINRA Challenge

    A Sixth Circuit panel has declined to grant a full rehearing of a constitutional challenge of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's in-house disciplinary proceedings brought by the owner of a financial consulting company that had support from billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban.

  • July 17, 2026

    Conn. Justices Bar Town From Killing Errant Forest Tax Break

    A Connecticut municipal assessor did not have the authority to terminate a property tax break for forest use that was erroneously granted, the state Supreme Court said Friday, suggesting that state lawmakers could clarify the law on the matter.

  • July 17, 2026

    Ex-FDIC, CFPB Chiefs Back Colo. In 10th Circ. Rate Law Case

    Two former members of the FDIC's board of directors, one of whom also led the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, filed an amicus brief urging the Tenth Circuit to uphold a panel's ruling reinstating a Colorado law intended to curb high-cost lending in the state that a lower court initially shot down.

  • July 17, 2026

    States Ask To Join Fight Against DOD Wind Project Blockage

    Nearly 20 states have told an Oregon federal judge they want in on a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's decision to block land-based wind projects in the U.S. from moving forward.

  • July 17, 2026

    FCC's Subsidy Reform Plan Could Cut USAC Board By Third

    Change is on the way for the Universal Service Administrative Co., which manages the Federal Communications Commission's multibillion-dollar subsidy fund, with the agency signaling its plans to consider slashing the company's board by more than a third.

  • July 17, 2026

    Calif. Judge Orders Feds To Improve ICE Facility Conditions

    A California federal judge has said the Trump administration must take steps to improve conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center East and West, finding a class of immigrant detainees likely to prevail in litigation claiming people have been subjected to inhumane and intolerable treatment.

  • July 17, 2026

    Upon Review: The 2026 World Cup's Biggest Legal Stories

    The grandest iteration of the World Cup to date unsurprisingly raised new legal and regulatory disputes, including immigration issues and the White House's intervention in a player disciplinary proceeding. Here, Law360 digs into the legal questions arising from the tournament.

  • July 17, 2026

    NetChoice Ordered To Produce Harm Studies In Va. Case

    A Virginia federal judge ordered tech industry group NetChoice to turn over any studies or reports it has examining social media's potential addictiveness or harm to young people Friday, partially granting a motion to compel from the state as it fights a suit challenging its law limiting children's access.

  • July 17, 2026

    BIA Says Girl's Foster Care Risk Can't Block Dad's Removal

    The Board of Immigration Appeals disagreed that a 6-year-old girl could face "exceptional hardship" in foster care after her Guatemalan father was deported, when he could just take her along instead, overturning a cancellation of removal an immigration judge granted.

  • July 17, 2026

    Conn. Justices Uphold Nonprofit Center's Renovation Plan

    The Connecticut Supreme Court on Friday said a nonprofit cultural center was legally clear to have renovated a building on its nearly 80-acre New Canaan property, finding a town zoning appeals board in 2019 correctly denied neighbors' challenges to a permit obtained from a zoning enforcement officer.

  • July 17, 2026

    Medical Groups Urge 1st Circ. To Back Vaccine Panel Freeze

    The American Academy of Pediatrics and other public health organizations on Friday defended before the First Circuit a Massachusetts judge's decision to block Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vaccine policy committee appointments, countering claims that the judge overreached.

  • July 17, 2026

    Top Transportation Rulings: Midyear 2026 Report

    U.S. Supreme Court rulings determining that freight brokers can face state-based negligence lawsuits and that last-mile drivers can also be exempt from arbitration are among the biggest court decisions of the first half of 2026 affecting the transportation industry. Here, Law360 highlights a few of the biggest transportation-related rulings of 2026 so far.

  • July 17, 2026

    Mo. Hemp Cos. Say New Law Bars Their Businesses

    A Missouri hemp coalition is suing the state's governor, attorney general and head of its Department of Health and Senior Services in federal court, saying a newly signed law regulating hemp effectively eliminates the state's hemp product industry and contradicts both federal law and itself.

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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