Public Policy

  • January 13, 2026

    Jack Smith To Testify Publicly Next Week

    Former special counsel Jack Smith is slated to testify publicly before the House Judiciary Committee on Jan. 22 after, according to his attorney, having been "ready and willing" to do so for a while.

  • January 13, 2026

    Tribal Groups Weigh In On High Court Miss. Ballot Dispute

    A group of Native American organizations is backing a U.S. Supreme Court petition that looks to reverse a Fifth Circuit determination on Mississippi's law regarding late-arriving mail-in ballots, arguing that not allowing states to extend receipt deadlines will lead to further disenfranchisement of Indigenous people.

  • January 13, 2026

    NJ Sues Metal Recycler Over Fires, Cites Public Nuisance

    New Jersey has launched a public nuisance suit against one of the nation's largest scrap metal recyclers, alleging that the company has allowed hazardous conditions at its Camden facilities to persist for years, triggering more than a dozen fires that have repeatedly blanketed nearby neighborhoods in smoke and toxic pollution.

  • January 13, 2026

    Maine Alters Excise Tax Assessment On Camper Trailers

    Maine will change its application and collection of excise tax on camper trailers under a law that took effect without the signature of Democratic Gov. Janet Mills.

  • January 13, 2026

    House Clears African, Haitian Trade Agreement Extensions

    The U.S. House of Representatives late Monday overwhelmingly approved two bills that would extend regional trade agreements with African nations and Haiti for three years each, with both now headed to the U.S. Senate for approval.

  • January 13, 2026

    Sen. Warren Questions SEC On Crypto In 401(k) Plans

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in advance of a banking committee vote on cryptocurrency market structure legislation, asking how the agency will protect investors as the administration also pushes to broaden access to cryptocurrency in 401(k) retirement plans.

  • January 13, 2026

    Approach The Bench: Judge Bough On Ethics

    Years of experience as a plaintiff's attorney influenced U.S. District Judge Stephen Bough's disclosure rules for litigators appearing in his court.

  • January 13, 2026

    Hemp Co. Accuses Rival Of Using Pot-Based THC, Not Hemp

    Hemp-derived cannabinoid company CCT Sciences LLC is suing a competitor in Florida federal court, alleging that despite the rival's claims of using "natural" hemp-derived THC, it instead uses illegal cannabis derivatives in its products.

  • January 13, 2026

    Md. Bill Would Allow Separate Land, Improvement Tax Rates

    Maryland would authorize local governments to establish subclasses of real property consisting of land and improvements to land and impose separate tax rates for each subclass under legislation set to be considered by the state House of Delegates' Ways and Means Committee.

  • January 12, 2026

    4 Ways DOJ Probe Into Powell Could Be Risky For Trump

    The criminal probe that President Donald Trump's U.S. Department of Justice has opened into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell dramatically escalates administration pressure on the central bank, but it is not without significant potential risks for the White House.

  • January 12, 2026

    NY Fights Feds' Stop-Work Orders For Offshore Wind Projects

    New York is challenging a federal order halting construction of two offshore wind projects that are projected to power more than a million homes, saying the Trump administration has not explained why the projects, which both previously passed all safety and environmental reviews, have suddenly presented national security concerns.

  • January 12, 2026

    Dominion Energy Wants $11B Offshore Wind Project Revived

    Dominion Energy has asked a Virginia federal court to block the Trump administration from shutting down work on an $11 billion offshore wind project, arguing that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management hasn't explained its rationale for the abrupt suspension order, which threatens thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars.

  • January 12, 2026

    DC Court Won't Rehear Calif. Tribal Recognition Dispute

    A D.C. federal judge has refused to reconsider his order denying a bid by a group of residents to block a U.S. Department of the Interior decision giving federal recognition to California's Ione Band of Miwok Indians as the tribe completes construction of a casino.

  • January 12, 2026

    5th Circ. Won't Revive TMX's Texas Challenge To $52M Pa. Fine

    An affiliate of consumer lender TMX Finance can't use Texas federal courts to challenge the enforcement of Pennsylvania's consumer lending interest rate cap by the Keystone State's financial regulator, the Fifth Circuit has determined.

  • January 12, 2026

    Energy Dept.'s Blue State Grant Cuts Are Unlawful, Court Says

    President Donald Trump's administration unlawfully canceled hundreds of U.S. Department of Energy grants slated for states whose voters leaned toward former Vice President Kamala Harris in the last election, a D.C. federal judge ruled Monday when finding that the government's decision violates the Fifth Amendment's equal protection guarantee.

  • January 12, 2026

    The Curious, Very Long Delay In A Pioneering Drug Prices Suit

    When Merck & Co. launched a fiery challenge to Medicare's landmark drug price negotiations, it blazed a trail for many similar suits. But 31 months later, the challenge is stalled where it started as Merck begs for a ruling, other suits speed along the path it created and huge costs now seem unavoidable.

  • January 12, 2026

    Attorneys Chastened By Fed. Circ.'s ITC Mixed Deadline Ruling

    A Federal Circuit decision concluding that certain mixed rulings from the U.S. International Trade Commission can generate different appeal deadlines, even when issued in the same document, is a reminder of just how strict courts can be when handling unclear appeal due dates, attorneys told Law360.

  • January 12, 2026

    Trial Opens In Gerrymandering Claims On 4 Fla. Districts

    The coalition of civic groups and Florida residents claiming new congressional and state legislative maps are racially gerrymandered opened their case Monday against the state, putting on an expert witness who proffered alternative maps for the challenged districts.

  • January 12, 2026

    CFPB, DOJ Revoke Lender Guidance On Anti-Immigrant Bias

    The Trump administration is withdrawing Biden-era guidance from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and U.S. Department of Justice that cautioned lenders about refusing to provide credit to immigrant borrowers, saying it believes the withdrawal clarifies that lenders may legally consider immigration status under several circumstances.

  • January 12, 2026

    FirstEnergy Investors Again Push For Class Cert. In Bribe Suit

    FirstEnergy Corp. investors have renewed their bid for class certification in Ohio federal court after the Sixth Circuit decertified the class and found that the district court applied the wrong legal standard, in a case accusing the utility company of bribing Ohio officials to secure a $1 billion bailout of a pair of nuclear plants.

  • January 12, 2026

    The Issues That Could Decide The Tom Goldstein Tax Case

    Federal prosecutors are set to begin making their case against famed U.S. Supreme Court lawyer and SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein at trial Wednesday, alleging that he deliberately hid millions of dollars in high-stakes poker winnings from the Internal Revenue Service between 2016 and 2021 and lied on mortgage applications.

  • January 12, 2026

    CFTC Chair Taps Kalshi, Polymarket CEOs To Advisory Panel

    The new chair of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday said he plans to nominate leaders of prediction market platforms including Polymarket to serve as charter members of a new advisory committee, a day after congressional Democrats pressed him to respond to manipulation threats in the event contract markets.

  • January 12, 2026

    States Fight USDA's Renewed Effort To Cut SNAP Benefits

    A coalition of states has asked a California federal judge to enforce an injunction blocking the U.S. Department of Agriculture from withholding funding from states refusing to share sensitive personal information on food assistance benefit recipients, saying the Trump administration has once again threatened to withhold the funding.

  • January 12, 2026

    Trump Order's Vote-By-Mail Limits Are Unlawful, Judge Rules

    A federal judge in Seattle has barred the Trump administration from enforcing key sections of a March executive order on elections, ruling that the government cannot compel Washington and Oregon to change state deadlines for mail-in ballots or use federal forms requiring proof of citizenship.

  • January 12, 2026

    Sen. Kelly Sues Hegseth Over Alleged Retaliation For Remarks

    Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., sued Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Monday, urging a D.C. federal court to declare unlawful Hegseth's attempt to reduce the lawmaker's Navy rank over statements reminding service members of their obligation to disregard unlawful orders.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    A Uniform Federal Rule Would Curb Gen AI Missteps In Court

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    To address the patchwork of courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence, curbing abuses and relieving the burden on judges, the federal judiciary should consider amending its civil procedure rules to require litigants to certify they’ve reviewed legal filings for accuracy, say attorneys at Shook Hardy.

  • Investment Advisers Should Stay Apprised Of New AI Risks

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently issued annual examination priorities reiterate a host of regulatory implications for investment advisers using artificial intelligence tools, highlighting that meaningful ongoing due diligence can help mitigate both operational and regulatory surprises amid AI's rapid evolution, says Christopher Mills at Sidley.

  • New Rule Shows NRC Willing To Move Fast To Reform Regs

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    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s decision to forgo public comment and immediately rescind certain rules governing adjudicatory procedures, federal tort claims and disclosure of licensee information signals the agency's intent to accelerate the regulatory streamlining efforts ordered by the president this spring, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • AG Watch: Texas Junk Fee Deal Shows Enforcement Priorities

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    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's recent $9.5 million settlement with online travel agency website Booking Holdings for so-called junk fee practices follows a larger trend of state attorneys general who have taken similar action and demonstrates the significant penalties that can follow such allegations, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

  • 10th Circ. Dissent May Light Path For Master Account Access

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    While the Tenth Circuit's majority in Custodia Bank v. Federal Reserve Board recently affirmed Federal Reserve banks' control over master account access, the dissent raised constitutional questions that could support banks seeking master accounts in future litigation, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • Calif. AG's No-Poach Case Reflects Tougher Antitrust Stance

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    This month, California’s attorney general resolved the latest enforcement action barring the use of no-poach agreements, underscoring an aggressive antitrust enforcement trend with significant increases in criminal and civil penalties, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • A Look At The Wave Of 2025 Email Marketing Suits In Wash.

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    Since the Washington Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Old Navy in April, more than 30 lawsuits have alleged that a broad range of retailers across industries sent emails that violate the Washington Commercial Electronic Mail Act, but retailers are unlikely to find clear answers yet, says Gonzalo Mon at Kelley Drye.

  • 3 Defense Strategies For Sporadically Prosecuted Conduct

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    Not to be confused with selective prosecutions, sporadic prosecutions — charging someone for conduct many others do without consequences — can be challenging to defend, but focusing on materiality, prosecutorial motivations and public opinion can be a winning strategy, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • 2025 Noncompete Developments That Led To Inflection Point

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    Employers must reshape their approaches to noncompete agreements following key 2025 developments, including Delaware's rejection of blue-penciling and the proliferation of state wage thresholds, say attorneys at Gunderson Dettmer.

  • Riding The Changing Winds For AI Innovations At The USPTO

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    As recent U.S. Patent and Trademark Office moves reshape how artificial intelligence inventions will be examined and put them on firmer eligibility footing, practitioners need to consider how this shift is both an opportunity and a challenge, say Ryan Phelan at Marshall Gerstein and attorney Mark Campagna.

  • Series

    The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Integrating Practice Groups

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    Enacting unified leadership and consistent client service standards ensures law firm practice groups connect and collaborate around shared goals, turning a law firm merger into a platform for growth rather than a period of disruption, says Brian Catlett at Fennemore Craig.

  • The Tricky Issues Underscoring Prediction Market Regulation

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    Prediction markets are not merely testing the boundaries of commodities law — they are challenging the conventional divisions between gambling regulation and financial market oversight, and in doing so, may reshape both, says Braeden Anderson at Gesmer Updegrove.

  • Nonprofits Face Uncertainty Over Political Activity Rules

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    Two federal court decisions suggesting that the Internal Revenue Service's rules for 501(c)(4) organizations' political activity may be too vague to survive constitutional scrutiny leave nonprofit organizations caught between constitutional limits on government regulation of speech and tax limits on their exempt status, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • Opinion

    Supreme Court Term Limits Would Carry Hidden Risk

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    While proposals for limiting the terms of U.S. Supreme Court justices are popular, a steady stream of relatively young, highly marketable ex-justices with unique knowledge and influence entering the marketplace of law and politics could create new problems, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • Navigating A Sea Change In Rent Algorithm Regulation

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's proposed settlement of the RealPage lawsuit represents a pivotal moment in the regulation of algorithmic rent-setting, restraining use of these tools amid a growing trend of regulatory limits on use of algorithmic data and methodologies in establishing housing rental prices. say attorneys at Wilson Elser.

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