Public Policy

  • January 08, 2026

    Wilderness Society Sues Feds Over Land Sale Records

    A nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting wilderness is suing the U.S. Department of the Interior and other federal agencies, saying they have violated the Freedom of Information Act by failing to share records about Trump administration efforts to sell public lands.

  • January 08, 2026

    New Assistant AG For Fraud Will Report To White House

    Vice President JD Vance announced on Thursday the creation of a new assistant attorney general role for fraud, which will be overseen by him and the president.

  • January 08, 2026

    Ill. Judge Wary Of Ending Force Suit In Light Of Minn. Shooting

    An Illinois federal judge on Thursday appeared hesitant to allow plaintiffs accusing immigration officials of using excessive force against Chicago press and peaceful protesters to voluntarily end their case, saying she had concerns in light of continued enforcement operations in Illinois as well the shooting this week of a woman by an immigration officer in Minneapolis.

  • January 08, 2026

    States Can't Block HPE Integration Amid Deal Review

    A California federal court refused Thursday to bar Hewlett Packard Enterprise from further integrating with Juniper Networks while state enforcers raise objections to a U.S. Department of Justice settlement allowing the merger to move ahead.

  • January 08, 2026

    Courts Back Agencies Despite Loper Bright Ruling, DOJ Says

    Appellate courts have mostly upheld federal agencies' interpretation of ambiguous statutes, including tax disputes, even after the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 landmark decision that limited agency deference, a U.S. Department of Justice attorney said Thursday.

  • January 08, 2026

    5th Circ. Pushes TSA On $48M Refund Fine Against Southwest

    A Fifth Circuit judge laughed aloud at the Transportation Security Administration's statement that it lacks the capacity to refund a security service fee to millions of passengers, questioning Thursday why Southwest Airlines Co. should get dinged with a $48 million fine for failing to refund the fee to some passengers.

  • January 08, 2026

    Minn. Protesters Seek Injunction To Bar Excessive Force

    A group of Minnesota residents urged a federal judge on Wednesday — the day a federal agent shot and killed a 37-year-old woman in her vehicle — to quickly block federal immigration officers from using excessive force on protesters and observers.

  • January 08, 2026

    Fla. Entrepreneur Urges Court To Halt RI Pot Licensing

    Rhode Island's cannabis authority should be temporarily blocked from following a rule that forbids issuing licenses to out-of-state residents, a Florida entrepreneur told a federal court, saying his lawsuit slamming the state's residency rule as unconstitutional is likely to succeed.

  • January 08, 2026

    Satellite Co. Pays $175K To End FCC's Team Telecom Case

    The Federal Communications Commission has agreed in return for a $175,000 payment to end its probe into whether a Luxembourg satellite company violated a national security deal with the U.S. government.

  • January 08, 2026

    6th Circ. Says Immunity Dooms Mich. Farm's Zoning Fight

    The Sixth Circuit will not revive a Michigan couple's lawsuit against their township related to a heated dispute over zoning approvals for selling cider and hosting events at their farm, saying the farm owners have not shown the local officials should be stripped of their qualified immunity.

  • January 08, 2026

    NC Wins Appeal To Use Smithfield Funds For Enviro Grants

    The North Carolina Attorney General's Office can continue putting money from a decades-old hog waste agreement toward environmental grants, a state appeals court panel ruled, overturning a lower court order earmarking the money exclusively for public schools.

  • January 08, 2026

    Wyoming's First-Of-Its-Kind Stablecoin Up For Purchase

    The public can now purchase Wyoming's state-issued stablecoin through crypto exchange Kraken, a first for a public entity, the state's stablecoin project announced Thursday.

  • January 08, 2026

    Texas AG Says P&G Is Updating Kid Fluoride Crest Label

    The Texas attorney general said Wednesday that Procter & Gamble has agreed to place information about the recommended amount of fluoride toothpaste for children on its packaging in order to show the accurate amount on its Crest toothpaste for children.

  • January 08, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Backs Trade Court's Rejection Of Cheaper Duty Bid

    A Federal Circuit panel Thursday affirmed a U.S. Court of International Trade judge's determination that a Christmas ornament seller imported its Chinese-made goods to Canada with the intention of selling them in the U.S. and therefore isn't entitled to a cheaper duty rate.

  • January 08, 2026

    Pa. Board Can't Review Court Firing Over 'FAFO' Freebies

    The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board lacks jurisdiction to review an Adams County probation officer's firing over passing out stress balls with the irreverent acronym "FAFO" on them, since it did not fit a narrow union-related exemption to the courts' broad authority over their employees, a state appellate court said Thursday.

  • January 08, 2026

    Fed Eyeing Carveouts For Confidentiality Label, Bowman Says

    The Federal Reserve's top bank regulator signaled openness to easing restrictions around so-called confidential supervisory information, or CSI, saying the label has grown so broad that it can obstruct collaboration and reduce regulatory accountability.

  • January 08, 2026

    Organ Procurer Says CMS Rule Will Toss Industry Into Chaos

    A North Carolina-based organ procurement organization wants a federal court to toss aside a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services rule taking effect this year that will alter how organ procurers are certified, arguing the rule pits them against one another in a "Hunger-Games-style" competition.

  • January 08, 2026

    4 Executive Pay Trends Attorneys Will Be Watching In 2026

    A potentially sweeping overhaul simplifying the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's disclosure regime for public company executive compensation will be top of mind for executive pay practitioners as they look for new developments in the coming year. Here's a look at this and three other areas they'll be keeping an eye on.

  • January 08, 2026

    Miami Dade College Seeks Judge DQ In Trump Library Case

    Miami Dade College said a Florida state judge should be disqualified from presiding over a dispute concerning its transfer of land to the state for the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library, arguing that the judge thanked and hugged the retired Florida International University professor challenging the transfer and discussed facts that weren't in court documents.

  • January 08, 2026

    La. Judge Is Senate's 1st Judicial Confirmation Of 2026

    The Senate voted 53-40 on Thursday to confirm former acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook to be a district judge in the Western District of Louisiana.

  • January 08, 2026

    EPA's Water Rule Dispute Paused Amid Legal Uncertainty

    A North Dakota federal judge is holding in abeyance seven states' challenge to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rule revision that considers tribal rights in addressing water quality standards until the agency determines if it wants to defend the final law or start a new rulemaking process.

  • January 08, 2026

    Sen. Ag Committee To Hold Crypto Markup Next Week

    The Senate Agriculture Committee intends to hold its own markup of a bill to regulate crypto markets the same day as its Banking Committee counterparts, a spokesperson confirmed Thursday.

  • January 08, 2026

    Trump Admin Says Climate Grant Class Suit Is Moot

    The Trump administration has told the D.C. Circuit that a proposed class action accusing it of illegally terminating a $3 billion environmental justice block grant program is moot because Congress has rescinded the funds that green groups and local governments are seeking to recover.

  • January 08, 2026

    Audits Get Final Word On Economic Substance, IRS Atty Says

    IRS attorneys provide legal guidance during audits on whether a transaction lacks economic substance, but examiners make the ultimate determination, an agency associate chief counsel said Thursday while explaining how the agency applies a powerful anti-abuse tool in audits.

  • January 08, 2026

    Trump Seeks $6.2M In Legal Fees In Ga. Election Case

    President Donald Trump asked a state judge Wednesday to award him more than $6.2 million in legal fees from his Georgia election interference case, invoking a recent state law allowing defendants to recoup their expenses from public coffers if their prosecutors are disqualified for misconduct.

Expert Analysis

  • What To Watch As NY LLC Transparency Act Is Stuck In Limbo

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    Just about a month before it's set to take effect, the status of the New York LLC Transparency Act remains murky because of a pending amendment and the lack of recent regulatory attention in New York, but business owners should at least prepare for the possibility of having to comply, says Jonathan Wilson at Buchalter.

  • 1st Trial After FCPA Pause Offers Clues On DOJ Priorities

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    After surviving a government review of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, the U.S. v. Zaglin case reveals the U.S. Department of Justice still appears willing to prosecute individuals for conduct broadly consistent with classic priorities, despite the agency's new emphasis on foreign policy priorities, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Opinion

    Despite Deputy AG Remarks, DOJ Can't Sideline DC Bar

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    Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s recent suggestion that the D.C. Bar would be prevented from reviewing misconduct complaints about U.S. Department of Justice attorneys runs contrary to federal statutes, local rules and decades of case law, and sends the troubling message that federal prosecutors are subject to different rules, say attorneys at HWG.

  • Unique Aspects Of Texas' Approach To AI Regulation

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    The Texas Responsible AI Governance Act — which will soon be the sole comprehensive artificial intelligence law in the U.S. — pulls threads from EU and Colorado laws but introduces more targeted rules with fewer obligations on commercial entities, say attorneys at MVA Law.

  • Wells Process Reforms Serve SEC Chair's Transparency Goals

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    Enforcement policy changes U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins recently set forth will help fulfill his stated goal of making Division of Enforcement investigations more fair and transparent by changing the Wells process to provide recipients earlier consultations with SEC staff, greater evidence access and more time to file responses, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Contradictory Rulings Show Complexity Of Swaps Regulation

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    Recent divergent rulings, including two by the same Nevada judge, on whether the Commodity Exchange Act preempts state gambling laws when applied to event contracts traded on U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated markets illustrate the uncertainty regarding the legality of prediction markets, say attorneys at Akin.

  • How New Law Transforms Large-Load Power Projects In Texas

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    S.B. 6 — the new Texas law that revises state regulations for large electrical loads and related behind-the-meter projects — introduces higher up-front costs for developers and more flexible operating models for large-load customers, but should provide the certainty needed for greater investment in generation, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • How Cos. Should Prepare For Prop 65 Listing Of Bisphenols

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    California regulators are moving toward classifying all p,p'-bisphenol chemicals as causing reproductive toxicity under Proposition 65, which could require warning notices for a vast range of consumer and industrial products, and open the floodgates to private litigation — so companies should proactively review their suppy chains, says Gregory Berlin at Alston & Bird.

  • 8th Circ. Decision Shipwrecks IRS On Shoals Of Loper Bright

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    The Eighth Circuit’s recent decision invalidating transfer pricing regulations in 3M Co. v. Commissioner may be the most significant tax case implementing Loper Bright's rejection of agency deference as a judicial tool in statutory construction, says Edward Froelich at McDermott.

  • Rule Amendments Pave Path For A Privilege Claim 'Offensive'

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    Litigators should consider leveraging forthcoming amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which will require early negotiations of privilege-related discovery claims, by taking an offensive posture toward privilege logs at the outset of discovery, says David Ben-Meir at Ben-Meir Law.

  • Series

    My Miniature Livestock Farm Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Raising miniature livestock on my farm, where I am fully present with the animals, is an almost meditative time that allows me to return to work invigorated, ready to juggle numerous responsibilities and motivated to tackle hard issues in new ways, says Ted Kobus at BakerHostetler.

  • When Mortgage Data Can't Prove Discriminatory Lending

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    As plaintiffs continue to use Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data as grounds for class actions, attorneys must consider the limits of a statistics-only approach and the need for manual loan file review to confirm indications of potential discriminatory lending, say Abe Chernin, Shane Oka and Kevin Oswald at Cornerstone Research.

  • Justices' Ruling Will Ease Foreign Arbitral Award Enforcement

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Fuld v. Palestine Liberation Organization suggests that U.S. courts can constitutionally decide whether to recognize and enforce foreign arbitral awards in accordance with U.S. treaty obligations, regardless of the award debtor's connections to the U.S., says David Cinotti at Pashman Stein.

  • Surveying The Healthcare Policy Landscape Post-Shutdown

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    With last week's agreement to reopen the federal government, at least through the end of January, key healthcare legislation that has been in limbo since a December 2024 spending bill fell apart may recapture the attention of Congress, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • FDA Biosimilar Guidance Should Ease Biologics Development

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    New draft guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, indicating that the agency may no longer routinely require comparative efficacy studies when other evidence provides sufficient assurance of biosimilarity, underscores the FDA's trust in analytical technology as a driver of biologics access, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

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