Public Policy

  • January 23, 2026

    DC Judge Says Visa Selectees' Travel Ban Suit Is Moot

    A D.C. federal judge on Friday nixed a lawsuit alleging the Trump administration illegally suspended visa processing under a program aimed at diversifying the immigrant community in the United States, noting the statutory expiration of the visas after Sept. 30 has rendered their claims moot.

  • January 23, 2026

    Feds' Wind Farm National Security Claim Faces Skepticism

    Federal courts aren't buying the Trump administration's argument that construction of offshore wind farms should be halted for national security reasons, with some judges suggesting that the government isn't making its claim in good faith.

  • January 23, 2026

    Judge Blocks DOJ Anti-Diversity Conditions On Police Grants

    A California federal judge has blocked the U.S. Department of Justice from withholding community policing grants from a group of cities and counties that refuse to scrap their diversity programs and certify compliance with all of President Donald Trump's executive orders, saying those conditions directly conflict with the law that created the grants.

  • January 23, 2026

    Providers Oppose Credit Bureaus' Medical Debt Appeal

    A proposed class of medical providers and collection agencies accusing Equifax, Experian and TransUnion of colluding to exclude medical debt under $500 from consumer credit reports is opposing a bid by the credit bureaus to expedite an appeal of a ruling that denied dismissal of the claims.

  • January 23, 2026

    Conservative Org. Contests SEC's Delay Bid In Data Tool Case

    The conservative think tank leading the case against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's market oversight tool known as the consolidated audit trail has asked a Texas federal judge not to delay legal proceedings any further while the agency works to change the tool.

  • January 23, 2026

    Truckers Can't Lift Calif. Immigrant Driver's License Freeze

    A federal judge rejected a local trucking group's bid to force California to lift its freeze on immigrant truck driver's licenses, saying the Golden State cannot run afoul of federal mandates in a way that would jeopardize highway funding or risk the state's licensing program getting decertified altogether.

  • January 23, 2026

    DC Circ. Backs FERC In Oil Pipeline Pricing Dispute

    The D.C. Circuit on Friday denied a petition challenging the method used by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to determine the value of oil flowing through an Alaskan pipeline, finding the agency correctly considered inflation and other factors.

  • January 23, 2026

    USDA Defends SNAP Pilot In Colo. Legality Challenge

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture told a federal judge that Colorado's request for an injunction restricting it from enforcing a new pilot project for Supplemental Nutrition Act Program recipients should be rejected because the state has not suffered any actual harm.

  • January 23, 2026

    Heart Valve Deal Was Blocked Over Innovation Concerns

    The D.C. federal court ruling earlier this month that upended a deal for Edwards Lifesciences Corp. to purchase JenaValve Technology Inc. was based on concerns that the deal would reduce innovation by eliminating competition for a heart valve treatment that's still being developed, according to a ruling unsealed on Friday by the judge who issued it.

  • January 23, 2026

    Attys Say ICE Flouting Order Barring Noncitizens' Removal

    Attorneys for asylum seekers, who are a part of a class the government is barred from deporting until their immigration cases conclude, told a Maryland federal judge that the Trump administration keeps deporting class members anyway.

  • January 23, 2026

    High Court's Med Mal Ruling Won't Spark Rise In Suits

    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling that a Delaware medical malpractice statute can't be enforced in federal court won't cause a noticeable rise in cases, experts said, but it could lay the groundwork for other cases involving conflicting procedural state laws.

  • January 23, 2026

    4th Circ. Maroons Copyright Fight Over Pirate Ship Pics

    The Fourth Circuit on Friday relieved for good North Carolina's government from a long-running copyright infringement suit over photos and videos of a famous pirate shipwreck, saying a lower court was wrong to revive the claims in the case, which at one point went to the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • January 23, 2026

    Green, Tribal Orgs. Fear Utah Lawmaker 'Attack' On Monument

    Environmental and tribal groups have warned that Utah's Republican members of Congress are planning to launch an "attack" against the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument as they seek to overturn a resource management plan designed to protect the public land as an ecological and cultural resource.

  • January 23, 2026

    Ill. High Court Won't Grant Posthumous Innocence Certificate

    The Illinois Supreme Court denied a posthumous certificate of innocence for a man who spent over two years in prison for drug charges due to Chicago police corruption, finding Friday that the certificate is a "personal statutory right" that cannot survive the petitioner's death.

  • January 23, 2026

    $7B Grain Belt Power Line Project Can Move Forward In Ill.

    The Illinois Supreme Court on Friday allowed Grain Belt Express LLC to move forward with plans to stretch a high-voltage direct current transmission line across nine southern Illinois counties as part of a $7 billion power supply project, reversing a lower court that said the company behind the project hadn't properly shown that it could finance it.

  • January 23, 2026

    DC, States Back Flowers Foods Driver In High Court Arb. Case

    Whether a worker qualifies for an arbitration exemption depends on what they do, not on the legal structure of their work, 14 states and the District of Columbia told the U.S. Supreme Court, backing a driver for Flowers Foods seeking to keep his wage suit out of arbitration.

  • January 23, 2026

    Instacart, DoorDash, Uber Can't Block NYC's Delivery Laws

    Two New York federal judges rejected requests by delivery companies Instacart, DoorDash and Uber to halt New York City laws regulating tipping options, minimum wage and disclosure requirements, saying that the companies didn't support their arguments that the laws violate the First Amendment and federal preemption principles.

  • January 23, 2026

    Feds Appeal Ruling On ICE Detainee Bond Hearings

    The government is appealing a Massachusetts federal court's finding that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees whom the agency apprehended in the state are entitled to a bond hearing.

  • January 23, 2026

    Massachusetts Macy's Store Overvalued, Tax Board Says

    A Macy's store in Massachusetts was overvalued by a local assessor, the state's Appellate Tax Board said Friday, reducing assessed values for the store for years 2020-2022.

  • January 23, 2026

    Lawmakers Float Bill To Track Content Used In Training AI

    A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would give musicians, artists, writers and copyright holders the ability to determine if their works were used to train artificial intelligence without their permission.

  • January 23, 2026

    Bipartisan House Bill Would Regulate Hemp-Derived CBD

    Members of Congress on Thursday unveiled a bipartisan bill to legalize and regulate the manufacture and sale of hemp-derived CBD products, while a federal ban on virtually all consumable hemp products is still due to take effect in approximately 10 months.

  • January 23, 2026

    Enviros Seek Quick Win In Mont. National Forest Logging Row

    A group of environmental nonprofits is asking a federal district court for a summary judgment win in their challenge to a plan to clear-cut 12,331 acres in Montana's Flathead National Forest, saying the project's biological opinion does not reflect the litany of construction that is already underway adjacent to the property.

  • January 23, 2026

    Voter Groups Ask To Renew Halt On Ga.'s Food & Water Ban

    Voting rights groups asked a federal judge Thursday to reinstate an injunction against Georgia enforcing a ban on handing out food and water to voters in line outside of polling places, arguing a recent Eleventh Circuit opinion vacating the injunction didn't undermine any of their substantive arguments.

  • January 23, 2026

    News Rating Org. Latest To Fight 'Ideological' FTC Subpoena

    News rating organization NewsGuard became the latest group to challenge a Federal Trade Commission subpoena looking for censorship of conservative viewpoints, asking the agency to quash information demands it said was born of FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson's "ideologically motivated effort to censor and otherwise discriminate" against it.

  • January 23, 2026

    Split 4th Circ. Sides With Feds In DHS Grant Termination Row

    A split Fourth Circuit panel ruled Friday that a district court did not abuse its discretion in finding a challenge to the federal government's termination of a citizenship preparation grant program likely belongs in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

Expert Analysis

  • Sports Gambling Scrutiny Expands Risks For Teams, Leagues

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    The Minnesota attorney general recently sent warning letters to 14 website operators for offering what the state considers illegal online gambling, demonstrating why the sports industry, including teams and leagues, should ask critical questions about organizational compliance, internal controls and potential criminal liability, say attorneys at Stinson.

  • The CFTC's Road Ahead Under Newly Confirmed Chair

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    Michael Selig's Dec. 18 confirmation as U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair comes at a critical juncture, as the agency is poised to gain oversight over the crypto industry and increase its jurisdictional mandate covering prediction markets, says Elizabeth Lan Davis at Davis Wright.

  • How Fractional GCs Can Manage Risks Of Engagement

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    As more organizations eliminate their in-house legal departments in favor of outsourcing legal work, fractional general counsel roles offer practitioners an engaging and flexible way to practice at a high level, but they can also present legal, ethical and operational risks that must be proactively managed, say attorneys at Boies Schiller.

  • SEC Rulemaking Radar: A Reset, A Shift And A Preview Of '26

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    With major proposals withdrawn and new priorities emerging, forthcoming U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposals in 2026 will look to reshape how digital assets are regulated, recalibrate market structure and simplify how small companies go public, says Christopher Grobbel at Goodwin.

  • Changes In Crypto, Cybersecurity Defined NY Banking In 2025

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    The major takeaways from 2025 in New York banking policy involve updated guidance, regulations and requirements primarily affecting innovation and digital banking, in areas such as cybersecurity, virtual currencies, and buy now, pay later programs, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • Opinion

    Justices Should Clarify Loper Bright Doctrine Via Patent Case

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    The U.S. Supreme Court should use the Lynk Labs v. Samsung patent case to provide urgently needed guidance on how last year’s Loper Bright decision should be applied to real-world questions of agency authority in the post-Chevron world, says Timothy Hsieh at Oklahoma City University School of Law.

  • How OECD Tax Update Tackles Mobile Workforce Complexity

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    The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s recently updated model tax convention — a recalibration of international tax principles in response to an increasingly mobile workforce — should prompt companies to reevaluate cross-border operations, transfer pricing policies and tax controversy strategies, say attorneys at Eversheds.

  • Reviewing 2025's Most Pertinent Wiretap Developments

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    2025 was a remarkable year in the world of web tracking wiretapping litigation, not only for the increased caseload but also because of numerous developing theories of liability, with disputes expected to continue unabated in 2026, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • 2025 Legal Milestones That Will Shape Psychedelics Sector

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    As 2025 draws to a close, psychedelic drug development stands at an inflection point, experiencing unprecedented momentum through recent sweeping regulatory changes and landmark clinical milestones, amid rapidly evolving regulatory expectations, say Odette Hauke at Odette Alina LLC and Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell.

  • M&A Midmarket Shows Resilience Amid 2025 Challenges

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    Midmarket mergers and acquisitions showed a slight decline in volume but climbed in value for much of 2025, particularly in the private equity space, indicating that the middle market M&A environment is cautious but steady heading into 2026, say attorneys at Stoel Rives.

  • Del. Dispatch: Key 2025 Corporate Cases And Trends To Know

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    The Delaware corporate legal landscape saw notable changes in 2025, spurred by amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law, ubiquitous artificial intelligence fervor, boardroom discussion around DExit, record shareholder activism activity and an arguably more expansive view of potential Caremark liability, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • Series

    Nature Photography Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Nature photography reminds me to focus on what is in front of me and to slow down to achieve success, and, in embracing the value of viewing situations through different lenses, offers skills transferable to the practice of law, says Brian Willett at Saul Ewing.

  • 2025 Brought A New Paradigm For Federal Banking Regulation

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    A series of thematic shifts defined banking regulation in 2025, including a fundamental reform of prudential supervision, a strategic easing of capital constraints, steps to streamline merger reviews, and a new framework for fair access and entrants seeking to offer banking services, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • What 2025 Transpo And Logistics Legal Trends Mean For 2026

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    2025 was challenging for the transportation and logistics sector, with emergent trends including dramatic federal policy shifts, developments in tort risk, and a host of mergers and acquisitions — but a review of these themes offers a useful playbook for where the industry is headed in 2026, says Jonathan Todd at Benesch.

  • How Cos. Can Roll With NY's New Algorithmic Pricing Rules

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    Despite uncertainty from New York’s new ban on artificial intelligence and computer algorithms for setting rents, and efforts to further restrict individualizing prices based on consumers' personal data, property managers, software providers and merchants can take several steps to stay compliant, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

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