Public Policy

  • April 15, 2026

    NY Appeals Panel Doubts NYC's Climate Suit Can Be Revived

    New York state appeals judges voiced skepticism Wednesday of New York City's bid to revive its lawsuit against major energy companies for "greenwashing" their gasoline products, highlighting the lack of alleged false claims and questioning whether they were even misleading.

  • April 15, 2026

    Alaska's Pebble Mine Allies Say EPA Project Veto Is Illegal

    Two Alaska Native groups, the state and a mining company have urged a federal judge to vacate a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency veto blocking a proposed mineral project that could harm salmon populations, saying the EPA overstepped its authority under the Clean Water Act.

  • April 15, 2026

    Energy Sec. Defends Grant Cuts To House Reps

    U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Wednesday appeared to contradict statements from government attorneys who admitted that cancellations of clean energy grants were politically motivated, seeking to clarify instead the extent of the perceived political bias.

  • April 15, 2026

    Texas Can't Revive Anti-ESG Law While Appeal Plays Out

    A Texas federal judge refused to pause an injunction pending appeal on a state law restricting state investments in businesses that aim to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels, finding the law's language clearly intends to disfavor groups with certain viewpoints and is unlikely to survive appeal.

  • April 15, 2026

    Ga. Election Board Debates Fix As Ballot Count Crisis Looms

    Georgia's State Election Board expressed frustration with state legislators Wednesday, saying their failure to pass a replacement method for vote tabulation that does not involve QR codes before ending the legislative session has created a crisis for election officials across the state.

  • April 15, 2026

    Judge Ices Calif. Climate Suit As Justices Mull Boulder Case

    A California state court judge has put on hold coordinated climate litigation that state and local governments have filed against oil and gas companies while the U.S. Supreme Court considers a similar case brought by the city and county of Boulder, Colorado.

  • April 15, 2026

    Trump Admin Asks Court To Delay East Wing Injunction

    The Trump administration on Tuesday asked a D.C. federal court to delay enforcing its order blocking the White House East Wing ballroom project, invoking national security after the court carved out an exception over the "safety and security" of White House grounds.

  • April 15, 2026

    Hold Dish To Buildout Plans, Mich. Local Gov'ts Urge FCC

    A coalition of local government leaders in Michigan has asked the Federal Communications Commission to insist that Dish fulfill its wireless buildout obligations before its parent company EchoStar completes spectrum sales to AT&T and SpaceX.

  • April 15, 2026

    11th Circ. Nixes Challenge To Atlanta Billboard Regs

    The Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday threw out a Georgia federal judge's ruling that the city of Atlanta's signage ordinance was illegal under the First Amendment, holding that the lower court "erred as to both theories" advanced by a local billboard owner.

  • April 15, 2026

    737 Max Families Ask Full 5th Circ. To Weigh DOJ-Boeing Deal

    Families of 737 Max 8 crash victims have asked the full Fifth Circuit to review a panel's recent decision accepting the U.S. Department of Justice's refusal to criminally prosecute Boeing for allegedly conspiring to defraud safety regulators, saying it allows corporate defendants to game the courts through a "mootness" loophole.

  • April 15, 2026

    Pest Control Co. Ends Noncompetes After FTC Pressure

    Pest control company Rollins Inc. agreed with the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday to stop enforcing noncompete agreements that could prevent more than 18,000 workers from taking a job at a competitor.

  • April 15, 2026

    Historical Groups Fight To Save White House Records

    Historians are asking a D.C. federal judge for an injunction that would force the Trump White House to preserve official records after administration attorneys declared the Presidential Records Act unconstitutional.

  • April 15, 2026

    Cable Group Says Any 'Click To Cancel' Rule Would Be 'Chaos'

    A cable industry trade group has told the Federal Trade Commission it wants no part of any proposed "click to cancel" regulations, saying more rules governing negative option marketing practices "would not protect consumers, only generate regulatory chaos."

  • April 15, 2026

    Electric Co-Op Denies Delaying Minn. Broadband Projects

    A regional electric cooperative has denied assertions that it has hindered pole improvements necessary for a broadband provider to fulfill its deployment obligations in Minnesota under the Federal Communications Commission's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.

  • April 15, 2026

    Squires Passes On 10 Patent Challenges, Takes On 2 Others

    The newest bulk order from U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has rejected 10 petitions for America Invents Act patent reviews while granting a couple others, including a Google challenge to a patent owned by Headwater Research LLC.

  • April 15, 2026

    Ga. Panel Backs Railroad In Residents' Land Seizure Suit

    A Georgia appellate panel Wednesday backed a railroad's win in a fight with local residents opposing the condemnation of their property for new construction, finding insufficient evidence to overturn a ruling from the state's utility regulatory body that greenlighted the taking.

  • April 15, 2026

    Risk Agency Drops Munich Re Suit Over Sex Abuse Coverage

    A Connecticut municipal risk financing agency has dropped a short-lived federal lawsuit seeking coverage from Munich Reinsurance America Inc. in an underlying sexual abuse lawsuit against a local school board.

  • April 15, 2026

    What To Know About DOL's Benefits Enforcement Update

    The U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits arm recently issued updated enforcement guidance that highlighted the agency's goal of shifting to focus more on breaches of the fiduciary duty of loyalty under federal benefits law. Here are three things experts said stood out about the DOL's update.

  • April 15, 2026

    Denver Seeks Atty Fees After Win On Sanctuary Laws

    The city of Denver asked a Colorado federal judge to award it attorney fees after the court tossed the Trump administration's challenge of sanctuary laws in Colorado and Denver in March.

  • April 15, 2026

    Denver Seeks To End Strip Clubs' Wage Theft Suit

    Strip club operators that repeatedly failed to halt Denver's $14 million wage theft investigation in state court cannot relitigate those same challenges in federal court, the city told a Colorado federal court Wednesday.

  • April 15, 2026

    DOL's Warning For Proxy Advisers Acts On A Trump Order

    The U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits division cautioned Wednesday that proxy advisory firms may be providing advice that could make them fiduciaries under federal law, following through on a directive that President Donald Trump issued in December.

  • April 15, 2026

    Trump Plan To Remake DC Golf Course Is In Rough Legal Shape

    President Donald Trump's plans to renovate a public Washington, D.C., golf course and turn it into a championship venue faces strong legal headwinds as experts say the administration skipped several regulatory steps when it started work on the project.

  • April 15, 2026

    USPTO Eying Older Patent Apps, Busier Tech For New Pilot

    A U.S. Patent and Trademark Office leader on Wednesday clarified when the agency plans to flag patent applications that have already gone through the Patent Cooperation Treaty international review process, in a pilot program to cut down on the examination backlog. 

  • April 15, 2026

    KC Moves Closer To Approving $1.9B Ballpark Plan For Royals

    Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas announced the city's Parks and Recreation Board of Commissioners had authorized a plan that would help the Royals baseball team build a new $1.9 billion stadium downtown.

  • April 15, 2026

    US Says It Will Stay Out Of Calif. Monument Venue Dispute

    The U.S. Department of the Interior won't weigh in on whether a dispute between a miner, tribal nations and conservation groups over the Chuckwalla National Monument's establishment in California should stay in a Michigan district court.

Expert Analysis

  • What New Fla. Citizens Bill Means For Surplus Lines Insurers

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    A Florida bill recently passed by the Legislature as part of a continued effort to depopulate Citizens Property Insurance, the state's insurer of last resort, creates an additional pathway for commercial policies to be written by surplus lines insurers, but also presents concerns of unnecessary regulation, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • What Voluntary Calif. Carbon Reports Show About Compliance

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    While the enforcement of California's S.B. 261 is currently paused due to a Ninth Circuit injunction, more than 130 companies have nonetheless chosen to voluntarily publish climate-related financial risk disclosures, providing a useful snapshot of how the market is interpreting the law's requirements in practice, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • PTAB Memo Recenters Discretion On US Manufacturing

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    Read alongside recent Federal Circuit decisions, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires' memo on patent denial considerations emphasizes domestic manufacturing in a way that the International Trade Commission does not require, says Brandon Theiss at Volpe Koenig.

  • Why MDLs Slow Down — And How To Speed Them Up

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    Multidistrict litigation has become central to mass tort practice, but as MDLs grow in size and complexity, so do delays and costs — so tools like the new federal rule governing MDLs, targeted use of special masters and strategically deployed Lone Pine orders are more essential than ever, say attorneys at Ice Miller.

  • What A Court Doc Audit Reveals About Erroneous Filings

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    My audit of 1,522 court documents from last month found that over 95% contained at least one verifiable error, with fewer than 1% showing clear indicators of artificial intelligence use — highlighting above all else that lawyers may want to focus most on strengthening their review processes, says Elliott Ash at ETH Zurich.

  • Regulators' Basel Pitch May Bring Banks Capital Relief

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    The prudential banking agencies' new proposals to implement the so-called Basel III endgame rules — which would modify the approach to risk-based capital, among other notable changes — represent a fundamental directional shift in bank capital requirements aimed at increasing lending capacity, says Chen Xu at Debevoise.

  • How SEC And CFTC Are Attempting To End Their 'Turf War'

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    Through coordinated examinations and a shared aim to end duplicative regulation, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's recent memorandum of understanding could represent a significant shift in the regulatory landscape for market participants subject to the jurisdiction of both agencies, say attorneys at Jenner.

  • FTC Focus: Growing Emphasis On Competition In AI

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    The Federal Trade Commission's leadership has continued to highlight that competitive risks in artificial intelligence markets may arise at multiple levels simultaneously, considering not only who controls the resources necessary to build AI systems, but also how those systems function and yield outputs, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • What's Missing From Latest Gov't Claims Against Harvard

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    The most interesting thing about the Trump administration’s recent civil rights enforcement efforts targeting Harvard University is its decision not to assert violations of the False Claims Act when given the opportunity, despite signals that its enforcement efforts will include use of the federal FCA, say attorneys at Bass Berry.

  • How Cos. Can Prepare For 'Made In America' Ad Scrutiny

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    The Trump administration's executive order to combat fraudulent "Made in America" claims in consumer-facing advertising, along with actions by the Federal Trade Commission, suggest a potential increased focus on consumer protection and pricing-related matters, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Opinion

    FTC Case Risks Redefining Price Discrimination

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    Federal Trade Commission v. Southern Glazer puts a spotlight on the blurry line between illegal price discrimination and ordinary competition, and could potentially set a precedent that puts nearly any manufacturer at risk of Robinson-Patman Act enforcement, says Jeremy Sandford at Econic Partners.

  • Parsing Rule 12(c) Motion Overuse In Securities Class Actions

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    Defendants in securities class actions have more frequently been filing motions for judgment on the pleadings following the denial of motions to dismiss, but courts have recently demonstrated an increasing willingness to reject these previously rare motions, finding them transparent attempts to relitigate already-decided issues, say attorneys at Labaton Keller.

  • Preparing For New Calif. Pay Data Reporting Requirements

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    California's S.B. 464 overhauls the state's pay data reporting framework by requiring employers to use job categories that are based on the Standard Occupational Classification system, increasing both the potential visibility of pay disparities and the complexity of compliance, say attorneys at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • Series

    Mich. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1

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    Michigan's financial services sector saw several significant developments in 2026's first quarter, including the state Department of Insurance and Financial Services' issuance of a bulletin on the use of artificial intelligence and the Michigan House's introduction of a bill based on the Model Money Transmission Modernization Act, say attorneys at Dykema.

  • Justices' Ruling Stresses Quick Action Against Absconders

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    Following the U.S. Supreme Court's recent holding in Rico v. U.S. that a supervised release term is not automatically extended when a defendant absconds, probation officers and prosecutors risk being unable to address later violations if they don't act promptly to secure warrants, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

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