Public Policy

  • March 17, 2026

    USPTO Has Eye On New Tech In Design Patent Guidance

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has significantly expanded design patent protections with its guidance for claiming computer-generated images shown using virtual reality, holograms and similar technologies, attorneys say, marking a big step forward from prior rules on the subject.

  • March 17, 2026

    China Surveillance Makes Radio Conference Harder, Senate Told

    China's ability to monitor foreign visitors from the moment they step onto its soil will make it harder for U.S. officials to navigate next year's critical treaty-making conference on radio spectrum rules in Shanghai, experts told the U.S. Senate Tuesday.

  • March 17, 2026

    Judge Blasts Admin For Shifting White House Project Claims

    A D.C. federal judge blasted top administration attorneys Tuesday for "shifting theories" of authority for the White House's East Wing ballroom project, saying the administration was likely looking for "an escape hatch" to avoid an injunction and promised to try to rule before above-ground work begins next month.

  • March 17, 2026

    NJ Justices Probe Daniel's Law Notification Requirement

    The New Jersey Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned whether a notice requirement in the state's judicial privacy law is enough to ensure that any person or entity that can be held liable under the law acted with negligence.

  • March 17, 2026

    10th Circ. Considers Ask For New Trial In $5M Toll Lanes Suit

    The Tenth Circuit on Tuesday considered a contractor's request for the court to order a new trial after a Denver federal jury awarded construction design firm Aecom $5.25 million for a contract breach in a Colorado toll lanes project, questioning the contractor's litigation strategy.

  • March 17, 2026

    Biden Admin's Definition Of ERISA Fiduciary Erased

    A Texas federal judge on Tuesday vacated regulations from the U.S. Department of Labor that would have expanded the definition of an investment advice fiduciary under federal benefits law, changes that a collective of insurance groups said the federal agency didn't have the authority to make.

  • March 17, 2026

    Lawmakers Want More Oversight For Antitrust Settlements

    Democratic lawmakers proposed legislation Tuesday that would give courts more power to review settlements reached in government antitrust cases, after the U.S. Department of Justice recently cut a pair of controversial deals, including with Live Nation last week.

  • March 17, 2026

    Indicted Atty's Party Was Actually Campaign Launch, Jury Told

    Those in attendance at a March 2018 party held by BDK Law Group LLC at the center of multiple wire fraud charges expected attorney Dennis A. Bradley Jr. to announce his campaign for the Connecticut state Senate that night, even though it was billed simply as a thank-you party, a former colleague who emceed the event told a Connecticut federal jury Tuesday.

  • March 17, 2026

    Trump Can't Get 11th Circ. Redo On CNN Defamation Suit Toss

    The Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday rejected President Donald Trump's bid for the full appeals court to weigh his $475 million suit against CNN over the network calling his 2020 presidential election fraud claims a "Big Lie," leaving intact a November panel ruling affirming the case's dismissal.

  • March 17, 2026

    BlackRock, State Street Want GOP States' ESG Suit Pared

    BlackRock and State Street have asked a Texas federal judge to significantly winnow antitrust claims from Republican state attorneys general accusing the asset managers of driving up coal prices, arguing that claims based on electricity buyers are too far removed from coal.

  • March 17, 2026

    House Panel Advances Bill Aimed At Curbing ERISA Litigation

    A GOP-led panel in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday advanced legislation that would raise the pleading standards for proposed class action federal benefits lawsuits and delay the start of discovery in those disputes, with Democrats on the committee voting to oppose the legislation. 

  • March 17, 2026

    5th Circ. Sends Texas' Ozone Plan Back To EPA

    The Fifth Circuit has withdrawn its opinion backing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's disapproval of Texas' plan to meet federal ozone standards, finding the agency's new cross-state emissions rule indicates it had relied on data and modeling that was unavailable to Texas before submission.

  • March 17, 2026

    Google Wants Cutoff Date For Ad Tech Rivals' Claims

    Google moved to tee up a dismissal bid aimed at cutting key targeted policies from New York federal court antitrust claims from rival advertising placement technology providers, arguing that its "sophisticated" competitors cannot get around a four-year statute of limitations pegged to the U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit.

  • March 17, 2026

    4th Circ. Seems Split On Habeas In Speech Detention Case

    A Fourth Circuit panel wrestled Tuesday with whether a federal court had authority to hear a Georgetown scholar's claim that he was detained for protected speech, with one judge insisting that federal immigration law forces challenges to immigration detention through the petition-for-review process.

  • March 17, 2026

    Ga. Legislators Approve 4th Year Of Income Tax Rebates

    A one-time income tax refund worth up to $500 per household was given final approval by the Georgia Senate, and so the state's lawmakers have elected to cut across-the-board refund checks to taxpayers for a fourth straight year.  

  • March 17, 2026

    Idaho Tribe Looks To Void Approval Of $2B Gold Mine Project

    An Idaho tribe says the U.S. Forest Service violated bedrock environmental laws that provide first lines of defense for its rights in approving a $2 billion gold mining project within the Boise and Payette national forests, arguing it failed to consider any alternative methods for the endeavor.

  • March 17, 2026

    SD OKs County Gross Receipts Tax To Reduce Property Tax

    South Dakota will allow counties to implement a county-wide gross receipts tax with revenue that goes toward a property tax reduction fund under a law signed by the governor. 

  • March 17, 2026

    Okla. Fails To Halt Tulsa-Muscogee Jurisdiction Agreement

    Oklahoma and its governor have failed to show that Tulsa is incapable of adequately representing its interests as the city settles a jurisdictional lawsuit brought by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation over law enforcement, a federal judge has ruled as he closed the case.

  • March 17, 2026

    Bipartisan Bill To Waive $100K H-1B Fee Gets AMA Backing

    Medical organizations and a bipartisan group of lawmakers are backing federal legislation introduced Tuesday that would exempt physicians and other healthcare workers from the Trump administration's $100,000 fee on H-1B visas.

  • March 17, 2026

    NJ Judge Boots Prosecutor, Orders US Atty Trio's Testimony

    A New Jersey federal judge on Monday questioned whether Alina Habba is still running the New Jersey U.S. Attorney's Office during a heated hearing where the jurist tossed a supervisory prosecutor from his courtroom and ordered testimony from the trio of attorneys who assumed Habba's responsibilities.

  • March 17, 2026

    Feds Aim To End Suit Over Cannabis Use Questions

    The U.S. Department of Defense has asked a federal judge to toss a challenge brought by a former defense contractor who alleged his constitutional rights were violated when he lost his employment following his refusal to answer questions about his past cannabis use.

  • March 17, 2026

    MTA Sues Feds Over $59M In Frozen 2nd Ave. Subway Funds

    New York state transportation officials on Tuesday accused the Trump administration in federal court of wrongfully withholding $58.6 million for Manhattan's Second Avenue Subway expansion, jeopardizing yet another rail transit project in the Big Apple as an act of political retribution.

  • March 17, 2026

    Pa. Schools' Property Appeal Policy Ruled Unconstitutional

    A Pennsylvania school district's policy of only appealing property assessments over $500,000, which resulted in appeals involving several properties owned by a mall, violates the state's constitution, an appeals court affirmed Tuesday.

  • March 17, 2026

    Comer Subpoenas AG Bondi Over Epstein Investigation

    Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, issued a subpoena on Tuesday for Attorney General Pam Bondi over the committee's investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

  • March 17, 2026

    Chief Justice Says Personal Attacks On Judges 'Got To Stop'

    Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday condemned the personal attacks on federal judges that have become increasingly common during President Donald Trump's second term in office — and that are often launched by the president himself — and defended the daily work of the judiciary. 

Expert Analysis

  • What's At Stake In Possible Circuit Split On Medicaid Rule

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    A recent Eleventh Circuit decision, reviving Florida's lawsuit against a federal rule that reduces Medicaid funding based on agreements between hospitals, sets up a potential circuit split with the Fifth Circuit, with important ramifications for states looking to private administrators to run provider tax programs, say Liz Goodman, Karuna Seshasai and Rebecca Pitt at FTI Consulting.

  • How States Are Advancing Enviro Justice Policies

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    The federal pullback on environmental justice creates uncertainty and impedes cross‑jurisdictional coordination, but EJ diligence remains prudent risk management, with many states having developed and implemented statutes, screening tools, permitting standards and more, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • CFIUS Risk Lessons From Chips Biz Divestment Order

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    President Donald Trump's January executive order directing HieFo to unwind its 2024 acquisition of a semiconductor business with ties to China underscores that even modestly sized transactions can attract CFIUS interest if they could affect strategic areas prioritized by the U.S. government, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • What Applicants Can Expect From Calif. Crypto License Law

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    With the July effective date for California's Digital Financial Assets Law fast approaching, now is a critical time for companies to prepare for licensure, application and coverage compliance ahead of this significant regulatory milestone that will reshape how digital asset businesses operate in California, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • Elections Mean Time For Political Law Compliance Checkups

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    An active election year is the perfect time for in-house counsel to conduct a health check on their company's corporate political law compliance program to ensure it’s prepared to minimize risks related to electoral engagement, lobbying, pay-to-play laws and government ethics rules, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • Next Steps For Fair Housing Enforcement As HUD Backs Out

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    A soon-to-be-finalized U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rule, which would hand responsibility for determining disparate impact liability under the Fair Housing Act to the courts, reinforces the Trump administration’s wider rollback of fair lending enforcement, yet there are reasons to expect litigation challenging this change, say attorneys at Spencer Fane.

  • Malpractice Claim Assignability Continues To Divide Courts

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    Recent decisions from courts across the country demonstrate how different jurisdictions balance competing policy interests in determining whether legal malpractice claims can be assigned, providing a framework to identify when and how to challenge any attempted assignment, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin & Lodgen.

  • As Federal Enviro Justice Policy Goes Dormant, All Is Not Lost

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    Environmental justice is enduring a federal dormancy brought on by executive branch reversals and agency directives over the past year that have swept long-standing federal frameworks from the formal policy ledger, but the legal underpinnings of EJ have not vanished and remain important, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • What Clarity Act Delay Reveals About US Crypto Regulation

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    The Senate Banking Committee's decision to delay markup of the Clarity Act, which would establish a comprehensive federal framework for digital assets, illuminates the political and structural obstacles that shape U.S. crypto regulation, despite years of bipartisan calls for regulatory clarity, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

  • Courts' Rare Quash Of DOJ Subpoenas Has Lessons For Cos.

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    In a rare move, three federal courts recently quashed or partially quashed expansive U.S. Department of Justice administrative subpoenas issued to providers of gender-affirming care, demonstrating that courts will scrutinize purpose, cabin statutory authority and acknowledge the profound privacy burdens of overbroad government demands for sensitive records, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • The Little Tucker Act's Big Class Action Moment

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    The Little Tucker Act, which allows claims against the government for illegally exacted fees, is transforming from a niche procedural mechanism into a powerful vehicle for class action litigation, with more than $500 billion in such fees — including President Donald Trump's tariffs — now ripe for challenge, says Dinis Cheian at Susman Godfrey.

  • Venezuela Legal Shifts May Create Investment Opportunities

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    Since the removal of President Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela has shown signs of economic liberalization, particularly in the oil and mining sectors, presenting unique — but still high-risk — investment opportunities for U.S. companies, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • Unpacking Dormant Commerce Clause Cannabis Circuit Split

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    Federal courts have reached differing conclusions as to whether state-legal cannabis is subject to the dormant commerce clause, with four opinions across three circuit courts in the last year demonstrating the continued salience of the dormant commerce clause debate to the nation's cannabis industry, regulators and policymakers, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Remote Patient Monitoring Is At Regulatory Inflection Point

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    With remote patient monitoring at the center of new federal pilot programs and a recent report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General examining Medicare billing for those services, it is clear that balancing innovation and risk will be a central challenge ahead for digital health stakeholders, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • How Latest Nasdaq Proposals Stand To Raise Listings Quality

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    Nasdaq's recent proposals stand to heighten both quantitative and qualitative standards for issuers, which, if approved, may bring investors stronger market integrity and access but also raise the listings bar, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

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