Public Policy

  • April 20, 2026

    COVID Not A 'Natural Disaster,' Wash. Panel Rules In Tax Case

    A Washington state appeals court declined to revive a hotel trade group's class action seeking tax relief over the governor's COVID-19 emergency declaration in 2020, ruling Monday that the pandemic doesn't qualify as a "natural disaster" under state law.

  • April 20, 2026

    No High Court Review In NY Nursing Home COVID Death Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review the dismissal of a civil suit against former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other former state officials over COVID-19-related deaths in nursing homes that allegedly stemmed from the state's controversial early pandemic policies.

  • April 20, 2026

    Philip Morris Unfairly Gains From Label Ruling, 11th Circ. Told

    Philip Morris cannot be the only company allowed to not follow a rule requiring cigarette makers to add graphic warnings to their labels, R.J. Reynolds and a coalition of tobacco businesses have told the Eleventh Circuit, suggesting that consumers might assume its cigarettes are safer than theirs.

  • April 20, 2026

    Texas AG Says Democratic Fundraiser ActBlue Allows Fraud

    The Texas attorney general has accused Democratic fundraiser ActBlue LLC of misleading consumers by allowing fraudulent and foreign donations to flow through its platform, telling a Texas state court Monday that the fundraiser undermines "the integrity of our nation's elections."

  • April 20, 2026

    Live Nation To Pay $9.9M To Ditch DC AG Ticket Pricing Probe

    Live Nation will pay $9.9 million to escape a Washington, D.C., probe accusing it of deploying deceptive ticketing practices over the last decade, just days after a federal jury found that the company and its subsidiary Ticketmaster monopolized ticketing services for major concert venues.

  • April 20, 2026

    Fox Lawyer In Dominion Case Confirmed To Texas Bench

    The Senate voted 47-46 Monday evening to confirm Andrew Davis, a partner at Lehotsky Keller Cohn LLP who defended Fox News in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation case, to serve on the bench in the Western District of Texas.

  • April 20, 2026

    W.Va. Trucking Co.'s Facility Counts As A 'Mine,' DC Circ. Says

    A split D.C. Circuit panel ruled that a trucking company's West Virginia facility counted as a "mine" under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act because it's within a mile of a coal plant owned by one of the trucking company's clients and is used to support the client's operations.

  • April 20, 2026

    SEC, CFTC Propose Rules To Relax Private Fund Reporting

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday proposed relaxing certain reporting requirements for hedge funds and other private fund advisers by allowing smaller firms to forego filing a disclosure used to monitor systemic risk and nixing some of its questions around volatility, event reporting and indirect exposure altogether.

  • April 20, 2026

    Contractor DEI Order Will Cause 'Irreparable Harm,' Suit Says

    A coalition of nonprofits, university professors, federal contractors and subcontractors are seeking to block an executive order requiring government contractors to agree they won't engage in "racially discriminatory DEI activities," telling a Maryland federal court Monday that the directive will cause "irreparable harm" to the groups and their members.

  • April 20, 2026

    Gov't Hopes Court Rescues FCC Fines. Here's What Amici Say

    A rare U.S. Supreme Court showdown between the Big Three wireless carriers and their regulator takes place Tuesday, when the justices will put the Federal Communications Commission's authority to issue fines under a microscope.

  • April 20, 2026

    House Votes To Re-Up National First Responder Network

    The U.S. House of Representatives voted Monday to reauthorize the First Responder Network Authority for another decade.

  • April 20, 2026

    Suit Fights DHS' Nix Of Automatic Work Permit Extensions

    A Mexican national and domestic violence survivor sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Monday, arguing that the October rule eliminating the automatic extension of work permits for immigrants awaiting renewal decisions will severely harm immigrants who get pushed out of the workforce.

  • April 20, 2026

    Texas State Judge Resigns After Handcuffing Defense Atty

    A Texas state court judge has resigned after the state's judicial ethics watchdog accused her of wrongly handcuffing a defense attorney, signing off on an agreement that will see disciplinary action relating to the incident dropped.

  • April 20, 2026

    PBMs Fail To Freeze Discovery In Mich.'s Drug-Pricing Case

    A pending motion to dismiss the Michigan attorney general's drug-pricing case against multiple pharmacy benefit managers does not preclude the PBMs from handing over agreements between PBMs and pharmacies to the state, a federal judge said in a motion hearing Monday.

  • April 20, 2026

    Ex-Newman Clerks, Judges Back High Court Suspension Fight

    A group of former clerks for Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman, as well as former federal judges, have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the challenge to her suspension imposed by her colleagues.

  • April 20, 2026

    National Parks Group Seeks To Block Mojave Mine Restart

    The National Parks Conservation Association is asking a California federal district court to block a Department of the Interior decision to renew gold mining within the Mojave National Preserve, arguing the department skirted environmental laws by reversing established policy that prioritized the desert ecosystem and Indigenous cultural area's protection.

  • April 20, 2026

    Kash Patel Sues Atlantic For $250M Over 'Fabricated' Report

    FBI Director Kash Patel sued The Atlantic magazine for $250 million in damages Monday, claiming a recent report about his alleged drinking and absences from work was "fabricated" and designed to "drive him from office."

  • April 20, 2026

    Little-Known Gambling Tax Could Upend Boom In US Betting

    After a record year for U.S. commercial gaming, a little-known tax on phantom income in last year's Republican reconciliation law has spurred bipartisan repeal efforts amid concerns it could alter betting behavior and drain state and local economies built on gambling-related tourism.

  • April 20, 2026

    High Court SEC Case Threatens FERC Fraud Clawbacks

    Federal Energy Regulatory Commission efforts to claw back unjust profits from market frauds, a linchpin of the agency's enforcement work, face an uncertain future as the U.S. Supreme Court considers a challenge to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's disgorgement powers.

  • April 20, 2026

    E-Rate Bid Revamp Likely To Be Harmful, Advocates Tell FCC

    An organization that normally champions the Federal Communications Commission's E-rate program, which subsidizes internet service for schools and libraries, has told the agency it thinks its plans to consolidate bids into a single competitive portal is a bad idea.

  • April 20, 2026

    Groups Challenge BP Offshore Project Approval At 11th Circ.

    Conservation groups petitioned the Eleventh Circuit on Monday seeking to block the Trump administration's recent approval of BP's Kaskida offshore drilling project in the Gulf of Mexico, saying Kaskida is in "riskier waters" than where the Deepwater Horizon disaster occurred.

  • April 20, 2026

    Live Nation Wants Expert, Damages Cut After Antitrust Verdict

    Live Nation is asking a New York federal court to strike the testimony of a key expert witness for the states and to wipe the damages awarded by the jury based on her work, in the antitrust case accusing the company of monopolizing the live entertainment industry.

  • April 20, 2026

    Ill. Judge Orders Five Freed Over ICE Warrantless Arrests

    An Illinois federal judge on Monday found that five individuals were arrested in violation of a consent decree prohibiting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from making warrantless arrests without probable cause, but said recent guidance from the Seventh Circuit curbed his authority to provide relief to others.

  • April 20, 2026

    Trump's Labor Secretary Steps Down

    President Donald Trump's labor secretary stepped down on Monday amid fallout from an internal investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor watchdog that apparently probed a relationship she allegedly had with a subordinate, and other issues.

  • April 20, 2026

    Alaska Can't Dodge $2M Bill In Fishing Rights Row, Court Told

    Indigenous organizations say Alaska is responsible for the length of a dispute rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court over fishing rights in the Kuskokwim River, telling a district court that the state is trying to "foist responsibility" for millions in legal fees onto its Native citizens.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    3 Reasons We Need Digital Asset Market Structure Legislation

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    As bills to regulate the cryptocurrency industry risk stalling in Congress, policymakers and market participants must remember why a durable statutory framework, not governance by agency action, is key to unlocking the full potential of the U.S. digital asset ecosystem, say attorneys at Davis Polk.

  • Series

    Volunteering With Scouts Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Serving as an assistant scoutmaster for my son’s troop reaffirmed several skills and principles crucial to lawyering — from the importance of disconnecting to the value of morality, says Michael Warren at McManis Faulkner.

  • Compliance Takeaways Amid Subscription Practices Scrutiny

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    The Federal Trade Commission's prioritization of enforcement regarding deceptive billing and cancellation practices in recurring subscriptions, and new click-to-cancel rulemaking expected on the horizon, carry key takeaways for companies using recurring subscriptions to sell products or services, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: In Court, It's About Storytelling

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    Law school provides doctrine, cases and hypotheticals, but when lawyers step into the courtroom, they must learn the importance of clarity, credibility, memorability and preparation — in other words, how to tell simple, effective stories, say Nicholas Steverson and Danielle Trujillo at Wheeler Trigg, and Lisa DeCaro at Courtroom Performance.

  • How Leveraged Lending Pivot May Alter Bank Risk Oversight

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    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's recent withdrawal of leveraged lending guidance introduces several principles that may allow banks to better apply enterprisewide risk management programs and potentially create additional competition in the private credit loan market, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • Pros And Cons Of FDA's Push For Nonprescription Drugs

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recent moves to shift more prescription drugs to over-the-counter status could increase access to important medications, but also bring potential safety risks and other trade-offs for drug companies, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • Why SDNY May Be Dusting Off The Financial Kingpin Statute

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    The Southern District of New York’s recent fraud indictments against executives of bankrupt companies Tricolor and First Brands have seemingly revived the Continuing Financial Crimes Enterprise statute, and if the cases succeed, prosecutors across the country will have ample reason to reach for this long-dormant tool, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • What's Changed In Army Corps' Reissued Nationwide Permits

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    The final rule recently issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, renewing and revising nationwide permits for projects covered by Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, makes measured adjustments rather than sweeping revisions, addressing key operational and compliance concerns while maintaining the existing framework, say attorneys at Spencer Fane.

  • What Kalshi Cases Reveal About State Authority, Regulation

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    Prediction markets like Kalshi have ignited complex legal battles that get to the heart of how novel financial products intersect with traditional state enforcement authority, and courts are already beginning to divide over whether federal law preempts state enforcement authority restricting these offerings, say attorneys at Holtzman Vogel.

  • Parsing Clarifications On Foreign Entity Rules For Tax Credits

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    Recent U.S. Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department guidance answers taxpayer questions on several key foreign entity rules under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but questions remain over transactions with companies that have ties to covered nations such as Iran, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • What US Arms Sales Reforms Mean For Defense Industry

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    A recent executive order with the goal of increasing U.S. arms sales transparency, speed and government-industry collaboration carries both promise and risk for the defense industry as the government seeks to leverage the private sector and use commercial products for defense purposes, say attorneys at Fluet.

  • Prepping For The Future Of No Surprises Act Enforcement

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    This year is expected to be a transition point for the No Surprises Act framework from regulatory delay to operational enforcement, so stakeholders should use this time to stress-test systems, clean up processes and prepare for enforcement, say attorneys at Akerman.

  • A Tale Of 2 Self-Disclosure Policies: How SDNY, DOJ Differ

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    Though the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York’s recently announced corporate enforcement and voluntary self-disclosure policy shares many similarities with that of the U.S. Department of Justice, the two programs differ in meaningful ways, including subject matter scope and timeline to declination, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • Aligning Microsoft Tools With NYC Bar AI Recording Guidance

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    The New York City Bar Association’s recently issued formal opinion, providing ethical guidance on artificial intelligence-assisted recording, transcription and summarization, raises immediate questions about data governance and e-discovery for companies that use Microsoft 365 and Copilot, say Staci Kaliner, Martin Tully and John Collins at Redgrave.

  • What Employers Should Know About Calif. PAGA Proposal

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    Recently proposed regulations concerning the Private Attorneys General Act evidence an intent by California's Labor and Workforce Development Agency to play a greater role in the prosecution of PAGA actions, including more oversight over the exhaustion notices and settlement process, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

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