Public Policy

  • April 21, 2026

    House Subcommittee Mulls SAT Streamlining Act

    Everyone at Tuesday's SAT Streamlining Act hearing agreed it is time for U.S. policy to catch up with the booming satellite industry, but while Republicans seemed more prepared to slash and burn permitting hurdles, Democrats expressed concern about creating what one witness called a "rubber stamp."

  • April 21, 2026

    Justices Look Split In 7th Amendment Feud Over FCC Fines

    Several U.S. Supreme Court justices seemed convinced Tuesday that Federal Communications Commission fines are nonbinding unless enforced and don't deprive alleged rule violators of the right to a jury trial, but some colleagues still questioned whether the parties sanctioned by the agency have a meaningful chance of facing a jury.

  • April 21, 2026

    7th Circ. Says Fed. Laws Don't Preempt Wis. Vape Sale Ban

    The Seventh Circuit declined Tuesday to revive vaping interest groups' bid to halt enforcement of a Wisconsin law banning sales of e-cigarettes that aren't approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, finding federal law doesn't preempt the state's authority to regulate the marketing and sales of tobacco products. 

  • April 21, 2026

    Copyright Head Touts 6,000 Registrations Of Human-AI Works

    The U.S. Copyright Office has issued more than 6,000 registrations for works that incorporate artificial intelligence-generated materials and follow the agency's guidance for combined human-made and AI-created works, U.S. Copyright Office leader Shira Perlmutter said Tuesday.

  • April 21, 2026

    Fla. AG Backs Bal Harbour Shops Owner In Live Local Dispute

    Florida's Office of the Attorney General has asked a state court for permission to file an amicus brief supporting developer Bal Harbour Shops LLC's suit against a municipality that rejected the developer's application for a mixed-use project that would have included homes, a hotel and a retail area.

  • April 21, 2026

    Arkansas' Second Attempt At Age Verification Law Blocked

    Tech trade group NetChoice has won another battle in its war against age verification laws, convincing an Arkansas federal court to again block a state law that would restrict minors' ability to use social media.

  • April 21, 2026

    Congress Rallies More For Bills On Copyrights Than Patents

    There have been more intellectual property bills floated in Congress that are supportive of copyright rights than patent rights, according to a new report looking at how lawmakers treat the IP system.

  • April 21, 2026

    US Lawmakers Float Path For Fintech Fed Accounts

    Two federal lawmakers from California introduced a bipartisan bill on Tuesday that would create a path for nonbank fintechs to directly access the Federal Reserve's payment rails in the hopes of reducing bank fees and delays for consumers using payment apps.

  • April 21, 2026

    Board Says Opposition To Gangs Not Enough For Asylum

    Disapproval of criminal gangs or opposition to them is not enough to establish a protected political opinion for asylum purposes, the Board of Immigration Appeals ruled on Tuesday, affirming an immigration judge's denial of an El Salvadoran woman's application.

  • April 21, 2026

    Feds Say Arctic Lease Sale For Oil Drilling Begins In June

    The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management has announced that it will hold an oil and gas lease sale on the 1.56-million-acre Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, saying the bid opening for tracts will take place June 5.

  • April 21, 2026

    Watchdog Says Ex-Fla. Rep Used Straw Donors For Campaign

    A Washington, D.C.-based watchdog organization accused former Florida Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of improperly funding her 2022 reelection bid to the U.S. House of Representatives, saying she orchestrated a complex straw donor scheme to funnel $725,000 in Haitian "dark money" into her campaign. 

  • April 21, 2026

    NM Couple Plead Guilty To Selling Vietnam Jewelry As Navajo

    A New Mexico husband and wife have admitted in North Carolina federal court to importing counterfeit Native American jewelry from Vietnam and marketing it to U.S. buyers as genuine handmade Navajo pieces, according to federal prosecutors and court documents.

  • April 21, 2026

    Squires Hints At New 'Holistic' Decision On PTAB Discretion

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires previewed at a conference Tuesday an imminent "comprehensive decision" that will articulate current policy on discretionary factors that inform the viability of Patent Trial and Appeal Board challenges, saying he's seeking "predictability" for the PTAB.

  • April 21, 2026

    Bills Sinking 'Texas Two-Step' Ch. 11 Cases Reintroduced

    Members of Congress have reintroduced bipartisan legislation meant to deter so-called Texas two-step Chapter 11s, a controversial maneuver companies have used to address mass tort liabilities in bankruptcy.

  • April 21, 2026

    Defendant Says Rx Software Was Guide For Docs, Not Fraud

    A man accused of swindling Medicare out of nearly half a billion dollars was simply trying to make it easier for doctors to navigate labyrinthine Medicare regulations to get orthotic braces approved for their patients, his attorney told jurors in Florida federal court Tuesday.

  • April 21, 2026

    Pesticide Study Admin Says Ex-Worker's Suit Is A 'Do-Over'

    Counsel for a former administrative adviser in a national pesticide safety study organization named in an ex-worker's wrongful firing lawsuit urged a North Carolina federal court Tuesday to dismiss the matter, arguing the adviser is immune from constitutional claims that have already been litigated elsewhere.

  • April 21, 2026

    Colo. Judge Narrowly Expands ICE Subpoena Block

    A Colorado state judge narrowly expanded a June order that enjoined Colorado's governor from directing the state's Labor Department employees to respond to federal immigration enforcement subpoenas, ruling Tuesday that the order includes a March 13 subpoena by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

  • April 21, 2026

    Judge Backs Release Of Family Held After Colo. Protest Attack

    A Texas federal judge has recommended that the wife and children of an Egyptian man accused of attacking pro-Israel demonstrators be released from immigration detention, finding that their more than 10-month detention has violated the family's due process rights.

  • April 21, 2026

    Feds Say They Don't Control Immigration Center Conditions

    Immigration officials said a California federal court should toss a proposed class action from inmates alleging intolerable living conditions in a Mojave Desert processing center because the plaintiffs have sued the wrong defendants.

  • April 21, 2026

    Colo. Republicans Say Late Ruling Forces Semi-Open Primary

    The Colorado Republican Party has asked a federal judge to issue an emergency temporary restraining order allowing the party to ban unaffiliated voters from participating in its upcoming primary election after the court last month found a supermajority requirement to opt out of the primary was unconstitutional.

  • April 21, 2026

    11th Circ. Says Builders Can't Block Biden-Era Labor Mandate

    An association of builders failed to show it would succeed on its claims challenging a Biden-era executive order requiring labor agreements for all federal contracts exceeding $35 million, the Eleventh Circuit ruled, affirming a federal court's decision rejecting the group's request for an injunction.

  • April 21, 2026

    House Panel Votes To Gut Corporate Transparency Act

    A House finance committee advanced a bill Tuesday that would defang the Corporate Transparency Act by exempting all domestically owned companies from compliance, codifying a limitation already implemented by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

  • April 21, 2026

    Feds Say Pot Foes Lack Standing To Stop CMS Hemp Program

    Federal health regulators have told a D.C. federal judge that anti-pot advocates' attempt to block a program to ease access for Medicare beneficiaries to federally legal hemp products that have small amounts of THC was not bolstered by the addition of a pharmaceutical company as a co-plaintiff.

  • April 21, 2026

    Calif. Says City Skirted Duties After Tribal Remains Found At Site

    California has accused a southern city in the state of failing to conduct further environmental review after Native American remains were discovered at a luxury home development site, saying the city improperly let certain construction activities continue.

  • April 21, 2026

    Suit Says DOJ Voter Data Checks Could Trigger Purges

    Voting rights advocates sued the U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday over its bid to acquire states' unredacted voter information to cross-check voter rolls against immigration databases, warning that the effort could enable purges of naturalized citizens who are eligible to vote.

Expert Analysis

  • 3 Federal Policy Trends Shaping Data Center Power

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    With the White House, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Congress each pushing energy policies that will influence how data centers are sited, powered and interconnected for years to come, industry stakeholders should understand compliance obligations, consider possible downstream effects, and evaluate off-grid and self-supply energy options, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • NY Tax Talk: Calculating Tiered Partnership Income

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    Attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland discuss how the potential impact recent New York City Tax Appeals Tribunal decision in Matter of Cantor Fitzgerald holding that the entity approach should be used by tiered partnerships to compute unincorporated business tax liability, why the issue of the proper approach remains unsettled and the broader implications for federal conformity and administrative agency deference.

  • FDA Guidance May Move Goalposts For Form 483 Responses

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    New draft guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration provides formal insight on how drug manufacturers are expected to respond to Form 483s, raising some concerns about the agency's timelines and expectations, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Understanding The SEC's Consequential Crypto Guidance

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent interpretive release — its most comprehensive statement ever on the application of the federal securities laws to crypto-assets — reimagines the Howey test to resolve long-standing questions over what is a security, but leaves many issues unresolved, say attorneys at Cahill.

  • Ohio Case Reflects States' Aggressive Criminal Antitrust Turn

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    The Ohio Attorney General's Office’s recent bid-rigging indictment of an online auctioneer is the latest signal that states, through attorneys general pursuing more kickback cases and legislators expanding the reach of antitrust laws, are shedding their historical reluctance to wield their criminal antitrust enforcement powers, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Justices' Geofence Ruling May Test 4th Amendment's Future

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    When the U.S. Supreme Court decides in Chatrie v. U.S. whether law enforcement may use geofence warrants to compel Google to disclose location history data, the ruling is likely to become an important statement about the future of Fourth Amendment law in data-driven investigations, says Duncan Levin at Levin & Associates.

  • Series

    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1

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    In the first quarter of 2026, New York's banking developments were headlined by initiatives to expand oversight of financial institutions and strengthen consumer protection laws, including a new framework for buy now, pay later lenders, a sweeping debt collection rule and a revised corporate self-disclosure program for financial crimes, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Seeking A Policy Fix As Merger Reporting Fight Continues

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    A recently announced request by the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice for public comment on the Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger reporting requirements, as litigation challenging the commission's updated requirements continues, suggests the government's willingness to address how best to support modern merger enforcement without unduly burdening filing parties, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • 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.

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