Public Policy

  • March 03, 2026

    Split 9th Circ. Tells EPA To Review Cadmium's Species Impact

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must analyze how its revised water quality standards for cadmium would affect endangered species, a split Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday, upholding a conservation organization's victory in a lawsuit over the agency's guidance tripling the levels of the heavy metal allowed in U.S. waters.

  • March 03, 2026

    Tunnel Funding Freeze Fight Is In Wrong Court, 2nd Circ. Told

    New York and New Jersey's federal lawsuit challenging a freeze on Gateway Tunnel funding must be dismissed because it falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the U.S. Department of Transportation argued to the Second Circuit on Tuesday.

  • March 03, 2026

    New Whistleblower Program Adds 'Bit More Stick,' DOJ Says

    The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division's new whistleblower rewards program partnership with the U.S. Postal Service doesn't displace the leniency program by which companies disclose potential price-fixing and other antitrust violations, a DOJ official said Tuesday in Washington, D.C., but it is an important complement.

  • March 03, 2026

    7th Circ. Expedites Bank Appeal Of Ill. Swipe-Fee Law

    The Seventh Circuit granted banking and credit union trade groups' bid to fast-track their appeal over the Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act after they asked to schedule the case for a decision before the law banning swipe fees on tax and tip payments takes effect July 1.

  • March 03, 2026

    Dems Want Investigation Into DHS Location Data Buys

    Dozens of Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday asked a federal watchdog to investigate whether the U.S. Department of Homeland Security restarted a program to buy location data on Americans without warrants.

  • March 03, 2026

    XAI Presses Judge To Block California's AI Disclosure Law

    XAI has told a California federal judge that the state had fallen short of its obligations to inform the court and the company if it planned to institute any enforcement actions when responding to a court order, with xAI reiterating its request for the court to block a law that would require data used to train artificial intelligence be disclosed.

  • March 03, 2026

    Judge Says Accounts Of DOJ And FEMA 'Completely Different'

    A California federal judge overseeing a lawsuit by federal worker unions, local governments and nonprofits challenging Trump administration layoffs expressed deep frustration Tuesday after a U.S. Department of Justice attorney contradicted a senior Federal Emergency Management Agency official's sworn declaration in the case.

  • March 03, 2026

    Iran War Has Oil & Gas Dealmakers Holding Their Breath

    Oil and gas dealmakers are cautiously optimistic they can ride out any immediate energy market volatility caused by the U.S. and Israel-Iran war, but the potential for disrupted transactions will grow if the conflict drags on, or continues to provoke Middle East neighbors.

  • March 03, 2026

    Iridium Challenges 'Spectrum Hoarder' Ligado's SkyTerra Plan

    Iridium has urged the Federal Communications Commission to reject Ligado Networks' push for a carveout from licensing rules to allow AST to build a new satellite constellation in the L-band airwaves, saying it could interfere with other users.

  • March 03, 2026

    Fla. House Passes Land Use Bill With Local Preemptions

    The Florida House on Tuesday passed a bill weakening local government control over land use law with steps that its sponsor said are necessary to address a housing affordability crisis but that critics decried as a handout to developers.

  • March 03, 2026

    House OKs Effort To Ease Broadband Builds On Federal Land

    The U.S. House voted Tuesday to direct land management agencies to study how they can ease the process for allowing broadband infrastructure to run through public lands.

  • March 03, 2026

    Apple Asks 9th Circ. To Rethink Part Of App Store Injunction

    Apple asked the Ninth Circuit to reconsider part of a panel decision that largely affirmed an injunction in the case being brought by Epic Games Inc. that blocked the tech giant from charging developers "prohibitive" commissions on iPhone app purchases made outside its payment systems.

  • March 03, 2026

    Mass. Sheriff Must Face Pot Extortion Charges

    A federal judge on Tuesday denied a request by a Massachusetts sheriff to toss charges that he used his position to obtain pre-initial public offering shares in a cannabis dispensary and a refund when their value dropped.

  • March 03, 2026

    Ex-FDA Leaders Rebut Contraception Rollbacks At 3rd Circ.

    Former FDA commissioners argued that Trump-era religious exemptions for birth control coverage jeopardize public health and distort medical science, in an animus brief filed Monday with the Third Circuit.

  • March 03, 2026

    NC Town Must Face Firefighter's Retaliation, Free Speech Suit

    A former part-time fire chief who accused a North Carolina town of terminating him after he sought to improve firefighter pay and benefits can proceed with his retaliation lawsuit, as a North Carolina federal court said it's too early to know if his ex-employer is immune from the suit.

  • March 03, 2026

    Conn. Beats Challenge To Open Carry Ban, Handgun Limits

    Two gun owners and an Idaho-based nonprofit lack standing to sue a Connecticut prosecutor in an effort to invalidate the state's open carry ban and its three-per-month limitation on handgun purchases, a federal judge has ruled.

  • March 03, 2026

    Wash., Cities Say Pandemic Eviction Moratoria Suit Is Too Late

    Washington and a host of municipal governments throughout the state urged a federal court to toss landlords' suit challenging several pandemic-era eviction moratoria, arguing the claims are barred by a three-year statute of limitations.

  • March 03, 2026

    GOP Pushes For DHS Funding Amid War With Iran

    Republicans are putting pressure on Democrats to support funding for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as the U.S. and Israel-Iran war continues.

  • March 03, 2026

    5th Circ. Unsure Grid Hookup Request Cap Hurts States

    A Fifth Circuit panel appeared skeptical that Louisiana and Mississippi utility regulators deserve an exemption from the cap on the number of electricity generation projects in a regional grid operator's interconnection request queue, asking Tuesday if any state had previously enjoyed a waiver.

  • March 03, 2026

    Optimum Wants FCC Conditions On Nexstar-Tegna Deal

    If the Federal Communications Commission approves Nexstar and Tegna's $6.2 billion megamerger, it must also put tight restrictions on the companies' plans to hike up retransmission consent fees, one cable and internet provider is telling the agency.

  • March 03, 2026

    Wash. Tribes Want Shot At Remaining $184M In Salmon Funds

    Two Washington tribes are looking to temporarily block the federal government from awarding millions in tribal hatchery grants to 27 Indigenous nations, arguing that they and the Pacific salmon will suffer irreparable harm if the money is disbursed without their communities being able to apply for the funding.

  • March 03, 2026

    Early Publicity Could Poison DOJ's Criminal Cases, Attys Say

    The U.S. Department of Justice under President Donald Trump has shrugged off long-standing prosecutorial policies against publicizing criminal probes in their early stages and disparaging the targets, an "unusual" and "troubling" development that threatens the integrity of investigations, grand jury proceedings and the right to a fair trial, experts tell Law360.

  • March 03, 2026

    DC Circ. Urged To Aid Discovery In ICE-IRS Data-Sharing Case

    A taxpayer group challenging the legality of a deal allowing the Internal Revenue Service to share taxpayer location information with immigration authorities asked the D.C. Circuit to remand part of the case to investigate the IRS' admission that it improperly shared addresses under the agreement.

  • March 03, 2026

    Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

    The U.S. Department of Justice got its antitrust case against Live Nation and Ticketmaster teed up for trial, as a court continues mulling the department's settlement last year in a case challenging a deal by Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and lawmakers call for scrutiny of Paramount Skydance's blockbuster acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

  • March 03, 2026

    Florida High Court Urged To Kill Marijuana Legalization Effort

    Florida election officials told the state's highest court Monday that a lower court was correct in invalidating thousands of signatures in support of the latest effort to legalize retail marijuana via ballot initiative.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Opinion

    CFIUS Must Adapt To Current Foreign Investment Realities

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    To continue protecting the U.S.’ long-term strategic and economic interests, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States should implement practical enhancements that leverage technology, expertise and clear communication, and enable it to keep pace with evolving demands, says attorney Sohan Dasgupta.

  • Texas AG Wields Consumer Protection Law Against Tech Cos.

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    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has targeted technology companies using the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, a broadly worded statute that gives the attorney general wide latitude to pursue claims beyond traditional consumer protection, creating unique litigation risks, say attorneys at Yetter Coleman.

  • When Bankruptcy Collides With Product Recalls

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    The recent bankruptcy filing by Rad Power Bikes on the heels of a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission warning about dangerously defective batteries sold by the company highlights how CPSC enforcement clashes with bankruptcy protections, leaving both regulators and consumer litigants with limited options, says Michael Avanesian at Avian Law Group.

  • Protecting Sensitive Data During Congressional Inquiries

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    With the 2026 midterm elections potentially set to shift control of one or both houses of Congress, entities must proactively plan for the prospect of new congressional investigations, and adopt strategic, effective and practical measures to mitigate risks related to disclosure of sensitive information, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

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