Public Policy

  • May 13, 2026

    Full 5th Circ. Weighs Jackson, Mississippi, Lead Poisoning Claims

    The full Fifth Circuit on Tuesday weighed whether to keep intact a lawsuit alleging the city of Jackson, Mississippi, poisoned its residents by allowing lead to leach into the water supply, asking what level of lead in the water would constitute "shocking the conscience."

  • May 13, 2026

    Mich. Panel Revives FOIA Suit, Finds Defense Frivolous

    A Michigan appellate panel partly revived a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against a Detroit-area prosecutor's office, ruling that the office failed to adequately justify withholding records related to threats against the prosecutor and her staff, while also finding that one of its legal defenses was frivolous and sanctionable. 

  • May 13, 2026

    Feds' Sanctuary City Suit Against Boston Scrutinized

    A Massachusetts federal judge appeared poised Wednesday to throw out a Trump administration lawsuit against the city of Boston over its "sanctuary city" policy limiting cooperation with federal immigration agents.

  • May 13, 2026

    Conn. PFAS Plaintiffs Deny Forum Shopping In Montana Suit

    The City of Stamford and a local fire district are pushing back against a bid by 3M and others to sanction them for moving their claims from Connecticut to Montana, saying the sanctions bid misrepresents the facts and circumstances motivating them to join the litigation.

  • May 13, 2026

    Israel, Diplomat Hit With Suit Alleging Damage To Ga. Home

    The state of Israel and an Israeli diplomat owe a property owner thousands of dollars over homeowners association violations, lease breaches and damage done to his Atlanta home when it was leased for the diplomat and her family to live in, according to a suit filed Wednesday in Georgia federal court.

  • May 13, 2026

    10th Circ. Doubts Bid To Undo Colo. Land Swap

    A Tenth Circuit panel appeared unsure that an appraisal of a land exchange between the federal government and a private landowner must be publicly disclosed under federal law, despite claims to the contrary from an attorney representing Colorado Wild Public Lands at oral argument Wednesday.

  • May 13, 2026

    Native Activist Urges Justices To Uphold Assault Ruling

    An Indigenous activist is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to deny a federal government petition that looks to overturn a Tenth Circuit decision that said he can't be convicted of simple assault under the Major Crimes Act, telling the justices that the government's "bizarre" arguments flout the law's plain text.

  • May 13, 2026

    Lawmakers Float Allowing Charitable Gifts From 401(k) Plans

    A bipartisan group of federal lawmakers on Wednesday introduced a bill that would allow workers to make tax-free charitable donations directly from their employer-sponsored retirement plans, building on a section of the retirement policy overhaul known as Secure 2.0.

  • May 13, 2026

    Calif. Gas Station Leak Suit Came Too Late, Judge Says

    A California federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing Marathon Petroleum Corp. and Tesoro Companies of failing to handle carcinogenic exposure from a gas station, saying the claims were brought too late.

  • May 13, 2026

    Creek High Court Ends Freedmen Citizenship Contempt Bid

    The (Muscogee) Creek Supreme Court won't hold the tribe's citizenship board or executive branch in contempt over an order that gives citizenship to those once enslaved by the Indigenous nation, saying the governmental entities have shown that they're taking steps to comply with the directive, albeit slowly.

  • May 13, 2026

    Mass. Audit Fight Not Over As AG Is Ripped For Comments

    Massachusetts' auditor said Wednesday that she may file more litigation over her ongoing bid to audit the state legislature, sharply pushing back on statements by the state attorney general that suggested any review would be cabined.

  • May 13, 2026

    Bipartisan Bill Would Require ICE Training On Tribal IDs

    A bipartisan bill aims to improve how immigration officials interact with Native Americans following reports that members of Indigenous communities are getting swept up in immigration raids and of officers not accepting their Tribal IDs despite them being U.S. citizens. 

  • May 13, 2026

    Mass. Justices OK Lotto License Denial Over 'Moral Character'

    Massachusetts' highest court on Wednesday reinstated a decision by state regulators to deny a lottery license to the owner of several convenience and liquor stores based on a finding that he lacked "good moral character" despite being acquitted on rape charges.

  • May 13, 2026

    DOJ Fraud Division Set To Shake Up White-Collar Enforcement

    President Donald Trump's administration created the U.S. Department of Justice's National Fraud Enforcement Division with a narrow focus on combating government program fraud, but a move to retain federal prosecutors focused on other types of fraud could signal a wider scope with potential ripple effects across white-collar enforcement.

  • May 13, 2026

    Atkore's $136M Deals In PVC Pipe Antitrust Row Get Initial OK

    An Illinois federal judge Wednesday granted preliminary approval to two settlements totaling over $136 million that Atkore Inc. has agreed to pay to resolve allegations it conspired with other polyvinyl chloride pipe producers to fix prices.

  • May 13, 2026

    Union, Federal Workers Sue USDA Over Religious Messaging

    The National Federation of Federal Employees and a group of federal workers are accusing the secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture of unlawfully imposing her religious views on a "captive audience" of agency employees through agency emails, according to a lawsuit filed in California federal court Wednesday.

  • May 13, 2026

    Legalizing Pot Leads To Fewer Arrests, Report Says

    The pro-legalization advocacy organization Marijuana Policy Project recently made public a report culling data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's crime data explorer showing that states with legalized cannabis have seen dramatic decreases in marijuana-related arrests.

  • May 13, 2026

    6th Circ. Presses DOJ On Bid For Mich. Unredacted Voter List

    A Sixth Circuit panel on Wednesday questioned if a civil rights statute requires Michigan to turn over an unredacted statewide voter registration list to the U.S. Department of Justice, focusing on whether the law covers a modern, continuously updated voter database. 

  • May 13, 2026

    Prosecutor's Office Must Face Suit Over Lost Vacation Time

    A New Jersey appellate panel revived a lawsuit from a Sussex County Prosecutor's Office chief detective over deleted vacation days, finding factual disputes barred summary judgment after he said he canceled time off during a transition to a new county prosecutor based on assurances the leave could be carried over.

  • May 13, 2026

    NJ Cannabis Regulator Tapped To Head Alcohol Control Unit

    New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill has nominated the head of compliance at the state Cannabis Review Commission with a decade of public service experience to lead the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

  • May 13, 2026

    Trump 1st-Term Tariff Hikes On China Legal, Feds Tell Justices

    President Donald Trump's first administration was well within its legal authority to increase tariffs on Chinese goods under a law utilized to address unfair trading practices, and the U.S. Supreme Court doesn't need to consider a challenge to those measures, the government told the justices.

  • May 13, 2026

    FCC Ramps Up Focus On Cybersecurity In Telecom Biz

    The Federal Communications Commission will kick off a pair of public workshops this week aiming to find ways to elevate cybersecurity in the telecom space.

  • May 13, 2026

    Provider Says NY Is On The Hook For $3.3M Medicaid Shortfall

    The New York State Department of Health's refusal to enforce payment obligations by Medicaid managed care organizations has cost a Queens-based safety net provider at least $3.3 million in underpayments for behavioral health services, according to a suit filed in New York federal court.

  • May 13, 2026

    6th Circ. Says Kentucky Judicial Hopefuls May Tout Ideology

    Kentucky judicial hopefuls are cleared to discuss their political leanings on the campaign trail, according to a precedential ruling by the Sixth Circuit, which permanently enjoined the state's Judicial Conduct Commission from pursuing an enforcement action against two candidates who described themselves as "conservatives" and "Republicans" amid the 2022 election season.

  • May 13, 2026

    Canada Allocating Over $3.4M To Firms Hit By US Tariffs

    The Canadian government has announced a total of over CA$4.7 million ($3.4 million) in grants to support small or medium-size aluminum businesses this week to help the companies cope with U.S. tariffs, including nearly CA$2.1 million in funding Wednesday.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Coaching Soccer Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Coaching youth soccer for my 7-year-old son's team has sharpened how I communicate with clients, prepare witnesses, work within teams and think about leadership, making me a more thoughtful and effective lawyer in many ways, says Joshua Holt at Smith Currie.

  • How Internal Reporting Could Benefit Antitrust Whistleblowing

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    As the Justice Department's new antitrust whistleblower program stands to raise questions over the interaction between rewards and corporate leniency, incentivizing internal reporting first could increase the likelihood that the Antitrust Division receives the high-quality evidence needed to successfully prosecute cartel cases, says Daniel Oakes at Axinn.

  • What Texas Anti-Boycott Ruling Means For ESG Landscape

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    A Texas federal court's recent ruling in American Sustainable Business Council v. Hegar that Texas' anti-ESG law is unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds will likely embolden legal challenges to similar laws in other states that have adopted fossil fuel boycott statutes, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • How To Wield The Clarity Act As A Litigation Defense Tool

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    The Clarity Act is being discussed as a future compliance statute, but for litigators it can be used as a present-day defense tool to strengthen fair‑notice framing, argue for forward‑looking remedies rather than punitive ones and reprice settlement leverage as statutory clarity approaches, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: The Human Element

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    Law school teaches you to quickly apply intellect and logic when handling a legal issue, but every fact pattern also involves a person, making the ability to balance expertise with empathy critical to the growth of relationships with clients, colleagues and adversaries, says Rachel Adcox at Adcox Strategies.

  • As Justices Mull Suncor, Cos. Face New Climate Suit Realities

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    Following the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to hear Suncor Energy v. Boulder County — its first case analyzing the litigation impact of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rescission of its 2009 greenhouse gas endangerment finding — companies must consider new preemption questions surrounding climate lawsuits after the rescission, say attorneys at Hollingsworth.

  • 7 Steps For Gov't Contractors In Post-IEEPA Tariff Landscape

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    In response to U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to strike down tariffs issued by the Trump administration under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, there are several actions federal contractors should take to preserve their place in any refund waterfall, and to manage audit, overpayment and False Claims Act risk, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • How DExit, Mandatory Arbitration Could Alter IPO Outlook

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    As companies continue to leave Delaware and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission begins allowing companies to implement mandatory arbitration provisions, these developments could have a major impact on the initial public offering, securities class action, and directors and officers insurance landscapes, says Walker Newell at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

  • How High Court Recast State Sovereign Immunity In Galette

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in Galette v. New Jersey Transit, asserting that the state-chartered transit agency has independent corporate personhood and sole obligation to pay judgments against it, turned on substance rather than form — and its analysis should be carefully reviewed in courthouses and statehouses, say attorneys at McCarter & English.

  • Get Smart: Navigating The Genius Act's Regulatory Gaps

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    While some recent Genius Act rulemaking has covered consumer protection issues within the stablecoin market, the context is generally narrow and the final outcome remains uncertain for financial institutions or companies in the evolving landscape, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • Opinion

    Ga. HOA Reform Bills Risk Undermining Local Governance

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    Lawmakers considering several bills in Georgia that would centralize regulation of homeowners associations should acknowledge that effective reform needs to protect homeowners’ rights while preserving the financial and governance structures that allow communities to function, says Julie Howard at NowackHoward.

  • Why Prediction Market Regulation Is At Major Inflection Point

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    As prediction markets experience tremendous growth and rapid mainstream adoption, regulators have begun to exercise enforcement authority to ensure market integrity and protect participants, though forthcoming guidance will shed light on how aggressively the agencies will police the fast-changing landscape, say attorneys at Latham.

  • How Cos. Should Prepare For NY RAISE Act Compliance

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    With the New York Responsible AI Safety and Education Act taking effect March 19, state regulators will expect subject artificial intelligence governance policies to understand whether appropriate safeguards and protocols are in place to prevent or mitigate discriminatory or adverse outcomes by frontier models, says Michael Paulino at Gordon Rees.

  • Compliance Takeaways Amid Increased Auto Finance Scrutiny

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    Recent supervisory focus on consumer protection in auto finance by agencies such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. provides meaningful signals regarding areas of heightened regulatory scrutiny for lenders, including data accuracy, AI risk management and vendor oversight, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

  • The Benefits Of Choosing A Niche Practice In The AI Age

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    As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly accessible, lawyers with a niche practice may stand out as clients seek specialized judgment that automation cannot replicate, but it is important to choose a niche that is durable, engaging and a good personal fit, says Daniel Borneman at Lowenstein Sandler.

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